Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Will Wilson, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether rentals were due December 4, 1958 on certain submerged lands leases in the Gulf of Mexico dated December 4, 1953 if the lessees desired to have the running of primary terms suspended under Article 5421i, VCS, and related questions.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Will Wilson, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether bonds to be issued under Section 18, Article VII, Constitution of Texas, could be construed as revenue bonds.

This report discusses testing three-foot Zircaloy-2 jacketed tube-and-tube elements with either natural or 1.6% enriched unalloyed or 2% zirconium alloyed uranium which will be irradiated in any of the KER Loops to goals up to 5000 WD/T. Downstream thermocouples to measure flow channel coolant temperatures will be included for charges of enriched elements. Special tray discharges to prevent the fall of the elements to the basin are required for all loadings. The tube-and-tube geometry is being investigated for use in the NPR because of its large surface to volume ratio and low uranium temperature for a given specific power. A series of irradiations is planned to study the dimensional stability and uranium behavior of the tubular elements at jacket surface temperatures up to 315{degree}C and exposures up to 5000 WD/T. Because of its lower reaction rate with high temperature vater, the uranium-2 w/o zirconium alloy may be useful in a high temperature recirculating system. Consequently the behavior of this alloy will be compared to the behavior of unalloyed uranium.

Prior to this experiment, no measurements of Ball 3X effectiveness had been performed for any of the older 2004-tube Hanford piles, and calculations concerning total control requirements were made assuming the vertical safety system strength equal to the strength of the B, D, F vertical safety rods. With current and projected enrichment loadings, the vertical control system was calculated to be inadequate to satisfy the total control criteria at all times, resulting in the necessity to provide supplementary control in the form of horizontal rods or temporary process tube poison. Because of the larger ball channels at DR, the Ball 3X system is stronger than at the other 29-VSR piles. Therefore, the potential relaxation of total control limits was greater for DR should an experiment show the Ball 3X strength to be significantly greater than the B, D, F VSR strength. PT-IP-126-C authorized an experiment to determine the Ball 3X effectiveness at DR Pile by measurement of the relative strength of a VSR and a column of 3X balls in the same channel. The experiment was performed in March, 1958, and on the strength of favorable results a supplement to the PT was prepared to authorize the same test at …

The purpose of this report is to present the results of experimental tests made to determine the degree of protection offered by the Panellit system to accidental flow reductions caused by plugging incidents to a K reactor process tube operating at low front header pressures.

A hazards survey was made of the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) for space vehicle applications. The APU utilizes the decay process from 1570c of Po/sup 210/ to generate thermal energy. The design is described and diagrams are given. The factors involved in the integration of the thermoelectric generator into the Discoverer or Sentry vehicles are discussed. The physical, chemical, nuclear, and radiobiological properties of Po/sup 210/ are given. The shielding requirements for the APU are outlined. The principal environmental hazard is that imposed by the toxicity of the radionuclide fuel when released to the biosphere. Hazards design criteria were determined by extreme conditions including handling accidents, missile vehicle failures, and re-entry through the atmosphere and subsequent earth impact. (M.C.G.)

>Tests on a coupled transmission line resonator show that a fairly accurate value of the coupling coefficient can be predicted by considering line geometry. The measured values of V/sub 02/ and I/sub 02/ appear to agree with predicted values. Development of a resonator for ORIC with two coupled transmission lines is under way. (W.L.H.)

From abstract: Liquid alkali metals were circulated in a series of structural alloy loops under reactor radiation at high temperature. The first of these loops was a lithium-stainless steel (type 316) system, and the remainder were sodium-Inconel. No effect of radiation other than radioactivation was found. Mass transfer and metallurgical processes attributable to the operating temperatures were observed."

An atomic-beam magnetic-resonance apparatus operating on the flop-in principle was used to measure the nuclear spins and hyperfine-structure separations of the /sup 2/S/sub 1/2, electronic ground state for several radioactive isotopes of silver and gold. The results of these experiments, together with calculated values of the nuclear magnetic-dipole moments, are given (auth)

A principle similar to that of double-beam optical systems is utilized, The source used is thulium-170. (C.J.G.)

Methods are presented by which trace amounts of several actinide elements are separated. Use is made of the large differences in distribution coefficients, so careful chromatographic techniques are not necessary. Small columns are used, allowing the desired constituent to be obtained in 10 ml or less. One method is used to separate americium, plutonium, and neptunium. These elements are sequentially eluted from columns of Dowex 1 resin in that order by 8 M HNO/sub 3/, 0.02 M ferrous sulfamate in 4.5 M HNO/sub 3/, and 0.001 M ceric sulfate in 0.25 M HNO/sub 3/. Another method is used to separate americium, thorium, plutonium, and neptunium sequentially in that order by S M HNO/sub 3/, 12 M HCl, 12 M HCL--0.1 M NH/sub 4/I, and 4 M HCL by elutriation. Protactinium and uranium follow the americium in both methods. The methods presented are characterized by a low degree of cross contsmnination. Yields are greater than 95 percent. (auth)

An experiment was conducted in the SRE to measure temperatures and neutron flux levels in and near a boron-containing simulated control rod. The data are being used to check analytical methods developed for prediction of control rod heat generation rates and maximum temperatures in this type of control rod in the Hallam Nuclear Power Facility. The maximum observed temperatures with a reactor power level of 20 Mw were 1363 deg F for a boron-- nickel alloy ring having a 0.105-in. radial clearance with the thimble and 1100 deg F for a boron -nickel alloy ring having a 0.020-in. radial clearance. The maximum temperature difference between the coolant and the control rod was 473 deg F. It is concluded that the expected greater heat generation rates in the Hallam reactor would prohibit the use of boron-containing absorber materials in a combined a him-safety rod. (auth)

The cross section for the Be/sup 9/(n,t')Li/sup 7*/ -- Li/sup 7/ + gamma (0.477 Mev) reaction was measured in the vicixity of 14 Mev by detecting the gamma rays at scattering angles from 30 to 150 degrees. A time-of-flight technique was used to distinguish the gamma rays from the high neutron background. The cross section drops from 20 mb at 13.6 Mev to 10 mb at 14.1 Mev and then rises to 30 mb at 14.7 Mev. (auth)

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The study efforts were toward the creation of a reactor design for each of the three types and the development of each concept to a point where the range of costs could be established. The studies presented have high burnup cores of low enrichment in an effort to minimize fuel costs. Of the three designs presented to deliver 1.25 x 10/sup 5/ lb/hr of 380 deg F steam at 196 psia the PWR core is the most favorable. (W.D.W.)

ing. Radiography was used to ore fter bending. The ultrainspect the alloys cores, ished fuel elements. as used to determine element core blanks. at ing fatigue tests were performed in the range 1300 to 1500 F, for frequencies of 6 and 60 cpm. Continuous traces of load and strain were made to determine relationships between stress, strain, and lifetime, for lifetimes vithin the range of 10/sup 3/ and 10/sup 5/ cycles. The data obtained indicate that fatigue strength, whether measured in stress, total strain, or plastic strain, is a function of both temperature and frequency. It was found that the relationship between stress and strain varies with cycles of stress reversal, never reaching an equilibrium condition. In addition, the strain behavior of a specimen during stress cycling is not continuous. Strain in the plastic region was found to occur in sudden, steplike increments which are predictable functions of temperature, stress, frequency, and cycles. (auth)

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Microbarographs are used at the Nevada test site to measure acoustic energy at certain locations with respect to blasts. These data are used then to decide if weather conditions are favorable for a nuclear test. The microbarograph and its operation are described in detail. (T.R.H.)

A detailed study of HRT Run 14, which was abruptly terminated by the formation of a hole in the Zircaloy-2 core tank is presented. In this run the reactor was operated at high temperature and pressure for ten days from March 25 to April 4, 1958. Nuclear power operation extended from March 29 until April 4, when fuel solution leaked into the heavy-water blanket. The maximum power level attained was 6.4 Mw. The reactor equipment performance was satisfactory, except for the core vessel, but the nuclear operation was characterized by a power- dependent fuel solution instability, indicated by the critical temperature behavior, chemical studies, and power surges which appeared at higher power levels. (auth)

Many of the features of plutonium facilities have been covered, and a number of them have been omitted. A great variety of safety equipment is available, together with trained personnel to operate it. All of these devices, however, do not assure a contamination-free operation. Basically, the careful design of enclosures, experimental equipment, and procedures when handled by trained personnel represents the only approach to the problem of plutonium handling. (auth)

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A solution to the problem of stresses in a pressure vessel with an ellipsoidal head has long been sought by pressure vessel designers. To meet this need the codes described in this report were written The codes are based on a finite-difference approximation to the LoveMeissner equations which are the basis of the bending theory of thin shells. (auth)

The problem of controlling the surface temperatures of core vessels in two-region aqueous homogeneous reactors was examined by analyzing several possible systems for cooling the wall: (1) direction of the inlet core fluid along the wall at a high velocity; (2) passage of heavy water through the wall of a double-wall core vessel; and (3) flow of cool blanket slurry past the wall. If the required flow conditions can be achieved, method (1) will keep the surface temperature within 20 deg C of the inlet fuel temperature. Should use of that technique alone not be successful, method (2) could be used, with coolant temperatures probably in the range of 100 to 200 deg C. Use of the blanket slurry to lower the core-side temperature would require that the blanket be much cooler than the core. (auth)

The extraction of uranium, magnesium, cerium, zirconium, and niobium from bismuth with a molten mixture of sodium fluoride and zirconium fluoride was demonstrated. Comparative rates of extraction were obtained. The effects of high concentrations of magnesium and of hydrogen fluoride sparging on the extraction process were investigated. Tracer studies demonstrated that exchange occurs between zirconium dissolved in the bismuth and zirconium in the fused salt. The applicability of the fused fluoride extraction step to the processing of the Liquid Metal Fuel Reactor'' solution fuel is discussed. (auth)