This report provides the results to an airborne radiometric reconnaissance made in central Montana, the Sweetgrass Hills and Arch area, and Clancy area of the Boulder batholith that was completed in October 1953. This report is divided into three parts, each area is discussed separately according to its geology, the airborne procedures employed, and the conclusions reached.

From introduction: This is Progress report BMI-282, the first of a series covering the operation of the pressure-leaching towers for the extraction of uranium by an ammonium carbonate leach...This report discusses the data obtained from tests run to show the effects of such variables as the amount of air and carbon dioxide passed through the pulp, temperature, pressure, and concentration of ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate in the leach solution on the extraction of uranium.

This report covers the progress made on an intensive program to develop and evaluate UO2 as a possible fuel element for the PWR.

Continued work on the adsorbability of metal complexes from concentrated LiCl solutions and LiCl-HCl mixtures on a strong-base anion-exchange resin further demonstrated the much higher adsorbability of these complexes from LiCl solutions than from HCl solutions. The effect is believed to be due to the formation of less strongly adsorbed undissociated chloro-complex acids in the case of the HCl solutions.

Monthly newsletter of the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1, discussing the field of underground water. Topics include profiles of water conservation research, annual pre-plant soil moisture survey data, annual Winter Water Level measurement data, and information about the latest water conservation tips.

During this period a prototype gamma ray detection system was assembled and data was obtained on samples of beryllium salts on filter paper under a variety of conditions. Ordinarily either a scaler-register combination or the CRM-recorder combination would be sufficient for obtaining data. Both units have been used here in order to utilize the particular advantages of each system. The scaler-register unit was employed for obtaining precise data over short intervals while the CRM-recorder was used to maintain a check on stability over longer intervals of time.

Thorium is determined in uranium alloys by means of a fluoride separation followed by a complexometric titration. A nitric of hydrochloric acid solution of the alloy is neutralized to a pH of 2.0 to 3.0 and the thorium precipitated as thorium fluoride by the addition of hydrofluoric acid and ammonium fluoride using lanthanum as a carrier.

This report is based on work done by the US Geological Survey on behalf of the Division of Raw Materials of the US Atomic Energy Commission.

Fused uranium dioxide was separated into fractions of varying particle size by air separation. Specimens of the nominal size of 1/8 by 1/4 by 1½ in. were formed by hydrostatic pressing, firing, and lapping. Specimens prepared from the 0 to 5 μ fraction were the strongest and most dense. The room-temperature density was about 92% of theoretical and the room-temperature flexural strength was about 12,000 1b. per sq. in. When tested at 1000°C., the strength was about 18,000 1b. per sq. in. The flexural strength of specimens decreased and their density decreased as the starting particle size was increased. The crystallization of the urania fragments which had occurred during the firing treatment was observed.

This technical report represents a brief survey of work by this project on the effects of ultraviolet radiation (UV) on certain of the photochemical and metabolic properties of rhubarb chard and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris). These plants were selected for this work because for some years they have been used as sources of chloroplasts for Hill reaction studies in this laboratory. Some of this work has appeared as a brief paper.

The ORNL 86-in. cyclotron is being modified to provide for deflection of the proton beam. It is expected that operation will be resumed late in the spring. Nuclear physics work was limited, for the most part, to interpretation of previously collected data and to making preparations for utilizing the deflected beam. It was found that for certain isotopes the production rates could be almost doubled by operating at a slightly reduced energy and a much larger current. With the use of the ORNL 63-in. cyclotron, the absolute values of the electron capture and loss cross sections for 26-Mev nitrogen ions were obtained. The angular distribution of the cross sections for elastic scattering of nitrogen by nitrogen was measured at energies from 13 to 22 Mev. A double-focusing 90-deg magnet is being planned for use in identifying stable reaction products from nitrogen-induced reactions. The major components of the revised 44-in. test cyclotron were assembled and are being tested. Consideration is being given to the use of these components, along with a new 20,000-oersted magnet and a shielded cyclotron room, and if the tests are satisfactory the Laboratory will have available a machine which will accelerate N5+ ions to 81 Mev.

Abstract: "Sound, fabricable ingots of thorium were produced by triple are melting of electrolytic thorium. Consumable electrodes were fabricated by tack welding of cold-pressed and vacuum-sintered bars of the granular thorium electrodeposited from a molten-salt bath. The hydrogen content of the electrodeposited material was reduced from 80 to 4 ppm by vacuum sintering at 1250 C at pressures below 1 x 10-(-3) mm of mercury. Both sodium and chlorine content were reduced during melting; sodium from 250 to 25 ppm and chlorine from 1000 to 30 ppm. Oxygen and HCl acid-insoluble contents increased during sintering and melting. Oxygen content increased from 0.35 to 0.50 w/o and HCl acid-insoluble content from 0.8 to 4.0 w/o. A starlike includion revealed by metallographic examination of the as-cast thorium was identified as ThO2."

A corrosion testing program has been initiated in Purex and Redox storage tanks to obtain corrosion data on SAE 1020 carbon steel, two alloy-high strength steels, and an alloy steel in neutralized process wastes.

The primary purpose of this contract is to develop and exploit techniques for the precision measurement of nuclear energy levels by the spectroscopic study of gamma-rays emitted during the decay of radioisotopes, (1) by the use of a high resolving power curved crystal focusing spectrometer to study wavelengths and intensities of gamma-rays themselves, (2) by means of a precision beta-ray spectrometer to study the conversion lines from gamma-rays both by internal conversion and with external converters.

Part A. The major effort during the past year has been the construction of a suitable vacuum furnace for studying the effects of temperature and pressure on the wettability of metals by glass. A systems was completed that was capable of subjecting test combinations up to temperatures of 1400 degree C at a working pressure of 1 x 10(-5) mm. of Hg. Part B. A compound, identified by X-ray analysis as sodium meta tantalate (na2Ta2O6), was found at the interface between a sodium silicate glass and tantalum metal which had been heated in vacuum to 1000 degree C. thermodynamic calculations, followed by further experimental evidence, were used to determine the chemical reaction between tantalum and sodium silicate which resulted in the formation of Na2Ta3O6. the compound was synthesized by other methods, and its structure investigated.

Abstract: "Since the first report on the use of amines as uranium extractants (ORNL-1734) over eighty additional organo-nitrogen compounds have been examined for their ability to extract uranium from aqueous solutions, particularly sulfate solutions, of the types usually encountered in uranium ore processing. As before, the more promising of these (as well as other compounds previously reported) have been examined further with respect to other characteristics essential to practical application, i.e., reagent loss to the aqueous phase, compatibility with practicable diluents, influence of commonly present anions, reagent stability, sufficient selectivity for uranium, adequate phase separation properties, compatibility with practicable stripping methods, etc. The potential cost and availability of the reagents tested, i.e., certain secondary and tertiary amines, have shown even greater promise as practicable extraction agents than many of the promising compounds previously tested. In addition to the work with sulfate liquors, cursory studies have been made of uranium extraction from fluoride and sulfate-fluoride solutions. Extractions of other metals from sulfate liquors, i.e., titanium and thorium, have been briefly examined."

A report of progress during the six-months period from December 1, 1954 to May 31, 1955 on investigations of radioactive materials in the United States and Alaska.

From abstract: Uranium deposits and radioactivity anomalies have been found in the eastern half of the area underlain by the Browns Park formation in northwestern Colorado, south-central Wyoming, and northeastern Utah. The deposits are in eolian, lacustrine, and fluvial sandstones, tuffaceous sandstones, and limestones all of which were deposited on two converging pediments during Miocene time. At least one eastern and one western facies of lacustrine and fluvial sedimentary rocks are separated by a belt of eolian sandstones. The faces may be distinguished in the field and by petrographic and heavy-mineral studies in the laboratory.

A report regarding the geology of the Copper King Uranium Mine, in Larimer County, Colorado.

Abstract: "A torus model of the elementary particles is suggested in which the electron and proton are made stable by gravitational forces derived from the electromagnetic field. It is suggested that the gravitational forces for the unstable particles, presumably the mesons, are not sufficient to keep the torus from expanding in the direction of its large radius. Rest energy zero can be achieved, presumably for photons and neutrons, when the gravitational energy and electromagnetic field energy are equal in magnitude. The manner in which these models can exhibit spin, magnetic moment, wave length, and phase velocity is indicated. The origin of nuclear forces from an electromagnetic basis is indicated."

From abstract: Metatorbernite and bassetite are present in altered carbonaceous and quartzose slate of probable upper Huronian age. The slate is part of a small inlier of Huronian rocks between the Gwinn iron district to the southeast and the Marquette iron district to the northwest, Marquette County, Mich. Samples taken from a shallow trench, which was dug in the area of highest radioactivity, contained as much as 0.68 percent uranium. A 4-foot channel sample of the slate contained 0.036 percent uranium.

This report analyzes two high-current linear accelerators, the A-54--a 48.5 megacycle resonant cavity accelerator--and the A-48, that is under construction during the time this report is written.

From introduction: "This is the first of three articles dealing with the influence of fluorine substitution in the ligand on the properties of metal chelate compounds. Although the primary purpose of this project was to study the influence of fluorine substitution on the properties -- particularly light absorption -- of uranyl compounds, copper chelates were chosen for preliminary study as model substances, because they are easily prepared."

Abstract: "Because of the radiation hazards inherent in processing large volumes of radioactive solutions by solvent extraction techniques, there is need for a system with small hold-up which can be contained within a minimum of shielding and yet which is versatile enough to be used as a research tool. A system utilizing a miniature mixer-settler has been constructed and its successful operation by remote means demonstrated. The unit is semiportable and employs a number of novel features of value in studying a wide variety of solvent extraction flowsheets. Data on the distribution of nitric acid between water and tributyl phosphate (in kerosene) are included as a demonstration of the operability of the unit."