Report issued by the Bureau of Mines over investigations of coking coal reserves of Scott County, Tennessee. Testing to determine suitability for producing metallurgical coke is also presented. This report includes tables, maps, and illustrations.

Report issued by the Bureau of Mines over investigations of coking-coal reserves of Monongalia County, West Virginia. Methods used, and measurements of coal reserves are listed. This report includes tables, and maps.

Report issued by the Bureau of Mines over investigations of coking-coal reserves of Bledsoe County, Tennessee. Methods used, and measurements of coal reserves are listed. This report includes tables, and maps.

Report issued by the Bureau of Mines over investigations of coking coal reserves of Fentress County, Tennessee. Testing to determine suitability for producing metallurgical coke is also presented. This report includes tables, maps, and illustrations.

Abstract: "The heat-treatment behavior of zirconium alloys containing 7 to 70 w/o uranium is described. The effect of oxygen contamination on the structure and hardness of these alloys is outlined. It is shown that in the initial stages pf transformation of beta zirconium-uranium solid solution into the low-temperature phases a potent hardening reaction occurs in alloys containing 20 to 70 w/o uranium. In this reaction the hardness may rise from 200 DPH characteristic of retained beta to values in excess of 400 DPH. Practical heat treatments have been developed which produce relatively soft alloys. The microstructures and hardnesses produces by these treatments are shown."

Abstract: The thermal distortion of a Y-shaped hafnium control rod heated by arrays of individually controlled radiation heaters was studied. The large axial and radial temperature gradients specified for this control rod were easily obtained with the radiation-heating method. The distortion, as measured with dial indicators, amounted to a 2-mil movement of the free end of the rod in the direction of the coolest blade.

Abstract: "Approximate melting points have been determined for five samples of uranium tetrafluoride representing incompletely converted uranium dioxide and covering the range from about 2 to 20 w/o UO2, using the method of differential thermal analysis. The results indicate the melting temperatures are in the range of 920 to 980 C. No significant correlation between melting point and UO2 content was observed, possibly because of calcite formation. Similar results were obtained on synthetic mistakes of UF4 containing from 10 to 40 w/o UO2."

At about 6:30 a.m. one of the two Process Operators regularly stationed at 233-S was performing routine work in the Control Room, heard a nearby Poppy alpha detector breaking down.'' He checked and found the instrument appeared to be in operating condition as it would respond to a high level source. Further checking indicated that he was contaminated and that nearby horizontal surfaces were contaminated. This information was phoned to the Shift Supervisor who told the Operator that he would be right out and to throw a pair of shoe covers out the door. On arriving, the Supervisor donned the shoe covers and then quickly checked the Poppy response and confirmed the report of the Operator. Both men then left the building. Just outside they met the other Process Operator assigned to 233-S, returning from the lunchroom. The second Operator was handed a smear, previously taken and checked by the Supervisor, and told to check it on a Poppy in the load-out-room, a room adjacent to where the contamination was originally found. When the Supervisor heard the load-out-room Poppy break down as the smear was checked he instructed both Operators to stand by just outside the building while he went …

Pile Engineering Sub-Section has been investigating the causes and effects of cocked slugs in process tubes for the past year because they are suspected to be the cause for some slug ruptures. In Project CG-642 - Continuous Charge-Discharge Equipment - C Reactor it is proposed that slugs be flush charged into the process tubes. This document reports the effect of flush charging slugs on their tendency to cock as discovered in laboratory tests.

"Characteristics of a pulsed, occluded-gas ion source, operating in a magnetic field, have been investigated. Mass spectra of hydrogen- and deuterium-loaded sources are presented. Constructional details of the source and its operating characteristics are discussed."

Abstract: "This report describes six electronics areas at the Radiation Laboratory (Berkeley and Livermore) that are being successfully used with various particle acceleration for nuclear research. The electronics equipment, consisting of pulse amplifiers, scalers, coincidence circuits, pulse-height analyzers, automatic recording equipment, high-voltage supplies, etc., is arranged in such a manner that most experiments can be quickly set up, and a number of people can run experiments simultaneously. Advantage and limitations of these areas are discussed."

This memorandum provides a comparison of monthly slug ruptures at the Hanford C-Pile.

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This document presents a summary of work and progress at the Hanford Engineer Works for May, 1956. The report is divided into sections by department. A plant wide general summary is included at the beginning of the report, after which the departmental summaries begin. The Manufacturing department reports plant statistics, and summaries for the Metal Preparation, Reactor and Separation sections. The Engineering Department`s section summarizes work for the Technical, Design, and Project Sections. Costs for the various departments are presented in the financial Department`s summary. The Medical, Radiological Sciences, Utilities and General Services, Employee and Public Relations, and Community Real Estate and Services departments have sections presenting their monthly statistics, work, progress, and summaries.

Some months ago, the Engineering Department was requested to make an evaluation estimate of the cost of obtaining approximately 150,000 gpm of cooling water from shallow ponds or from cooling towers. Their conclusions (see DPWZ-5305) were (1) that both schemes were feasible and each produced cooling water of approximately the same annual average temperature; (2) the cooling towers could be built more quickly, largely because no additional engineering data were required before construction would start; and (3) the cooling ponds probably would be cheaper. Data obtained from Clark Hill Reservoir in Georgia and Woods Reservoir in Tennessee indicated that significant reductions in the temperature of the cooling water could be made if the water were withdrawn from the deep portion of the reservoir rather than from the surface. Also, it appeared that the water from a reservoir 100 feet deep would be significantly colder than the water obtained from the reservoir only 40 feet deep. The studies reported herein were an attempt to evaluate the benefits that would accrue from obtaining cooling water from a deep lake rather than from a shallow pond.

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This report addresses the continuous plutonium isolation contactor.

This report discusses the installation of operational charge-discharge equipment on the Hanford reactors has been proposed as a means of eliminating the reactor downtime required for charging and discharging the metal in the reactors. Additional benefits such as the minimization of the effects of slug ruptures, improved reactivity control, and improved metal utilization have become apparent during the investigation of the use of the equipment. Since the minimization of the effects of ruptures has been considered only qualitatively in previous justification documents for operational charge-discharge, the purpose of this document is to evaluate quantitatively the effect of such equipment on operation with a slug rupture limit.

This report describes a study which has been completed of Hanford production pile space requirements for the manufacture of polonium 210, thulium 170, and iridium 192. Sufficient radioisotope is required for the generation of 2000 watts of heating by radioactive decay after a decay period of 150 days.

A technique has been devised for the non-destructive determination of the uranium hydride and/or iron content in uranium fuel slugs of Hanford size. The technique, an adaptation of the Gouy method for measuring magnetic susceptibilities, is based on the ferromagnetic properties of the hydride below 173 deg K. A large electromagnet and a pain balance are utilized in measuring the magnetic forces on a vertically suspended slug at liquid nitrogen temperatures and at room temperature. It was found possible to test as many as 250 slugs per eight-hour day in this manner. (auth)

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A research and development program in the field of thorium chemistry and metallurgy was conducted. Most of this activity was directed toward the development of techniques for the production of metal by fused salt electrolytic approaches, little effort being proportioned to the preparation of an electrolyte for the process. An aqueous method for the preparation of an anhydrous cell feed was set up and operated for several months. Relatively high operating expense and difficulties with materials of construction prompted the development of a more direct approach for the production of electrolytic cell feed. The system established for cell feed preparation converts thoriumn nitrate to a basic carbonate via the reaction between the nitrate and sodium carbonate, this precipitation being quantitative. Following a suitable filtration and drying operation, the thorium oxycarbonate is converted directly to the chloride by reaction with carbon and chlorine, forming a cell feed containing between 40 and 45% thorium in a molten matrix of sodium and potassium chlorides. The preparation of cell feed by the descrihed process was carried out on a small- tonnage basis, in 1,000-pound batches. The entire process is capable of heing operated on a continuous or semi-continuous basis and presents a commercially feasible …

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