Introduction: "The tensile properties, hot hardness, impact strength; and corrosion resistance of some arc-melted, iodide zirconium alloys have been determined. The alloys investigated include binary alloys of zirconium containing zero to five per cent tin, binary alloys of zirconium containing zero to 0.14 per cent nitrogen, and ternary alloys of zirconium containing tin and nitrogen, tin and uranium, and uranium and beryllium."

Abstract: "As a possible aid in the selection of ceramic materials for use in the fabrication of high-temperature reactor elements, the reported properties of 23 refractory oxidation-resistance ceramic compounds are tabulated. The thermal stresses and heat throughout capacities for nine of these compounds are estimated for conditions of steady heat flow and uniform heat generation in the temperature range of 1500 to 2500 F. The compounds studied have macroscopic thermal-neutron-absorption cross sections lower than 0.2 per centimeter. Data concerning the high-temperature stability of uranium compounds are tabulated for those with melting points above 2450 F."

Binary alloys of uranium with 38 elements in the range 0.01 to 1.0 at.% were made. Three alloys having nominal compositions of 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 at.% were made with most of the elements, and in addition, 12 ternary and quaternary alloys were made. The alloys were cast, rolled to 7/8-inch-diameter bars, heat treated, and examined for grain size.

From introduction: "The work covered in this report is a portion of the experimental research undertaken for the design of a uranium-containing metallic fuel rod for operation in air at 1090 C...This report deals with that phase which involved the testing and evaluation of various metals as barrier costs between uranium alloys, and low-carbon steel. The work is of a preliminary nature and is concerned more with a comparison of the various barrier metals than with the acquisition of numerical data, e.g., diffusion coefficients."

This progress report of the Battelle Memorial Institute covers information in many categories. These include development of ceramic fuel elements, general ceramics, uranium and its alloys, thorium and its alloys, development of metallic fuel elements and assemblies, metals and alloys for reactor components, miscellaneous metallurgical work, liquid coolants and fuels, reactor engineering studies, and mechanism development.

Abstract: "The possibility of fabricating a lightweight control rod from one of several high cross-section materials was investigated. The major effort was directed toward the development of a titanium-clad rod containing a composite core of 25 weight per cent Gd2O3 in a matrix of titanium. Experimentation on both subscale and full-scale control-rod cores showed that the fabricating behavior of the two was not analogous. To roll the full-scale core successfully, it was necessary to lower the oxide content to 17 weight per cent. Subscale investigations were also carried out on titanium-cadmium, titanium-lanthanum, and titanium-gadolinium alloys."

Abstract: "Thirty-four uranium ingots containing controlled amounts of carbon, nitrogen, and Mgl2 slag were cast, rolled, and examined to investigate the relation between these impurities and the quality of the rolled rod. Carbon in concentrations up to 1400 ppm and nitrogen up to 170 ppm, either singly or in combination, had no significant effect on the number of defects observed in the rolled rod. The quality of the rods, however decreased with increasing amount of slag necessary to cause observable differences in the rod could not be detected on analysis, but was visible in the microstructure."

Abstract: "A possible method of cooling a liquid-fuel reactor is by spraying liquid metal through the liquid fuel, and then circulating the liquid metal through a heat exchanger. To evaluate the effectiveness of this cooling method, a few simple experiments were made with mercury sprayed through water. On the basis of the results, it was concluded that this method was intrinsically a low-power-density method, which could not find application except where a low fissionable-material inventory was the dominating requirement in a low-power reactor. Even there, it is thought that a boiling homogeneous reactor might be superior. The results are reported, in spite of their probably lack of value in the reactor program, simply to make the record complete."

This report of the Battelle Memorial Institute covers information on development regarding various materials.

This progress report of the Battelle Memorial Institute covers information in many categories for February, 1952. These include development of ceramic fuel elements, general ceramics, uranium and its alloys, thorium and its alloys, development of metallic fuel elements and assemblies, metals and alloys for reactor components, miscellaneous metallurgical work, liquid coolants and fuels, reactor engineering studies, and mechanism development.