Abstract. the Laplacian of a beryllium metal lattice with 3.3 kg of uranium metal per cell and a volume ratio of 17.2 was measured in the removable region of the CP-2 machine. the sandwich effect with different moderators made interpretation of the observations very uncertain. The best result found was Be = 407 x 10(-6) cm(-2).

Summary. The effect of the conduction electrons on the stopping power of metals has been considered from two essentially different points of view. No numerical calculations have been carried out, because we have found no completely satisfactory was of computing Z'e, the effective charge on the moving ion. A rather crude estimate made on the basis of the Thomas-Fermi atomic model indicates that Z'2/E is roughly constant. Using this relation one finds that the stopping power of the conduction electrons is of the same order of magnitude as the stopping power due to bound electron excitation, and is important for the greater part of the range of the particle.

Technical report with short reports from the (A) Crystal Structure Section ; (B) Mass Spectroscopy Section ; and (C) Metallurgy Section.

With discussion under way concerning power production by chain reacting piles, it becomes pertinent to consider the ration of the temperature of the hottest spot in the pile to the average exit temperature of the cooling stream. This is important because the temperature of the hottest spot in the pile is one of the limiting factors in determining the maximum power at which a pile can be operated. However, the higher the temperature of the emerging cooling stream, the more efficient can be the thermal engine operated by it. Thus the ideal situation is to have the average exit temperature of the cooling stream as near as possible to the hottest temperature of the hottest spot in the pile.