From abstract: Between mid-May and late June 1976, 3409 water and water-transported sediment samples were collected from 1781 locations spread over an approximate 17 000 kilometer area of northwestern Montana. All of the samples were analyzed for total uranium at the LASL, using standardized procedures and rigorous quality controls--the waters by fluorometry and the sediment (and those waters with >10 parts per billion uranium) by delayed-neutron counting methods.

From introduction: This report describes work done in the Noatak and portions of the Baird Mountains and Ambler River, Alaska, National Topographic Map Series (NTMS) quadrangles (1:250 000 scale) by the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) as part of the nationwide Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance (HSSR).

From abstract: During the summer of 1977, 1268 water and 1206 sediment samples were collected from 1292 lakes and streams throughout the 33 600-km2 area within the boundaries of the McGrath and Talkeetna National Topographic Map Series quadrangles in south-central Alaska. Each of the water samples was analyzed for uranium and 12 other elements, and each of the sediment samples was analyzed for uranium, thorium, and 41 other elements. All of the field and analytical data are listed in appendixes to this report, but only the uranium and thorium data are discussed herein.

Five Langmuir-Tonks equations given in Section V of LA-1432 were modified to give a clearer picture of the pinch effect.

Most books on the subject of gas discharges describe the multiple banded structure which appears in the flow between two electrodes. This structure is actually due to the difficulty in getting electrons out of the cathode to support the discharge. These electrons are obtained by having a large enough potential drop near the cathode so that the positive ions may strike it hard enough to product secondary electrons. If one substitutes a hot cathode to produce a copious quantity of electrons, the banded structure will be radially changed. Hence the banding is not a pure property of the discharge, but is a complication brought on by the presence of electrodes.

A theoretical study of the kinetics of a model of the Los Alamos Power Reactor Experiment (LAPRE) was made through integration of the dynamic equations with the IBM 701 computer. The stability is investigated under various conditions of power demand, rod-induced reactivity changes, and other conditions especially applicable to LAPRE. The results are given in graphical form, along with conclusions as to appropriate conditions of operation.

Plutonium metal can be injected into cold metal molds to form castings with thin walls. The operation is performed in a vacuum chamber, using an inert gas as the injecting medium. Sound pieces free of gas cavities can be made using either pure or delta-stabilized plutonium. This report describes the equipment and techniques used to cast a typical thin section piece in the form of a 6 in. diameter, 45' cone.

Delta-stabilized plutonium can be welded to itself or almost any other metal using the inert-gas metal-arc process. Equipment and procedures suitable for the welding of delta-stabilized plutonium under various conditions are described.

A high-vacuum casting furnace with an internal diameter of 15 inches has been designed, fabricated, and installed at LASL. The furnace was designed to accommodate casting crucibles up to 7 inches OD; however with a larger diameter heating element, casting crucibles up to 9 inches could be accommodated. This report describes the basic features of the furnace and presents engineering drawings of both the furnace and the furnace box.

Uranium has been successfully forged using a Lobdell-Nazel forging hammer and a forging temperature range of 500 to 650 degrees centigrade. Using standard forging techniques, the metal readily flowed at the temperature chosen. A noticeable increase in tensile strength, yield strength and percent elongation was obtained in forged metal as compared with cast metal. To obtain complete recrystallization and uniform grain size, a minimum of approximately 75 percent reduction in cross section by forging followed by an anneal within the range of 500 to 600 degrees C is required.

From abstract: "The present report describes experimental work performed to establish a procedure for the production of uranium metal wire. In all cases, the size of the initial rod was 1/2 inch diameter. Three materials were used: hot extruded tuballoy rod, high purity cast tuballoy rod, and cast U-235 rod."

The following report calculates how many neutrons are produced by the O-16([alpha]-n) reaction in a thin and uniform polonium oxide layer.

Due to laboratory interest in devices capable of production of high current with short rise times in gaseous discharges (plasmas), an experimental machine has been built and tested to obtain data applicable to the design of a high gradient magnetic induction machine. This machine consists of a condenser type energy storage bank air core coupled to a toroid in which the plasma is produced. It has been used to determine circuit parameters and the effect of these parameters on the plasma.

A detailed study of the activation of low-reactivity UO2 particles toward HF by successive oxidation and reduction was carried out. The effect of repeated successive oxidation and reduction on the reactivity of the UO2 source material toward HF was evaluated by hydrofluorination.

Specific surface and bulk density measurements were made on samples of 22 U308 materials which had been prepared by calcination at 900°C of widely differing uranium peroxide precipitates and had been evaluated as to "reactivity" by successive treatment with hydrogen and a mixture of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen in a production-type batch process for the preparation of UF4. Specific surface and bulk density measurements were also made on samples of the 22 corresponding U02 intermediates. The ranges of values encountered in the U308 samples and in the U02 samples were 0.05 m /g to 0.37 m /g and 0.03 m /g to 0.33 m /g, respectively, for specific surface and 3.7 g/cm to 1.8 g/cm and 4.9 g/cm to 2.7 g/cm3, respectively, for packed bulk density. Specific surface varied inversely with packed bulk density for U308, the data showing a good correlation. A very poor correlation between specific surface and packed bulk density of U02 was obtained. The conversion of U308 to UF4 n the standard process varied from 22% for the lowest specific surface, highest bulk density oxide to 98 to 99% for the high specific surface, low bulk density oxides. The observed values for properties of the …

Abstract: "A description of the instrumentation for neutron flux measurement from Kiwi-A at NTS is given as some discussion of start-up considerations, detector design, system response adjustments, and power calibration of the reactor at some low level of power."

Simple expression are derived for the time dependence of slowing down of neutrons in a simple media. In Section I, a method suggested by age theory is used, while in section II, a two parameter scattering function is employed. Results are compared with exact calculations.

Semi-empirical modifications of age theory have been made to interpret the critical masses of proton moderated assemblies, which may or may not have reflectors of various substances, in particular, water or steel. Section I shows that critical masses of untamped water moderated systems can be calculated by use of an appropriate age and linear extrapolation length. Assuming that all captures and fissions take place at thermal, a familiar expression can be set up which contains the age and extrapolation length which are not well determined by theory. An age value suggested by theory, (Sec. II) is taken and ORNL criticality data (K343) are used to find the best extrapolation length. With these values the K343 critical mases can be computed to bout +-5%, which is their estimated experimental uncertainty; this for H/U-235 atomic ratios between 43 and 755. Section II contains a theoretical discussion of effects which the simple "theory" of Sec I neglects. It is indicated that several of these effects compensate to make a simple theory more useful than one would believe at first sight. to take into account reflectors of water, water shield by cadmium, or steel of various thicknesses, it proves sufficient to alter the extrapolation …

A class of critical assemblies has been considered in which the core consists of an oralloy bearing gas at more or less standard pressure and temperature and the reflector is an efficient moderator with a small thermal capture cross section. Age and diffusion theory have been applied to compute the probability that a fast neutron is thermalized by the reflector and them captured by the core. It is first assumed that fast or epithermal neutrons do not interact wit the core and it is later shown that this assumption should be a good one for many cases. The reflector may be a thick spherical shell. It is shown that oralloy masses of a few kilograms can be critical within thick reflectors of D2O, Be, C or combinations thereof. Curves are attached which enable one to estimate critical configurations.

A criticality equation is derived assuming slowing-down only by hydrogen. The use of criticality experiments as a basis for calculation is described. Approximate methods are given for handling inharmonicities and multi-region reactors. Some criticality data on solutions of U03 dissolved in H3PO4 are listed in Appendix 1, and the Goertzel-Selengut equations are derived in Appendix II.

Abstract: Developmental production of approximately 500 pounds of 2,2-dinitropropanol and 250 pounds of 2,2-dinitropropyl acrylate was carried out in a 50-gallon capacity stainless-steel reactor system. The intermediate alcohol was produced in a yield of 73%. The ester was made with a yield of 78%. Cost studies show that the manufacturing cost for DNPA monomer should approximate $2.70 per pound on a production basis of 30,000 pounds, with an indicated plant cost of $4.60 per pound for the polymeric form.

Abstract: "A method for determining hydrogen in lithium hydride by heating samples with lead at 600 C, was developed. The hydrogen evolved during thermal decomposition of the hydride is purified and oxidized to water with cupric oxide at 400 C. The analysis is completed by collecting and weighing this water. Success in development of the analytical procedure has depended upon a careful design and assembly of equipment for handling samples in a dry, inert atmosphere. For seven pure hydride samples analyzed by the recommended method the estimates of the standard deviation varied between 0.12 and 0.41 percent lithium hydride (or 1.3 and 4.2 parts per thousand) for 8 to 18 determinations on each sample. The procedure is relatively insensitive to variations in certain conditions. For single-piece samples weighing 0.2 to 0.5 gram it was found to be more satisfactory than a method which uses mercury in place of lead for sample decomposition. For powdered lithium hydride samples the lead and mercury methods are equally satisfactory."

Bismuth analytical methods were investigated for the purpose of selecting procedures which are satisfactory for the analysis of solutions containing plutonium and bismuth. The gravimetric procedure which is recommended for samples containing these two elements includes removal of the plutonium by peroxide precipitation, separation of the bismuth by precipitation with sodium carbonate, and final ignition of the bismuth as a phosphate. Necessary equipment and experimental technique are described. In the analysis of eight known samples by the recommended method, the average recovery of bismuth was 99.76 percent, with a standard deviation of 0.22 percent. The known samples contained about 35 mg of bismuth and 25 mg of plutonium. For similar samples in routine work, the confidence limits at the 95 percent level for the average of triplicated determinations are +- 0.30 percent of the bismuth in the the sample. Other methods investigated and having possible application for some Pu-Bi analysis problems include electrodeposition of bismuth on a mercury cathode and gravimetric analysis with BiCr(CNS)6 as the weighed product.

An analytical procedure for 0.04 to 1.6 percent ruthenium in plutonium metal was developed. Determination of ruthenium in metallic plutonium was investigated as part of a program for securing analytical procedures for various metals in plutonium. However, results of the investigation are given in this report with emphasis on the determination of ruthenium in plutonium chloride solutions. Specifically, this report is primarily concerned with the separation and determination of 40 to 400 micrograms of ruthenium in a hydrochloric acid solution of 25 to 100 milligrams of plutonium.