A commercial light-weight portable bandsaw was fitted with a grip to permit it to be maneuvered remotely in a hot cell by means of a General Mills manipulator The bandsaw was supported in various positions to make cuts on typical pieces. Photographs show the saw in operation. (auth)

A description is given of the Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) facilities and program of objectives. The hazards associated with equipment failures and malfunctions, personnel errors, natural causes, and operation are evaluated (C.J.G.)

A system of symbols and identifications for processinstrumentation equipment to promote a uniformity of practice is presented. The system is for the following uses: designation and identification of instruments on flow pInns; recording specifinations, listings, requisitions, and purchase orders; indication of items on piping diagrams and other construction drawings; identification tagging of equipment; and description in technical and trade literature. (J.S.R.)

Nuclear fuel cost of 1.25 mills/kwh would make nuclear power competitive with conventional power in lowcost coal areas if capital and operating costs can be brought to within about 10 percent of those of coal-fired plants. Substantial decreases in fuel fabrication cost are anticipated by 1970: other costs in the fuel cycle are expccted to remain about the same as at present. Unit costs and irradiation levels that would be needed to give a fuel cost of 1.25 mills/kwh are believed to be attainable by 1970. (auth)

With the introduction of carbon dioxide into the piles as a gas atmosphere, new problems arose which concerned the chemical reactions undergone by the pile graphite with the gas atmosphere. In the interest of obtaining a better understanding of the nature and extent of these graphite-gas reactions, mass spectrometer analyses of the pile gas from a selected sampling port at C Pile were initiated at the time of start-up of that unit and were continued until several steady state conditions had been observed. The results of these analyses are presented and discussed herein.

None

None

A simple method is described for producing parabolic mirrors by revolving a horizontal pan of liquid plastic and allowing it to harden into the parabolic shape which has been assumed by the liquid platic. This surface can be plated without further polishing into a mirror of a quality suited to various laboratory and industrial applications.

A large portion of the slug failures which occurred during 1955 were of the ``hot-spot`` type. Observation of these failures has shown them to be the result of intergranular corrosion attack of the aluminum jacket. Intergranular corrosion is presently considered to occur in water temperature above 150 C; a flow disturbance which causes non-uniform coolant temperatures is suspected as the cause of failure.The present of a cocked slug, or a bowed slug column, might provide this flow disturbance. 189-D laboratory tests have shown that flow seating the slug charge allows slugs to cock in the tube. It has also been found that these cocked slugs may be lifted to close proximity of the tube wall by the axial load on the slug column due to process water flow. It is believed that in cases such as this, slug and coolant temperatures may become critical. Present charging procedures allow for flow seating of the slug column. The distance the column is flow seated varied from very little to 3 or 4 inches depending on the particular charge. It is believed that this practice can lead to the situation observed in the laboratory tests. During the past two months, there has been …

This general report on radium summarizes the research work conducted by seven AEC contractors since 1943. The costs to concentrate and purify radium from refinery ore residues are discussed. Desriptions and flow sheets of several commercial processes are included to provide background information.

A comparison of the rates of fixation of Carbon 14 dioxide in algae for the processes of photosynthesis, photoreduction and the hydrogen-oxygen-carbon dioxide dark reaction has been made. For the same series of experiments, rates of incorporation of tracer carbon into the separate soluble components using the radiogram method have been determined. The mechanism of carbon dioxide uptake has been shown to occur via two distinct paths. In all cases studied, essentially the same compounds appear radioactive. The distribution with time, however, differs markedly.

This report summarizes the series of irradiations conducted in a Hanford reactor on specimens of zirconiumclad, uranium-- zirconium fuel plates containing 3, 6, and 14 vt.% highly (93.4%) enriched uranium. More than thirty fuel plates were exposed during the test program, which extended over a period of several years. (auth)

The ultimate achievement of a research and development program at Sandia. Corporation, as at any other AFX or DOD project, is the physical design of a component or weapon system of high reliability. The design accomplishment is initially established when the basic drawings and specifications are released for production. These drawings and specifications are often based on engineering evaluations of bread- .board and early so-called & quot;gold plated prototypes. However, the design accomplishment is not completed until the item is manufactured by production tools and performs satisfactorily, meeting all the requirements specified in the engineering and manufacturing information. It is only at this stage that we have initial assurance that we may proceed with quantity production. This transition from essentially handmade prototypes to a production-tooled reliable product is a crucial one in any design development program, but it is especially as when the end product is complex and extremely high reliability is required.

None

None

The overall process of photosynthesis involves a number of interconnected processes. These processes, which are cyclic with respect to both energy and material, are related at some points to well-known respiratory processes. The carbon-reduction cycle in photosynthesis is now known in detail. All enzymes involved in this cycle have been isolated and the sources of energy required for its operation have been identified in terms of reducing agents and 'high-energy' phosphate. These sources of energy a r e derived ultimately from absorbed light energy which brings about the photolysis of water. Possible mechanisms for this photolysis and for the transfer of energy from the photolysis products to the carbon-reduction cycle are discussed here. Experimental data, in the form of quantum efficiency measurements, are presented and partially confirm the theories proposed for the mechanisms of energy transfer. A diagram of the complete process of photosynthesis containing the several cycles and their relations is presented.

Clad plate-type fuel elements containing U--5 wt.% Zr--1.5 wt.% Nb alloy cores integrally clad on all surfaces with Zircaloy-2 were developed for the Experimental Boiling Water Reactor (EBWR). These plates were prepared by roll bonding assembled components inside steel jackets at 850 deg C with 50% reduction in thickness to effect sound diffusion bonds at all component sufraces. To obtain reproducible sound bonds, uranium alloy core and cladding components were clean and free from surface contamination, such as inclusions, oxides, or other foreign material; contamination of mating surfaces was avoided during welding operations; all bonding surfaces were sealed to prevent contamination from outgassing of the steel jacket during heating and rolling; billets were designed with a differential thermal expansion allowance for the core relative to the cladding; and all assembled billet components were evacuated and sealed by welding in vacuum. Integrally rollbonded end closures were obtained by orienting billet end plugs so that the prior hot-working anisotropy of Zircaloy2 would increase their lateral spread and facilitate the Zircaloy-2 end to Zircaloy-2 side bonds during rolling. Investigations were made of alternate methods of bonding fuel shapes and the use of alternate core alloys in flat plates. Roll bonding in shaped pass …

A program is described for computing a quantity, Q, proportional to the neutron scalar flux, in an infinite heterogeneous slab system. The system is generated by a two-region unit cell. Q is the average track length per unit length, in a given interval, arising from the neutron traffic established by a spatially distributed monenergetic source. The program is coded for the IBM 704 computer. (auth)

It is desired at this time to present in summary form a factual history of the Building 234-5 operations, encompassing not only the immediate pre-start-up period from April to July, 1949, but including the major obstacles encountered in the succeeding interval to the end of 1949. This report is intended to serve not only as a review of 234-5 operations during this period but also as a documentary evidence of the difficulties experienced and the manner in which they impeded the start-up. This report presupposes a certain familiarity with the background of the 234-5 Building. To one unacquainted with the scope of this project, or for those desiring a background review, reference should be made to Document HM-253, ``234-5 Building Program Review``, by D.D. Streid, dated April 22, 1949. It must be realized that any attempt to discuss in detail all the circumstances and difficulties contributing to the start-up period would be disconcerting to the reader, and would very likely be repetitive. Therefore, although it is far from the writer`s intent that a cursory review will suffice, the presentation will be as nearly as practicable, chronological and comparative. For the sake of clarity it will be necessary to present several …

None

None

Thermnl transients with total pulse times of 3 to 28 milliseconds were simulated by direct-current electrical heating in studies of the explosions of Ag, Al, Cu, Sn, U, Zn, and Zr specimens under water and under oil at an ambient temperature of 75 d F and at atmospheric pressure. Motion pictures were taken of many of the explosions at film speeds of 7,500 to 14,500 frames/sec. A 600-foot composite reel was prepared which shows 7 representative explosions and views of the equipment. Data for 34 runs, photographs, and photomicrographs are presented and discussed with respect to burnout, heat transfer, and metal-- water reaction. (auth)

Results are reported concerning studies of hydraulic cyclones (hydroclones) for application to particle size classification of ThO/sub 2/. Tests were run with a 0.50-in. diam. hydroclone. It was shown that a single pass through this hydroclone would reduce the material greater than 10 mu from 12 wt.% to less than 1% while the mean diameter was reduced from 1.7 to 0.9 mu . When the overflow (fine) fraction was again pumped through the hydroclone, the overflow solids from the second pass were 98 wt.% less than 2 mu in diameter. The mean diameter was reduced from 0.9 mu to about 0.7 mu by the second pass. A yield of 5 to 7 wt.% of solids (to the overflow streamn) and a ratio of overflow to feed volume of 0.25-0.30 were observed during the hydroclone tests. Although this low yield is undesirable, recommendations are made that would increase the yield sufficiently to make desirable the incorporation of hydroclones in the ThO/sub 2/ production flow sheet. (auth)

In the fabrication of the steam generator on APPR-1A it was considered necessary to roll the Type 430M tubes into carbon steel tubesheets to ASTM Specification A350-Grade LF-1, modifled with 1.66% nickel; and weld the tube ends to the stainless steel overlay previously applied to the tubesheet. The rolled joint was a necessary precaution to prevent secondary water, that might contain chlorides, from contacting the stainless steel weld joining the tubes to the tubesheets. The welded joint provided the mechanical strength for attaching the tubes to the tubesheets. A laboratory program was conducted, therefore, to develop practicable procedures for welding the Type 430M tubes to the stainless steel overlay; as well as to assure that the tubes could satisfactorily be rolled to the tubesheets. Automatic and manual tungstenare welding procedures were developed that were capable of consistently providing an austenitic weld having a strength exceeding that of the heat affected zone or the unaffected tube itself. Type 430M tubes in the asreceived, and softened conditions were rolled into prototype test units under various conditions of rolling. It was concluded that the Type 450M tubes in the as-received condition could be satisfactorily rolled into the A360Grade LF-1 tubesheet and be tlght …