A thermal analysis was performed to establish requirements for a heating system for the standpipe bubbler sufficient to maintain the sodium in the standpipe in a liquid condition over the range of operating conditions. There are very few formal requirements on operating limits or hardware selection. Therefore, consideration was given to standard types of equipment employed in a conventional manner. The recommended heating system consists of metal-sheathed resistance heaters with three units being mounted on standoffs and equally spaced around the pipe. The heaters would be covered by a layer of insulation having both interior and exterior coverings of reflective metal sheathing. The pipe temperature would be monitored by thermocouples, and the heaters would be turned on and off on a cycle of approximately 4 hours to maintain the pipe at a temperature of 800/sup 0/F +- 50/sup 0/F.

An analysis of the scheme to heat magnetically confined plasma columns to kilovolt temperatures with a laser beam requires consideration of two propagation problems. The first question to be answered is whether stable beam trapping is possible. Since the laser beam creates its own density profile by heating the plasma, the propagation of the beam becomes a nonlinear phenomenon, but not necessarily a stable one. In addition, the electron density at a given time depends on the preceding history of both the medium and the laser pulse. A self-consistent time dependent treatment of the beam propagation and the medium hydrodynamics is consequently required to predict the behavior of the laser beam. Such calculations have been carried out and indicate that propagation of a laser beam in an initially uniform plasma can form a stable filament which alternately focuses and defocuses. An additional question that is discussed is whether diffractive losses associated with long propagation paths are significant.

A summary is presented of the activities and results of research in nuclear chemistry, nuclear geochemistry, nuclear cosmochemistry, and other minor areas from 1950 to 1976. A complete listing is given of publications, doctoral dissertations, and reports resulting from the research. A chronological list provides an overview of the activities at any particular time. (JSR)