Analytical methods are given for determining the composition and impurities of beryllium carbide. A summary of the experimental work leading to these procedures and supporting data are also presented. Analytical procedures for the determination of free and combined carbon, moisture, nitrogen, beryllium oxide, silica, iron, total beryllium, and beryllium metal are outlined. Diagrams of special apparatus used are included. (auth)

This report summarizes the radioactive contamination measured at the Hanford Works and vicinity for the quarter July, August, and September 1948. Topics discussed are: meteorology; airborne contamination and contamination of the Columbia River; vegetation; drinking water; and in Hanford Wastes.

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Activities for the month of February are as follows: (1) calculations of reactivity and temperature limits; (2) calculations of operating levels of D pile if reduced in size; (3) symposium on power coefficients; (4) test of new vertical (safety) rods; (4) metal quality studies; (5) status of process tube ionization chamber failures; (6) reactivity balance of each of operating piles; (7) graphite testing; (8) water activity calculations; (9) pile shielding; (10) radioactivity of titanium; and (11) critical mass experiments.

This report details events of importance reported by the Hanford Operations Office for the week ending March 2, 1949.

Many questions have been raised concerning the advisability of continuing the presently scheduled Redox design and construction program in performance to other uranium recovery processes. In order to answer these questions properly, an extensive re-examination of the Redox process objectives and status and a careful study of other possible alternative uranium recovery processes have been carried out by the Hanford Works. This survey has included consideration of both existing process and facilities for plutonium separations, the Redox process, the Carbide and Carbon Uranyl Ammonium Phosphate process, uranium solvent extraction alone, and various combinations and couplings of parts or entities of the above. Comparative evaluation has been based on the relative assurance of obtaining both plutonium and uranium production; recovery of both ``aged`` and ``current`` metal wastes; timing for developing, design, and construction; economics of capital investment and operating costs; and process complexity, adaptability, and safety. This survey has resulted in conclusions and recommendations for a unified program of separations process development, design, and construction. It is the purpose of this letter to present these conclusions and recommendations, together with a brief summary of the reasons leading to their establishment.

A device for manipulating a pair of tongs behind a shielding barrier has been built and tested. It is called a Master-Slave Manipulator because the slave tongs move in exact correspondence with a master handle. The "slave hands" follow the master hands in complete synchronism. This is the first completely master-slave manipulator known to exist and has proved that this type of manipulation is very successful when the unit is prooperly engineered and built.

The extension of the passband of wideband amplifiers is a highly important problem to the designer of electronic circuits. Throughout the electronics industry and in many research programs in physics and allied fields where extensive use is made of video amplifiers, the foremost requirement is a passband of maximum width. This is necessary if it is desired to achieve a more faithful reproduction of transient wave forms, a btter time resolution in physical measurements, or perhaps just a wider band gain-frequency response to sine wave signals. The art of electronics is continually faced with this omnipresent amplifier problem. In particular, the instrumentation techniques of nuclear physics require amplifiers with short rise times, a high degree of gain stability, and a linear response to high signal levels. While the distributed amplifier{sup 1} may solve the problems of those seeking only a wide passband, the requirements of stability and linearity necessitate using feedback circuits. This paper considers feedback amplifiers from the standpoint of high-frequency performance. The circuit conditions for optimum steady-state (sinusoidal) and transient response are derived and practical circuits (both interstage and output) are presented which fulfill these conditions. In general, the results obtained may be applied to the low-frequency end. …

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This document is a March 1949 Ad Interim Report on the development of a high-speed, low-sensitivity calorimeter at the Mound Laboratory. This calorimeter is a zero-compensating, thermocouple, twin type. The outside diameter of the aluminum tubing was machined for a slip fit into the glass test tube. Prior to assembling in the test tube, an aluminum plug was pressed in it midway from the ends. A groove was also milled on the outside down to the plug, and a copper-constantan thermocouple was secured in the groove after assembly. A single layer of aluminum foil was used to reduce radiation effects, and stray air currents were excluded with a cotton plug. The two arms of the calorimeter were placed in a three-liter beaker filled with water. The constantan leads of the two thermocouples were soldered together to make them compensating. The copper leads were connected to a L & N potentiometer, and a L & N galvanometer was also used. The potentiometer-galvanometer circuit was so connected that before each reading of the EMF of the thermocouples, the thermal EMF in the circuit could be accounted for. The galvanometer was then mounted on a heavy brass plate. The data show that when …

Tests were made to determine the straight run limitations of the Beth-Flo Gentile Flow Tube. The effect of surface roughness on tube performance was also investigated. The permanent head loss of the tube was determined.

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This document details activities of the Hanford Works during the month of February 1949. (JL)

This report details events of importance reported by the Hanford Operations Office for the week ending March 16, 1949.

This memorandum presents a summary of current technical considerations on the feasibility of operating the piles at higher powers. These were reviewed and are recorded here as a basis for further action to be taken by the Manufacturing Divisions.

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The assay technique is discussed in detail. The results of three purity determinations are: 94.92 per cent, 100.50 per cent, and 106.9 per cent. The errors present in each determination are stated. The inherent dangers in the present procedure are pointed out, and an improved method is outlined.

This document details the activities of the biological research program conducted by the Mound Laboratory during the first quarter of 1949.

The cloud chamber is a means of observing the path of ionizing radiation. It does not reveal the radiation directly, but gives a visible trail of the path along which the radiation has traveled. The trail is formed by vapor condensing upon pairs of ions remaining after an ionizing particle has passed through the medium. The mutual interaction among rays, atoms, nuclei, and particles, can be studied and measured with the aid of vapor trails. Measurements of changes in direction and range as recorded on the photographs may be interpreted in terms of changes in momentum and energy of the particles in these reactions. To obtain a precision measurement is difficult with a cloud chamber. The dependence of the apparatus upon a sudden gas expansion is certain to create distortions resulting from turbulence. Furthermore, since any radiation is subject to variations, precision measurements can be obtained only be the collection of numerous observations for statistical analysis. This document details the design, operation, and limitations of cloud chambers.

The principal object of this report is to record results of tests made on equipment installed in Room 232 of ``T`` Building and used to prepare bismuth powder for process operations. Another object is to establish the most favorable operating conditions for the equipment and to prepare operating instructions therefor.

Apparatus for measuring the resistivity of polonium is described. This equipment has been built and tested. No resistivity measurements were made, however, because the method of determining the purity of the sample has not been perfected.

This document is a March 1949 Ad Interim Report from the Mound Laboratory on the solution chemistry of polonium. A consideration of the valences of the elements of the Group VI-A would indicate that the oxidation states of -2, 2, 4, and 6 might be expected for polonium. From the decrease in stability of the hydrides of these elements with increase in atomic number, one would expect that the compound H{sub 2} Po would be very unstable and that the oxidation state of -2 would not occur in solution. Furthermore, the stability of the oxidation state +6 as well as the stability of the highest oxidation state of a given element decreases as the atomic number increases in Group VI-A and Period VI respectively. For these reasons, the oxidation state +6 for polonium would be expected to occur only in a strongly oxidizing medium. The +4 state would be expected to be stable. The work discussed herein indicates that polonium exists as PoO{sup ++} in a nonoxidizing or reducing medium.