Preliminary meetings on coring of the graphite have been held with interested parties of the Technical and Production Divisions at which time the advantages and problems of coring were discussed. The advantages and the problems which must be surmounted in order to core have been presented to the working committee. A study of the means of accomplishing coring has been made considering only the central and maximum fringe coring. It is important that the minimum and maximum coring be established as soon as possible so that the coal coring pattern can be worked out and the design completed. From the studies that have been made thus far the 10 mil center core-60 mil fringe core appears to be the most favorable choice. The advantages and disadvantages of several possible coring combinations (central to fringe) are tabulated. The statements and graphs of temperatures made in this tabulation are based on the results of the analogue tests. The estimates of pile expansion resulting from various coring patterns are based on report HDC-1987 by R.K. Andersen. These results are summarized in Figures 1, 2, and 3. The results of the analysis which Technical plans to make on the DR graphite sample will be …

This report discusses the processing of 55 MWD per ton metal, at the Hanford Works` T-Plant in December, 1950.

Progress is reported on work on carbon reduction of uranium oxide; uranium slug and slug canning development; preparation and handling of fine non-pyrophoric uranium powder; separation of alloys; reduction of thorium oxide; and preparation of beryllium. Work to investigate and develop methods, by means of which flat plate fuel elements approximately 14 feet long can be manufactured economically by powder metallurgical processes and to investigate methods for producing tubular fuel elementsis reported. Progress is reported on work on hydrostatic pressing of metal powders and slip casting of metal powders. Further development work is reported on dimensionally stable uranium alloys, wire fuel elements, and perforated wafer fuel elements, as well as investigation of the mechanism of dimensional instability of U under irradiation and the fundamentals of sintering and of diffusional bonding.

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This report addresses the AEC symposium on particle-fluid mechanics

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This report describes the physical description and functions of the capillary flowmeter.

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 …

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Thorium nitrate, removed from irradiated Th metal processed in the Thorex pilot plant, was converted to the oxide and then to the fluoride in one pilot-plant-scale and two laboratory-scale runs. Activity distributions, decontamination factors, and safety of the process are treated. (D.L.C.)

Brillouin polyhedra for the intermetallic compounds of lithium and lead were determined using the zone theory. From these determinations, predictions and explanations of some electromagmetic and structural properties of the intermetallic compounds were made. (For Part IV see UCRL-4973.) (C.J.G.)

High-absorbancy spectrophotometry was applied to the precise determination of about 0.15% cobalt in aluminum by the 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2- naphthol method. The absorbancies of sample aliquots were measured versus a standard containing 50 mu g of cobalt. The relative concentration error for a single measurement, assuming a 1% transmittancy error, is 0.93% and the coefficient of variation of 5 cobalt determinations is 0.5%. (auth)

Uranium--niobium alloys were prepared by direct reduction with calcium of urardum tetrafluoride and niobium pentoxide. The reduction of potassium oxyfluoniobate did not give satisfactory results. Alloys containing up to 20% niobium have been successfully achieved. Ternary alloys containing chromium and vanadium have been prepared by simultaneous reduction of chromium anhydride and vanadium pentoxide. The preparation of the alloys is described and the results are discussed. (auth)

A proposal is given of an approach to a fission-product trapping system which appears feasible on the basis of thermodynamic and other data available. Reactor and trapping conditions are outlined. The half-lives, fission yields, and volatility of the fission products of interest are described. To provide the most effective retention at elevated temperatures, two types of reagents are required: a highly electropositive metal that will not melt or appreciably vaporize and which will form stable non-volatile compounds with non-metallic or near non-metallic fission products; and a reagent to provide a highly electronegative element to form stable, non-volatile compounds with metallic fission products. Thermodynamic properties are included for compounds formed by reactions between the fission products and the trapping reagents. (B.O.G.)

This report summarizes the design and construction of the Bevatron (6-Bev proton synchrotron) with emphasis on the engineering problems. It includes specifications, outline drawings, and a bibliography of other reports concerning the subject. Operating results and changes made after the initial start-up in February 1954 are mentioned only briefly.

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Activation of indium foils by thermal neutrons has been applied to measurement of fast-neutron fluxes. Foils are encased in paraffin spheres placed in cadmium boxes. The high-energy neutrons that penetrate the cadmium become thermal neutrons; the thermal-neutron flux is proportional to the incident fast-neutron flux over a range of about 20 kev to 20 Mev. The foils are removed from the boxes and counted on a methane-flow proportional counter. High instantaneous neutron fluxes are easily detected and counted by use of these foils. Many simultaneous measurements have been made easily by this method.

In reduction reactions of CeO/sub 2/, with calcium and a CaCl/sub 2/ flux, the use of vibrational energy was shown to have a marked effect on the yield of coalesced metal. Buttons of 40 to 50% theoretical yield were obtained from the vibrated reductions. As the flux concentration is decreased, the slag becomes more viscous containing undissolved CaO. The undissolved CaO present prevents the metal from completely coalescing, but the metal can be recovered from the slag and coalesced under CaCl/sub 2/ containing a small amount of calcium to reduce any oxide skin present. Cerium pellet yields of 50 to 60% metal were obtained by the procedure and were not difficult to handle in air. Cerium was used as a stand-in material for plutonium. (B.O.G.)

While the concept of a biological system as a balanced network of chemical transformations is not a new one, experimental definition of specific systems has been lacking. This paper defines theoretically and experimentally a number of such networks and their behavior and response to some limited environmental changes.

A linear accelerator, which increases the energy of protons from a 4 Mev Van de Graaff injector, to a final energy of 31.5 Mev, has been constructed. The accelerator consists of a cavity 40 feet long and 39 inches in diameter, excited at resonance in a longitudinal electric mode with a radio-frequency power of about 2.2 x 10{sup6} watts peak at 202.5 mo. Acceleration is made possible by the introduction of 46 axial "drift tubes" into the cavity, which is designed such that the particles traverse the distance between the centers of successive tubes in one cycle of the r.f. power. The protons are longitudinally stable as in the synchrotron, and are stabilized transversely by the action of converging fields produced by focusing grids. The electrical cavity is constructed like an inverted airplane fuselage and is supported in a vacuum tank. Power is supplied by 9 high powered oscillators fed from a pulse generator of the artificial transmission line type. Output currents are 3 x 10 {sup-9} ampere average, and 50 {mu}a peak. The beam has a diameter of 1 cm and an angular divergence of 10{sup-3} radians.

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A study was made of the effects of temperature, impurities in the hydrogen chloride, flow rates, and niobium content on both the reaction rates and insoluble uranium losses in the Zircex Process is presented. (W.L.H.)