Report issued by the Argonne National Laboratory covering the quarterly report from the Reactor Engineering Division. A summary of reactor programs (including the Power Breeder Reactor (PBR) and the Central Station Water Reactor (CSWR)), designs, development, and experiments are presented. This report includes tables, illustrations, and photographs.

Abstract: "The cross section for the formation of Be⁷ from oxygen irradiated with high energy deuterons has been determined. The values are 4.5 millibarns at 100 Mev, 5.6 millibarns at 150 Mev, and 5.5 millibarns at 190 Mev."

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.

In the course of the development at Argonne of high purity uranium metal in ingot form, some questions arose as to the validity of the chemical analyses of some of the impurities (particularly those for carbon, boron, and silicon), with one analytical laboratory reporting concentrations in some instances of an order of magnitude greater than another laboratory. Since the low concentrations of impurities in this material involved, in some cases, the development of modified analytical procedures and standards, it was decided to check these discrepancies by having identically prepared samples analyzed by several AEC and associated laboratories. This report is a compilation of the results obtained.

The preparation of radioactive metallurgical specimens for microscopic examination is one of the responsibilities of the Radiometallurgy Sub-Unit. An abrasive cut-off machine development program, based upon a previous experimental model, was undertaken to provide a method for sectioning of irradiated materials without undue personnel exposure or spread of contamination and finally to provide data for the design of an abrasive cutting unit for use in the work cells in the Radiometallurgy Building. A horizontal-feed type set-off machine, powered by a 7 1/2 hp motor with V-belt drive, has been developed for the submerged sectioning of irradiated uranium and is currently being used successfully to obtain samples for metallurgical, chemical and physical investigations without excessive personnel exposure or spread of radioactive contaminates.

Corrosion-stability tests have been made in static autoclaves at 500 and 600F on solutions of compounds having high neutron cross sections to evaluate their usefulness for shutdown purposes. The only compound tested which appeared to be completely stable in 600F water was boric acid. Limited corrosion data did not show it to cause excessive corrosion of zirconium or stainless steel.

Plankton collected from the Columbia River by the net method and by the centrifuge method were compared. The centrifuged plankton (nannoplankton) exceeded the net plankton in weight, in abundance of organisms and in radioactivity. Similar seasonal trends were present in both types of plankton.

From introduction: "This report summarizes the work done on a study of fused-salt systems in a search for new liquid fuels suitable for use in a nuclear power reactor."

A laboratory test was performed to determine if a 10% oxalic acid solution could be safely be employed as a substitute to 2% chromic acid plus 5% phosphoric acid for removal of corrosion products from aluminum corrosion samples or slugs.

A method is presented for determining heat transfer rates and thermal stresses from the gamma-ray energy absorption of nuclear reactor shells for plane, cylindrical, and spherical geometries. Criteria for minimizing thermal stresses are developed, along with the corresponding external cooling rates necessary to minimize the thermal stress. Design charts are presented for rapid determination of approximate thermal stresses and heat transfer rates, along with a numerical example illustrating the use of the charts..

This report refutes earlier calculations made in the flux level of exponential piles. The results of the earlier calculations made on subcritical assemblies using critical assembly equations are in error. The calculations used in this report were more successful.

This quarterly report discusses ongoing research and experiments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Metallurgy Division. This report discusses water cooled reactors, liquid metal cooled reactors, reactor development metallurgy, basic metallurgy, applied metallurgy, and aqueous corrosion,

Our aerosol program employing monkeys has been initiated. A plutonium oxilate solution was introduced into the trachea. Preliminary results of the fecal and urinary determinations appear here.

Certain isotopes in the region of the heaviest elements have been produced by cyclotron and pile bombardment techniques, and their nuclear decay properties have been investigated. The orbital electron capture decay of At210, At211, Np234, Np235, Pu234, Pu237, and Am242m has been studied and decay schemes have been proposed. In addition, the alpha spectra of Po211, At210, and At211 have been observed.

In connection with the study of aqueous-tributyIphosphate (TBP) systems, the study of the interactions of various diluents with the TBP has been extended. The diluents used were mineral oil, Amsco 125-90W, dodecane, n-hexane, cyclohexane, benzene, n-octyl bromide, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform and pentachloroethane. The solubility of TBP in water from solutions of these diluents and the solubility of water in the organic phase was determined. For the paraffin hydrocarbons as diluents the solubility of TBP in water was found to increase with increasing molal volume of the diluent. No evidence for the formation of TBP-water complex of simple mole ration was found.

An empirical relation is presented which represents a boundary between no vacuum sparking and possible vacuum sparking. Metal electrodes and r.f. or d.c. voltages are used. The criterion fits several orders of surface gradient, voltage, gap, and frequency. Current due to field emission is considered necessary for sparking but in addition, energetic particles are required to initiate a cascade process which increases the field emission currents to the point of sparking. An elementary cascade process is outlined, but the data upon which it is based is not fully stated.

From introduction: This work is a survey of possible uses of ceramic materials in Hanford-type fuel elements.

The rolling and recrystallization textures in 300 C rolled uranium sheet were investigated using a Geiger counter diffractometer with the modified Schulz reflection technique. Seven sections of sheet material were used in order to obtain sufficient data for quantitative pole figures by the reflection technique. A special integrating specimen table was used for obtaining and recording the data atomically.

An analytical method for Cu-64 in reactor effluent has been studied based upon electrodeposition of the active copper with inert copper carrier. A two hour plating time was employed at a current density of 10 ma/sq cm and four volts across the cell. A stainless steel cathode plate was used. Carrier yields of greater than 80% were obtained with a standard deviation of the yield-corrected counting rate as low as 0.24%. Very little, if any contamination by other radioactive elements present was shown by decay curve studies. Self-absorption and self-scatter factors to correct the counting rate were obtained.

A spherical, unreflected U-235 critical assembly (52.6 kg) has been in operation since August, 1951. A remotely controlled mechanical system is used to assemble subcritical components of the sphere, and reactivity is adjusted with U-235 control rods positioned in the sphere. The maximum power level during sustained operation is about 1 kilowatt. In addition to investigations of the neutron spectrum of the assembly, observation of the changes of reactivity produced by inserting foreign materials into the assembly, and the dletermination of parameters such as the temperature coefficient of reactivity, studies have been made of the behavior of the assembly at reactivities above prompt critical.

This report follows a preliminary study on uranium migration in pressed and sintered UO2-bearing bodies based on MoSi2 or Al2O3.

Diffusion equations for a cascade shower which include an energy cutoff and energy parameters for each particle have not previously been studied. In this paper it is found that an inclusion of both permits collision loss to be represented as a discrete process by modifying the differential radiation cross section.

The yield and energy distribution of the lower-energy neutrons resulting from interaction of 14-Mev neutrons with Li6 and Li7 have been measured in the energy range between 4 and 12 Mev. A coincidence spectrometer was used to detect the neutrons from a scatterer in the form of a spherical shell placed around the neutron source. By use of the spectrometer as a threshold detector, transmission measurements were also made, from which could be determined the elastic cross section for scattered neutrons above 12 Mev. The result is in agreement with the measurement of Graves of the amount of small-angle elastic scattering. Using the known total cross section of Li6, the known reaction cross sections, and the present measurements, a complete “audit” of the interacted neutrons is made. Qualitatively, one-half of the total cross section is due to small-angle elastic scattering, and all inelastic processes result in lower energy neutrons spread rather uniformly in the region from zero to 12 Mev. Measurement using a thin iron sphere gave a neutron spectrum in good agreement with previous results of Graves and Rosen.

The following document analyzes the effects of extracting boron from sodium chloride with ethyl alcohol.