MOUND LABORATORY PROGRESS REPORT FOR SEPTEMBER 1963
Three silicone-based conductive adhesives were formulated and evaluated. One of the formulations had a resistivity of 0.089 ohm-centimeter after aging one week. After the same period the other two formulations had resistivities of 0.871 and 38.0 ohm-centimeters, Erratic adsorptive behavior of / sup 140/Ba was traced to in impurity in the Ba--/sup 140/La stock solution. Repurification by cation exchange did not improve the reproducibility of the separations, possibly because impurities are reintroduced by the distilled water. Definite improvement was noted when the /sup 140/Ba was separated from /sup 140/ La and other hydrolyzable materials by residue adsorption methods. A calorimetric measurement of a salt sample over a period of 148 days gave a tritium half life of 12.361 plus or minus 0.028 years. This value confirmed the earlier value of l2.355 plus or minus 0.028 years. The /sup 208/Po--/sup 209/Po mixture returned from Argonne National Laboratory is being processed further. Two batches of polonium-contaminated organic material were wet-ashed in nitric and perchloric acids. Further purification will be by techniques similar to those presently used for separating /sup 210/Po from bismuth. An unidentified gamma activity was found in the polonium that was recovered from pieces of Monel fluorination apparatus. The optimum conditions for decontamination of polonium process waste are being determined. Ferric sulfate was dissolved in the solution, and the pH was adjusted to a value between 7.0 and 12.0 to precipitate ferric hydroxide. However, the alpha and beta activity was not decreased sufficiertly to allow dumping of the wastes without further processing. A method of separating /sup 227/Ac from a mixture of its daughter products and /sup 226/Ra is being developed using ion exchange and solvent extraction techniques. Substituted elements are being used to evaluate the separation procedures prior to the separation of the radioactive isotopes. More than 99% of the thorium in the separation mixture was extracted into a chloroforrn solution of thenoyltrifluoroacetone at pH 2. The separation of /sup 234/U from aged 238/Pu was demonstrated using ion exchange and solvent extraction techniques. One batch of aged /sup 238/Pu solution was processed, and 14 mg of /sup 234/U were recovered. A second batch containing an estimated 250 mg of /sup 234/U in 26.2 grams of /sup 238/Pu is being processed. More than 99% of the plutonium was removed from the uranium fraction using an ion exchange technique, followed by a hexone extraction. Calibrations of neutron sources with the precision long counter are based on counting the unknown and the standard with their geometrical centers at the same position. The percentage by which the detector counting rate for a PuBe source of finite geometry exceeds the counting rate for a pointsource was determined for six sources. As a result of the investigation of neutron source calibration, the relative responses of the precision long counter to PuBe secondary standard sources are being restudied. Twenty-two recanned PuBe sources were recalibrated. A new electroplating control unit is being used for plating the gold retention layer on a series of experimental polonium alpha sources. Fabrication of wipe-free, gold-plated polonium sources with a specific activity of more than five mC/cm/sup 2/ was unsuccessful. A quasi-calorimeter is being used to investigate stretching effects of calorimeters. Stretching, or tailing on the calorimeter cooling curve, is affected by the insulation used. To lower the stretching effect in micro-calorimeters an insulation consisting of an air gap, or gaps, saparated by foils will be used. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Mound Plant (MOUND), Miamisburg, OH (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AT(33-1)-GEN-53
- NSA Number:
- NSA-18-019468
- OSTI ID:
- 4026595
- Report Number(s):
- MLM-1176
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-64
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ACETONE
ACIDITY
ACTINIUM 227
ADHESION
ADSORPTION
AIR
ALPHA PARTICLES
ALPHA SOURCES
BARIUM 140
BERYLLIUM
BETA PARTICLES
CALORIMETERS
CATIONS
CHLOROFORM
CONTAMINATION
CONTROL
COOLING
COPPER ALLOYS
DECOMPOSITION
DECONTAMINATION
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTROPLATING
FLUORINATION
FRANCIUM 223
GAMMA RADIATION
GOLD
HALF-LIFE
HEXANE
IMPURITIES
ION EXCHANGE
IRON HYDROXIDES
IRON SULFATES
ISOTOPE SEPARATION
KETONES
LANTHANUM 140
LAYERS
MEASURED VALUES
MIXING
MONEL
NEUTRON SOURCES
NICKEL ALLOYS
NITRIC ACID
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
PARTICLE SOURCES
PERCHLORIC ACID