Monthly Status and Progress Reports for January, 1953 (Partial) (Sec. V, Biology and Medicine)

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Off - site research program.. The Division of Biology and Medicine has reserved inits 1953 budget some $6,500,000 for the financial support of an estimated 360 research projects in cancer, medicine, biology, and biophysics t o be conducted at universities, hospitals, and other in st it u - tion laboratories throughout the -country. The estimate includes approximately $5,80c,soo f o r the renewal of some 295 research projects, and $700,000 for a tic ipa ted support of new worth-while research projects. Through January of the current fiscal year, the Division has renewed some 117 projects EL approximately $2,5OO,OOO; i n addition, 34.new research projects totaling approximately $400,000 were approved. Jznuary alone, customarily aslow month for contract actions, the Division a2proved 14 renewals a t $l5O,OOO and approved 5 new projects f o r a I n the month of

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Respiratory exchange recording system. Equipment which will greatly facilitate and improve the accuracy of studies on the action of ionizing radiation on mammalian respiratory metabolism bas recently been developed under a National Cancer Institute-AEC project. This equipment will permit continuous automatic analysis and recording of total metab! olism of small laboratory animals. attachment t o the apparatus and can remain free i n a comfortable enclosure from which urine can be collected for nitrogen analysis. The newly developed equipment can record t h e rate of oxygen consumption, the rate of carbon-dioxide production, and the respiratory quotient, continuously for an indefinite period, and with a degree of resolution on the time scale such that minute-to-minute changes are readily distinguished. It provides also an integrated tabulation of the total respiratory gas exchange over any set period. The combined records permit ready calculat i o n of the separate rates of consumption of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, and the shifting disturbances of the metabolism in this regard, in parallel with the animal's activity. The animal is undisturbed by any Radiation-induced cataract study. Atthe State University of'Iowa, a quantitative study of radiation-induced cataracts is currently in prog-- ress. This group has been comparing t h e effectiveness of fast neutrons (cyclotron-produced) and X irradiation (200 KV) on the production of cataracts in laboratory mice, i n both single and cumulative doses., The median effective(single) 'dose for the production of complete cataracts was found t o be about 210 r.e.p. (roentgen equivalent physic&) for the neutron radiation and 860 roentgens for the X radiation.In the multiple exposure experiments (with weekly neutron irradiation of 70-90 r.e.p. and X irradiation of 300-400 r.) it appeared that X irradiation was less e f - fec ti ve than the corresponding neutron fractionation. Effects of radiation on ocular lens.Investigators ' a t the Kresge Ey-e Institute in Detroit, studying the effects of neutrons and other radiations on the ocular lens, have reported some interesting findings. Their observations suggest that the portion of the lens which is most sensitive to X-ray damage isthe epithelium, and, of the compounds investiga ted, nuclear protein is the first t o be affected. This finding is consistent with the observation of others who have found thatX rays produce a more or less immediate effect on cell division, presumably through their effect on cell nuclei. reported by this group i s the inhibition of carbohydrate metabolism. Studies are being continued to elucidate further the mechanism involved. A secondary chemical effect of X irradiation Improved tracer technique for blood volume determination. Investi gators at ' theSt. Louis University School of Medicine have developed a useful new modification of tracer technique for the study of human blood volume and turnover. I n the study of cases of severe closed head i n j u r - ies, the usefulness of.the results has been partially vitiated by the delay caused by the necessity of incubating the patient ' s own blooc? with these patients led to unavoidable delay in initiating the procedure, and The inability to predict the time and place of arrival of -$= . '- i n therapy in st it c ted during this period further confused the

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these cells are tagged with chromium 5 1 every few weeks at a central station and divided intoa number of single dose ali quo ts, some of which are stored at each of several hospitals. di ate initiation of the blood volume determination upon the patient ' s arrival a t any of these points. The new procedure avoids these difficulties by making use of This procedure permits immeProposed biological laboratory a t Eniwetok. Beginning with the Bikini tests i n 1946 and continuing through the recent tests a t Eniwetok, a program has been conducted t o study the radioactive contamination of plants and animals in the Bikini and Eniwetok areas. The investigations have been carried out chiefly by the Applied Fisheries Laboratory of the University of Washington, with surveys being made inmediately following atomic detonations and resurveys after intervals of several months or The advisability of establishing a small permanent marine' biological laboratory at Eniwetok is being investigated since the Commission has the responsibility to carry out continuing studies of radioactive contamination of the test area. Virtually nothing i s known of the biology of marine life of that part of the Pacific, including food chains of marine animals which determine the abundance of food ' fishes such as salmon and tuna. Other scientific groups have expressed both an interest and a willingness t o cooperate i n such an undertaking. Arrangements have been made for a party of six scientists from the Office of Naval Research and from the Pacific Science Board of the National Research Councfl (who will be meeting in Hawaii in February) to visit Eniwetok inthe company of Dr. Karl Wilbur of the Division of Biology and Medicine. This visit is being coordinated with the Divisions of Military Application and Security. During the visit to Eniwetok the group will visit Perry Island t o inspect present laboratory facilities and t o evaluate the site from the standpoint of possible future facilities. Tri - Part it e Conference on Permissible Doses. Delegates from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States will meet i n Washington on March 30, 31, and April.1, 1953, to participate in an international conference on permissible dose levels. This will be the fourth meeting of the Tri - Part it e Conference on Permissible Doses, which meets periodic ally to review the permissible dose levels for both external and inter - nal radiation. These periodic reviews permit a maximum exchange of information and experience on permissible dose levels, thus minimizing variations in standards between the participating countries. Cesium teletherapy unit for cancer research. The Oak Ridge Insti - tute of Nuclear Studies recently awarded a contract to the W. F. and John Barnes Company of Rockford, Illinois, €or design and construction of a prototype cesium 137 teletherapy unit. Delivery of the unit is expected

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within a year; it will be used for cancer research under the tele therapy evaluation program by the ORINS medical division and the participating National laboratory spring program reviews. It i s planned that the practice of holding spring reviews of the national laboratory programs will be continued this year as i n the past.A sampling of opinions has indicated that the managemen'; staffs of the nationdl laboratories and operations offices, and staff members of the Washington program divisions have found these reviews t o be extremely valuable from the standpoint of over - all review of programs and review of financial requirements for ensuing budget years. (End of UNCLASSIFIED section.). Civil Defense Activities Transmittal of weapons information t o FCDA. A s reported periodically, the Division has transmitted t o the Federal Civil Defense Adminis t ration information i n various.'established weapons effect categories upon showing of the justification of need by FCDA. been mutually agreed upon under a cooperative arrangement with Armed ' Forces Special Weapons Project of the Department of Defense. AFSW i s currently considering recommending t o the Joint Chiefs of Staff are vi - sion of the listing of such categories of information i n order to effect a broadening and simplification. has reviewed and commented upon t h e proposed revision. These categories have A t the request of AFSWP the Division Concurrently, the FCDA has requested broader access to certain types of information available to the AEC. This request involves weapons development data, as well as the effects categories mentioned above. I n reply the Commission has pointed out that all information available to date i n the agreed-upon categories, up t o Operation IVY, has been prot rica bly concerned with this request and that their collaboration is necessary; and that specific review through existing liaison channels.

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Highlights of Research Plutonium separations tests. Two cal u tron test runs were completed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on t h e separation of t h e isotopes of plutonium using plutonium trichloride as charge material. The first run was unsuccessful because of mechanical troubles associated with the high filament temperatures employed. The second run has not been evaluated. The third test may be run late in February. Purex pilot runs completed. The completion of the five Purex, pilot tests z t Oak Ridge National Laboratory with 60-day cooled Hanford irradiated slugs will provide General Electric with required process cri - runs are necessary. plete and final reports will be prepared during the next few months. Preliminary results indicate that 60-day cooled material. can be adequately decontaminated with two extraction cycles and without headend treatment. It is the opinion of ORK and GE personnel that no additional The Purex program a t ORNL i s now essentially comStored energy i n graphite. Information had been received ‘from the British that incidents involving the spont&eous release of stored energy inthe graphite of the Windscale production reactors had occurred. rangements were therefore made t o discuss with British representatives the problem of stored energy i n graphite at a meeting i n Washington on shut-down of the #2 Windscale reactor. When shut-down cooling fans were cut off the graphite temperature increased slowly and on reaching about 80° C . began t o heat up more rapidly. t o prevent further temperature rise and a maximum temperature of about occurred i n the #1 Windscale reactor somewhat later. and controlled release of stored energy i n the #2 reactor was staged this raise the graphite temperature t,o 200° C.in the reactor center. Power was then shut off and stored energy release continued to raise the tem - perature t o about 3500 C . The temperature wave passed slowly from the center towards the outside of the reactor, although energy release was not obtained i n all outer regions. Time involved in the release was ’ apparently several hours. It was learned that the first incident had occurred Cooling fans were turned on A second similar incident In this planned experiment reactor power was permitted to. Conclusions from the meeting were: 1. I n the temperature range 800 - 2000 C ., stored energy resulting from irradiation of graphite can be spontaneously released by heating the graphite slightly above the temperature .of 2 . Normal cooling is sufficient to control this energy r e - lease since the rate of release is comparatively slow.

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3 - To prevent build-up of excessive amounts of stored I energy of the type that is released at 200° C., consideration should be given t o periodic controlled releases of the stored l ienergy i n graphite reactors in which the graphite operates below 1 ;2000 c.i .& Construction of Research Facilities Computer facility. New York University has acquired a building on its Washington Square Campus for housing a UNIVAC computer. alteration work i s required and the building should be ready t o recFive the UNNAC by about March 20. CP-5. Construction on the Argonne research reactor and its associated equipnent i s progressing successfully. i s nearing completion and preparations are being made for the install a - tion of the thermal column structures. The reactor shielding tank Bevatron. Information was obtained from Brookhaven fora prelimThe results of the tests inary estimate for the shielding required for the bevatron atthe University of California Radiation Laboratory. on the cosmotron will be valuable i n operation of the bevatron. expected that this machine will. begin operation sometime this ' year. The AEC computer council held a meeting i n Philadelphia on January 37, a t which time Dr. John Wheeler of Princeton University resigned as chairman because of heavy commitments and the termination of Project him as chairman. ' Urznium Alloy Newsletter It i s expected that Dr. Edward Teller of UC RL will replace I n view of the extensive interest in uranium alloys the Division These are distributed as the of Research is collecting and assembling bimonthly brief research reports Irom all contractors active in the field. 4.110~Newsletter toall metallurgical groups. vice will help prevent duplicating programs and assist the rapid uti liza - It i s hoped that this detion of research results. J rives ti gator Subject of Research Precision measurements of

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Ion exchange chromatography Photochemical reactions of Studies in radiochemistry University of Illinois University of Indiana Electrochemical research in Mass. Inst. of Technology Properties of metals at low Photochemical reactions of complex molecules in conUniversity of Texas Unusual oxidation states of K. Hi Gayer Solubility of uranium and University of Wisconsin Excitation of nuclei by inOff-Site Research Proposals Disapproved Install, maintain, and operate an A E C computing facility 2979 000 University of Denver istics of molybdenum and’molybMellon Inst. of Ind. Research AEc computing facility 102,400 University of Minnesota The isolation and purification 0. H. Johnson of scandium oxide 14,861 University of Pennsylvania Computing facility for AEC 295,502 University of Rochester Computing facility for AEC 377,500

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4 s . . Ultrasonic Corporation Separation of gase und Reactors in Operation Experimental Breeder Reactor. A sample of enriched uranium containing 4 percent zirconium was exposed in the LITR at Oak Ridge for 1.5 percent burn-up. Preliminary measurements indicate that the dimensions increased only about 0.25 percent. The surfaces of the metal are good. Further exploration of irradiation damage to zirconium-uranium alloy is under way. Specimens of plutonium-uranium alloys immersed in hot sodiumpotassium corroded badly, whereas pure imanium is resistant under similar conditions. This inc3icates that NaK bonding, which has been used in EBR enriched uranium fuel elements, will not be satisfactory f o r plutonium. i