H Division Progress Report (March 21 - April 20, 1962) (Redacted)

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1. Isolation of Mammalian Genetic Material Isolation and characterization of genetic material deoxyribonucleic acid fDNA) from vj ruses have recently been accomplished i n other laboratories. the sur pris in q fact that the molecular uci qh t of varus 3NA is ,pproximattly I00 times la igor than originally supposed. studies with mammalian DNA have been hampered by a lack of techniques for seguaratior of the chromatin material from the more complicated strlrcture of the mammalian cell. of cells leads to breakage of the long and very fragile strands of DNA and results in a degraded trolecnle. These studies have revealed Nechanical di arup tion At this Laboratory for the first time a method employing mercaptQethann1 pretreatment has recently heen devised for makir.9 Living cells susceptible to attack by enzymes which they normally resist. disrupted by try ps in in the absence of any mechanical shear. subsequent extraction with aqueous phenol, chromatin can be separated from the remainder of the re11contents and then isolated free from contaminatjon b y phenol and residual protein by qel filtration on Sephadex. The product thus cbtained is currently heinq studied tn determine whether mlrmmallan DNA, Like viru3 DNA, is a larger and more complicated str oct ii re Yhan or iq in ally Mercaptoethanol-treated calls may be

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Dr. Harriet Hardy spent one day with membcrs of the Group discus ring health physics probLcms. AEC Security has agreed to retain 2-numbers on sc?urity badges, This work i sprovided H-1 will rework their record3 cn to IBM rarrls. bbout half completed. our film badge work, and i n maintenance oE medical records. The retention ai 2-numbers is essential in A Victorean Uda can was borrowed from 11-4 and is being te5tod €or use in radiation mcasurcmcnts a t Phenncx. Preliminary tests indicate that this instrument may he of value. The preliminary drawings of a storage pig for a 1500 curie Co'O source Jesigned by H - 4 have been checked and approved. The angular renponse of the converted Peewee neutron survey moderated tube, and by a factor of three for the bare tube. Our health physics program was examined by two members of the ALOO Health and Safety group. but no s eric wr deficiencies were indicated in their .,erbal comments. Their report has not been received,

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Group P-14 has built an x-ray device for test ln q detectors for a space prckrqe. 2 5 kov. Af2er chocking the machine, H - 1 concluded that no radiation problems exist in the work area. The x-ray energies will vary from8 kev t o Jn Ab, by Morri8 Engelkt and Edwin & mis, has been published. A nautron multiplying assembly has been i n use a t the Cockcroft-Walton accelerator. Quring operat ion the neutron dose 0 ' . K Stock steps was 40 mrem.This is not serious, but might present F problem if the opera tin9 times should be increased. The responsibility Cor decontamination and inspection of respirators was transferred to H-l on April9,1962. Since the tr an r fer we have processed 94 full - face masks and 124 half-mamks. Buildinq 96 was activated on April 19 t o load modules with elements for Kiwi 8 - 1 - B reactor. Although the building does not have a ventilation system, the work was completed with no air counts above the permissible level, and with a minimum of surface The modification of the LAMPRE 1 core ventilation system was completed. The highest exposure f o r this period vas 1.52 rem, evidence of good radiation safety planning by K3i vision. On April9, 1962 a small explosion occurred ina drybox i n Room 308, DP West. The incident occilrred when a CMB-1.1 chemist was breaking a filter cake ina 15 m l beaker. A piece of the cake ignited with explosive force. Very little conteminatlon was released and the man was not injured.

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Nunbar of Disabling Incjuries 4 16 Numbcr of Dayc Lost 129 10,233 slippery Main Shop floor and suffered rib fracture as a conscquence of the muscular strain he exerted in trying to avoid afall. He lost 5 days from work. On March 28th there was a fire i n the laboratory at TA-6, electrical insulation on the output leads of a traits fox ~ ~ e runder a laboratory hood, and that a plastic oxygen line which later It is believed that it was started by breakdown of burned through con.ributed to the fire. Coat of damaged equipment i s $310.00 and the estimated comt of restoring the building and the Number of Accidents 7 20 D . Motor Vehicle accidents 1/1/62 t o 4/1/62 There were 2 Governmnt vehicle accidents reported during this report period. One occurred when the vehicle skidded intoa fence port, and the other vasa backing accident.

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1. A procedure was writ tan by ENG-2, H-5, and H-3 for cleaning and repair of hoods containing deposits of pcrchlorata.. 2. % v i e w of GKX-7 Standard Operating Procedures is 3. Tt8ting and drying of berylliwn parts at GT Site 4 . The annual Spring Clean-Up Campaign of the Lions Club and Fire Lhpartmcnt was emphasized by ?I-3 i n t h e Laboratory. 5. Several brief safety articles were placed in the 6 . Safety Information Mwsletter 62-2 was published. 7 . The use of flameproofad tarpaulin # i a being con- i ' Isidered tar gearral use. This result8 from an incident in which a tarpaulin was ignited by an electrical short.1 8 . Fire prevention inspections were made with t 9. The film "Point of No Return" was r h m t o Mail and 10. Stand rr dr tor grounding electronic equipment were reviewed with W-7 Safety Co mitter. 11. Prapo8ed modification i n P-Division electrical safety rules are biing rsvicwed by H-3 A. Evaluation and Control Work A total of 54 air samples and 4swipe samples were collected in the Beryllium Shop during this period and all were

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Miow pmisribl. la vel s. tho peak of activity in tho change room ahowed a concentration a lightly above that which would be acceptable for an 8-hour avarag.. Air concentrations were ah0 collected during in a wc tion in SD-4, tmrgat pra par atl on in P-4. h ry lli um handling i n N-4, and of beryll'.um parts rere encountered as a result of failure to dry the parts after submersion i n water: h wever, a11 the air samples were below permissible levels. water, alcohol and Magnaflux solutions. A 6-minute rample coll tc tud during In the latter caseI some corrosion Beryllium was aLso anplyzed i n A .tries of air sampler collected in the vicinity of 1 '.% 8 Till in Shop 15 ahowed conccntrationm 8-8 p8mi88ibl8 levels of the hood, another meries of samples indica td that the con can tr rti on ; was reduced t o less than half of the prraFssib1e level. and s t a c k sampling in the test cell a t TA-46 has now been turned over to Group 9-1. A i r samplea wexe collected near the waste treatment facility in & Ita Building and analyzed for nitric acid. highest concentration found was just slightly klW the permlaAir sample* were collected and analyzed for trich l oro - ethylene ata new degreascr a t TD Site and showed concentrations Very clome t o pt2rmA88ibl8 levels. is necresary at present since the tank is used for short periods at the de grease r in Sigma Building choved concentrations wall hio w permi Dsi ble levels. Hwevr:. no additional ventilation SimiLar samples collected and analyzed for perchloroethylene

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m mts for nvrcury vapor wn nuda follawing mpillm a t GWX-7, W Site and intwo ataas a t TA-46: no sarioum exposure. kr investigation was made of the ume of Dovtherm i n minimize odors o: diphenyl. In pr wed houmekeeping was race-ndcd LO Air sawlan will be collected when the material is umed again. Weekly fallout samples are still being collected. "he s&npling location has ken moved from the roof of HRL building to the air in t8k.at the north end of the first floor. The filtering nrdium has boon chan pd to permit more detailed analysem f ' - on 88tIIph8 that a y ba collected during the curmnt temt norims in the Pacific. were rc view d in detail and a recommendation was mda for the acceptance of one of thew rooms. Several conferencam w:ro held and rccommndationm made regarding ventilation aad air cleaning required in the expansion of shop 15. The cleaning of sxhaunt duct8 i n RRL Building was which perchloric acid had beon used and a potential fire and explosion hazard eximted. Inspection holes were cut in these duct. and, where neecasary, the ducts were washed from the fan on the roof t o %ha hood. Such complete traatmtnt was nec rrs ary only i n the case of one duct. material from the ducts were analyzad by the Laboratory Section for perchloric acid. The other8 were inapectcd and

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clucked in 8 J-11 trailer azb i n Group. N - 1 and aPK-7. port8ble cyclone vacuum chan ar was provided for the eollectfolr of phenolic du it In P-3 shop; thi. s:y.taa has vock.d s at la factor i ly. h total of five sets C C p~dtnsw ere approved ju ring A total of 46 employees ware ft tk cd with respirators cleaning. inspection, and malntenan~8w ill be dona 8ecording to the r o ~ pira to rmaintenance program regulated b.1 Group H-5. work i m now king done atthe decont8min8tion hb oratory in CMR time to the construction of ateat bench for evaluating perform a no One man in th8 Field Section has devoted considerable 1. The sub8t it uti on cf an ion exch8nge technic for 8olvent ex trNc tion in the plutonium pr@c*dure Is still being use. S4aw concern f 8 tminy felt regarding a lack of agreement kmen LASL and RIISC i n counting standard plutonium procedures. A mmkt of the Laboratory Section will via it W L next month t o rmrolvr there difficult ies. The technic ha8 not yet been perfected for routine 2. A atudy ham been m8da comparing various tech-ics Art po at on thia

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3. work is continuing on tho calibration of cyclonetm, two stage air umplers. iron spharer and polystyrene latex spheres. have t o lm made h fore calibration is complete. Many more runs will 4.A perchloric acid scrubber dosigned 8nd used by A scrub kr for use with prc h lori cGroup J-11 i a being evaluated. acid in HIul Building hoods is being de velo vd. for tissua samples will be moved from the laboratory to a plat fon n on t h e outsids of HRL Building where it will be equipped with a programming timer and a fume trap. About 75 such groups of samples have been completed or are in the prowas of completion. will k tabulated for evaluation. The furnace used 5. T i . 8 ~ 0 8 from autopsy samples a r e still beinq analyzed. "he results obtained are being studied and 6 . Work ham ken initiated on the separation Of teehlutium from various mixtures: cop reef pit ation methods are being studied inthe first experiments. 7 . Work is continuing on the preparation of a aeries of ar sonic acids for analytical use. possible use i n the separation of u rani w and plutonium ions. 8.A series of ion exchange resins are under study for A detailed industrial hygiene inspection wae made of D8ily polien counts a r e now being done by Group H-5. This includes both a gross count and a differential courlc for various types of pollen : sample. are being collected on the roof During the month, various talks were given by members of tha Group. These include, "Solvents and Metals" atthe N-2 I; at safety meeting, " Activities of the Indurtrlal Hygierle

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Sroup" a t an orientation course tot MY employees. and Tall out Health Association mooting i n Albuquerque. O w member of the Group prepimd a chapter on "Par-0 tic u late Air Sampling" for the new air rumpling manual of tho A a rican Confarence of Governmanta1 In dur trial Hygienist.. other numbers of the Group continued work on the respirator m8nual and on material for the Biochemical Assay Committee of the Am rican Industrial Rygicne Association. O n e mernber of the Group attended the meeting of the Steering Connittoo for the preparation of in d Kr tria1 hygiene Ponographa. Another muiber of the group part ici p8tedin the mating of tho Indus tri8l Hygiene bad Table in Ok rl in, Ohio. ON mdmr visited the Amy Chemical Center r tho Naval R.De8rCh rnathodr for in-placcr ter ting of space filters and roa pir8tor. equipment of this type were also visited. D. Stat irt ical Summarv I. Air 8amplem collected or field tests made for: Nitric Acid Pums Po rchloroc thylenc Trichlorw thy lune Pollmn counts inair

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Trich l oro acetic acid Uranium ( fluorescim t ri c 1 Uranium alpha activity Mi mume ou 8 ~ aq or it ion sof auterials 15 Perchlorate i n hood residues 15 Tritium in water 1 ~ raniu mi n tissue (fluoreac. 1 35 Ikrylliua i n special Berkeley a. The utility of the Victoreen h doc on,a combined r8diation rate and integrating instrument, i n the GKX-11 Phennax -china pul red radiation is being investigated. doe8 not think it will work, but initial cheeks with the Ph cm x machine were very encouraging. It is the integrating feature of the in r tr urn nt which is of interest and its U8efUlneSS depends on certain effective time conatants which are yet undetcrmimd.

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b. I n the previous period, the rrsponse of the NaI(T1) crystal to fluorescent x-rays had been rrwasured from about t o 1000 Xev, using the gamma-rays from iso tops as sources. It was found that the gamma-rays did not give the same response a s the x-rays: differences as large as 20% were observed. The mr sure m nts vere made employing a method suggested by Heibertof P - 1 to Bemis, which eliminates amplifier linearity as a factor. The channel i n which the peak counting r a t e was obtained with the x-ray OK gamma-rays was first determined, and then the volt8ge r8quir.d t o produce a peak counting rate in that chanlvil with8 pulse rw8s then ma8ursd. The r8tio of volts to photon energy is ama sure of the crystal response. P-1 suggested that the pulse r k connected t o the input instead of the test position of the premmp. However, ue found that for the same photon source tke mraruted crystal response varied with the an pli fic r gain setting when the pulse r was connected t o thr input. It did not appear t o vary wbn connected t o the …