FP££ TO ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS

To acquaint you with S&S Ana­lytical Filter Papers, we invite analytical chemists to mail the coupon below for a free sampler made up of several grades. As an analyt ica l chemist , you know that precise chemical anal­ysis requires filter paper of the proper quality and density. For those who demand only the finest working tools, S&S Filter Papers offer these advantages: 1. S tandard iza t ion , for consis­

t en t accuracy — comple te physical uniformity.

2 . Selection, for more precise analysis — a wide range of types from which to choose.

Make your own tests! Send for your S&S Filter Paper Sampler!

S & S ULTRA FILTERS S&S dual-purpose Ultra filters — smooth-surfaced membranes pos­sessing extremely uniform micro-structure—are ideal for filtration of colloids, proteins, and micro-organ­isms, as well as dialysis and osmosis. Mail coupon below for free S&S Ultra Filter Catalog.

MABL THIS COUPON TODAY

CARL SCHLEICHER & SCHUELL CO. m Dept.C-86,KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE S

Send me your FREE „ Π S&S Filter Paper Sampler 1 Π S&S Ultra Filter Catalog

I Name-

I Company-Address—

I City _ .-State-

I I I I Ε

• R E S E A R C H

Atomic Research Jobs for Chemists Tap new sources of chemical manpower to solve atomic energy problems, says AECs Libby

Χ* ROM THE TIME the uranium ore is mined, converted to U 3 O s or to di-uranate in the mill, refined to high purity uranium trioxide, hydrofluori-nated to uranium tetrafluoride and re­duced to uranium metal, to be placed in a reactor or further fluorinated to uranium hexafluoride to be placed in the gaseous diffusion plant for enrich­ment, the chemist is busily at work on atomic energy. His work continues beyond this point, too, for the irradi­ated fuel elements must finally be dissolved and the fission products and plutonium and unreacted uranium all separated. It is quite a business. Taken as a whole it approaches some of our larger chemical occupations in magnitude."

So says Willard F . Libby, first chem­ist to serve as a commissioner on the Atomic Energy Commission. Speaking before the Berkeley meeting of the California Section of the ACS, Libby spelled out "The Role of the Chemist in Atomic Energy/* Among the chemi­cal jobs Libby points to as necessary for development of atomic power:

• Plutonium fuel elements must be developed and their processing mastered. At the moment, the only use of plutonium is in weapons. Atomic power plants will probably pro­duce more plutonium than a weapons program will need. Chemists must learn how to handle the very toxic plutonium and how to use it as fuel.

• Atomic power asks of metallur­gists a completely noncorrodible fuel element; on the other hand, it asks process chemists to dissolve it and process it for a minimum cost. This conflict seems to force the use of new degrees of freedom such as are in­volved in high temperature processing, special dissolution methods, and the use of alloys with specific coolants which are inert to the dissolving re­agent. The corrosion problem might be avoided by avoiding heterogeneous fuel elements and going to homogene­ous reactors. (Libby feels a type of homogeneous reactor will eventually give the cheapest atomic power.)

• The most immediate and pressing of all chemical problems associated with atomic power is cheap processing

of irradiated fuel elements from the many types of heterogeneous reactors now under construction. ( In a sense, says Libby, we are committed t o a program that assumes this job will be well done.)

Solution of these problems is only a matter of time, says Libby; the diffi­culty is in solving them quickly. He feels it can be done by tapping two sources of chemical manpower.

"It is our wish, therefore, that the chemical industry interest itself in the problems of atomic power, for most of the chemists not now working on atomic energy are in the employ of industry. Of course, a great deal can be done by closer liaison with the universities surrounding the various re­actor development laboratories such as the Argonne National Laboratory. . . . We want both."

More Reactors Atomic research gets a boost from

four recent reactor developments^

• A new experimental graphite reac­tor is in operation at the Harxford

.atomic plant. Research into chain re­action physics, iumed at producing fis­sionable materials more efficiently, will be speeded with the $200,000 unit. Called PCTR (Physical Constants Test Reactor), it will be used to evaluate methods of constructing uranium fuel pieces and distributing them within present atomic reactors.

Though much smaller than the main Hanford reactors, it still sustains a chain reaction and therefore develops more neutron flux than the subcritical test reactors previously employed at Hanford; it also gives more accurate re­sults. Unlike these, PCTR does not have to be disassembled after each test. It is expected to permit fivefold increase in tests per year with fivefold decrease in cost per test.

• AEC has issued a permit to Aero­jet-General Nucleonics for construction of a low-powered research reactor at San Ramon, Calif. The reactor is planned as a prototype for sdditiorial reactors to be sold to colleges, uni-

4 1 4 4 C & E N A U G . 2 7, 1956

7faw&?ïméd£/

e Α ΚΑ P L C W. feira&ff<£ra\i%

from: Carl SeW

versities, and other researi institutions. It should be completed before the end of the year.

Designed to operate at a power level of 0.1 watt, the reactor is to be a com­pact, self-contained facility housed in α steel shell. It will use enriched uranium as fuel. The core will consist of uranium dioxide particles imbedded in polyethylene as a moderator.

• AEC has approved construction of a prototype reactor plant to power a small submarine. The $10 million unit is to be built near Windsor, Conn., by Combustion Engineering, which re­ceived the research and development contract for the reactor and associated systems in July 1955.

• Battelle Memorial Institute re­ceived a 10-year permit from AEC to operate its research reactor (C&EN, Oct. 3 , 1955, page 4182) .

Disaster Burn Treatment The Public Health Service has de­

veloped a method for treating shock due to burns in case of mass disasters or in areas where adequate medical care is not available. The treatment: 2 teaspoons of table salt, 1 teaspoon of baking soda per 2 quarts of tap w a t e r -taken orally and in large quantities dur­ing the first 48 hours.

Clinical tests, conducted in Lima, Peru, by a group headed by Kehl Markley of National Institute of Arthri­tis and Metabolic Diseases, compared on an alternate case basis the new therapy with the traditional—plasma, blood, colloids, or other intravenous therapy. In three and one half years, some 200 adults and children were studied. There were no substantial differences in occurrence of shock or incidence of death from shock from the two methods, they say in JAMA, Aug. 11.

PHS plans to continue the study for another year and a half.

Amino Acids and Cancer Aspartic acid is present in tumor-

bearing mice in significantly lower amount in tumor tissue than in other tissues, according to the National Can­cer Institute. It is higher in tissues (except tumor) of tumor-bearing mice than in the corresponding tissues of healthy mice. Seventeen amino acids were studied.

The research, by Μ. Ν. Mickelson and L. Barvick, will aid attempts at Midwest Research Institute to prepare amino acid derivatives for use as anti­tumor agents. If an amino acid is present in a lower amount in tumor tissue than in normal tissue, a given amount of amino acid antagonist will

block utilization of that amino acid in the tumor to a greater extent than in the normal cells, and thus cause less injury to the latter.

Mickelson and Barvick suggest that since aspartic acid is a focal point for the synthesis of other amino acids and perhaps nucleic acids, the abnormal amounts of this acid may reflect an attempt in tissues of the tumor-bearing animals to keep pace with the amino acids requirements of the rapidly grow­ing tumor tissue. Either aspartic acid is utilized more rapidly or synthesized more slowly by the tumor than other amino acids.

• A new weight-reducing a g e n t said to differ from present anorexiants has been introduced by Geigy Pharmaceuticals. Called Preludin, it is 2-phenyl-3-methyl-tetrahydrol-1, 4-oxazine hydro­chloride. Geigy says it produces steady, progressive weight loss with a minimum of undesirable side effects on the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. With reasonable dietary limi­

tations, weight loss is said t:o average about 2 pounds a week. • Research from a m a n n e d " s p a c e " lab attached to a plastic balloon i s b e ­ing undertaken by the Office of N a v a l Research. In the first maraned flight in O N R s Stratolab program*, two o b ­servers reached 40,000 feet. The r e ­search involved short r a n g e photog­raphy of vapor trails produced b y je t aircraft. The Stratolab program is said to afford a unique opportunity to m a k e physical measurements of t h e a tmos ­phere; to conduct astronomical observa­tions not possible from the ground b e ­cause of the earth's atmosphere; a n d t o provide a lab for obtaining basic d a t a in aeromedicine, upper a tmosphere physics, and astronomy. • Midwest Research Ins t i tu te will con­duct a detailed and comprehensive sur­vey and analysis of fire hazards amd problems resulting from U . S. AJr Force operations. Cooperating in t h e one-year study will be U. S. F'ire Protec­tion Engineering Service. Wright D e ­velopment Center is supporting trie program.

Ulfrapure Silicon Improved transistors and other semiconductor devices may result f rom ultrapirre silicon being produced at Bell Telephone Laboratories. H. C. Theuerer ( h e r e with J. S. Doyle—right) finds that boron—the most difficult impurity t o r e m o v e -can be removed with water vapor. This reaction oxidizes the boron , and t i ie oxidation products evaporate. A liquid silicon zone supported only by surface tension traverses a vertical silicon rod around which flows a mixture o f hydrogen and water vapor. This prevents contamination from crucibles and provides a large interface between the silicon and air. Boron removal is very effective, i n ­creasing with time and water vapor concentration. Combined with zone refin­ing, this method produces silicon containing boron at a concentration below 1 part in 10 billion and having a resistivity greater than 3000 ohm-centimeters.

AUG. 2 7, 19 56 C & E N 4 1 4 5