THE SOVIET JOURNAL OF ATOMIC ENERGY VOL. 8 NO. 4

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• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 19, 2013
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: June 1, 1961
• Content Type: REPORT

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Volume 8, No. 4
June, 1961
THE SOVIET JOURNAL OF
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KINETICS
AND
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This journal will carry original theoretical and experimental
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esses on the kinetics of chemical transformations; methods
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Reviews summarizing recent achievements in the highly im-
portant fields of catalysis and' kinetics of chemical trans-
formations will be printed, as well as reports on the proceed-
ings of congresses, conferences and conventions. In addition
to papers originating in the Soviet Union, KINETICS AND
CATALYSIS will contain research of leading scientists from
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Contents of the first issue include:
Molecular Structure and Reactivity in Catalysis. A. A. Balandin
? The Role of the Electron Factor in Catalysis. S. Z. Reginskii
The Principles of the Electron 'Theory of Catalysis on Semiconductors.
F. F. Vol'kenshtein
The Use of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance in Chemistry.
V. V. Voevodskii
The Study of Chain and Molecular Reactions of Intermediate Sub-
stances in Oxidation of n-Decane. Z. K. Maizus, h P. Skibida,
N. M. Emanuel and V. N. Yakovleva
- The Mechanism of Oxidative Catalysis by Metal Oxides. V. A. Roiter
The Mechanism of Hydrogen-lsotOpe Exchange on- Platinum Films.
G. K. Boreskav and A. A. Vasilevich
Nature of the Change of Heat and Activation Energy of Adsorption with
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L. A. Nikofaev
Determination of Adsorption Coefficient by Kinetic Method. I. Adsorp-
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K. V. Topchieva and B. V. Romanovskii
The Chemical Activity of Intermediate Products in Form of Hydrocar-
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Monoxide and Olefins. Ya. T. Eidus
Contact Catalytic Oxidation of Organic Compounds in the Liquid Phase
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Contents of the first issue include:
Electron-Diffraction Investigation of the Structure of Nitric Acid and
Anhydride Molecules in Vapors. P. A. Akishin, L. V. Vilkov and
V. Ya. Rosolovskii
Effects of Ions on the Structure of Water. I. G. Mikhailov and Yu P.
Sy rn ikov
Proton Relaxation in, Aqueous Solutions of Diamagnetic Salts. I. Solu-
tions of Nitrates of Group II Elements. V. M. Vdovenko and V. A.
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Oscillation Frequencies of Water Molecules in the First Coordination
Layer of Ion in Aqueous Solutions. 0. Ya. Samilov
Second Chapter of Silicate Crystallochemistry. N. V. Belov
Structure of Epididymite NaBeSi3070H. A New Form of Infinite Silicon
?Oxygen Chain (band) (S160,5). E. A. Podedimskaya and N. V.
Belov
Phases Formed in the System Chromium?Boron in the Boron-Rich
Region. V. A. Eperbaum, N. G. Sevast'yanov, M. A. Gurevich
and G. S. Zhdanov
?
Crystal Structure of the Ternary' Phase in the Systems Mo(W)?
Fe(CO,Ni)?Si. E. I. Gladyshevskii and Yu. B. Kyz'ma
Complex Compounds with Multiple Bonds in the Inner Sphere.
G. B. Bokii
Quantitive Evaluation of the Maxima of Three-Dimensional Paterson
Functions. V. V. llyukhin and S. V. Borisov
Application of Infrared Spectroscopy to Study of Structure of Silicates.
L Reflection Spectra of Crystalline Sodium Silicates in Region of
7.5-15p.. V. A. Florinskaya and R. S. Pechenkina
Use of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance for Investigating the Molec-
ular Structure of Coals. N. N. Tikhomirova, 1. V. Nikolaeva and
V. V. Voevodskii
New Magnetic Properties of Macromolecular Compounds with Con-
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A. E. Kalmanson
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EDITORIAL BOARD OF
ATOMNAYA gNERGIYA
A. I. Alikhanov
A. A. Bochvar
N. A. Dollezhar
D. V. Efremov
V. S. Emel'yanov
V. S. Fursov
V. F. Kalinin
A. K. Krasin
A. V. Lebedinskii
A. I. Leipunskii
I. I. Novikov
(Editor-in-Chief)
B. V. Semenov
V. I. Veksler
A. P. Vinogradov
N. A. Vlasov
(Assistant Editor)
A. P. Zefirov
THE SOVIET JOURNAL Of
ATOMIC ENERGY
A translation of ATOMNAY A ENERGIY A,
a publication of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR
(Russian original dated April, 1960)
Vol. 8, No. 4 June, 1961
CONTENTS
PAGE
RUSS.
PAGE
Lenin on Science and Industry: I. I. Kul'kov
259
301
Design of the VVR-S Research Reactor. V. F. Kozlov and M. G. Zemlyanskii
263
305
Ion Cyclotron Resonance in Dense Plasmas. L. V. Dubovoi, 0. M. Shvets, and
S. S. Ovchinnikov
273
316
Electrolytic Isolation of Small Amounts of Uranium, Neptunium, Plutonium, and Americium.
A. G. Samartseva
279
324
Role of Oxidation-Reduction Processes in the Solution of Uranium Oxides in Acid Media.
G. M. Nesmeyanova and G. M. Alkhazashvili
284
330
Composite Radiometric Work in Mining. I. M. Tenenbaum
289
336
Heat-Treatment of Uranium. G. Ya. Sergeev, V. V. Titova, Z. P. Nikolaeva, and
A. M. Kaptel'tsev
292
340
Investigation of the Internal Friction Increase in Polycrystalline Uranium Specimens Caused
by Temperature Changes. Yu. N. Sokurskii and Yu. V. Bobkov
299
348
Methods of Radioactivity Metrology in USSR. K. K. Aglintsev, V. V. Bochkarev,
304
354
V. N. Grablevskii, and F. M. Karavaev
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Cross Section for the Reaction Th232 (n, 2n)Th231 at 14.7 Mev Neutron Energy.
Yu. A. Zysin, A. A. Kovrizhnykh, A. A. Lbov, and L. I. Sel'chenkov
310
311
360
361
y-Radiation Emitted by U238 Under the Action of 14 Mev Neutrons. A. L Veretennikov,
V. Ya. Averchenkov, M. V. Savin, and Yu. A. Spekhov
A Study of Scintillations in Helium at Liquid Helium Temperatures. B. V. Gavrilovskii . .
313
363
Mass-Spectrometric Analysis and the Identification of Technetium. G. M. Kukavadze,
R. N. Ivanov, V. P. Meshcheryakov, Yu. G. Sevasttyanov, B. S. Kir'yanov, V. I. Galkov,
316
365
and A. P. Smirnov-Averin
Heat Transfer to Sodium at Low Re Numbers. M. S. Pirogov
318
367
Separation of Lithium Isotopes on a Simple Ion-Exchange Column. G. M. Panchenkov,
319
368
E. M. Kuznetsova, and L. L. Kozlov
Some Aspects of Aerial y-Ray Prospecting Over Forested Regions. G. N. Kotel'nikov and
N. L Kalyakin
321
370
On the Accuracy of Calculation of the Build-Up Factor for 7-Rays in Thin Absorbing and
Scattering Media. A. V. Bibergal' and N. I. Leshchinskii
324
372
Radiation Field Due to a Cylindrical Source Placed Behind a Plane Screen. D. P. Osanov
325
374
and E. E. Kovalev
Annual subscription $ 75.00 O 1961 Consultants Bureau Enterprises, Inc., 227 West 17th St., New York ll, N. Y.
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CONTENTS (continued)
An Investigation of Certain Artificially Radioactive Isotopes and Their Use in Medical
Radiography. I. A. Bochvar, V. E. Busygin, and U. Ya. Margulis
PAGE
327
RUSS.
PAGE
376
NEWS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Tenth All-Union Conference on Nuclear Spectroscopy. 0. Kraft
330
378
At the Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. (A conversa-
tion with the vice-director of the Institute of Physics in charge of scientific research,
0. F. Nemets). V. Parkhit'ko
332
380
[Utilization of Nuclear Power in Brazil and Argentina
381]
[Plans for the Development of Nuclear Power in Spain
382]
[Start-Up of a Fast Power Reactor at Dounreay
384]
[The Nuclear Power Station at Latina (Italy)
387]
[The Turret High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor
389]
[Recent Data,on Neutron Cross Sections
391]
[Fission Parameters for U235
392]
[Nes!! Uranium Deposits Outside of the USSR
392]
[Industrial Unit for Exposure of Materials to Radiation
3961
Brief Communications
333
391
BIBLIOGRAPHY
New Literature
334
398
NOTE
The Tables of Contents lists all material that appears in Atomnaya Energiya. Those items
that originated in the English language are not included in the translation and are shown en-
closed in brackets. Whenever possible, the English-language source containing the omitted
reports will be given.
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LENIN ON SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY
I. I. Kulticov
Translated from Atomnaya Energiya, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 301-304,
April, 1960
The shaping, the undeviating forward advance, and
the successes of Soviet science are indissolubly associ-
ated with the name of the founder of the Communist
Party and of the Soviet Government, leader and teacher
of toilers of the entire world, superlative thinker, and
coryphaeus of science, Vladimir Il'ich Lenin.
In Lenin were combined in brilliant fashion the
wisdom of the political organizer and leader of the
popular masses with the theoretical power of the
scientist. Lenin's great merit before the international
workers and Communist movement resides in the fact
that in the struggle with every different type of oppor-
tunist, he held high the purity of Marxist theory, and
enriched it with new discoveries and deductions cor-
responding to new historical conditions. Lenin's con-
tributions to Marxist philosophy, political economy, and
the theory of scientific communism number among the
most glorious conquests of scientific thought.
Lenin's theoretical heritage constitutes an enormous
contribution to the further development of the social
sciences and to all of natural science.
The juncture of the Ninteenth and Twentieth Cen-
turies is marked, as we know, by great discoveries in the
field of natural science: x-rays were discovered in 1895
(ROntgen), the phenomenon of radioactivity was dis-
covered in 1896 (Becquerel), the electron was discovered
in 1897 (Thomson), polonium and radium were dis-
covered in 1898 (Pierre and Marie Curie), the founda-
tions of quantium theory were laid in 1900 (Planck), the
theory of relativity was founded in 1905 (Einstein), etc.
These achievements of science produced a radical
change in the views of scientists about nature.
Probing further and more profoundly into their
concepts of the structure of matter, its forms of motion
and so forth, scientists saw demonstratively in the new
discoveries the narrowness and limited range of the
philosophical basis of the old physics, i.e., meta-
physical and mechanistic materialism. Many physicists-
scientists, while lacking any grasp of materialist theory
and being unacquainted with Marxist dialectics, proved
to be at a loss in the face of these new discoveries;
being unable to make generalizations philosophically
and to interpret the discoveries, they fell victim to
idealists who drew reactionary conclusions, viz., dis-
appearance of matter, existence of motion without
matter, concepts and laws of science which were not
a reflection of objective reality but rather were "con-
ventionalisms," "symbols," the results of conventions
arrived at between scientists, etc. The upshot of all
this was a crisis in physics. "The essence of the crisis
in modern physics," wrote Lenin, "resides in the break-
down of the old laws and fundamental principles, in the
rejection of objective reality as independent of con-
sciousness, i.e., in the replacement of materialism by
idealism and agnosticism" (V. I. Lenin, Collected
works [in Russian], Vol. 14, p. 245). Analyzing the
substance of the crisis, uncovering its social and
gnosiological causes, Lenin indicated the way out of
the dilemma, the road to the correct solution of the
philosophical problems raised in connection with the
development of natural science. Lenin's work of
genius, "Material and Empirio-Criticism," marked a
new epoch in the development of science and has
now become part of the standard bookshelf of every
materialist-scientists. There remains no doubt but
that the influence of this book will far transcend the
bounds of the Twentieth Century. Lenin demonstrated
that previous concepts held on the structure of matter
vary to the degree that our knowledge is enriched and
deepened. But, however much our knowledge of the
structure and properties of matter undergo change, the
fact remains unaltered that matter constitutes an ob-
jective reality, existing independently of our conscious-
ness. Pointing to the limitless structural complexity of
matter, Lenin at the same time took note of the fact
that the capabilities of human reason to reveal the
secrets of the world surrounding us is also limitless.
Worthy of particular note is Lenin's ingenious prediction
of the cleavability of the atom, on the inexhaustibility
of the atom and electron, confirmed by the entire
subsequent development of nuclear physics.
Lenin taught that philosophy plays an exceptional
role in natural science. In his article "On the Value of
Militant Materialism," he wrote that it would be im-
possible for natural science to progress without a philo-
sophical outlook, and that, to successfully cope with
bourgeois influence, every natural scientist would have
to become a dialectical materialist. This tenet is of
decisive importance in the problem of the shaping and
development of Soviet science, and has aided the most
advanced scientists in struggle against the reactionary
idealogy which acts as a brake on the development of
scientific thought.
259
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Being himself an outstanding scientist, Lenin
grasped the decisive significance of science, terming it
the "pride of humanity." From the very first days of the
Soviet power, Vladimir Il'ich devoted an enormous
amount of attention to science, despite the tremendous
burdens weighing upon the leadership of the young
Soviet government, then beating off the murderous on-
slaught of the foreign interventionists and the internal
counterrevolution. He felt that science must be of
service to the working class, as one of the most im-
portant tools for building the new socialist society:
"No sinister or ignorant force of any nature will be
able to stand up before the union of the representatives
of science, of the proletariat, and of technology" (V. I.
Lenin, Collected Works [in Russian] Vol. 30, p. 376).
Lenin saw clearly the gigantic possibilities for the
development of science presented by socialism ? the
new social system, since only this system "liberates
science from its bourgeois fetters, from its enslave-
ment to capital, from its groveling before the interests
of the sordid capitalist greed for profits. Only socialism
provides the opportunity for the broad expansion and
genuine disciplining of social production and of the dis-
tribution of commodities in line with scientific con-
siderations aimed at rendering the life of all the toiling
masses comfortable, at providing them with ample
opportunity for welfare. Only socialism is capable of
achieving this" (V. I. Lenin, Collected Works [in Russian]
Vol. 27, p. 375).
A multiplicity of documents: government decrees,
letters and notes, speeches and reports, rough copies, and
outlines of articles, these attest convincingly to the para-
mount place which Lenin accorded to science in the
development of the productive forces of the country, in
carrying out a cultural revolution.
This is most strikingly illustrated by the 'Rough
draft of a plan of scientific and technological work,"
embodying a proposal to the Supreme Soviet of the
National Economy to immediately authorize the
Academy of Sciences to proceed to drawing up a plan
for the reorganization of industry and for promoting the
economic prosperity of Soviet Russia. The overall
problem was tackled concurrently with the concrete
content of the plan intended to include a "rational
apportionment of industry in Russia' and a "rational ...
concentration of productive facilities" (V. I. Lenin,
Collected Works [in Russian] Vol. 27, p. 288). Particular
attention was given to the electrification of industry
and transportation facilitiies, to the use of electricity
In agriculture, etc. Thus, having outlined a concrete
program of action for the Academy of Sciences under
conditions of socialist construction, Lenin defined the
fundamental trends of development of Soviet science
and technology.
All of the measures envisaged hy Lenin could have
been realized only on the basis of the latest achieve-
260
ments in advanced science and technology. With the
aim of bringing science into closer harmony with the
practice of socialist construction, a Science and
Technology division was set up under the aegis of the
Supreme Soviet of the National Economy. The Academy
of Sciences and the Commission for the Study of the
Productive Forces of the Nation received the necessary
financial means to carry into realization a plan of
scientific work conceived on a broad front. Lenin
always saw to it that no obstacles of any kind were put
in the way of scientific research fraught with great signi-
ficance for the development of the national economy.
The achievements of science and technology awakened
a lively interest in Lenin's mind, and attracted his most
concentrated attention. Academician G. M. Krzhizha-
novskii recalls on this theme: "During his infrequent
minutes of leisure which Vladimir Il'ich had available
for a simple friendly chat with me, I knew that there
existed no better way of drawing Vladimir Il'ich away
from his heavy affairs and concerns than a conversation
on the latest in science, and particularly a conversation
on the general run of conquests registered by technology.
And among those conquests, what interested him most,
of course, were those achievements which might have
some immediate application here among us, in Russia"
[The Scientific Worker, Book 1, p. 41 (1925)]. Lenin
was intrigued by electrical engineering, radio and
electronic engineering, underground gasification of
coalbeds, the assimilation of chemistry in production,
locomotive construction, aeronautical engineering,
and many other branches of technology and engineering.
It is a matter of common knowledge what colossal
significance Lenin attributed to the electrification of
the entire country. It was on his initiative and with his
direct participation that the now famous GOELRO plan,
the state plan for the electrification of Russia, was
drawn up. By electrification of the country, Lenin
understood the creating of the material and productive
basis of communism, the development of large-scale
and above all heavy, industry resting on the most ad-
vanced technology and high labor productivity.
"Communism," Lenin pointed out, "is the Soviet power
plus electrification of the entire country." This re-
markable statement is fundamental to the activity of
the Communist Party and of the whole Soviet people.
It is being successfully carried out in life. Not only
powerful steam plants and gigantic hydroelectric
stations are being built in our country to generate
electric power, but also large nuclear-fueled power
stations as well.
In the very heat of the civil war, in the midst of an
atmosphere of famine and ruin, Lenin, exhibiting an
exceptional farsightedness, correctly evaluated the
significance of the Kursk magnetic anomaly (KMA).
He wrote: "I am paying attention to the exceptional
importance of research work on investigation of the
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Kursk magnetic anomaly... we have here what is cer-
tainly a source of wealth never before seen in the world,
capable of completely transforming metallurgy" (The
XXX VI Lenin Symposium [in Russian], p. 466). Lenin's
instructions have now been successfully fulfilled, and
Kursk ore is being worked into product metal in ever in-
creasing quantities.
At the very dawn of the development of radio,
Lenin made an evaluation of its importance, from the
vantage points of political value and service to the
national economy, and called it an area of work of
"gigantic importance." In a letter addressed to the
foremost scientist and radio engineer of the time,
M. A. Bonch-Bruevich, Vladimir Il'ich stated: "I take
the opportunity to express to you my profound gratitude
and sympathetic interest for the great work in radio
inventions which you are engaged in. A newsparer
without paper, and "without limitations as to distances,"
such as you are creating, will be a great thing. I
promise you whatever assistance, and to whatever
extent, which can be rendered you in this and similar
endeavors" (V. I. Lenin, Collected Works [in Russian]
Vol. 35, p. 372). As a result of Lenin's constant per-
sonal support, Soviet radio engineering rapidly de-
veloped into a great branch of science and technology,
and even during the time when Vladimir Il'ich was
still alive occupied a leading position in its field in
the world.
Lenin always took a deep interest in those achieve-
ments of science and technology which held promise of
easing Man's labor and raising his living standards. For
example, in the article entitled "One of the Greatest
Victories of Technology," which dates back to 1913
and deals with the problem of underground gasification
of coal, Lenin wrote that this discovery will bring about
an enormous revolution in industry since, as a result of
underground gasification, it would become possible to
save a huge quantity of human labor spent in mining
and conveying the coal. While this discovery will
inevitably lead to increased unemployment and misery
under capitalism, under socialism it will make it pos-
sible to immediately cut down the working day for all
workers from 8 hours, for example, to 7, or even shorter
hours. The 'electrification' of all the factories and
railroads will render working conditions safer, will free
millions of workers from the fumes, dust, and grime,
will accelerate the transformation of the filthy and re-
pulsive sweatshops into clean, bright laboratories
worthy of Man" (V. I. Lenin, Collected Works [in
Russian] Vol. 19, p. 42). It was only in this way that
Lenin conceived of the significance of the latest
achievements in science and technology? to serve the
interests of Mankind, and not the reverse.
Lenin pointed out the necessity to keep up con-
tinually with the scientific and engineering achieve-
ments in foreign countries, and to make use of these
achievements in the cause of building the new society.
It was precisely for that reason that he gave his support
to the initiative for setting up a Bureau of Foreign
Science and Technology under the auspices of the
Science and Technology division of the Supreme Soviet
of the. National Economy. Lenin likewise suggested
sending scientists and engineers abroad to study ex-
perience accumulated in other countries and to assemble
the literature on the latest scientific and engineering
achievements, for the purpose of putting these to
immediate use for the successful creation of the new
socialist economy.
Lenin placed high significance on the developnient
of international collaboration in science and technology.
This is attested to the notes Lenin added to the letter of
G. V. Chicherin, People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs,
on the Soviet proposals for the Genoa conference (cf.
Lenin symposium XXX VI [in Russian], p. 452).
In fulfilling Lenin's legancy, the Soviet Union strives
for international technological collaboration on a broad
scale, including in the field of peaceful uses of the atom:
"We are ready to collaborate with all peoples in the
cause of the peaceful uses of atomic energy, and it would
please us if this appeal were taken up by all other govern-
ments" (from the reply by N. S. Khrushchev to the letters
and telegrams received in connection with his trip to the
USA, in "Pravda" dated September 15, 1959). The most
shining example of international scientific and techno-
logical cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy
is the activity of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research,
at Dubna near Moscow. At this Institute, scientists of
12 nations are joining their efforts in common work on
the investigation of the atomic nucleus. The Soviet
Union has provided the Institute with equipment unique
in its kind, including elementary-particle accelerators
of 680 million and 10 billion electron-volts.
Striving to reach the stage where the blessings of
the peaceful atom might become the property of the
many, the Soviet Union is voluntarily assisting many
nations to set up their own scientific-research nuclear
centers, turning over to them equipment, instruments,
research reactors, accelerators, isotopes.
In consonance with Lenin's legacy, Soviet science
has scored tremendous successes. N. S. Khrushchev, at
the Twenty-first Congress of our Party, stated the follow-
ing: "Soviet scientists, designers, engineers have brought
great merits to our Homeland, and are making a worthy
contribution to the cause, common to all our people, of
the building of communism" (N. S. Khrushchev, On the
Control Figures for the Development of the National
Economy of the USSR for 1959-1965 [in Russian] (Gos-
politizdat, Moscow, 1959) p. 12.
Soviet scientists and engineers have scored out-
standing successes in the area of research, transforma-
tion, and peaceful uses of atomic energy. The achieve-
261
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ments of nuclear physics are notable. Much progress has
been recorded toward the solution of the grandiose and
exceedingly difficult problem of bringing about a con-
trollable thermonuclear reaction. The world's first
nuclear-fueled electric power station went on line in
the USSR, and other, bigger power stations are on line
or being built. The world's first nuclear-powered ice-
breaker, the "Lenin," is on the seas. Radioactive and
stable isotopes are commonly used throughout the na-
tional economy.
262
The outstanding victory of Soviet science and
technology is constituted by the artificial earth satel-
lites, the orbiting of the first artificial planet of the
solar system, the launching of the space rocket which
planted the Soviet pennant on the moon, the photo-
graphing of the far side of the moon, and many other
great achievements bearing witness to the astounding
successes of Soviet science, whose pathways and per-
spectives were traced out in advance by Vladimir
Il'ich Lenin.
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DESIGN OF THE VVR-S RESEARCH REACTOR
V. F. Kozlov and M. G. Zemlyanskii
Translated from Atomnaya Energiya, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 305-315
April, 1960
Original article submitted, December 26, 1959
A water-cooled, water-moderated reactor for facilitating scientific research endeavors on applications of nuclear
energy in peaceful pursuits has been built in the Soviet Union.
Such reactors are currently completed and in operation in the Soviet Union and in other Socialist countries. Six
such reactors were put into operation during 1957-1959; five reactors (four of which are built to handle power
surges) are in the stage of preparation, assembly, and start-up tests.
This article describes the design of the VVR-S reactor and its experimental facilities. The physical character-
istics of the reactor have been described in an earlier paper [1].
Experimental Possibilities Inherent
in the VVR-S Reactor
This nuclear reactor was designed to produce
neutron flux levels of ?2 ? 1013 neutrons/cm2 ? sec. It
has high enough excess reactivity to facilitate research
work [2] as well as the production of radioactive iso-
topes. Eight channels 40 mm in diameter plus one dry
channel 60 mm in diameter in the core are provided for
those purposes, in addition to twenty channels 60 mm in
diameter in the displacement rods positioned in the core
at the start of the reactor run.
Fig. 1. General view of the VVR-S, seen from the
direction of the thermal column.
Nine horizontal channels (opened or shut off by
gate valves) lead toward the periphery of the core, and
of these nine, six channels are 100 mm in diameter and
the remaining three are 60 mm in diameter. In addi-
tion, a trolley-track thermal column with four verti-
cal channels 80 mm in diameter, connected up to a
horizontal channel 100 mm in diameter, is led to the
core periphery. The horizontal channel of the thermal
column is opened or shut by a manually operated gate
valve. The gate valve is housed in a cast-iron shielding.
All of the vertical and horizontal channels are
serviced by special-design manipulator devices. Three
biological channels 350 mm in diameter and four moni-
toring channels 80 mm in diamter are placed in the con-
crete shielding zone of the reactor.
The possibility of installing two experimental loops
in the reactor core was provided for in the design of the
reactor vessel.
Basic Reactor Data
The VVR-S reactor (see Fig. 1) has the following
basic characteristics:
Thermal power, kw
Peak thermal flux, kcal/ m2. hr
Number of fuel assemblies:
at start of run
at end of run
Flowrate of primary-loop distillate,
for cooling core, m3/ hr
Flowrate of secondary-loop technical-
grade water, for cooling distillate,
m3/ hr
Fuel loading , kg U235
at start of run
at end of run
2000
0.44.106
31
51
650
250-300
4
5.6
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Fig. 2. Overall flowchart of the reactor system. 1) Downflow to drainage system;
2) distillate tanks; 3) distillate line; 4) process water; 5) reactor; 6) filter; 7) air
from main room; 8) deaerator; 9, 16, 22) venting ducts; 10) throttle valve; 11) heat
exchange units; 12) pumps; 13) headers; 14, 17) downcomers; 15, 18) overflow
ducts; 19) to drainage system; 20) to tank-level indicator; 21) graveyard for used
fuel assemblies.
Fig. 3. View of the reactor pump house.
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Water, cast iron and concrete (ordinary and heavy)
were used for radition shielding. For reactor shielding
in the radial direction, water (800 mm), cast iron (200
mm), and concrete of 3.2 g/cm3 density (1600 mm)
were employed. At points where piping, ducting, and
ventilation facilities were passed through the shielding,
lead and cast-iron reinforcements were installed. The
protective layer of water was 3.5 m deep over the core
and 1.15 m under the core. 800-mm-thick cast-iron
disks were also used for top shielding.
To avert the spreading of radioactive air and vapors,
the space above the reactor, the space below the reactor,
and the space above the fuel-element storage tank are
ventilated by means of a constant rarefaction established
In those volumes.
The reactor loading made for an excess reactivity
= 0.05. Compensation of reactivity and reactor
control are carried out by control rods, some of which
function as scram rods.
Flow Scheme of the Primary Reactor Loop
A flowchart of the entire installation is shown in Fig. 2.
Distillate is heated from 34? to 36?C in the reactor
core. Centrifugal pumps take care of circulation of the
distillate. Heat transfer from the distillate to thewater
flowing through the secondary loop takes place in two
heat exchanger units (each with a surface area ?95m2).
Filters are employed to clean up the distillate and re-
move fission fragments. Cation and anion exchangers
and activated charcoal are used in the filter system.
These sorbents undergo special processing prior to in-
corporation into the filter. The filter is placed in the
loop only periodically, when activity due to fragments
appears in the distillate.
To remove explosive gas mixtures forming during
the operation of the reactor, a deaerator is provided,
with up to 1071,- of the total flow of distillate being
pumped continuously through the facility.
Figures 3 and 4 give some idea of the arrangement
of ancillary equipment serving the primary loop. Most
of this equipment is placed underground in the basement
section protected by thick shielding walls.
The reactor room is built for easy accessibility and
safe maintenance of the equipment, as well as auto-
matic compensation of the ducts and piping.
The pumping units are placed well below the level
of the reactor, to provide head in the suction tube, and
to eliminate cavitation during pump performance,
which leads to reactor power surges.
Dump valves and slide valves are manually oper-
ated, to avoid random errors on the part of the service
personnel, so that an accidental opening of the draining
facilities,possible where electrically actuated valves
are used. may be averted. An error of this type would
. lead to loss of water from the reactor, and in turn to
severe damage due to residual heat release.
The heat exchangers are set up vertically, so that
they may serve a concurrent function as traps for me-
chanical impurities in the loop. The distillate in the b
bottom of the exchanger flows at low speed and changes
direction abruptly, a circumstance which favors the
settling out of such mechanical impurities. The im-
purities are removed by periodic drainage and routed
to a waste tank.
In order to control distillate flow through the
deaerator within the loop (downstream of the heat ex-
changers), a special throttling device, remote-controlled
from a local control post and from the operator console
(Fig. 2), was installed. The design of the throttling
device excludes the possiblity of the piping becoming
overloaded, since a rapid total overloading such as
occurs when electric-relay controls are relied upon may
result in waterhammer.
To avoid any overflow when the reactor tank is be-
ing filled with distillate or when makeup is being added,
overflow ducts are built in above the present level (an
overflow might result in the distillate gaining access
to the ionization-chamber channels and gate valves,
with the ionization chambers being rendered inoperative
and gate-valve parts becoming subject to corrosion).
When the deaerator is on, the distillate level in the
reactor tank is lowered, for which reason distillate
makeup is added to the reactor tank to reach the present
level only when the pumps are shut off, i.e., when
circulation in the loop is cut off. The pipe cross sec-
tions in the auxiliary loop and overflow ducts are cal-
culated such that the overflow ducts are cut out of the
system when circulation stops. To avert formation of
condensate on the cast-iron shielding roof, and to keep
condensate out of the ionization chambers, a certain
degree of rarefaction is maintained above the reactor
tank.
Reactor Design
The reactor subassemblies and mechanisms are
assembled on a baseplate and support structure (Fig. 5).
The use of such intermediary elements (i.e., baseplates
and support structure) has made it possible to cormpletely assemble the reactor, to run-in individual parts
and assemblies, to make final adjustments of mecha-
nisms and devices, and to freeze the relative positions
of the various subassemblies, all under factory con-
ditions prior to installation. This resulted in appreci-
able simplification of the work in installing the reactor
in situ, eliminated the need for concrete shielding as
a structural element during the assembling operation,
and enhanced the quality and efficiency of the assembl-
ing operation while cutting down on assembly time.
This solution in design made it possible to standardize
the reactor type, to carry out the assembling operation
successfully, and to put a series of reactor facilities
into operation. Figure 6 shows the assembling of the
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5
rIo/wzr-
- ?
77
7
Li
L
=.14- 1=111=
MOIL -
04441r00"
5111Z3-4' ini)-:-4
/s '
% /0/, ,/,47./../, AZ",
Fig. 4. Horizontal cross section through the reactor and pump house: 1) reactor; 2) pumps; 3) heat exchangers; 4) filter
5) fuel-element cemetery; 6) gate valves for fuel bundles; 7) horizontal channels; 8) leads to gate valves.
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reactor, on baseplate and support structure, under
shop conditions.
The reactor core is housed in a tank measuring
2.3 m in diameter and 5.9 m high, made of aluminum
alloy. The tank also accomodates experimental
channels and transporting chutes (Fig. 7), plus the
control rods.
The tank consists of three cylindrical shells welded
to a spherical bottom,and two removable tops. Use of
a middle shell allowed the further possibility of reduc-
ing coolant volume in the loop, while at the same time
reducing the capacity of the discard tanks into which
fouled coolant is drained off in the event that the her-
metic sealing of the fuel-element jackets is damaged.
Into the tank are welded: nine horizontal channels (see
Fig. 4), a recess accomodating the forward disks of the
thermal column, and seven vertical straight-through
channels designed for experimental purposes, for
transporting irradiated samples into the hot cells, and
for housing experimental loops. The inclined tube of
the transporting chute (see Fig. 7), with an I.D. of
200 mm, is welded into the tank, to carry fuel-element
assemblies into the spent-fuel graveyard. Welded into
the tank bottom are the overflow, drainage, and circula-
tion ducts, as well as tubes for control and measuring
instruments. Housed at the top of the tank are: an X-
shaped bracket supporting the nine vertical channels for
the control rods, irradiated-sample channels, two
channels for preliminary charging of fuel-element
assemblies, and seven channels to accomodate ioniza-
tion chambers.
On the baseplate rests: the support structure, con-
sisting of some cast-iron rings at the bottom, an outer
shell, and cast-iron rings at the top, gate valves for the
horizontal experimental channels, with supporting
struts, beams supporting the pipework, and a trolley
track servicing the thermal column. The cast-iron
rings of the foundation unit were included primarily to
reduce radiative heat release inside the concrete. A
large rotating lid is built into the top of the support
framework (cf. Fig. 5), fulfilling the function of supple-
mentary top shielding for protecting personnel from
radiation. The lid is rotated both manually and by
electrical power. A smaller hand-operated lid is placed
within the larger one, eccentrically. Manipulating de-
vices and optical equipment are mounted on the smaller
Fig. 5. Crosss section through the reactor at thermal-column depth: 1) reactor vessel; 2) reactor core;
3) control-rod channels; 4) thermal column; 5) shielding for thermal column; 6) gate valve; 7) base-
plates; 8) support structure; 9) rotating upper lid; 10) smaller rotating upper lid; 11) fuel-element coffin.
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lid while the reactor is in operation(cf. Fig. 7), as well
as the 'fuel-element coffin (cf. Fig. 5), which is used to
transport fuel assemblies when the core is unloaded
manually..
The'supporting,Structure of the reactor ,encom-
passed by concrete shielding, in which rest the inclined
transporting chute (dump Chute) with cast-non shielding,
an experimental. channel for the thermal column,'
channels for storing probes and optical equipment, duets,
air vents; electric switchbox, laboratory-type box for
electric cabling, drainage and telemetering tubes serv-
ing the control and measuring instruments, and health- -
physics instrumentation. The thermal- column, covered
on its side by movable cast-iron shielding (cf. Fig. 5),,
passes throUgh..a. Space not used for tubing 'or pipework. ?
The upper portion of the reactor concrete shield-
ing is lined with stainless steel.: Brackets on which'
mechanisms for positioning removable and fixed ioniza-
tion chambers and control rods are mounted (Fig. 8) fit
into the upper openings through this shielding.
Control System and Shielding
Mechanisms
Five manually controlled rods serve to compensate
excess reactivity, three rods act as scram rods, ? and one,
is used to automatically sustain the present_power level.
The automatic-control rod is made of boron steel;
while the remaining rods'are made of boron carbide.
The rods are arranged crosswise in the core. Each rod',,.
is placed with its guide tube?between the fuel-element,
assemblies.. Cabling leading from the control ,rods to
, ?
theiervo ittuators runs in' bundles having.a cross con-
figuration. This arrangement groups-the co'n'trol-rod -
servoesiti three distinct spot's for: assemblY. By this
means, mechanized loading and Unloading of the' re-
actor core is made possible,- and optimum conditions
? ?? ? ,
are created for maintenanCe of the seivornechanisnis
and .protection of the cable transmission from harmful; -
external effects, The rod .positions are controlled by
position sensors.
Seven ionization chambers, KNT-52.type;- are in-.
stalled-in the reactor tank 'to Monitor reactor Power
levels' during startup and steady-state operation.
- Three ionization chambers.(triggere,d) are con-
nected by cabling to three servomechanisms and may
.be arranged vertically ; The position of the ionization?
chamberi,is controlled'by position ransducers and in-
dicatorS. Four'ionization chambers (Continuously
operating) 'are positioned at specified heights relative
to the core: ? ?
For accurate determination9f 'the Change in reacti-
vity when different materials are introduced into the
core, a precision servo-actuated control rod was de-
signed (Fig. 8). The linear velocity of displacement of
this precision rod is 2 rrirri/ sec. At its extreme upper'
,and lower position, the electric motor of the servo drive
:unit is shut off by limit microsWitches mounted inside'
the position transducer..
The: emergency scram rod falls ,into its lowest
position; impelled by a compressed spring and by its.
?
268
?
Fig. 6. Assembly of reactor under shop conditions.
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,
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own weight, within 0.2-0.3 sec after the appropriate
signal is transmitted. At the low end of its travel, the
rod is braked by a friction coupling housed in the servo-
mechanism, which softens the impact of the rod against
the cabling system and the drum portion of the servo-
mechanism.
The servomechanism serving the emergency scram
rod is coupled to its electric motor by a friction clutch
which protects the cable transmission against sharp
blows and overloading in case the upper limit switch
should fail to function. A manually operated servo
drive provides a choice of two linear velocities for
the rod: a normal operating speed (6 mm/sec) and an
emergency scram speed (37 mm/sec); the servo auto-
matic-control drive moves the rod at a speed of 6 mm
/sec when operated manually, and can step up the
speed to 35 mm when operated by automatic control.
Unloading and Reloading of Reactor Core
A system of mechanisms consisting of two rotating
lids (one larger, one smaller nested in the former),
servocontrolled manipulator outfit, transportation
chutes for the fuel assemblies and specimens, optical
viewing equipment, and illumination is employed, to
facilitate removal and recharging of fuel assemblies
and specimens from and into the reactor. The mani-
pulator equipment may be set up above any coordinate
point to be serviced, by proper use of the rotating lids.
All of the points to be 'serviced have their angular co-
ordinates, recorded in tabular form, indicated on the
rotation mechanisms of the lids. The manipulator
system may be used to remove the fuel assemblies from
the core to shift them to the spent-fuel graveyard, and
to remove irradiated specimens to forward them to the
hot cells. Changing of fuel is carried out inside the
reactor vessel without removing the protective lids.
This procedure eliminates the hazard of radioactive
contamination of the reactor top or irradiation of per-
Fig. 7. Cross section through the reactor at the depth of the fuel-element dump chute:
1) fuel-element graveyard (storage tank); 2) dump chute for spent-fuel assemblies;
3) optical viewing equipment; 4) manipulating devices.
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sonnet. Charging of fresh fuel-element assemblies and
specimens is carried out by the same mechanisms, with
the use of supplementary channels for preliminary charg-
ing.
The manipulator unit incorporates a long rod with
grips, a servo control for the grips, and a servo for ele-
vating and lowering the rod. The unit is mounted in a
special packet forming part of the smaller lid, but is
in position only during recharging or unloading.
Optical equipment is available for viewing the
central portion of the reactor. This equipment con-
sists of shielding plugs and an optical viewing device.
To secure better observation during charging and un-
loading of fuel assemblies, the central portion of the
reactor is illuminated by a movable automobile head-
light.
Gate Valves
The shielding gate valves (cf. Figs. 4, 5) are de-
signed for opening and closing nine horizontal experi-
mental channels, which are fully closed by the valves
only after a successive rotation of five shielding disks
through a certain angle. To avert a direct beam of
radiation emerging through the valve opening, the
valve jacket, valve pocket, and valve axis are designed
to vary stepwise, while the valve disks are of different
diameters.
o?,3\1P.
The disks are rotated by an electric motor, through
the intermediary of a planetary reducing-gear trans-
mission. When the gear transmission and the electric
motor are shut off, rotation may be carried out manual-
ly. The gear transmission is coupled to the disks via
the toothed rim of the forward disk. At the terminal
positions of the forward disk, the electric motor is
automatically shut off by microswitches and the cor-
responding annunciator lamps are switched on. An
appropriate opening is provided in the valve bonnet,
for mounting a collimater in the forward disk.
The gate-valve design as described here has also
found application in other reactors, viz. the IRT-1000
and the VVR-2.
Thermal Column
The thermal column (Figs. 4, 5) consists of a
trolleyway with a trolley, five removable graphite disks,
and a cooling facility consisting of eight Field tubes
and a system for delivering and removing coolant water.
The trolley rides on rails. Graphite disks integral with
aluminum cylindrical drums have one central (axial)
and four vertical openings, which constitute experi-
mental channels for physical experiments. The chan?
nels are covered with graphite plugs. The outside of
the thermal column is fitted with cast-iron biological
1-11114t1T
0,-
3
Fig. 8. Lengthwise cross sections showing control and shielding systems: 1) control rods; 2) scram-rod servo;
3) precision servo; 4) automatic-control servo; 5) ionization chamber fixed in place (continuously operating);
6) ionization chamber movable up and down (functioning when triggered); 7) support bracket.
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shielding. The gate valve serving the central channel
Is mounted within this shielding, along the axis of the
thermal column. This valve is operated by hand. The
thermal-column shielding is placed on rails and may be
run down the rails by means of a winch and wire rope.
On reaching the extreme positions of their travel, the
thermal column and shielding are brought to a halt by
limit switches With annunciator lamps connected to
them, and the limit switches switch the electric motor
to a reduced number of revolutions and switch on timers
to disconnect the electric motors from the power
supplies.
After the thermal column is rolled out, the recess
into which it fits is covered over with the cast-iron
shielding. Control of the motion to and fro of the ther-
mal column and cast-iron shielding may be carried out
by remote control from two points inside the reactor
room. When the thermal column is being rolled back
Into place and the cast-iron shielding is replaced, these
units are driven in till they meet limit stops, and come
to rest in their thermal positions within a tolerance of
0.1 mm. This assures that the vertical channels of the
thermal column will be aligned with the vertical
channels of the reactor, and that the horizontal reactor
channel will be aligned with the channel in the cast-
iron shielding.
The Fuel-Element Graveyard
The graveyard (cf. Figs. 4 and 7) for the spent fuel
elements or failed fuel elements is designed especially
for that purpose. The bottom of the tank contains a bay
with 60 equally spaced cells for accomodating the
assemblies. When fuel assemblies are being put into
place, the graveyard is illuminated by an underwater
floodlamp. The inclined transporting chute down which
the fuel-element assemblies are transferred from the re-
actor to the graveyard dips into a receptacle in the
graveyard tank bottom. To avert deformation of the
fuel-assembly casing as the assemblies are being dis-
charged down the chute, the walls and bottom of the
receptacle are rubber-coated.
Welded into the graveyard tank are tubes for de-
livering distillate, a dump pipe, and tubes for the
control and measuring instruments. Cast-iron plates
covering the graveyard on top are fitted with two open-
ings through which fuel assemblies may be extracted or
shifted in position. These openings are plugged. The
upper cavity of the tank is ventilated.
Test-stand Performance of the Equipment
In view of the fact that the design project worked
out here had to serve as basis for the simultaneous con-
struction of a series of VVR-S type reactors, and that
most of them are to be built outside the USSR, a good
deal of attention was given to the performance of se-
parate subassemblies and reactor parts on the test stand.
The following tests were performed on test stands,
and the following phenomena were noted:
1. The hydrodynamic characteristics of the core
were tested; the flowspeed and flowrate of the distillate
was determined in three throttled-flow regions (corre-
sponding to predicted radial patterns of heat release).
Severe vibration of the hydraulic test stand was observed,
simulating the response of the reactor vessel. However,
after the point where the distillate gains access to the
reactor vessel was fitted with a conical cap, this vibra-
tion came to a halt. ,
2. Owing to an insufficient number of radial open-
ings in the walls of the channels carrying the distillate
used to cool the rods, air is drawn into the primary loop
through the control-rod channels. The presence of air
in the loop may lead to power surges and improper func-
tioning of the pumps. This suction of air into the loop
was eliminated by increasing the number of such open-
ings in the walls of the reactor control channels.
3. The pressure seals were adjusted and the pump
characteristics were recorded.
4. It was noted that, when the distillate flowrates
through the core surpassed 1500 m3/ hr, the walls of
some of the fuel-element assemblies were being de-
formed on the inside, because of a loss of static pressure
inside the assemblies.
5. The fuel-assembly transport chute and the re-
ceptacle for the fuel-element graveyard were perform-
ance-tested. It was found that protruding areas on the
contact surfaces and rough spots due to dents in the
inner surface of the fuel-element dump chute resulted
in deformations and scoring of the outer surface of the
fuel-element assemblies. Removal of these protrusions
and rough spots eliminated fuel-assembly damage as the
assemblies were dumped into the graveyard.
6. The operation of the manipulator equipment
and the loading and unloading operations of the fuel-
element assemblies and specimens for irradiation into
and out of the core were checked out. These operations
call for proper training of operating personnel.
7. Neutron-physics core parameters were determined
[1].
8. The scram system servomechanisms were
checked out by repeated operation of the scram rods.
The scram-rod servo, for example, held up well under
testing with 2000 drops of the rod. The friction-braking
unit performed normally. The spread of terminal posi-
tions of the rod was found to remain within a range of
5-12 mm.
9. The gate valve was performance-tested for
accuracy of alignment of channel disks upon opening of
the valve. Channel alignments to within 0.05 mm were
obtained as a result. Sharp impacts were recorded as
the gate valve was opened or closed. These impacts
caused deformation and malfunction of the main disk
coupling designed to take the thrust. This phenomenon
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might be eliminated by balancing the disks, but this
would incur a penalty of excess metal in the valve
(with attendant deterioration of the protective proper-
ties of the gate valve and a sharp increase in the
gamma background in the neighborhood of the valves).
Only the two middle disks of the valve were balanced
for opening and closing of the valve, to set up a con-
stant torque. The gate valve was run through 2000
cycles of alternate opening and closing.
Reactor Power Excursions,
The VVR-S reactor facility design takes into
account the possiblity of power excursions. To cope
with power excursions, the reactor is provided with
reinforced biological shielding to combat neutron and
gamma radiations (940 g/cm2), and stand-by and back-
up equipment is liberally provided for.
272
In order to reduce the amount of heat released in-
side the concrete shield, cast-iron rings with 14 vertical
openings for cooling of the shielding were included in
the design of the support structure. All of these pre-
cautions allow for handling a power surge up to 10-20
thousand kw, provided the heat-release surface and
heat-transfer coefficient a are increased.
Two such reactors with power-excursion provisions
are in the stage of start-up and performance testing.
LITERATURE CITED
1. N. A. Lazykov, I. E. Chelnokov, and V. P. Ivanov,
Atomnaya Energiya 5, 1, 44 (1958)."
2. Yu. G. Nikolaev, Geneva 1955, International Con-
ference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy
(in Russian] (Izd. AN SSSR, 1957) Vol. 2, p. 469.
'Original Russian pagination. See C. B. translation.
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ION CYCLOTRON RESONANCE IN DENSE PLASMAS
L. V. Dubovoi, 0. M. Shvets, and S. S. Ovchinnikov
Translated from Atomnaya Energiya, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 316-323,
April, 1960
Original article submitted May 4, 1959
The possibility of heating a plasma by means of the ion cyclotron resonance is investigated. It is shown that in
-a
plasm 1011 cm,
as with charged-particle densities of 102? the use of short (compared with the length of the
pinch) heating sections mades it possible to weaken the effect of transverse ionic polarization fields by virtue of
the motion of electrons along the lines of force of the external magnetic field. In a low-ionization plasma the
efficiency of transfer of energy from the rf field to the ions is reduced as the ion velocity increases; this reduc-
tion is due to cooling of the ions by neutral atoms.
Introduction
In this paper we present the results of experiments
undertaken to investigate the possibility of heating a
plasma by rapidly varying electromagnetic fields. Heat-
ing based on ion-cyclotron resonance has been
studied; this mechanism is of special interest because
of the possiblity of direct transfer of energy from the rf
field to the ion. In spite of its apparent simplicity, this
method actually involves a number of difficulties; to a
considerable extent the practicable utilization of this
method depends upon the degree to which these difficul-
ties can be overcome. Thus, an investigation of the pro-
perties of a hydrogen plasma in the region of the ion-
cyclotron resonance [1] has verified the possiblity of
heating the ionic component of the discharge to tem-
peratures of the .order of several kilovolts at charged-
particle densities smaller than 108? 109 crns., A further
increase in density causes a sharp reduction in heating
efficiency because of the appearance of internal plasma
fields due to ion currents. The results of these experi-
ments are in agreement with the calculations carried
out in [2], according to which the criterion for the
appearance of polarization effects in the region of the
cyclotron resonance is that the inequality (.4/(.02< 1 is
not satisfied,(wo is the ion Langmuir frequency auu
w is the heating generator frequency).
In accordance with the basic assumptions of the
analysis [2], in the experimental work reported in [1]
the discharge tube defining the plasma geometry was
placed in a spatially uniform radio-frequency electric
field (the analysis is based on the model of an infinite
plasma cylinder in an oscillating field which is uniform
in the axial direction). In configurations of this type,
with magnetic field strengths of 108? 104 gauss, it is
difficult to heat plasmas with densities greater than
109 cm-3 because of the strong skin effect; because of
the skin effect the external rf field can intereact only
with ions close to the surface of the plasma column.
Only one of the possible means of reducing the
effect of plasma self fields is indicated in [3]. This
method consists of choosing a spatial distribution for the
rf heating field such that the space charge produced by
the transverse ionic currents is compensated by the mo-
tion of the electrons along the lines of force of the ex-
ternal magnetic field. The simplest system of this kind
is an infinitely long cylindrical plasma in a longitudinal
magnetic field with heating sections in the form of a
short solenoid or a condenser. [4]. The ionic polariza-
tion fields arising within the heating section are neutral-
ized by the longitudinal displacement of the electrons.
According to the analysis of [3] the inequality
u)20/ w2 6 ? 1011 cm-8. When the dependence of maximum
absorption on density becomes nonlinear the main re-
sonance peak is split into two absorption peaks; as n
increases these two peaks are then monotomically dis-
1.0
0.0
0.8
(Z7
0..6
0.5
0.4
a3
0.2
at
1100 1300 1500 1700 i1, gauss
Fig. 6. Resonance curves for the absorption
of ion power at various oscillator frequencies
(p = 6 ? 10-3 mm Hg; n 1010 cm4).
1.0
12.9
0.8
127
0.6
0.5
Q4
0.3
02
01
ti
0
44
P
A
,
,..., ,
-q-,',111.11i
I, q: 5
in
A
Pr ip . ma
1
1300 1400 1500 1600 1700
H,gauss
Fig. 8. Resonance curves for various plasma den-
sities (f = 2.2 Mcs; p= 6 ? 104 mm Hg).
276
placed in opposite directions from the value of the
magnetic field which corresponds to resonance for a
given oscillator frequency.
Reducing the spatial period of the if system by a
factor of two (for the same density values) reduces the
displacement of the absorption maxima by a factor of
two or three.
Discussion of the Results
The absence of constant electric fields, and fields
due to stationary currents, in the region of the heating
section, and the relatively uniform radial distribution
of plasma density in the discharge configuration used
here mean that we have a fairly good approximation to
the basic model used in the theoretical analysis [3, 5].
1.0
0.9
oft
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
3
2
1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1/, gauss
Fig. 7. Resonance absorption curves for various
pressures (f = 2.2 Mcs), mm Hg; 1) p = 9 ? 104;
2) p= 5 ? 10-8; 3) p = 9 ? 104; 4) p =
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
a
04
0.3
a+
a!
pr
.--
H
k.
Ca.)=Wc4
I
900
1100 1300 1500 1700 . , gauss
Fig. 9. Absorption curves at high densities (f
= 2.12 Mcs; p = 10-2 mm Hg).
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According to this analysis, if the inequality (20/ vet <
< 1 is satisfied there are no polarization effects. The
absorption in the region of the cyclotron resonance is th
then proportional to the product of the plasma density
and the oscillator frequency. Maximum absorption
takes place when w is exactly equal to Loci.
At higher densities (more precisely, when w20/k2c2
1, self-fields arise in the plasma; a consequence of
the appearance of these fields is the displacement of
the region of effective penetration of the rf field from
values of the magnetic field such that w is equal to wet
to values such that w > (pd. [2, 10] or Ul < ci [3, 5]. If
the displacement, which is given by (02)/ lec2 is large
enough to exceed the half width of the cyclotron re-
sonance 6,H the ions are no longer heated and the ab-
sorbed power is dissipated in weakly-damped hydro-
magnetic oscillations in the plasma [2, 3, 5].
1
For the system (k = cm-2) used in obtaining the
16
curves shown in Figs. 8 and 9 the critical density above
which the efficiency of resonance heating is reduced is
? 5 ? 1011 cm-8 and the linear increase in the absorption
of rf power observed in the experiments as the density
n increases from 107 to 1.0n cm4 is to be expected.
The measured value of the optimum density (3 ? 1011
cm"a) also corresponds to the calculated value.
As far as polarization effects are concerned, a
change in density is equivalent to a change in the
square of the length of an element of the heating sec-
tion; this fact one can easily explain as the qualitative
agreement with theory of the displacement of the ab-
sorption maximum as a function of k.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to make a quantitative
comparison of the results of the measurements for
various values of k at charged-particle densitities
greater than 1011-1012 cm4, because of the Coulomb in-
teraction; this effect can be avoided only if the plasma
is heated to temperatures such that the ion energies are
greater than several electron volts. In experiments
with small values of kit is necessary to have large
volumes with strong magnetic fields.
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0,5
0.4
0.3
02
0./
1205
0.1
0.2
06 0.8!
2.0
E, v/cm
Fig. 10. Effect of electric field strength on the time
of interaction between the ion and the rf field.
Data for different values of k can be obtained from
a comparison of the results of these experiments with
the results obtained in [1], which was a study of the
case equivalent to k = 0; further information can be
obtained from effects which accompany the polariza-
tion of the plasma (the nonlinear increase in the ab-
sorption of rf power with increasing density and the
dependence of the half width and the position of the
absorption maximum on density) when the inequality
wio/w2< 1. is no longer satisfied. It should be noted
that in looking for effects associated with the skin
effect for (20/ w2=-- 1 (w20 /k2c2-?=-2 10-8) we have not ob-
served any noticeable departure from the results to be
expected from [3] whereas the described polarization
effects appear when the inequality w20 /k2c2< 1 is not
satisfied (for w20/ w2 104). Hence, in spite of the ab-
sence of direct proof of the penetration of the rf fields
into the plasma in the systems which have been in-
vestigated,* the satisfactory agreement between the
measured and calculated values of the density at which
plasma polarization effects appear, and the fact that
there is a shift of the absorption maximum with in-
creasing n, rather than smearing, which would be the
case if only the boundary layer (continuous density
variation) were heated, all seem to indicate it is pos-
sible to set up systems in which the skin effect is small.
If we assume complete compensation, the fact that
the fields inside and outside the plasma are equal
allows us to estimate the ion heating. According to
[11], when a charged particle moves in a constant
magnetic field H which is perpendicular to a variable
electric field [E = E0 sin (wt)], at exact resonance the
ion will rotate in an orbit of radius R(t) = E0/ 2H,t sec-
onds after acceleration starts. The quantity t, which is
equal to Tc (the time of interaction between the ion
and the rf field between two successive collisions), can
be found from the experimental data from the relation
LW TC 1[9]. The product HR(t), measured in this ?
way, then serves as a measure of the energy acquired
by the ion in the heating process. For an electric field
strength of 0.2 v/ cm, which is typical of the majority
of the experiments which have been carried out, the
growth in ion energy as a result of interaction with the
probing signal (-10-v) is small compared with the
thermal energies of particles in the discharge so that
the perturbation introduced by the measuring process is
inconsequential.
In order to explore the possiblitiy of increasing the
ion energy, curves were taken to determine the depen-
dence of ion lifetime M (referred to the lifetime cor-
responding to a resonance width of 55) on the electric
field E produced by a plane condenser (Fig. 10). An
*It is impossible to measure the radial field distribution
of the rf field by means of probes because of the distor-
tion of the field caused by the probe; impurities from
the probe also affect the properties of the plasma.
277
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estimate of the velocity increment v1 acquired by the
ion in the heating process, with respect to the thermal
velocity vo corresponding to a temperature of approxi-
mately 300?K (characteristic of the majority of the
discharges) shows that at the break in the M(E) curve,
at the field strength E 0.3 v/ cm, v1 me vo. In accord-
ance with [12], when v1 > vo the quantity rc is in-
versely proportional to ./.E. However, the curvature of
the M(E) curve in the region E 1 v /cm cannot be ex-
planined in this way. The stronger dependence of M(E)
when v1 > vo may be explained by a process similar to
that proposed in [13]; in this process the plasma tries
to equalize any anisotropy such as v1 > vo which arises
in the heating process. The increase in the magnitude
of the longitudinal velocity component v11 ctiv1 > vo to
values re(E) means that it is necessary to take account
of the additional reduction of due to the reduction
in the time spent by the ion in the region of the heat-
ing section: 11 f=41 kvii
Taking account of the relation re - 1/TE for
> vo under the assumption that v11 v1 leads to the
possibility of a quantitative description of the observed
function M(E). At the same time, the variation the
time between collision re .="2 1//E for strong energy
exchange between ions and neutral atoms has been
rather well studied in the theory of atom motion [12].
It is found that at high ionization, the neutral atoms,
which are not restrained by the magnetic field, trans-
fer a large amount of energy to the chamber walls.
Conclusions
The results of experiments in which we have used
a spatially periodic system for introducing rf power in
the region of the ion cyclotion resonance for cold
plasmas characterized by densities of 107- 1011 cm-3
are found to be in satifactory agreement with the theo-
retical analysis which predicts a reduction in the effect
of the self polarization fields on the penetration of the
oscillating fields for totally ionized hot plasmas at
densities up to 10" - 1014 cm-3.
The experiments show that in order to achieve suc-
cessful plasma heating by the cyclotron resonance
technique it is necessary to keep the percentage of
neutral atoms to a minimum.
278
The dependence of plasma behavior in the region
of the ion gyromagnetic resonance on particle density
and on temperature can be used to develop methods of
studying the properties of gaseous discharges.
The authors are indebted to K. D. Sinel'nikov for
his interest in this work and for valuable discussions.
LITERATURE CITED
1. L. V. Dubovoi, et al., Report No. 2211, Internation-
al Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic
Energy (Geneva, 1958).
2. K. Kerper, Z. Naturforsch. 12a, 815 (1957).
3. T. Stix, Phys. Rev. 106, 1146 (1957).
4. Stix and Palladino, Proceedings of the Second In-
ternational Conference on the Peaceful Uses of
Atomic Energy (Geneva, 1958). Selected Reports
of Foreign Scientists. Plasma, Physics and Thermo-
nuclear Reactions [Russian translation] (Atomizdat,
Moscow, 1959) Vol. I, p. 242.
5. Stix, Proceedings of the Second International Con-
ference of the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy
(Geneva, 1958). Selected Reports of Foreign
Scientists, Plasma, Physics and Thermonuclear
Reactions [Russian translation] (Atomizdat, Moscow,
1959) Vol. I, p. 254.
6. E. M. Reikhrudel', G. V. Smirnitskaya, Iz vest.
Vyssh. Ucheb. Zavedenii, Radiofizika 36 (1958).
'7. Horton, Howard and Heinz, Procedings of the Second
International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of
Atomic Energy (Geneva, 1958). Selected Reports of
Foreign Scientists. Plasma, Physics and Thermo-
nuclear Reactions [Russian translation] (Atomizdat,
Moscow, 1959) Vol. I, p. 675.
8. T. Yeung and T. Seyers, Proc. Phys. Soc. 451 B, 663
(1957).
9. C. Kelley, H. Margenau,and S. Brown, Phys. Rev.
108, 13 7 (1957).
10. P. Doyle and J. Neufeld, Phys. Fluids 2, 390 (1959).
11. J. Amoignon and G. Rommel, Vide 12, 377 (1957).
12. L. Loeb, Basic Processes of Gaseous Electronics
(Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California
Press., 1955) Chapt. 1.
13. A. A. Vevdenov and R. Z. Sagdeev, Plasma Physics
and the Problem of Controlled Thermonuclear
Reactions [in Russian] (Izd. AN SSSR, Moscow, 1958)
Vol. III, p. 273.
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Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/02/19: CIA-RDP10-02196R000100050004-5
ELECTROLYTIC ISOLATION OF SMALL AMOUNTS
OF URANIUM , NEPTUNIUM, PLUTONIUM, AND AMERICIUM
A. G. Samartseva
Translated from Atomnaya Energiya, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 324-329, April, 1960
Original article submitted September 4, 1958
In the study of the nuclear properties of elements and the investigation of isotopic composition, it is necessary to
prepare thin, homogeneous layers; in the analytical chemistry of transuranium elements, the quantitative isolation
of these elements, including those in tracer amounts, is important. An original electrolytic method for the quant-
itative isolation of traces of uranium, neptunium, plutonium, and americium from acid solutions is described in
the present work. It was shown that the yield of the elements in the electrolysis is independent of the electrolyte
anion and is primarily determined by the solution pH. Conditions were found for the quantitative electrolytic
isolation of plutonium in the presence of various foreign metals; the effect of iron was eliminated by the intro-
duction of oxalic acid into the electrolyte.
The electrolytic isolation of transuranium elements
from aqueous solutions is an excellent method of depo-
siting thin, homogeneous layers in the study of nuclear
properties or the isotopic composition of these radio-
elements. In addition, this method may be used success-
fully in the analytical chemistry of transuranium ele-
ments as it makes it possible to isolate these elements
quantitatively and without carrier, even when they are
present in solution in tracer amounts.
We previously developed a method for the quanti-
tative isolation of uranium (1) and also transuranium
elements [2] from mineral acid solutions. The present
work is a continuation of these investigations.
Uranium, neptunium, plutonium, and americium
were isolated in a normal electrolytic cell, consisting of
a small platinum dish (anode) and an elongated plati-
num plate with a working area of 1 cm2 (cathode). In
this cell it was possible to work with an electrolyte at
any pH value without appreciable losses of radioele-
ment due to adsorption on the walls, which is observed
P/1
Fig. 1. Relation of element yield to solution pH.
The current density on the cathode was 100 ma/ cm2
and the electrolysis time, 2 hr.
when a glass or plexiglass electrolyzer is used. The so-
lution was stirred with the cathode which rotated at
60-80 rpm. Electrolytic separation of the radioelement
occurred simultaneously on both sides of the platinum
plate cathode; the cc-activity on this electrode was
measured in a special chamber [3].
In the work we used the isotopes U233, Np237, Pu239;
and Am241. With an ionization chamber and a multi-
channel amplitude analyzer it was shown that the
Pu2" contained 0.7 - 0.9 010 of a mixture of Am241
and Pu"8, and the Np231 contained ?2.0% of Pu239. No
impurities were detected in the isotope Am241; the
U233 was not analyzed. Weighable amounts of the hydro-
xides of the elements were dissolved in the acids which
were used as electrolytes. A study of the valence states
of the elements in the starting solutions showed that the
U233 was in the hexavalent state; the Np237 consisted of
10.2% of Np (VI), ?90% of Np (V), and