The High Radiation Level Examination Laboratory (HRLEL), designed to handle high alpha and gamma materials with up to 500,000 curies of mixed fission products, is in operation at ORNL. This new facility was made necessary by increased demands for post irradiation examination of reactor fuel elements and reactor experiments. The HRLEL is designed so that the cell equipment may be removed, decontaminated and installed by remote means and repaired within the basic containment shell.
ORNL biologists separate and concentrate samples of live viruses for possible use in experimental vaccines under an agreement with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Viruses to be separated will include those responsible for certain diseases of the respiratory tract. The processing will be accomplished in zonal centrifuge machines at the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant biophysical separation laboratory. The samples are then sent to drug firms collaborating in the development of vaccine preparations.
The Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE), 90 % complete, is scheduled to begin pre-operational testing in July. The MSRE is a circulating-fuel reactor designed to produce heat at a rate of 10,000 kw, to operate at 1200 degrees F to study liquid fuel technology as it applies to civilian power reactors. Heat from the reactor will be transferred to a coolant salt to air by heat exchangers. The number one objective is to show that a circulating molten salt system can operate dependably and safety.
The Ecology Section of ORNL is continuing a study of the rate of movement of isotopes throughout soil and its uptake in trees and shrubs. The study involves the preparation and tagging of the forest floor with a radionuclide which is a continuation of a previous study involving the cycling of radiocesium throughout the forest ecosystem.