ORNL's new Isochronous Cyclotron (ORIC) successfully passed its first test beam and is now running tests toward determining optimum operating characteristics, which were impossible to obtain previously. The availability of a choice of particles and energies makes this cyclotron a powerful tool for new explorations of nuclear reactions and structure of atomic nuclei. This will also broaden the scope of biology, nuclear physics, and chemistry. The largest component of the ORIC is an electromagnet weighing almost 200 tons. ORIC is housed in two rooms, entered through massive swinging doors, each five feet thick and weighing several tons. The room walls are concrete and ceilings are seven to eight feet thick. When the ORIC is running these features will protect personnel from the intense neutron and gamma radiation.
The Oak Ridge Cosmopolitan Club, organized in 1959, continues to enable enrichment of daily lives by sharing friendship with those from other countries. Programs are usually informal, providing a chance to learn some of our American customs first hand, usually ending in a social hour. The annual Christmas party is one of highlights of the year. Also, in the way of language instruction, many Club members have been giving private instruction in their homes. In addition, the Oak Ridge Public Library provides a Periodical Reading Room and a subscription service for foreign magazines.
ORNL test facilities continue to make important contributions in the development of the gas-cooled reactor (GCR)program that will be economically competitive with conventional power plants. Tests addressed were titled GCR-ORR Loop Number One and Loop Number Two. Loop Number One was a vertical access loop into the core of the Oak Ridge Research Reactor (ORR) for the irradiation testing of metal-clad fuel elements with forced-convection helium cooling. Loop Number Two was a horizontal access steel loop that exposed fuel elements to radiation without metal cladding. Tests performed included ceramic clad fuels, pebble bed reactor type fuels and metal clad fuel elements with ruptured cladding. Overall, the test programs are designed to contribute to a better understanding of fission product and contaminated gas stream technology and fuel element performance.