INDUSTRY & BUSINESS
Ν EWS and REVIEWS Saves money on heat transfer When you work in the 300 to 1,000° F. ran.e^e, you can easily run up tremendous costs on your heat transfer medium. '*Hiter'' heat transfer salt was devel oped 10 help prevent this. First, it's low in priée. Handling it is easy and economical, too, because under recommended conditions of use it won't burn, explode or create toxic fumes. T h e high heat transfer coefficients, thermal stability and low melting point (288° F.'i have won it acceptance in a wide range of processing situations, including high-temperature distillation, preheating reacrants, and maintenance of reactor temperatures. "Hitec" cuts equipment costs, too, because it operates in atmospheric pressure, requires minimum surface area for heal transfer, and can often be used with (carbon steel and other) low-cost materials of construction, instead of expensive alloys. Write for our 16page booklet giving details on the properties, handling and money-saving applications of "Hitec."
Oak Ridge, long tied to t h e Government's apron strings, grows up (to w i t : this shopping center) and looks to self government. ISTew industry is in the cards
O a k Ridge Wants Self Government Atomic city plans c h a r t e r reFerendum and seeks more industry as it sheds title a f " g o v e r n m e n t t o w n " JL HIS YEAR Oak Ridge is taking two
9 9 . 5 % pure sodium nitrite in non-caking pellets
This pellet contains a minimum of 99.5% pure sodium nitrite. Its surface resists moisture pickup, so DuPoi.t sodium nitrite pellets can be stored for weeks or months without caking together and becoming hard to pour. The usual anti-caking agents are not necessary. Hence, the exceptional purity of the pellets. For additional advantages, we suggest you write for our informative 18-page sodium nitrite bulletin. For more information on the new chemical developments described above, w r i t e on your company letterhead to E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (Inc.), Explosives Department, 2543-Nemours Building, Wilmington 98, Delaware.
Better Things for Better Living . . . through Chemistry
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giant steps toward its goal of becoming a self-governed city. T w o surveys are underway. One, conducted b y the Public Administration Service, concerns policy a n d administration decisions in setting u p a city government. The other will help Oak Ridge plan ahead to an industrial future. Last year t h e Tennessee State Legislature passed an incorporation statute based on a draft prepared by t h e Oak Ridge Town Council. It specifies a city manager form of local government and is subject to a referendum of the people. As a result of its survey, PAS may suggest changes in the charter and recommend a date for the referendum. Best guesses are that t h e referendum will Orobably be held between March and /\agust 1959. This will still allow Oak Ridge about a year to tie u p loose ends because P.L. 2 2 1 , passed in August 1955, gave t h e community five years to form its city government. But Oak Ridge needs industry to
provide tlie taxes it will require as an independent city. Right n o w i t is a one-industry town—and that one industry is nontaxable. To help the town get started on its industrial program, Midwest Research Institute is conducting an industrial potential survey of the Oak Ridge area. AEC pays for the survey. MRI's job is t o evaluate the resources i n and around O a k Ridge, determine what industries they could support, a n d outline a program for persuading those industries to locate there. Then it's all u p to t h e town council, the chamber of commerce, and other civic groups, because AEC will take no part i n promotional activities. • Outlook Is Promising, Final report on trie survey is not due until July, 1958. However, a quick look indicates that Oak Plidge has plenty to offer. T o start, Oak: Ridge will be a city with more than $ 3 5 million worth of government plants, yet without a single dollar of bonded indebtedness. As a result, taxes will probably b e low. Industries that use or deal in atomic
processes and radioisotopes could lo cate next door to the "nuclear research center of the world." Abbott Labora tories now operates a small plant a t Oak Ridge which processes radioiso topes for pharmaceutical uses. A E C estimates that the commercial poten tial of radioisotopes alone will be $ 5 billion by 1962. Other factors which could make Oak Ridge attractive to industry are: • An available labor supply of more than 11,000 from the three surrounding counties. About 34% is skilled or semi skilled. • An unlimited water supply from t h e Clinch River. Present treatment plant can process 24 million gallons a day. • Present electricity capacity of 4 5 , 0 0 0 kv.-amp. However, availability from TVA is "unlimited." • Unlimited supply of natural gas. Oak Ridge has a contract with East Tennessee Natural Gas for 5 million cubic feet a day, b u t this amount can b e increased on application. • Close to bituminous coal source. • Natural resources include coal, zinc, bauxite, iron, manganese, limestone, a n d clay. AEC's Community Affairs Division now determines policies for Oak Ridge. Management Services, a no-fee con tractor, following these policies, func tions as t h e municipal government. Congress laid the groundwork for self-government in Oak Ridge when it passed the Atomic Energy Act of 1955. This act, P.L. 2 2 1 , directs A E C to provide for the sale of property a n d assist the community in achieving self government. The sales program is well under way. All government-owned single and double dwelling units have now been sold and Oak Ridge has a larger percentage of home ownership than any city in the country. Addi tional residential sites and industrial land is scheduled for sale. Under P.L. 221, A E C will also pro vide financial assistance to Oak Ridge for 10 years after the city is incorpo rated. This means that the government will subsidize the town for the differ ence between its actual operating costs and the amount it can reasonably raise through taxation. Not many towns get to start out with a clean slate like this, and Oak Ridge hopes to make the best of it.
Applied
Physics
Corporation/Pasadena/California
Gary Vibrating Reed Electrometer s i m p l i f i e s C 1 4 , H 3 «and S 3 5 d e t e r m i n a t i o n s
DETECTS AS LITTLE AS Ι Ο ' 1 2 C U R I E S - T h e
high sensitivity and high precision of the Cary Model 31 Electrometer permit minimum amounts of costly "tagged" materials to be used in radio active isotope studies, saving enough to pay for the instrument in a short time and materially reducing the hazard to living experimental subjects. This greater sensitivity, plus the de velopment of simplified experimental procedures, make the Cary Model 31 particularly valuable in determination of C 1 4 and H 3 in biological and chemi cal samples. With these new tech niques, the smaller samples may be used and the use of a precipitate with its inaccuracies and time-consuming preparation is eliminated. Instead, sam ples are directly converted into a gas which can be measured with an ioniza tion chamber and a Cary Model 31. The ionization chamber and vibrating reed electrometer offer the only conve nient accurate method of measuring radioactivity of CC>2-air mixtures in flowing systems, such as are encoun tered in in-vivo studies. One research group led by Dr. Bert M. Tolbert has had considerable suc cess in applying these procedures to a wide variety of samples and research problems, including studies of animals. NEW REVIEW PAPER
Dr. Tolbert, now at the University of Col orado, has authored a 46-page paper cover ing detailed 14 proce d u r e s for C a n d Tritium assays, ionchamber theory, samples and sample preparations, combustion of organic compounds to CO2, design and con
struction of ion chambers and meas urement of ion chamber currents and approximate calibration data. Copies of the paper are available from Technical Reports Section, Department of Com merce, Office of Technical Services Washington 25, D.C., for $1.25 each. When requesting a copy, please ask for Bulletin UCRL-3499. OTHER USEFUL APPLICATIONS
Measurement of radioactivity is only one of many applications where the Model 31 can be used advantageously. For example, amplification and meas urement of ion currents in mass spec trometry, pH determinations, precise measurements of small charges, cur rents, or voltages from a high, imped ance source can all he made faster, simpler, less expensively and far more accurately using the Model 31. BRIEF SPECIFICATIONS OF THE MODEL 3 1 Accuracy —Measurements reproducible to within 1 % . Accuracy limited only by the accuracy of the recorder, potentiometer, or meter used. Reliability —No grid current, greater freedom from zero drift. Much more rugged than other types of electrometers. Stability —Open circuit input; less than 6 χ 10-16 coulombs rms short period noise; less than 5 χ 1 0 - " amperes steady drift. Short circuit in put; less than 0.02 mv rms short period noise; less than 0.2 mv per day* steady drift. 10 standard ranges-Ranges provided on the Model 31 are 1, 3, 10, 3 0 , 100, 300, 1,000 mv, and 3, 10, 30 volts. The output of the Model 31 will operate a 1 ma recording milliammeter or a standard recording potentiometer. Accessories —Ionization chambers, recorders and various special modifications and accessories are available for all types of electrometer uses.
A new catalog on the Cary Model 31 is available. Write for your copy today to Applied Physics Corporation, 362 West Colorado St., Pasadena 1, California. Ask for Data File C9-38. MARCH
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