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712487 of the OPERATING UNDER CONTRACT with the United States Atomic Energy Commission . .. .. i EMBERS of the staff of theOR1NS Spe- port. The fifty-ninth course, which extended cial Training Division are old hands at three weeks into the next fiscal year, brings concluding a one-month basic course in the total number of basic alumni to 1914, in- betechniques of using radioisotopes on a Fri- cluding 223 scientists from 45 foreign coun- ?3y, and greeting a fresh batch of 32 partici- tries. ?ants in the subsequent course in the series on the following Monday. SPECIAL AND ADVANCED COURSES This fie-xibility was well demonstrated dur- Summer institutes dominated the firstmonth ing the past year, when the division had only of the division’s year. The first week of July four ‘‘free” periods in which to muster its ener- 1956 saw the close of a one-month summer gies and curricula for future classes. Other- institute for secondary-school science teach- wise, courses- either basic or special- were ers, and a similar one-month institute for col- conducted continously, and, on one occasion, lege and university teachers was opened the the division even managed to effectively juggle next week. Sponsored by the National Science two at one time. Foundation in cooperation with the Atomic En- ergy Commission, these summer institutes had BASIC COURSES a tota 1 combined enrollment of 96 teachers A total of 253 scientists passed through the from schools in 40 states and Puerto Rico. division’s portals as participants in the fifty- And, as the fiscal year drew to a close, the second through the fifty-ninth basic courses finishing touches were being put on plans for that were presented last year; and the 78 foreign still another such institute, again with 48 par- participants amid the busy goings-on some- ticipants and this one for secondary-school times seemed to give the training building all science teachers, scheduled to be held July29- the ;mopolitan flavor of an international air- August 23, 1957. Through these portals passed 235 participants in . and among their number were 78 scientists basic courses . from foreign countries. 29 OOErHQ ‘i- The fourteenth and fifteenth c ours e s in veterinary radiological health were conducted ‘n the fall for a total of 56 armed forces offi- ers, bringing to 302 the number of individuals izstructed in the evaluation and ramifications of problems of radiation phenomena. Each of these courses was of two weelis’ duration. In line with its policy of presenting special and advanced courses periodically as the need and demand arise, the division last spring con- ducted a two-week course in radiation chemis- try, the first of its kind to be held at ORINS. Seventy-eight scientists came from 21 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and India to attend the course, which covered the principal phases of radiation chemistry and physics. Stressed were the physical and chemical effects 5. C Lind, right, wos presented with o speciol of high-energy radiztion on gases, liquids, and I1 citotion of respect” by the members 3f the ad. solids; experimental evidence for intermedi- vanced course in rodiation chemistry. k‘illiom G. ates; effects of high-energy radiation on organic Pollard, executive director of ORINS, is pictured molecules and polymers; and materials of bio- making the presentation on behalf of the course logical and industrial interest. Speakers were participonts selected who had had extensive experience in the field, or who had made substantial contri- laid the groundwork for the modern19 develop- butions to it; they included scientists from ment of radiation chemistry Canada and England, as well as a number from . diverse organizations in this country. Mem- bers of the course presented one of thespeak- OTHER ACTIVITIES ers, Samuel C. Lind, with a special “citation The Special TrainingDivision has, since its if respect” as one of the founding fathers of inception, given as much aid and assistyce as radiation chemistry; Dr. Lind, a Union Carbide possible to other organizations and individuals Nuclear Company consultant at Oak Rid,me Na- planning to establish their own radioisotope- tional Laboratory, was cited by the class for training facilities. Last year was no esception, “foresight, initiative, and enthusiasm (which) and an outstanding example of th i s was the The summer institutes included demonstration lec- . as well as laboratory procedures and experi- tures . ments. .. , ..-,.--- .. .. , . ._ .. , .._. .’.,.’. - .- .. ..__*. ._,.__ . .. - . ....<. , . , . -. ... .. .. 30 .,fs:ac's contribution to the University Of :.,,r; Tico's new Spanish Language Nuclear .. :i~.--g Center. Aided by a grant from the -:rnic Energy Commission, the new center il serve the Latin-American area. Division ::..irman Ralph T. Overman and Lawrence K. :~s,senior scientist with the division, made its to Puerto Rico to assist the staff of the -?ining center in outlining and preparing a labs for radioisotope-techniques courses; -s. Cverman and Akers also conducted a two- .-.k seminar for the center's staff members. '2 lisison between ORINS and the center's . Jpcsed isotope courses is further strength- ,_ :d by the fact th3t the lecturing staff will .&.luae several former Puerto Rican partici- -:ts in Special Training Division courses. -. Ralph T. Overmon, chairman of the Special Training :'.'ISION RESEARCH Division, explains the use of equipment in the counting room to participants in the August 1956 Experiments to determine the manganese summer institute for college and university teachers. ~.ccn:ration of sea water were continued at .;c: Special Training Division. Chelating and be helpful in the analyses of low-grade thorium . :vent-estraction methods were unsuccessful, minerals. The method was also used tocalcu- -:,iicating that the manganese is not present in late the thorium-232 to uranium-238 ratio in Ac form. Its increasing concentration with the minerals studied. -2th is an indication of its presence in dimer This paper was presented at the 1957 annual :' golvner particulate form. Samples at two meeting of the hnerican Geophysical Union .x s of theNorth Pacific Ocean showed an and will be published in the August issue of ::?ease in concentration from 0.66 in the sur- The Transactions of XGU. .:e xater to 1.27 micro,Prams per liter in a ..: rnple taken from a depth of 2400 meters, and GEOCHRONOLOGY OF DEEP SEA SEDIMENTS :haige from 0.45 to 1.8 micrograms per liter E. Rona, P. L. Parker and L. K. Akers .: 2400 metersfor another location. Research ::s carried out by Elizabeth Rona in collabo- The method of dating is based on the lack .:::ion with L. K. hers of ORINS and D. W. of equilibrium of thorium-230 (ionium) to its :md, -4 and M College of Texas. parent uranium. Unlike the lead-uranium meth- ;? preliminary report was presented at the od of dating, which measures the ratio of the 9 36 annual meeting of the American Geophysi- find product to that of the long-lived parent, .xi Union. this method depends on the decay of ionium to its equilibrium with its parent. The method of , ZT ERMlN ATlON .OF. THO.RIUM-23 TO THORIUM-232 4 URANIUM MINERALS analysis of thorium-230 and of thorium-232 was identical to that used in the previous paper. 1. Ron3 Such a quantitative dating method is applicable to deep-sea sediments in the time span from In. a research project recently completed, half a million years ago to the present, and ::e thorium content of a series of pitchblends will clarify many important geological and geo- ..:s determined for which no thorium concen- physical problems. .-.Ition was known, The method consists inthe i.: termination of thorium-232 by activation A core from the Gulf of Mexico was ana- .-zipis and that of thorium-230 by alpha-par- lyzed to test the method. The method was ivund tcle counting. In the world-wide survey for to be satisfactory, but the cores from the Gulf :.L:Jriurn, the sensitive metbod used here will of Mexico are not suitable for age determina- 31 I 'i tion, due to their fast and irregular sedimenta- struction of an integrating gamma-ray-neutron tions. Age determination on red clay cores dosimeter. During the 1956-57 fiscal year, work on fr( the North Pacific and Atlantic will be ca ,ed out as they show a more homogenous this project has been concentrated on the elec- and slow precipitation. tronic phase-in which circuits have been built to handle the information fed in by the neutron CONSTRUCTION OF GAMMA-RAY-NEUTRON and gamma-ray detectors- and on the detectors INTEGRATING DOSIMETER themselves. L. K. Akers In March 1956, the division undertook a project for the US Air Force involving the con- .- .. .. .. 32 APPENDIX 111 Medical Division CONSULTANTS TO THE MEDICAL DIVISION ILLINOIS ALABAMA Cook bunty Hospitol Medical College of Alobomo Irvin F. Hummon Champ Lyons KANSAS William H. Riser University of Kansas ARKANSAS Frank E. Hoecker University of Arkonsos Medico1 Center University of Konsos School of Medicine Howard J. Barnhard Galen M. Tice CALIFORNIA KENTUCKY Cdars of Lebonon Hospitol University of Louisville School of Medicine Stanley H. Clark Harold F. Berg City of Hope Medical Center William 1M. Christopherson Melville L. Jacobs Ji-toong Ling Eden Hospital LOUISIANA Ralph AM. hiseley Ochsner Clinic Los Angeles Veterans Administrotion Center Wiliiam R. Arrowsmith Franz K. Bauer Paul J. Murison University of Colifomio at Los Angcles -. Tulone University Benedict Cassen John U. Hidalgo UCLA Medical Gnter Robert T. Nieset Raymond L. Libby MARY LAND University of Southern California School of Medicine Notional Institutes of Heolth Henry L. Jaffe George 2. Williams JLORADO MASSACHUSETTS University of blorodo Jerry K. Aikawa Honord University Medical School DlSTRlCT OF COLUMBIA A.