STANDARDS ACTIVITIES OF THE DIVISION OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT

The first formal Atomic Energy Commission standards program dealing with standards applicable to nuclear materials management was initiated in 1948 when the Fissionable Standards Committee was formed under the sponsorship of the Division of Nuclear Materials Management. This Committee was requested to \"frame recommendations and handle the miscellaneous details incidental to providing standard samples of fissionable materials needed by the Commission laboratories and contractors\". This Committee proposed in 1950 that two primary generative materials, essentially pure U-Z35 and pure U-238, be prepared for use in the development of a series of uranium isotopic standards. Acting on this proposal, the AEG requested the Union Carbide Nuclear Company, Oak Ridge, Tenn. , to prepare these materials. These primary generative materials, one of very high U-235 content (99.8212 wt. per cent) and one of very high U-238 content (99.99959 wt. per cent), were evaluated by two separate Union Carbide Nuclear Company Laboratories at Oak Ridge and by the Argonne National Laboratory. Using these materials as primary standards, a number of uranium isotopic standards were developed and given limited distribution and use within the AEC complex.