Abstract: A device, and a valve including such a device, for converting a pivoting movement of a pinion into a translational movement of a slide. The pinion is mounted to pivot relative to a slide mounting member including a fixed tubular wall. The tubular wall is provided with at least one cam surface acting on a follower roller mounted on a mounting part connected to the pinion in rotation and to the slide in translation. The pinion is carried by the mounting member coaxially with the tubular wall.

Abstract: The invention relates to a purification process by which sodium of extremely high purity, more especially with a low calcium content, can be obtained from commercial-grade sodium.The process according to the invention essentially comprises continuously introducing a predetermined quantity of sodium peroxide into a stream of sodium, mixing and subsequently reacting this sodium peroxide with the sodium at a suitable temperature and finally separating the products of the reaction from the sodium by decantation and filtration.The extremely high-purity sodium thus obtained satisfies in particular the requirements of the atomic industry for its use as a heat-carrying fluid in nuclear reactors of the "breeder" type.