Both lead and bismuth have a deleterious effect on the hot working properties of alpha brasses. The work reported in this article shows that the element uranium, when present in the alloy in such proportions as to form stable high melting point intermetallic compounds with all of the bismuth or lead, is a highly effective agent in removing the characteristic hot shortness in hot-rolled contaminated alpha brass. It is suggested that melt treatment by uranium may thus afford considerable production economies in terms of scrap utilization, casting shop practice, hot fabrication, etc. The principle may be extended to other alloys susceptible to impurity effects during hot working, and, indeed, to other problems where the fixation of one constituent is desirable for any reason. This is a condensed version of a report issued by the Departrnent of Mines and Technical Surveys, Ottawa, Canada. The authors are, respectively, at the Canadian Uranium Research Foundation and the Non-Ferrous Section of the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys