Equipment required to provide production capacity of 525 tons per month of I & E fuel elements ``O,`` ``C,`` and ``K`` sizes in the 313 Building is specified in this document.

The report is divided into: Fissionable materials (2000 program): studies related to production reactors, studies related to separations plants; reactor development (4000 program): Studies related to plutonium recycle program.

In the development of fuel elements for the NPR, one potentially serious fuel element problem -- high temperature uranium swelling -- has not been experimentally investigated. A series of experiments has been proposed in which uranium fuel rod with different amounts of Zircaloy-2 cladding will be irradiated to high exposure at temperatures equivalent to those expected in an NPR. These experiments should show the importance of high temperature uranium swelling as a limiting factor in NPR fuel element behavior. To obtain sample rod temperature of 250 to 300{degree}C on the surface and 500 to 650{degree}C at the center, the rods will be irradiated in aluminum capsules loaded in standard reactor process tubes. The high temperatures will be obtained by restricting the heat flow from the uranium sample to the coolant. The purpose of this test is to determine the validity of the heat transfer calculations used in predicting the temperature drops within the capsule by irradiating one capsule at known flux conditions and measuring the temperature attained by the uranium rod sample. The data obtained from this test will be used in determining the irradiation conditions required for the full scale uranium swelling tests.

Purpose of this report is to determine optimum tank size from evaluating the quantities of principal construction materials with prevailing unit costs for various tank sizes. The materials were concrete in-place, reinforcing steel in-place, wood framework, 3/8 in. C steel plate liner in-place, earthwork excavation and backfill (engineering, overhead, piping, condenser, vapor manifold costs not included). Costs of optimum tank are distributed as follows: dome 25%, walls 28%, foundation 6%, floor 2%, steel liner 20%, earthwork 19%. For a given tank capacity, there is a definite optimum tank size; as the capacity increases, the diameter increases, and the height increases but at a lesser rate. Each diameter has an optimum height, which is that height at which unit cost of storage space is minimum for a given tank diameter. Optimum unit cost is $0.136/gallons for diameters 75--130 ft; for diameters<75 ft, the optimum unit increases. Tank forms 241-S, 241-SX, and 241-A were used in this study; storage cost of the analyzed tank was $0.121 compared to $0.136/gallon for 241-SX and 241-A, and $0.152/gallon for 241-S. Assumed unit costs for concrete and steel plate tank liner were 10% less than those of 241-SX and 241-A, causing the lower unit costs. Tanks …

Side-to-side flux distributions calculated for ``rods out`` operation are compared to the normal equilibrium distributions. The results are highly sensitive to enrichment and flattening unbalance. Near side tube power limits are reached at total pile powers as low as 39%, and as high as 85% of the normal equilibrium. power. Calculations indicate that, with the current loading patterns, B, D, DR, F, H, and KW, theoretically could make rods out scram recoveries without exceeding tube power limits, whereas C and KE could not. Longitudinal flux profiles corresponding to possible control rod and mixing piece configurations are compared to the ideal cosine distribution. Peak fluxes for a given column power vary from 86 to 111 % of a cosine maximum. The position of the maximum flux varies from 115 cm (5.1 slugs) downstream to 131 cm (5.8 slugs) upstream of the center line of the slug column. The effects of non-uniform (front-to-rear) enrichment and flattening charges are not considered.

The performance of I & E fuel elements under the original tests{sup 1} was such that they are now being charged at C Reactor on a production basis. Data obtained from the original test, however, were not sufficient to indicate long term corrosion effects of the use of these elements, nor to accurately define their operating characteristics. It is the intent of this test, therefore, to provide for long term corrosion monitoring in tubes charged with and without water-mixing pieces; and to obtain the required operating data to refine the operating characteristics of this fuel upon which power limits are based.

The present liquid third safety is considered undesirable for the piles at their present power levels. Any increase in power level and graphite temperature makes the need for an alternative third safety increasingly imperative. The use of the third safety is envisioned under conditions where the supply of cooling water to an operating pile is interrupted and concurrently the safety rods full to enter the pile because of slight shifting of the top shield or larger shifting of the winches, relative to the pile proper. Under these conditions, undesirable properties of a liquid third safety are present and are discussed in this memorandum.

The use of organic cooling media for nuclear reactors operating at high power levels predicates the use of a coolant which will not react violently with metallic uranium in the event of a fuel element failure. This report describes the testing, and subsequent examination, of two pieces of irradiated uranium which were immersed in monoisopropylbiphenyl (MIPB) at high temperatures and pressures for periods of time up to twenty-five days. The uranium samples had different irradiation histories and cooling times. Similar experiments had been performed with unirradiated uranium by the Corrosion and Coatings Operation, and it was wished to determine whether irradiated uranium would react with MIPB in a different manner.

Abstract: "This paper describes an electrical readout, decade counter employing the magnetron beam switching tube with transistor drive. Double pulse resolution is one microsecond. The unit will accept a variety of transistor types and will tolerate supply voltage variations of +/- 20% at ambient temperatures up to 60 C. A "Pixie" neon indicator is driven without the use of additional transistors. A readout circuit for printer on punched paper tape is presented."

The purpose of this work has been to determine the production rate of tritium in fringe Li-Al alloy columns with the degree of precision necessary for economic analyses of such reactor loadings. These results are provided for use in such an analysis. This experiment indicates the production rate of tritium in the outermost fringe tubes to be T = 0.0216 M{sub E} = 0.175 M{sub t} where T = grams of tritium per full length (67 pieces) charge of Li-Al alloy material; M{sub E} = MWD/adjacent ton of E metal; M{sub t} = MWD/adjacent tube of E metal. The above values should apply for fringe loads utilizing greater or smaller quantities of E metal; that is, for isotope production loadings which are over or under-compensated from a reactivity standpoint. In the actual test load it was calculated that one gram of tritium and 13.5 grams of Pu were made for each 21.3 grams of U-235 burned up. During the same time interval the displaced uranium loading would have generated 24.3 grams of Pu and burned up 29.9 grams of U-235. The factor which seems to limit the accuracy with which these data can be interpreted is the ratio of the …

This monthly document details activities of the Hanford Operations Office during the month of November 1959. (FI)

This report gives results of a study of the effect of changes in axial power distribution on rupture potential. Possible interrelationships between this effect and the effects of other reactor variables were investigated.

None

This report consists of an outline for a program for testing the air-supplied face masks currently being used as protection against P-10 atmospheres at HAPO. The test procedures which follow are intended to determine circumstances under which the mask ceases to offer protection to the wearer. To keep the scope of the test program to a minimum and also to facilitate interpretation of the findings in the light of P-10 atmospheres, the test conditions chosen were those which would be most unfavorable for the mask from a protection standpoint.

The following report discusses technical problems with ion cyclotron waves, and to suggest a possible application to ion magnetron work.

"The object of this note is to outline an Omnitron source scheme where the sheath voltage of the Omnitron is not carried over into the reactor region."

Abstract: This project was designed to test the chemical feasibility of depositing of depositing a primary uranium mineral from a pregnant solution by exposing the solution to natural gas in an environment favorable to such deposition.

Abstract: This report presents the results of a study performed by the Ford Instrument Company, Division of Sperry Rand Corporation, and its subcontractor, Maryland Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, for the Maritime Administration, U. S. Department of Commerce, under terms of Study Contract No. MA-1893, dated March 11, 1959. The purpose of this study is to evaluate various techniques for pretesting and installing nuclear prototype power plants in merchant ships and develop that technique offering the widest general application using time, cost and safety as essential criteria. Acknowledgement is made for the valuable counsel received from personnel of the American Bureau of Shipping, Isbrandtsen Company, Inc., Maritime Administration, Atomic Energy Commission, and the United States Coast Guard.

Preliminary observations on tritium production fro extracted Z slugs in the H-10 load indicated yields which were lower than those calculated by approximately twenty percent. The calculated conversion efficiency for loading is 0.835. Results of a measurement of the conversion efficiency for three separate tubes are reported and found to be lower than 0.835 by approximately twenty percent, or very nearly the same as the discrepancy in tritium production. The values measured are 0.67, 0.61, and 0.60 for the three tubes respectively. Details of 25 burnup calculations are also presented with a measured depletion factor of 0.584 grams of 25 destroyed. Reasons for the large discrepancy in conversion efficiency are not known at the present time. However, some possibilities are discussed.

None

Introduction: Studies of uranium-vanadium occurrences in the Four Corners region show that, with the exception of the Lukachuai area, all of the major deposits in the Morrison formation are grouped around the various igneous masses which are scattered irregularly throughout the Colorado Plateau. The pattern of deposition varies from mountain group to mountain group and each will be described separately. Maps accompany this report to supplement the descriptions of ore occurrences in the vicinity of the La Sal, Abajo, Carrizo, and Henry mountains. Elsewhere, it is believed that a written description will suffice.

Research on polonium chemistry and physics is being continued on a reduced scale. Those problems which have direct bearing on the preparation of the metal and those which will lead to a better understanding of any phenomenon encountered are being continued. Data from the calorimetric measurements of polonium on Calorimeters 39 and 46 were treated by the method of least squares to give a grand mean half life of polonium equal to 138.3993 {+-} 0.0093 days (1-13). New apparatus has been constructed for the measurement of the vapor pressure of polonium and its compounds in the low and the high temperature ranges. Technical difficulties have delayed the actual collection of data (1-22). The constant current magnet to be used for the measurement of the Hall effect of polonium has been tested and found satisfactory. A device utilizing nuclear magnetic resonance absorption for determining field strength has been constructed on a preliminary basis (1-24). A total of 208 lines in the ultraviolet region between 3200 A and 1900 A have been measured with an error of less than {+-}0.02 A (1-28). Studies on the X-ray and spark spectra of polonium and its compounds have been conducted. A preliminary study by X-ray …

The SNAP Experimental Reactor (SER) is a small power reactor that is to be built and operated in the original SNAP-II critical facility. The reactor is described, and the hazards previously evaluated for the SNAP II critical faciity are reviewed.

The technique of high-frequency titrimetry was applied to the determination of thorium, uranium, sulfate, and free acid. In Part I, the reproducibility of the method for the titration of standard solutions that contained 50 rag of thorium in the absence of interferences is established. Under these conditions, the coefficient of variation of the method was <1%. In Part II, the effect of uranium on the highfrequency titration of thorium, as well as the application of the method to actual samples, is discussed. Uranium in a ratio of 5 to 1 to thorium can be tolerated. When the method is applied to the analysis of representative samples, the coefficient of variation is 1%. Attempts to determine uranium by high-frequency titration with 8-quinolinol were unsuccessful. Tests on this titration and possible reasons for its failure are discussed in Part III. The application of the high-frequency titration method to the determination of sulfate in solutions of uranyl sulfate is described in Part IV. The coefficient of variation, on titrating 40 to 70 mg of sulfate with barium chloride after the uranium is masked with citrate or fluoride, is 2%. In Part V, the high-frequency titration of free acid in solutions of uranyl sulfate …