Description of a data collection and reporting system which was devised and installed in the Union Carbide Nuclear Company's Y-12 Plant Maintenance Division.

This report summarizes several reports pertaining to uranium processing.

Abstract: "Measurements have been made of the cross sections for the reactions Id-6(n, dn)He-4 and Li-7(n, tn)He-4 over an incident neutron energy range of 5 - 14 MeV. The energy and angular distributions of all reaction products were determined."

This report addresses the chemical characterization of selected core samples from the vicinity of Tatum Salt Dome, Lamar County, Mississippi.

Abstract: Ground-water test well 2 was drilled to a depth of 3,422 feet with rotary and cable tool drilling equipment.

On September 13 and 14, 1962, 8.3 curies of iodine-131 were emitted from the Hanford Redox Plant at a rate of from 0.35 to 0.65 curies per hour for a period of approximately 18 hours. During the emission, the plume trajectories were plotted from meteorological data and samples were collected across the predicted plume trajectories at several altitudes and at distances up to 50 miles from the Plant. Filter, charcoal trap, and air samples were collected during the emission using aircraft; and caustic scrubber, vegetation, and milk samples were collected during and after the emission at selected ground stations in the usual manner. Appropriate background samples were collected before the test began. The data and conclusions are given in this report.

Due to sluggish transformation rates of metastable phases, unalloyed Pu continues to shrink after casting. Therefore, a pre-machining holding period is required to promote finished part dimensional stability. This test will determine the holding period commensurate with both this requirement for stability and an optimum material inventory level. Four storage periods will be evaluated (9, 8, 7, 6 days) for dimensional changes and related to parts stored for the standard 10-day period.

A half-plant low alum water treatment test began at F Reactor on January 16, 1963. The test, which had been prompted by the analysis of ledge corrosion attack on fuel elements, will demonstrate whether or not high alum feed is responsible for increasing the frequency of ledge and groove corrosion attack on fuel element surfaces. The effect will be evaluated by comparing visual examination results obtained from the normal production fuel irradiated in process water treated with two different alum feed rates. Four, 20 column fuel discharges, ten columns from each side of the reactor, have been taken during the test as follows: (1) One discharge prior to the start of the test. (2) One discharge such that the test side was exposed to coolant treated with both high and low alum feed. (3) Two discharges under test conditions. This report discusses the results obtained from the third discharge under test conditions.

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This Cost Improvement Proposal recommends an increase in the length of enriched fuel elements (for H Reactor only) from 6.64 in. to 8.1 in. A cost improvement would result as follows: Annual Out-of-Pocket Cost Savings, $121,000; Annual Outage Time Savings -- 65 Hours, worth 4,550 MD and Annual Production Level Gain -- 7,000 MWD. Since the Production Fuels Section and off-site suppliers are already equipped to handle elements of this length, the cost to make the change should be insignificant compared to the annual savings.

This report is divided into: metallic fuels technology, metallic fuel development, plutonium physical metallurgy, plutonium mechanical properties, and plutonium mechanical metallurgy.

This report details test plans for production test IP-560-A. The objective of which is to determine the corrosion effects resulting from reducing the amount of sodium dichromate corrosion inhibitor added to process water from 1.8 to 1.0 ppm at a process water pH of 6.6.

PITA-IP22, SUPP II has pointed out that distinct processing advantages may be realized by simplifying the E-N core by minimizing the number of different kinds of charges and the number of target slugs per charge. In an effort to experimentally verify the theoretical effects of converting to a simplified loading, a 102-tube test section, consisting of three 5.0 inch Li-Al target elements per tube was recently charged in H Reactor, under authority of the PITA supplement. The purpose of this document is to evaluate the basic reactivity of the 102-tube test section, and to determine, from an operational physics viewpoint, whether full scale operation with the simplified core loading would be feasible.

A proposal has been made to achieve a greater overall total production from the N-reactor through multi-product operation. Apparently, this can be achieved by producing tritium along with plutonium. Tritium production technology is presently based on low temperature and pressure water environments at SRP using targets which contain Al-Li alloy. Past experience has shown that the transport of tritium and lithium and the swelling which can result from helium agglomeration are all strong functions of temperature. Since operation of target elements at N-reactor conditions constitutes an extrapolation from available operating experience, a R&D effort is required in order to delineate and resolve any problems associated with target element operation in the N-reactor. This proposed irradiation test is a significant part of this R&D effort.

This document is a recommendation to change the MWD factors used by Production Computing Operation, IPD, to calculate Tritium yields from target fuel irradiated in the Hanford Production Reactors. The linear Tritium yield equations in the Nuclear Materials computer programs will not be affected by this change.

On April 16, 1962, the fuel charge in overbore tube 3062-C sustained a failure, and upon examination after discharge was found to contain three split failures and three ``worm tracked`` elements (depression in the aluminum cladding apparently the result of uranium cleavage and subsequent yielding of the cladding). These failures occurred approximately ten days following a period of reactor neutron flux cycling, and during a second cycle at C Reactor. In addition to the failures, a total of 17 elements, from nine separate fuel charges, contained worm tracks. Four of these elements were sent to Radiometallurgy Laboratory for destructive examination, to determine the mechanism of the suspected uranium cleavage.

Experimemts using Cl/sup 36/ in a steam test loop were conducted to study the deposition behavior of chlorides on BONUS superheater fuel assembly materials. The moisture content of the steam was varied between 0 and 0.5 wt%, and superheat was added up to 15 deg F before the steam passed over the test cartridge heater. The effects of vaiiables on the chloride deposition on the heater were studied in detail. Chloride deposition from moist steam was found to result in heavy, adherent deposits which are conducive to severe chloride stress corrosion of austenitic steels, while removal of all moisture from the incoming steam reduces the chloride deposition and minimizes the chloride stress corrosion. The heater surface condition was found to be a very important variable; deposition is increased by surface defects and pits. Neither the temperature of steam or heater nor the amount of superheat had an appreciable effect on the deposition, when no moisture existed in the steam. However, low steam velocities and spacer protoberances increase the deposition. Different clad materials (Inconel and Type 304 and 347 stainless steel) with similar surface conditions did not affect the deposition, although subsequent corrosion effects do modify the deposition behavior. Recommendations are …

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Fabrication studies to produce high density solid solutions of 80% UC-- 20% RaC, with reproducible structure, composition, and density, were completed. Two types of material were produced: (U/sub 0.8/Pu/0.2/)C/sub 0.95/, single-phase monocarbide pellets with average densities of 12.8 g/cm/sup 3/ (94% of theoretical), sintered at 1950 deg C; and (U/sub 0.8/Pu/0.2/) C/sub 0.95/ + 0.1 wt% Ni sintering aid, major monocarbide and minor amount of sesquicarbide pellets, with average densities of 13.1 g/cm/sup 3/ (96.5% of theoretical) sintered at 1550 deg C. Bar-shaped thermal expansion specimens were fabricated of UC, prior to fabrication of similar (U,Pu)C specimens. UC pellets were fabricated for electropolishing and liquid-metal bonding studies. Chemical analysis procedures were established, and checked, for plutonium, nitrogen, and oxygen. Chemical analysis procedures for carbon are being estsblished. The experimental setups for the measurement of coefficient of thermal expansion, thernial stability, melting point, and fuel cladding compatibility were completed. Testing of thermal expandsion, vapor pressure, and melting point standards was initiated. UCliquid metal-tantalum compatibility tests were completed, and (U,Pu)C-liquid metal-tantalum compatibility specimens were prepared. These tests are to help in choosing a liquid-metal bond for the thermal conductivity test. The pre-installation tests for the safe performance of the high temperature measurements …

Desirable characteristics of pulsed magnets used as ejectors or inflectors for large accelerators can be obtained by loading the magnet with distributed capacitance or by using a capacitor in shunt with the load. Comparable field build-up tlmes are available with either arrangement. The lumped magnet system offers greater simplicity. (D.C.W.)

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Reliable line disconnects are necessary to permit the remote replacement of process equipment in the Transuranium Processing Facility. Two disconnect designs were subjected to several severe tests in order to select the most suitable design. These performance tests demonstrated the superiority of the surface-seal concept over that of the line seal-concept and the reliability of this seal when subjected to misalignment forces, corrosive solutions, rough handling and interchange of mating parts. Tests of Hastelloy C disconnects after heat treatment demonstrated the necessity for joining the disconnect to the process tubing by means other than welding. Several leak-tight joints were made by external mechanical swaging, by external electrical swaging (by the Magniform'' process developed by the General Dynamics Corporation) and by internal rolling. Hastelloy C disconnect samples machined to reasonable machine tolerance established the economic feasibility of the design. (auth)

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