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Criteria provided in this report delineate the objective, bases, and functional requirements that shall govern the preparation of detail design of the bauxite-sulfuric acid feed facilities to be installed in the 183-KE and KW Buildings. These facilities will produce the chemical coagulant used in the treatment of Columbia River water in the water plants and thus replace the existing liquid alum feed systems used for this purpose. The objective of this document is to define the operational and technical requirements of the new process and to outline the functional requirements of the proposed facilities for the purpose of detail design. The criteria below define the requirements for a single K Area water plant. Unless otherwise stated they shall apply for both K Area water plants.

Discussions held with A. S. Stetson, General George Gordes and W. Compton going over technical aspects of Contract NO-S-935 for the research and development studies on coating materials for SNAP reactors.

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This report addresses the operation and maintenance for Model ME-8W.

Declassified 5 Sep 1973. Information is presented concerning LCRE specifications, primary coolant circuit, aaxiliary systems, fuel elements, instrumentation, materials development, and fabrication; and SNAP-50DR-1 specifications, fuel elements, pumps, steam generator, and materials development. (DCC)

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A remotely operated pilot piant for the engineering development of the sol-gel---vibratory-compaction procedure is being used to prepare about a thousand Zircaloy-2-clad fuel elements for a zero-power criticality experiment. The feasibility, safety, and economy of remote recovery, preparation, fabrication, and inspection of U/sup 233/O/sub 2/-ThO/sub 2/ fuels are being evaluated. The procedure includes solvent extraction recovery of U/sup 233/ by means of di-sec-butyl phenylphosphonate in diethylbenzene; the sol-gel process, a new procedure for preparing dense oxide fuels; oxide particle sizing; vibratory compaction loading of fuel tubes, followed by end-closure welding, cleaning, and inspecting. Gamma-ray scanning will be used to determine the uniformity of the fuel density. Instruments are provided for remote control of the process and for monitoring the radioactivity and evaluating the hazards to workers at each step of the operation. Twelve pilot-plant runs involving uranium decontamination, sol- gel preparation of 50 kg of oxide, and fuel sizing and ciassification were completed, with only minor difficulties. The results of examination after irradiation of 17 test capsules at burnups to 17,000 Mwd/metric ton of fuel showed the sol-gel-prepared oxide to perform satisfactorily with respect to stability and fission gas release. In laboratory experiments, uranium-thorium dicarbide fragments and microspheres were prepared …

A method for the preparation of high-density ThO/sub 2/ of the correct particle size for vibratory compaction is under development. The method being developed appears easily adaptable to remote operation. Pure ThO/sub 2/ made by this method was readily compacted to 86% of theoretical density by pneumatic vibration. Preparations of high-density mixed ThO/sub 2/ -UO/sub 2/ and UO/sub 2/ by this general method have been successfully carried out. Densification of arc-fused mixed oxide by a pneumatic vibrator compared favorably with results of tests with the same oxide using electronic vibra tors at both Huntsville, Alabama, and Savannah River. In the limited tests with the electroinic vibrators at the other sites, it appeared that a saw-tooth wave shape gave greater densification than a sine wave or random noise. (auth)

The mechanical cycling test was required to verify the integrity of the welded joints and the thin wall tube bends in the primary loop manifold assembly of a four pack thermo electric module and to help establish structural and mechanical requirements of any possible redesign. The test section was subjected to more severe loading conditions than will be experienced during actual operating conditions. The test was a mechanical simulation of the differential thermal expansion which occurs due to the approximately 600{degrees} F temperature differential in the subassembly. The actual load exerted on the test section represented this deflection. The effects on the joints and tube material were observed. The test was conducted on a test segment of manifold designed to duplicate two of the flexible elbows; the transition joints between the elbows and the tubular module inner clad; and the welded joints of the elbows to the primary loop header. The assembled test segment and hold-down bracket are shown. The bracket was mounted to the base of the Universal Test Machine. Dial indicators measured the relative displacement between the line of applied load (through the vertical axis of the primary loop header) and the attachment point at the holddown bracket. …

Mechanical compression tests were performed on gasket test specimens machined to the cross-sectional dimensions of a stainless steel (Type 304) ring type gasket to be installed in the SM-1 reactor pressure vessel. Testing the mechanical properties of the gasket specimens under varying loads, and subsequent sectioning and inspection of specimens for adequacy of welded and brazed joints, gave the following results: (1) a penetration scheme involving five 0.070-in. diam. holes, spaced 1/4 in. center-to-center for each 6 1/2 in. belt circle span, may be made in a gasket ring without materially increasing the gasket stresses, (2) a lug may be welded to the gasket face to provide a brazed sealing support for 0.0625-in. diam. tubes and thermocouples, and (3) excellent attachments can be made by tungsten-inert gas welding of the lug to the gasket face and induction brazing of the tubes and thermocouples to the lug using Nicrobraz alloy. (auth)

Design details and test results of the jet-centrifugal mercury pump are presented. (auth)

Tantalum fabrication methods primarily for use as a container for molten plutonium are described. One method involved the rolling of a Ta billet into sheet of the desired age, cutting a circular blank, and deep drawing the tantalum blank through successive stages into the desimed shape. Another method used for the fabrication of Ta containers consisted of a combination of impact extrusion and ironing. This method involved the extrusion of the cast billet into rod, swaging the rod to a suitable diameter, and cutting it into slugs of the desired length. The slugs were then impact rod, swaging the rid ti a suitable diameter, and cutting it into slugs of the desired length. The slugs were then impact extruded into heavy walled containers. These starting containers were then taken through successive dies where the wall thickness was ironed down to the desired gage. (auth)

In efforts to improve the neutron economy and lower the capital costs of sodium graphite reactors, several methods of separating the sodium and graphite were investigated including the calandria, the thimble, and the canned moderator reactors. An analysis including nuclear, heat transfer, and economic comparisons was made of these SGR concepts. Based upon neutron economy and feasibility of core fabrication, the calandria concept appears to offer the greatest potential for improvement in 8GR design. The thimble concept provides some improvement in neutron economy but introduced numerous problems requiring developmental work. (auth)

An estimate was made of the fission product activity which would result in the HFIR primary coolant system following a meltdown of the fuel element within the reactor. The rare gases and the halogens appear to be the main contributors to the gamma activity in the coolant system imnmediately after the meltdown, and iodine appears to be the main contributor 24 hours after the meltdown. (auth)

Moderator Reactor (VMR), a reactor concept under investigation by American-Standard for the AEC. The VMR is light-water moderated and cooled and is fueled with slightly enriched uranium dioxide pellets loaded into aluminum tubes. The core consists of 37 hexagonal fuel cans each loaded with 61 fuel pins. The cooling water, which flows upward around the pins inside the fuel can, boils in passing through the core. Reactor control in the prototype will be achieved by varying the moderator height. The site, laboratory, and the critical assembly, including control and safety mechanisms, are described in detuil. Special characteristics of the assembly pentinent to safety were calculated. The nuclesr energy released and the average and maximum fuel temperatures resulting from step reactivity increases up to 2% DELTA k/k are presented graphically for two cases. In the first case, fuel-temperature effects are considered to be the oniy shutdown mechanism; in the second radiolytic gas is considered to contribute to shutdown, in addition to fuel-temperature effects. The accident considered to be the maximum credible accident causes a step addition in reactivity of 1.5% DELTA k/k. The nuclear-energy release is between 160 and 310 megawatt-sec depending on the assumed shutdown mechanisms. This accident does not …

The efficiency of producing Pu-238 from Np-238 depends on the relative absorption cross sections of the target, Np-237, and the product, Pu-238. A lowering of the Pu-238/Np-237 cross section ratio reduces the destruction of Pu-238 formed during reactor operation. The absorption cross sections of both these isotopes are strongly neutron energy dependent; the absorption cross section of Pu-238 decreases more rapidly with thermal neutron temperature increases than the conventional v{sup {minus}1} dependency and exhibits negligible resonance absorption. On the other hand, Np-237 is a very nearly v{sup {minus}1} thermal neutron absorber and has dominant low level resonance cross sections. Thus, for higher thermal neutron temperatures and a more epithermal neutron spectrum, depletion of the Pu-238 product is reduced relative to Np-237 burnout. The relative absorption cross sections of these two isotopes were calculated for the K and N Reactors as a function of graphite temperature for two linear densitie of neptunium in the target elements for each.reactor type. The method of calculation was as follows: The HAMMER integral transport code was used to obtain region and cell averaged four-group cross sections for both the fuel and target cells. These cross sections were then used in the HFN diffusion theory code …

Abstract. By means of the pulse radiolysis technique a short-lived transient species has been observed in irradiated de-aerated ethanol and methanol, exhibiting an optical absorption throughout the visible and near infra-red. This transient is suggested to be the solvated electron on the basis of the nature of the spectrum, the reactivity with hydrogen ion and with various organic electron acceptors, and the formation of mononegative ions of some of these acceptors. The absolute rate constants have been determined for the reactions of the solvated electron with hydrogen ion, oxygen and benzyl chloride in ethanol and methanol. The diphenylide ion was found to be short-lived in ethanol. The absolute rate constant for the first-order decay of the diphenylide ion has been determined.

Under the stimulus of electronic materials development - particularly thin-film studies - and the need for space environmental simulation chambers, a very rapid increase in the availability of industrial-sized vacuum components and systems operable in the ultrahigh vacuum range has taken place in the last three years. It is the purpose of this paper to explore the design considerations of ultrahigh vacuum systems for metallurgical applications.

In-pile loop experiments L-2-15 and L-4-16 were two of a series designed to test the radiation corrosion of Zircaloy-2 and other possible reactor construction materials in UO2SO4 solutions under various conditions of radiation intensities, temperatures, solution compositions, and velocity flow past specimens.