Technical report outlining the reconstitution of the Homogeneous Reactor Experiment Project (HRE) as the Homogeneous Reactor Project. Report covers the need for a broader developmental program to establish the feasibility of obtaining the potential advantages of homogeneous reactors for the production of fissionable materials and power. Details the ultimate objective of the ORNL program to provide the technical information required to determine the feasibility of a full scale plutonium power producing homogeneous reactor. [From Summary]

Report issued by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory discussing quarterly progress made by the Homogeneous Reactor Program. Descriptions of progress and studies conducted are presented. This report includes tables, illustrations, and photographs.

Construction of the HRT reactor shield tank was completed, and the inside surfaces were painted. The roof structure for the tank is being assembled in preparation for an acceptance pressure test. Service piping and instrument lines are being installed in the central room area by ORNL craft forces. This work is approximately 50% complete. Fabrication of all temperature system components, except the blanket outer storage tanks, has been completed.

A preliminary chemical flowsheet is presented of a fluoride volatility process for recovering and decontaminating uranium from heterogeneous reactor fuels after dissolution in a fused salt. In laboratory work, a gross β decontamination factor of > 10 4 was obtained in the fluorination of a UF4-NaF-ZrF4 melt by passing the product UF6 through NaF at 650°C. The solubility of UF6 in molten NaF-ZrF4 was shown in kinetic studies to cause a lag in the evolution of UF6 from the fluorinator. Corrosion of nickel in the fluorination step appeared to be 2-4 mils/hr during the time that uranium was present. The average corrosion rate over the process as a whole was less than O.4 mil/hr. Earlier studies were reported in ORNL-1709 and 1877.