Routine inspections of selected Van Stone flanges have been made at all three piles since start-up. In September, 1947, these inspections indicated that corrosion effects were becoming dangerously severe. Some of the flanges appeared to be corroied and pitted to a depth of two-thirds of the original flange thickness. To determine the extent and severity of the corrosion, residual flange thickness measurements were made on the flanges of about 64 scattered tubes. Included were front and rear flanges of tubes from all four orifice zones. Results of the survey indicated the immediate need for an extensive repair program to preclude the possibility of failure of some of the flanges.

None

This document presents a summary of work and progress at the Hanford Engineer Works for March 1954. The report is divided into sections by department. A plant wide general summary is included at the beginning of the report, after which the departmental summaries begin. The Manufacturing Department reports plant statistics, and summaries for the Metal Preparation, Reactor and Separation sections. The Engineering Department`s section summaries work for the Technical, Design, and Project Sections. Costs for the various departments are presented in the Financial Department`s summary. The Medical, Radiological Sciences, Utilities and General Services, Employee and Public Relations, and Community Real Estate and Service departments have sections presenting their monthly statistics, work, progress, and summaries.

None

A brief description of the process is given, and details of work over a three-year period are summarized. The continuous production of Re metal by low- temperature fused salt electrolysis into a continuously circulating Hg cathcde has been demonstrated. The product is amenable to direct hot pressing or to powder preparation by distilling off the Hg. The production of pure BeCl/sub 2/ in good yield by direct chlorination of BeO has been demonstrated. The production of pure BeCl/sub 2/ in good yield by direct chlorination of beryl has been studied. The status of this work is not sufficiently advanced to permit valid conclusions as to ultimate success. The electrolytic cell and associated equipment and the chlorination equipment are described in detail. Operating procedures and representative results are given. The course for continued work is indicated. (auth)

In the preoperational checkout of the APPR-1 it became apparent that the control rod acceleration after scram was lower than expected. It was expected that the control rod acceleration after scram would be 0.750 g(1) where g is the acceleration of gravity. However, measurements made at Ft. Belvoir indicated an acceleration of 0.4 g. The effect of this reduced acceleration on the safety of the APPR1 is reported in this memo. In the operation of the APPR1 the most dangerous condition exists at cold startup. Therefore the behavior of the APPR-1 in a startup accident with a rod acceleration of 0.4 g after scram is considered. Analysis of the most adverse startup accident in the APPR-1 indicated that at the 15 Mw level scram the reactor is on a 33 ms. period. Rod insertion begins after a 50 ms. instrument delay, at which time the power is 80 Mw. The maximum power reached with a rod acceleration of 0.4 g is 96.5 Mw. The total energy released is about 5.8 a 10/sup 3/ Btu which is far below the 8 x 10/sup 4/ Btu which would result in melting at the center line of the fuel element (and probable core …

This document details activities of the Fuels Preparation Department during the month of March 1957.

Owing to continuous uranyl nitrate calcining facilities at Hanford, the reactivity of the A oxide produced was reduced, with lower conversion to UF{sub 4}. A process design was developed for increasing the A{sub 3}O{sub 8} activity by fluidized-bed reduction to UO{sub 2} and reoxidation to A{sub 3}O{sub 8}. Justification for the installation would be in the $250,000 to $300,000 saved in not needing additional fluorine cells and $310,000 per year operating cost savings. The installation would cost $700,000 or $860,000; operating cost would be $270,000 per year. It was concluded that a full-scale process cannot be justified at the time of the study.

One of the major factors restricting reactor power levels is the incidence of ruptured slugs. The primary purpose in studying ruptures is to determine how reactor operating variables affect rupture rates. With this knowledge reactor operating conditions may be adjusted or controlled in the manner that will optimize reactor production. In addition, knowledge of rupture rate relationships are useful in fuel element development and in overall economic studies of existing and proposed reactors and reactor processes. This report is a compendium of various types of rupture information largely developed during the past eighteen months. Plant rupture experience for CY-1957 is reviewed; rupture rate correlations with reactor variables for solid natural uranium material are presented; a comparison between solid and cored natural uranium material rupture rates is made; the basis for current discharging practice of rupture-prone metal lots is discussed. 11 figs., 2 tabs.

None

The information presented is an experimentally determined evaluation of standard remote handling equipment applied to the problems associated with remote maintenance of a typical reactor system component. (auth)

Angular distributions in SIGMA /sup +/ decay are analyzed for informatlon on SIGMA spin and parity conservation in SIGMA production. No evidence for a SIGMA spin > 1/2 or parity nonconservation in SIGMA prodiction is found. (auth)

This document details activities of the Fuels Preparation Department during the month of March 1959. (FI)

The filtrate stream from the precipitation--filtration step of the Button Line process must be recycled to recovery operations to reclaim residual plutonium. Present practice is to transfer the filtrates to Recuplex, concentrate by a factor of 6 to 10, and blend into the feed stream for solvent extraction purification. Limited tankage is available for solution storage. Interruption of Recuplex operations necessitates termination of operations in the precipitation-filtration steps and other Button Line areas. Filtrates can be recycled to one of the parent solvent extraction plants for recovery. However, excessive handling operations are encountered by this processing method. This document describes the anion exchange flow sheets and equipment for processing the filtrate stream without dependence upon other recovery operations.

The economics of mechanical shear-leach and Sulfex decladding-core dissolution head end treatments for processing typical tubular bundles of stainless steel-jacketed UO/sub 2/ nuclear fuels were compared. A 2.66 metric ton U/day head end portion of a plant was designed for each process and capital and operating costs were developed. For plants of this size and larger, mechanical shear-leach processing has the advantage of ~20% lower capital cost and 50% lower operating cost. Processing costs of stainless steel-jacketed UO/ sub 2/ by the Sulfex and shear-leach methods, including amortization and waste disposal but excluding solvent extraction, were .78 and 7l/kg U, respectively. Storage of stainless steel waste produced by the shear-leach method is less costly by a factor of 20 than for Sulfex. (auth)

None

None

None

None

Detailed measurements were made of the fast-neutron and gamma dose rates and the thermal-neutron fluxes existing at the surfaces of the biological shield of the University of Illinois TRIGA Mark II Research Reactor. Dose rates and fluxes were found to be extremely low. A comparison was made by means of threshold foil techniques between the fast-neutron flux in a beam hole of the reactor during steady-state operation at 1 kw and during a nominal 250 Mw, 30 msec pulse produced by rapid insertion of approximates two dollars of excess reactivity. The flux over the duration of the pulse was approximately four times that for steady-state operation for 1 hr at 1 kw. Fast-neutron dose rates and thermal-neutron fluxes were measured at each of the four beam ports of the reactor at operating powers of 0, 1, and 5 watts. Some gamma dose rate data was also obtained at 0 and 1 watt. The threshold foil technique used is described. (auth)

None

None

An analytical approach and an IBM machine code were prepared for the design of gas-cooled reactor once-through steam generators for both axial-flow and cross-flow tube matrices. The codes were applied to investigate the effects of steam generator configuration, tube diameter, extended surface, type of cooling gas, steam and gas temperature and pressure conditions, and the pumping power-to-heat removal ratio on the size, weight, and cost of steam generators. The results indicate that the least expensive and most promising unit for high- temperature high-pressure gascooled reactor plants employs axial-gas flow over 0.5-in.dia bare U-tubes arranged with their axes parallel to that of the shell. The proposed design is readily adaptable to the installation of a reheater and is suited to conventional fabrication techniques. Charts are presented to facilitate tlie design of both axial-flow and cross-flow steam generators for gas- cooled reactor applications. (auth)

None