The object of this test is to determine the hydraulic characteristics of the proposed overbore process tube assembly designs which are to be installed on 105-C reactor for the 40 tube overbore fuel element test.

This is one of twenty-one volumes summarizing the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program of the General Electric Company. This volume summarizes the methods and techquies developed for use in the thermal design of nuclear reactors associated with that program.

None

None

It is necessary to provide the option of using either aluminum or zirconium tubes in the C pile 20-tube overbore test. A bumper-type fuel element has been designed to fit a fixed ribbed aluminum tube size; zirconium tube dimensions were then determined which will provide the same flow and pressure drop when the fuel element is changed from bumper type or self-supported without changing other fuel dimensions.

Fuel element swelling problems have been experienced in the high-exposure fuel irradiation program in C Reactor, In an effort to determine the mechanism responsible for this swelling, three elements from C Reactor, one of which was a ruptures, were sent to the Radiometallurgy Laboratory for visual and metallographic examination. Because the swelled fuel was not numbered as to column position, the exact position of the examined elements is not known but they were believed to have come from the center of the charge and therefore exposures for these individual elements will be 25--50% higher than the column average exposures. This percentage figure was determined from data from nine tubes of C2N fuel which exhibited swelling. These nine tubes operated under nearly the same conditions as the examined elements. Maximum core temperatures for the examined elements are believed to be between 300--340C. The mechanisms for swelling were different in the high and low-exposure fuels. The high-exposure fuel exhibited grain-boundary tearing along a wide circumferential band over the entire transverse section of the fuel examined. The areas near the OD and ID were relatively free from tearing. The low-exposure fuel showed no grain boundary tearing but it did contain angular voids in …

None

A program has been carried on at Hanford for a number of years to study the effect of neutron radiation on the dimensional changes in graphite. This program has been concerned with the changes measured on small graphite samples which have been exposed to various conditions of temperature and neutron flux. Theoretical studies have also been conducted to determine damage mechanisms. The prime purpose of this research program has been to develop, with the support of the carbon companies a radiation resistant graphite for use as a reactor moderator at high temperatures. In recent years it has been found that graphite contracts under prolonged neutron exposure at temperatures above approximately 300{degrees}C. This contraction is of concern because of the possible effects on reactor operation and life. For example, distortion of process tubes, vertical safety rods, and horizontal control rod channels can cause increased operating and maintenance problems. This report presents information on the actual depression of the graphite moderator at B, D, F, H, DR, and C Reactors.

This document provides data collected by the Controlled Temperature Tensile Capsule (TISR-243).

The conclusions are: (1) The formation of powder or ``oxide`` in the storage container is caused almost entirely by packaging of plutonium in plastic materials. (2) The corrosion of the plutonium follows degradation of the plastic due to the intense radiation. (3) The powder, formed by this corrosion is not PuO{sub 2} but a mixture of oxides, hydrides, and chlorides in varying proportions, depending on the type and amount of plastic in the individual storage container. (4) The powder consists predominantly of hydrides. Hydrogen is considered the major cause of severe corrosion. The surface-disruptive nature of hydriding prevents formation of any protective film on the metal. Fresh surface is provided continuously for further attack. (5) The hydrides are pyrophoric. Spontaneous ignition of the powder and metal occurs occasionally, immediately following opening of the container. This effect may be more severe for ingots than for buttons because of unreacted- or only partially-reacted metal fines in the powder from ingots. (6) Metal loss of eight percent in 100 days of storage has been observed for unalloyed ingot metal of moderate purity under the storage conditions described in this report. Corrosion rate depends on purity of the metal. Impurities in unalloyed metal inhibit …

The data consists of out and inlet temperatures, and panellit and header pressures, sorted according to date and tube-pile.

These criteria delineate objective, bases, and functional requirements governing preparation of design of the bauxite-sulfuric acid feed facilities installed in the 183-KE and KW Buildings. These facilities produces the chemical coagulant used in the treatment of Columbia River water in the K Area water plants and thus replaces the existing liquid alum feed systems used for this purpose.

Recent studies have confirmed that large incentives exist for overboring the reactor process channels approximately 500 mils in the C and five old reactors, under the updated Plant Improvement Program. Conservative estimates of the incentives for overboring indicate a payout period of about two years for the proposed work, an increase in plutonium production of 15--18%, derived from increased conversion ratio and a reduction in plant unit cost. The proposal to overbore the graphite channels approximately 500--550 mils in one or more of the present Hanford reactors will require fuel elements about 0.5-inch larger in diameter than the present I & E fuel elements. Since there is only limited experience at HAPO in fabrication and irradiation of large diameter fuel elements, it is highly desirable to secure additional experience to assure that large fuel element technology will be available for full scale reactor use in advance of the time when extensive overboring of the old reactors is implemented. This report presents the design of the test to fabricate and irradiate the oversize (PIP-1) fuel elements.

An accidental ball 3X trip occurred at DR Reactor on July 11, 1961. Startup was attempted on July 21, 1961, subsequent to the ball recovery operations, at which time a large reactivity loss was apparent. The loss was assigned to inaccessible poison balls remaining within the graphite structure. Enriched uranium (0.947% U{sup 235}) columns were charged during successive outages to immediately recover the minimum excess reactivity required for operational transients and effective control. The large increase in enrichment inventory in the reactor complicated evaluation of total control and speed-of-control requirements necessary to comply with the control criteria. An additional effect of the remaining ball poison was observed as a skewed front-to-rear klux distribution with downstream peaking, indicating a much larger concentration of the balls in the upstream regions of the reactor. Summaries of various physics analyses performed as a result of the ball drop and some of the analytical techniques used in evaluating and resolving the flux distribution and reactivity and control problems are outlined in the report. The ball boron burnout rate and total estimated costs incurred due to the decreased conversion ratio, reduced operating level, and increased rupture potential are also provided.

The Radiation Monitoring System must provide necessary measurement s , and records of radiation levels and concentrations of radioactivity to verify compliance t o recognized standards . In addition, the Radiation Monitoring System will provide control signals as required by other systems, The Radiation Monitoring System will provide the following: Airborne particulate; Gamma and neutron activity monitors; Liquid monitors; Radioactive gas monitors; Criticality monitors; Laboratory Analysis equipment. Included are functions and design requirements, a physical description of the system, safety considerations, principles of operation, and maintenance principles.

This report was prepared by Battelle-Northwest under Contract No. AT(45-1)-1830 for the Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Reactor Development and Technology, to summarize technical progress made in the Fast Flux Test Facility Program during May 1969 .

This report describes efforts to develop a safe, practical method to extinguish fires inside contaminated gloveboxes. Oil, trash, and metal fires were set to test various materials and techniques. Dry chemical extinguishers and MgO sand proved more practical than flooding the boxes with either CO/sub 2/ or argon. Gas replacement techniques pressurized the boxes and greatly increased the risk of outside contamination. 5 figs. (TEM)

This report provides an estimation of cost and manpower for construction of the Hanford Isotopes Production Plant.

A double-focusing magnetic field for a spectrometer of the flat type which gives radial focusing to roughly the sixth order, and which utilizes azimuthal variation of the field coefficients, has been devised.

None

None

This monthly report details research and development activities of the Irradiation Processing Department for the month of July 1965.

None

None