This document details activities of the Fuels Preparation Department during the month of March 1958.

Prior to the installation of improved charging machines and charging techniques serious gouging of the soft aluminum fuel element jackets was not infrequent. A certain amount of mechanical abrasion also occurs as the element is pushed over the tube ribs in the course of the loading operation. To eliminate or at least minimize mechanical damage there has been some experimentation with hard anodic coatings applied to the aluminum fuel element jackets. This report is an evaluation of thinner anodic coatings which should develop lower mechanical stresses within the oxide and should be less subject to cracking.

As new designs, geometries, and procedures for fabricating experimental fuel elements are developed, it becomes necessary to determine how well each new product fills the need which prompted its development. While the criteria for satisfactoriness vary with the type of fuel element, there is one criterion that is common to all types designed for use in heterogeneous reactors: the elements must withstand irradiation in the reactor for the required period without jacket rupture or excessive change in dimensions. To learn whether a new type of element meets this and other requirements, a statistically significant number of representative samples must be subjected to, first, comprehensive screening tests designed to insure trouble-free performance in the reactor; next, a long-term irradiation exposure equivalent to or exceeding that which will be normal for that type of element; and finally, a thorough examination to determine the extent of quality loss resulting from the irradiation. This report discusses the application of the foregoing philosophy in the evaluation of two lots of experimental fuel elements fabricated by unconventional procedures.

This is the monthly report for the Hanford Laboratories Operation, May 1958. Reactor fuels, chemistry, dosimetry, separation processes, reactor technology, financial activities, biology operation, physics and instrumentation research, employee relations, operations research and synthesis operation, programming, radiation protection, and laboratory auxiliaries operation area discussed.

This is the monthly report for the Hanford Laboratories Operation, July, 1958. Reactor fuels, chemistry, dosimetry, separation processes, reactor technology, financial activities, biology operation, physics and instrumentation research, employee relations, operations research and synthesis operation, programming, radiation protection, and laboratory auxiliaries operation area discussed.

The Objectives of this test are to: (1) Investigate variables which may be responsible for the severe pitting of X-8001 Alloy jackets, and (2) Extend the testing of reduced pH coolant.

This is the monthly report for the Hanford Laboratories Operation. Metallurgy, reactor fuels, physics and instrumentation, reactor technology, chemistry, separation processes, biology, financial activities, employee relations, laboratories auxiliaries, radiation protection, operation research, inventions, visits, and personnel status are discussed. This report is for December 1957.

This is the monthly report for the Hanford Laboratories Operation. Metallurgy, reactor fuels, physics and instrumentation, reactor technology, chemistry, separation processes, biology, financial activities, employee relations, laboratories auxiliaries, radiation protection, operation research, inventions, visits, and personnel status are discussed. This report is for October 1958.

The distribution of the heated effluents discharged by Hanford reactors to the Columbia River has been a matter of interest since the early design stage of the first reactors. The pattern of this distribution is a major factor in determining the extent to which a downstream reactor is affected by those upstream, as well as the localized effects on the ecology of the river. Pollutional characteristics of the effluents are three - heat load (or temperature increase), chemical contents and radioactivity. The latter has received the greatest attention in connection with potential personnel exposure and effects on river biota; it has been assumed however, and generally confirmed by sampling that the measure of distribution of any one of these characteristics in the saw an for the others. Observed distributions of radioactivity for various river and reactor flow rates are documented. Unfortunately, any extrapolation of those observed distributions to altered flow conditions of river regimes is of questionable validity. Mathematical models of the problem have been formulated but have been of little value due to the necessity of measuring certain parameters under the conditions for which a solution is desired. Even so, calculated distributions provide only general patterns and would not …

The following report records the use of the double-precision THEMIS code to integrate the motion of Mars and Venus in order to obtain a complete set of rectangular equatorial coordinates over the interval 1600-2000 A.D.

This report details activities of the Fuels Development Operation for the months of July, August, and September 1958.

The status of the overall design, fabrication, and installation of the component items of the PAR loop experiment in the ORR is reviewed.

The design of a waste-gas treatment system for organic moderated reactors requires a knowledge of reactor waste-gas composition, generation rate, and radioactivity. To obtain data on these variables a continuous stream analyzer was constructed to analyze the waste gas from the Organic Moderated Reactor Experiment (OMRE).

A study has been made to determine the adequacy of the KER-1 loop emergency dump valve in protecting the fuel elements against damage during a loop casualty. In a functional test of the radiation trip procedure of the KER-1 loop during a reactor outage, it was found that the indicated process water flow was much lower than expected. Subsequent inspection of the emergency dump valve showed that the dump port was considerably blocked with rust and scale, creating a flow restriction. As it was thought that inadequate cooling water flow could result if a similar situation occurred when the reactor was at normal power levels, a study was made of the loop and the adequacy of the valve to handle casualties.

This is the monthly report for the Hanford Laboratories Operation, September, 1958. Reactor fuels, chemistry, dosimetry, separation processes, reactor technology financial activities, biology operation, physics and instrumentation research, employee relations, 4000 program research and development, operations research and synthesis operation, programming, radiation protection, and laboratory auxiliaries operation are discussed.

This is the monthly report for the Hanford Laboratories Operation, June, 1958. Reactor fuels, chemistry, dosimetry, separation processes, reactor technology, financial activities, biology operation, physics, instrumentation research, employee relations, operations research, synthesis operation, programming, radiation protection, and laboratory auxiliaries operation are discussed.

This is the monthly report for the Hanford Laboratories Operation. Metallurgy, reactor fuels, physics and instrumentation, reactor technology, chemistry, separation processes, biology, financial activities, employee relations, laboratories auxiliaries, radiation protection, operation research, inventions, visits, and personnel status are discussed. This report is for November 1958.

2-Carboxy-4-ketopentitol is converted enzymatically by a cell-free preparation from spinach leaves into a substance undergoing acid-lactone interconversion. This substance has no phosphate or letone group and is probably a dicarboxylic, six-carbon sugar acid or the saccharic or saccharinic acid type. The significance of these findings with regard to the metabolic role of 2-carboxy-4-ketopentitol diphosphate is discussed.

Fission products, which may leak from the fuel and activated corrosion products from stainless steel surfaces, influence the design of several systems which support the main coolant system. Since the radioactivity in the main coolant resulting from these impurities must be limited to reasonable levels during operation, a purification system becomes important. Air conditioning of the vapor container as a result of possible main coolant leakage may be necessary during and after operation to remove airborne activity. After shutdown, treatment and disposal of active effluents becomes the function of a waste disposal system. Activities are tabulated, by individual isotopes, for 10,000 hours of full power operation. (auth)

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A summary of the Cr data from the HRP in-pile corrosion program is examined in an effort to determine the Cr species present in such solutions under in-pile conddtions. Data from previous in-pile bomb and loop experiments pertinent to Cr behavior are tabulated, and correlations are offered to support a proposed model. It is pointed out that other interpretations of the same data are possible, and to obtain conclusive evidence as to the identity of Cr species in these solutions, especially designed experiments are necessary. (J.R.D.)

The objective of this program is to conduct a broad basic program of analytical and experimental research into the fundamental behavior of gas- lubricated bearings and to establish general design criteria for these bearings. The work to date has included both theoretical and experimental phases of hydrodynamic and hydrastatic lubrication phenomena, supplemented by a digital computer program. (W. L.H.)

The techniques used in sampling, analyzing, and evaluating results for determining hazards from external radiation, airborne radioactive material, radioactive contaminants in mill effluents, and urinary uranium, as applied to the Monticello, Utah, uranium mill, are described. Corrective measures used by National Lead Company, Inc., at the Monticello Mill are described along with the results from later surveys which showed large reductions in the potential radiation hazards. Details are given of the methods used to determine personnel exposures to radioactive and silicosis-producing dusts, potential external radiation hazards and in assaying mill effluents for uranium and radium, assaying urine samples for uranium, as well as the standard operating procedures issued at Monticello to employees for preventing and/or controlling personnel exposures. (auth)

The methods used to calculate the steady-state pressure and thermal stresses in the spherical portion or the HRT pressure vessel are presented, The stresses reported here were calculated using the methods considered most applicable st the present time. These methods yield stresses significantly greater than originally reported for the HRT because the calculated total heat generation rate in the vessel wall is greater, and its distribution is different. A comparison of tworegion (DP reflector) and single-region operation is made, showing very little difference between them insofar ss stresses are concerned. A limited amount of experimental heat balance data for the HRT vessel wall has been compared to the calculated values. Primarily on the bases of this comparison recommendations are made concerning further procurement of experimental data. (auth)