Abstract: "The sensitivity to fast neutrons of a CP Meter ionization chamber of the type used for health physics beta and gamma survey measurements has been investigated."

The following report describes polarographic methods that determine saturated aliphatic carbonyl compounds.

Introduction: "The adoption of aluminum nitrate as salting agent in the Redox process made it imperative that a method be available for determining plutonium in the presence of aluminum. However, large amounts of aluminum have been found to interfere with the determination of plutonium by the lanthanum fluoride procedure. Previous attempts to increase the accuracy of the lanthanum fluoride method, by precipitating LaF3 from 4 M HF (rather than 2 M), have been successful only when the initial plutonium level was high."

The following report describes methods used to determine tributylphosphate in a deodorized shell base. An infrared absorption method is developed to emphasize toward determination of TBP in RCW streams, the organic waste streams.

The following memorandum outlines the procedures used on the neutralization of HNO3 in redox ICU and IAW streams, and the factors influencing their choice. The procedures involve a) hexone removal by evaporation in the presence of a retardant, b) destruction of the retardant, c) nitric acid elimination by boiling with aluminum and d) concentration of the remaining solution by evaporation.

From introduction: "The purpose of this report is to summarize some of the observations on the dispersion and rate of disengaging of liquid-liquid systems and suggest some possible lines of future work."

The following report records a total of forty-nine graphite core samples that have been bored from process tube blocks in the Hanford piles with the intention to provide results to indicate that core boring is an entirely practical operation over bore scraping in obtaining powder samples.

The following report calculates pile reactivity changes that result from different pile loadings where it is desirable to have available values of (flux)2 d(volume) for various flat zone radii. This information was found for a cylindrical pile having circular flat zones and an effective radius of 598 cm., by integrating over a cross sectional volume of one cm. thickness.

Objective: The objective of this study is to develop a simple method of either removing the C1- ion from the RAW or converting the ion into a less corrosive valence state.

A series of diffusion length measurements were carried out on graphite stacks of various constructions in an attempt to resolve the discrepancies between the graphite diffusion lengths measured in the Hanford reactors and that value measured in the Hanford Standard Pile. It was found that the diffusion length of the graphite in the Hanford reactors is in good agreement with the value for the Hanford Standard Pile when corrections are made for the absorption and scattering of neutrons by the aluminum process tubes, and for neutrons streaming in the channels of the reactors.

Ultrasonic equipment has been developed for nondestructive testing of Hanford fuel elements. The ultrasonic method has replaced the Frost Test for bonding layer inspection in the Hanford canning line, and provides more accurate and reliable results at lower cost. The method has also been adopted to the testing of new fuel elements for which no other method is available.

A research and development program aimed at devising processes for the economical recovery of the potentially valuable long-lived fission products from Purex waste has been under wat at Hanford for several years. When this work has begun, the concentrated waste was primarily a nitric acid solution (6 to 10 M HNO3) containing the fission products and relatively small concentrations of iron, sulfate, and other corrosion products. Flowsheets based on classical separation schemes and rather similar to processes used by the Isotopes Division at the AEC's Oak Ridge operation served to separate the desired fission products from one another and from the corrosion products (1,2,3).These separation schemes employed careful step-wise pH adjustment to precipitate first the iron and then to separate the desired fission products from one another. The flowsheets were demonstrated on a pilot-plant scale with full-level plant waste. However, since the earlier work was complete, plant operations have been modified....

Considerable interest has developed in the use of ion-exchange in the nuclear energy field in the last decade. Aside from the obvious use of providing demineralized coolant water for reactors, the projected uses of ion-exchange include the recovery of fission products from aquaeous waste streams and the separation and purification of fissionable materials from spent reactor fuels. The latter process may be incidental to the over-all operation, as is the case with the Purex anion exchange facility, or it may be the prime separation process, as may be the case in the recovery of Pu or U from spent power reactor (PRTR) fuel elements.

Thermal oxidation of graphite in flowing CO2 is being studied at 650 to 850 C, in a single-pass gas system at atmospheric pressure, by observing weight loss rates. The method is used to provide comparative data for candidate reactor graphites. The effects on oxidation rates of graphite purity, structure, coke type, graphitization temperatures and other manufacturing variables are determined. In addition, the effects of gas flow rates and graphite surface to volume ratios are observed.

A knowledge of the mechanical and physical properties of uranium is important in understanding and explaining its pile behavior. The effects of irradiation on the properties of uranium will be dealt with in another chapter. However, it is important to know and understand the pre-irradiation properties of uranium prior to investigating the effects of irradiation.

Four capsules containing Al-1.65 w/o Pu and Al-12 w/o Si-1.65 w/o Pu were charged into the MTR. These capsules will be irradiated to a burnup of 80-100% of the plutonium atoms to determine the stability of the material at high exposures. An additional sixteen capsules containing 5 to 20 w/o Pu in Al and Al-Si have been prepared. Eight are awaiting reactor space and should be charged soon. The remaining eight are being recanned to increase the end gap between the core and the can. Also four capsules containing high density UO2-PuO2 pellets canned in Zircaloy are awaiting assignment of reactor space.

The Zircaloy-a clad, swaged UOa, 19-rod cluster fuel element for the PRTR was designed to use Zircaloy-a wire spirally wrapped around the fuel rods as spacing members. Such use of unbonded, Zircaloy-a spacers introduced the possibility of fretting corrosion. This paper reports preliminary irradiation tests conducted to determine whether or not such corrosions occurs in this fuel element design.

The basic process for fabricating a swaged fuel rod is simple, easy to control and inexpensive. A zircaloy tube is filled with uranium dioxide powder, the ends temporarily plugged and the loaded tube is swaged to compact the UO2 powder to the required density. The swaged rod is then cut to length and counterbored and then end cape are welded into each end. After several tests and inspections, nineteen rods which meet the quality standards are assembled into a single fuel element ready for irradiation.

This twenty-second quarterly report of the research and development activities of the Radiological Sciences Department, Hanford Atomic Products Operations, as before, includes some items charged to control but included for general interest. Such are identified as "not charged to research." The previous report of this series was numbered: HW-34408 January 10, 1955

Decontamination of stainless steel and carbon steel used in high temperature recirculation systems is currently being studied to obtain an effective and economical decontamination process for use in these systems. This report presents the preliminary investigation process which has demonstrated very effective decontamination and is low in cost.

In conjunction with the fuel element development program at Hanford, it is desired to determine the effects of cladding and core temperatures, cladding thickness, and exposure upon the swelling behavior of unalloyed uranium. To obtain this information, it is proposed to irradiate several fuel rods, clad by coextrusion with Zr-2, in NeK filled stainless steel capsules. The central uranium temperatures are to be monitored by axial thermocouples. Irradiation tests in the MTR and ETR using capsules of similar design have been and are now being conducted. GKH 3-31, a fuel rod, clad with 0.030" Zr-2, operated in the MTR at an average center fuel temperature of 425 C to an exposure of 2100 MWD/T. GKH 3-57, 3-58, and 3-59 are presently undergoing irradiation in the ETR.

Crib evaluation studies showed the soil uptake of plutonium from the Recuplex process (CAW) waste to be low. Preliminary studies of the low soil adsorption of plutonium revealed the presence of a plutonium nitrate anion complex which could be removed by adsorption on a strong base anion exchange resin.

Thermal Resistance of the contact between to core and the jackets or unbonded fuel elements may easily be the largest source of error in core temperature predictions. The object of this work is to improve contact conductance predictions by measuring conductance of the joint between reactor fuel and cladding materials at joint pressures, temperatures and thermal flux levels approaching reactor service conditions.

A study was performed to determine the economic incentives associated with in-pile boiling, with the explicit assumption that this method of operation was technically feasible. A non-boiling reactor plant was used as a comparison, and the net electric generation was held constant at 400 Mw. The economic effect of variations in specific power from 47 to 32 kw/ft., and steam qualities of 10 to 60% were studied. The results showed that, under the conditions used, the unit power cost during single purpose operation would be in the range 5.9 to 6.1 mils/kw-hr at the generator bus-bar, compared to an estimated 6.6 mils/ kw-hr. for the non-boiling plant. These gains are realized under conditions of relatively high specific powers, greater than 32 kw/ft., relatively modest bulk outlet steam quality (greater than 20%), and high-pressure steam (1000 psia or higher) used directly in the turbines. During the dual market period, the power rate is about the same. An increase of 0.2 mils/kw-hr. is indicated when the specific power is lowered- Capital investment savings of perhaps four to five million dollars may be possible, but savings of this magnitude have little effect on the over-all power cost. The power cost savings stated above …