This development work was undertaken to investigate and standardize scintillation detector and transistorized circuitry techniques in instruments used for detecting and measuring alpha and beta particles, gamma photons, and both slow and fast neutrons. At the present time, the standard radiation detection instrumentation used at Hanford employ vacuum-tube circuitry with typical detectors being ion chambers, G-M tubes, HF3 tubes, etc. The vacuum tubes require excessive battery power, and some of the circuits are adversely affected by humidity and temperature conditions.

This report summarizes the research and development work carried out during March, April and May, 1959, for Budget Activity 2790 - Separations Development for Non-Production Reactors, The effort on Activity 2790 will enable Hanford to begin reprocessing in January, 1962, the fuel elements from power reactors which employ depleted or slightly enriched uranium fuels.

The Single Tube Prototype Mockup (STPM) was constructed to be used as a tool to evaluate the mechanical problems involved in operating and maintaining many components of the Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor (PRTR). This report has been written to acquaint interested HAPO components with the capability of the STPM and for use as an aid in scheduling tests and/or to properly evaluate testing results obtained from the mockup.

The hazards associated with several possible mechanical failures were analyzed for the PRTR. The consequences of these failures were evaluated for inclusion in the Final Hazards Summary Report.

The measurement of a alpha-particle energy has been used by many radiochemical laboratories for the identification and analysis of alpha-active radio nuclides. The use of the total-ionization method for alpha-active radio-nuclides. The use of the total-ionization method for alpha energy in ionization chamber in which the alpha particle loses all its energy in ionization of the chamber gas. Collection of the electrons thus formed generates a voltage pulse across the chamber capacity which is proportional to the alpha particle energy. This pulse is then amplified using a suitable linear amplifier and fed to a pulses as to amplitude; the information is then recorded or stored. Since the pulse amplitude is proportional to the alpha energy lost to the chamber gas, the pulse height analysis can be used to estimate the energy of the alpha particles and in the case of several alpha emitters of different energies, the relative abundance of the alpha emitters can be determined. An alpha energy analyzer system using the ion collection method has been fabricated for use in radiochemical laboratories required to perform a large number of alpha energy determinations. This report describes the operation, maintenance, and application of this alpha energy analyzer system.

Several tests are being performed and others being planned to investigate the role of heat transfer in corrosion processes. These tests are measuring both corrosion rates of metals (Zr-2 and X-8001 aluminum) under heat transfer, and the temperature rise associated with the buildup of the corrosion product. A brief description of these tests is given in this report.

Relatively long time cycles are required for the standard nitric acid dissolution of enriched uranium using safe batch size techniques for criticality control. Upwards of forty eight hours are required for the total dissolution of solid of I and E enriched slugs in nitric acid. The dissolution capacity may be increased by: (1) using a dissolver critically safe by virtue of its geometry or, (2)increasing the rate of uranium dissolution. Dilute agua regia -- a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids -- is known to dissolve uranium much more rapidly than nitric acid. This reports present a flowsheet for the rapid dissolution of uranium slugs in dilute agua regia.

In an earlier study on criticality conditions for homogenous mixtures, 2/cm^2 was used as the neutron age for all mixtures of water and uranium. At the higher H/U ratios (low uranium concentration), the calculated critical parameters were in good agreement were in good agreement with experimental data. At the low H/U ratios (high uranium concentrations) the calculated critical parameters were smaller than the experimental ones (more conservative from a nuclear safety point view). These results indicated that using 27 cm^2 as the neutron age gives increasingly conservative results as the H/U ratio decreases.

Basic Studies. Sinterability experiments in the system UO2-PuO2 have continued, and data are available at one hour hold times across the UO2-PuO2 composition limits. Sintered densities appear to be markedly dependent on pressed densities with densification occurring very rapidly at higher pressing pressures. The following table illustrates the effect of one hour at temperature on final density for pure plutonium dioxide pressed to both 40 and 60 percent of theoretical density.

The recovery of plutonium and neptunium by anion exchange has been well demonstrated on a laboratory scale. (1, 2,3,4) The specific adsorbed by the resin is the tetravalent hexanitrate complex of either element. With plutonium (IV) and neptunium(V) in IWW, the plutonium is adsorbed but the neptunium is not. If nitrite is used as the reductant in strong (preferably 8 M or over) nitric acid, both plutonium and neptunium are obtained in the tetravalent state, and both are adsorbed on the resin. With stronger reductants, such as semi carbazide or ferrous sulfamate, plutonium (III) and neptunium (IV) are obtained so that only the neptunium is adsorbed. Optimum recovery of either element is obtained with between seven and eight M nitric acid.

This document presents preliminary chemical flowsheets for cladding and core dissolution of zircaloy-clad uranium dioxide and stainless steel-clad uranium-molybdenum non-production fuels. These preliminary flowsheets together with existing process flowsheets should be adequate for process development in the currently forecast non-production fuels dissolution facility.

A study of metallurgical problems resulting from variation in grain boundaries, bonding layers, and inclusions in metals and alloys has become increasingly important over the past several years. To keep pace with and aid in these studies, several new techniques have been developed in emission and X-ray spectroscopy. In X-ray, areas as smalls as one square micron can be studied by making them targets for a focused electron beam and observing the X-rays emitted (5,2). Such an instrument would be quite helpful at Hanford, but the high original cost is prohibitive.

Extraction systems involving chelating agents are widely used in radiochemical separations on a control basis due to the economy in time and equipment. In the case of waste streams, the element of interest is, by definition, at a very low concentration in the presence of gross fission product activities. The resultant large sample size necessary for a reliable analytical results creates a marked radiation hazard to laboratory personnel.

The Stack Effluent Radioisotope Monitor is an instrument which continuously measures and records the amounts of each of several different radioactive isotopes in the stack effluent of the Redox Facility. An informal report, HW-56151, describing the theory of operation and the circuits was prepared and is available to Hanford personnel from the technical files. The formal report, HW-56151 Rev, containing essentially the same information, is available from the Office of Technical Services, Department of Commerce, Washington 25, D. C.

This report is a summary of work done for system development on the NPR ball safety backup for the horizontal rods. This phase of the system development is limited to discussion of the horizontal rod counting circuitry utilizing a direct current bridge network.

Since the calculation of the PRTR energy distribution was first carried out by J. R. Triplett, the design has become sufficiently fixed to allow a refinement of his values. The present analysis, also, includes a calculation of the fraction of energy which is released in the shroud and process tubers that flows to the primary coolant to the top and bottom shield coolant is taken into consideration. Nuclear data used in the original calculations still appears satisfactory and is, therefore, utilized in the present analysis.

Two water quality control labs are being provided for the the NPR. One, a "cold" lab, is located in the183 Building adjacent to the control room. Its primary purpose is to provide facilities for quality control of the output of the filter plant and the demineralizer plant. The other, a "hot" lab, is located in the 190 Building. Its primary purpose is to provide facilities for the quality control of the primary and secondary coolants, and the moderator coolant.

In recent months, relatively large quantities of neptunium-237 have been recovered from Hanford irradiated uranium. The over-all recovery process consisted of 1) isolation from Purex plant solutions by solvent extraction, to yield an impure neptunium nitrate solution contaminated principally with uranium, plutonium, and fission products (2) purification by anion exchange 3) precipitation of neptunium (IV) oxalate; and 4) calcination of the oxalate to yield neptunium (IV) oxide, NpO2. This paper describes the oxalate precipitation process investigations and results.

This document authorizes the performance in accordance with the specifications noted, the PRTR Critical Tests described herein. The experiments described have the following objectives:

This paper describes the measurement of control rod strength in the PCTR. The first section outlines the theory and method of such a measurement, and the second section presents the results of the measurement of the Experimental Gas Cooled Reactor (EGCR) control rod strength. The reactor parameter actually inferred is the difference in the infinitive multiplication factor for a control rod supercell with and without the control rod in place in the supercell. These measurements are, therefore, very closely related to the measurement of k∞ for an ordinary lattice cell.

The Plutonium Recycle Test Reactor is heavy water moderated with a heavy or light water reflector contained by a complex aluminum vessel called a Calandria. ( See Figure 1). Construction of this vessel started in August, 1958, at a large West Coast vendor's plant and was completed at Hanford in December, 1959. The fabrication problems associated with a high integrity welded aluminum vessel were generally unrealized prior to this period. This report covers the fabrication of the Calandria and lists recommendations for improving the design and reducing the cost.

The Hanford water treatment plants were operated for a number of years with alum as a coagulant and activated silica as a coagulant and a polyacrylamide as a filter conditioning agent. (other polyelectrolytes may be used.) Sufficient time has elapsed to make a comparison of the two methods of operation valid and useful. Such a comparison is the purpose of this paper.

In recognition of the need for an integrated system plan for future development requirements for radiological instrumentation, this information report was written to provide the initial step concerning such a planning. The report is to be considered a basic information analysis of the present in-use plant radiological instrumentation, of the instrumentation now undergoing active development, and of the future development work contemplated.

Facilities are to be designed for installation at Hanford for the reprocessing of irradiated, low enrichment fuels from non-production reactors, see Reference 1 and 2. The initial design of the processing facilities is to be based on processing the fuels discharged from the Dresden, Yankee, Piqua, Pathfinder and Shippingport (blanket elements only) reactors. Properties of the fuels and cladding make it impossible to completely process them in existing equipment, although the separation and decontamination can be performed in existing facilities once the fueks have been placed in solution form.