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This is a progress report of the production reactors on the Hanford Reservation for the month of August 1951. This report takes each division (e.g., manufacturing, medical, accounting, occupational safety, security, reactor operations, etc.) of the site and summarizes its accomplishments and employee relations for that month.

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It was the purpose of this talk to present up-to-date information with regards to dimensional stabilityof metallic uranium. A brief discusssion concerning the history, present status, proposed theories, and recent results are given. The factors affecting and methods of minimizing dimension changes are outlined.

Annual report of Brookhaven National Laboratory describing the work and findings for the lab's departments during summer 1950-1951.

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This document addresses questions concerning radioactive build-up in a liquid control solution recycling through the pile at the Hanford Works plant. The solution composition and method used to obtain dose rates are included.

Possible hazards involved in the Mallinckrodt procedures for processing l%-enriched U are analyzed, and necessary precautions are specified. No danger is possible inhandling any amount of nominally l% U in the reduction of UF/sup 4/ to metal, cooling, or remelting. Critical amounts might conceivably be accumulated during the rolling to 3/4'' rod, in which case an''always safe'' amount is indicated. (B.J.H.) 2l92 A neutron burst from an untamped cylindrieal enriched U assembly occurred si ihe Pajarito Remote Control Laboratory ai 1800 hours on 18 April, 1952. The circumstances causing the burst and a description of the assembly involved are given. There was no personnel hazard. Normal operations could have been resumed on other assemblies within two or three hours after the burst. No evidence of damage to the enriched U was observed. Also reported are some results of computations and past-burst tests and a discussion of probable time behavior of power level during the burst. (auth)

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At 11:20 A.M. Tuesday, July 24, 1951, a radium capsule containing 49.6 milligrams of radium became open to the atmosphere t the Kelley-Koett instrument Company, 930 York Street, Cincinnati, Ohio. This radium was contained in a platinum tube and was used for the purpose of calibrating radiation detection instruments. At the time of the accident, the actual chemical composition of the radium salt was not known. On Tuesday morning, July 31, 1951, Mr. W.A. Bigler and Mr. R.A. Miller of the Monsanto Chemical Company, Mound Laboratory, Miamisburg, ohio were sent to the Kelley-Koett Instrument Company for the purpose of recovering as much of the radium as possible and to help in the reduction of the health hazard. This paper details the activities undertaken to survey and decontaminate the area.

This report lists recommendations to be adopted in the process for the reduction of plutonium fluorides by calcium metal in order to save time and money in the Plutonium Finishing Plant. These recommendations regard the standardization of procedures for batch operations. Instead of weighing chemicals to be added to each PuF{sub 4} batch, standard quantities of iodine and calcium would be prepared and stored for later use. The reagents would be added to PuF{sub 4} batches in the 410--430 gram range without further weighing.

The effect made on the RM (Remote Mechanical) Line equipment by an increase in the plant batch size from ca. 300 grams to ca. 375 grams has been studied. Using the process as determined by Production Test 234-3, the volumes for a 300 gram batch and a 375 gram batch are as follows, respectively: volume of plutonium peroxide (alcohol washed, filtered)--1,275 cc., 1,593 cc.; volume of plutonium tetrafluoride (as produced)--617.7 cc., 772 cc.; and volume of reduction charge (tamped)--511 cc., 638 cc. The difficulties encountered with 375 gram batches are discussed.

A proposal by ``S`` Division that operations be simplified by adding fixed amounts of calcium and iodine in the reduction step as a time saving device has been investigated. Ten test runs in the 410--430 gram range have been compared with twenty normal runs made in this period. The average yields were 98.27% for the normal method and 98.26% for the test runs. No effect on individual yields by the variance in percent calcium and the iodine ratio was observed. Seventy percent of the runs normally fall into the 410--430 gram range. By controlled compositing of the feed batches, it should be possible to increase the percentage of the PuF{sub 4} runs that fall in this range.