This is a progress report of the production on the Hanford Reservation for the month of February 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.

This document details activities of the Irradiation Processing Department for the month of February 1957. (FI)

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Hot Semiworks Run PX-18 was made to compare HA Column decontamination using HAF prepared by either updraft, or downdraft dissolving. Also determined were the effects on IA Column performance of (1) using Versene washed solvent, and (2) of addition Versene to the IAF and IAS. The Purex plant low-acid flowsheet was used during PX-18. No change in HA Column decontamination was noted which could be directly attributed to the change from updraft to downdraft dissolved feed. However, HA Column decontamination factors were increased by a large factor using either types of feed when the scrub section was operated ``loaded.`` For the most part the periods of ``loaded`` scrub section and high decontamination factors were accompanied by unstable operation and excessive waste losses. The use of Versene as an additive to the IAF, (0.0013 M) and IOS (0.001 M) produced an increase in IA Column decontamination. The IAF to IAP decontamination factor increased 60 to 70% to 350 as indicated by the in-line analyses, while a single lab analysis indicated a factor of five improvement. It was not possible to determine whether the increased decontamination resulted from the use of Versene in the organic wash solution or from its introduction in …

This document details activities of the irradiation processing department during the month of February 1959. A general summary is included at the start of the report, after which the report is divided into the following sections: Research and Engineering Operations; Production and Reactor Operations; Facilities Engineering Operation; Employee Relations Operation; and Financial Operation.

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In using the Zircex Process head-end to recover Zr from fuel elements before recovery of U by fluoride volatility, loss of U as UCl/sub 4/ is a problem. The suitability of using a Ni wire filter for trapping entrained UCl/sub 4/, and recovery of the trapped U by direct fluorination of filter and residue is investigated. It is recommended from these studies that water vapor and oxygen should be kept out of the reactor, and that the filter and filter material should be further investigated. (T.R.H.)

Theories of diffusion processes in water are discussed and the dispersion of radioactivity is calculated from an interpretation of the molecular diffusion equation with modifications which tend to fit the equation to from fission products in solution are made for a number of situations of interest. Parametric solutions are obtained and plotted on graphs which may be used to obtain water concentrations and thence dose levels. (auth)

S>Tables of elementary-particle data in easily accessible form are presented for researchers in highenergy physics. Included are: The Masses used Mean Lives of the Elementary Particles; Atomic and Nuclear Properties of Materials; Particle Scattering; atomic and Nuclear Constants; and Particle Decay and Reaction Dynamics. (T.R.H.)

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A comparison of possible types of research reactors for the production of transplutonium elements and other isotopes indicates that a flux-trap reactor consisting of a beryllium-reflecteds light-water-cooled annular fuel region surrounding a light-water island provides the required thermal neutron fluxes at minimum cost. The preliminary desigu of such a reactor was carried out on the basis of a parametric study of the effect of dimensions of the island and fuel regions heat removal rates, and fuel loading on the achievable thermal neutmn fluxes in the island and reflector. The results indicate that a 12- to 14-cm- diam. island provides the maximum flux for a given power density. This is in good agreement with the US8R critical experiments. Heat removal calculations indicate that average power densities up to 3.9 Mw/liter are achievable with H/ sub 2/O-cooled, platetype fuel elements if the system is pressurized to 650 psi to prevent surface boiling. On this basis, 100 Mw of heat can be removed from a 14-cm-ID x 36-cm-OD x 30.5-cm-long fuel regions resulting in a thermal neutron flux of 3 x 10/sup 15/ in the island after insertion of 100 g of Cm/sup 244/ or equivalent. The resulting production of Cf/sup 252/ amounts …

This report for February 1959, from the Chemical Processing Department at HAPO, discusses the following: Production operation; Purex and Redox operation; Finished products operation; maintenance: Financial operations; facilities engineering; research; and employee relations.

Graded nonuniform cartridges are described which have plates with larger holes, greater free area, and/or greater plate spacing. These plates were developed and specified for the Purex Plant A-type columns. Use of the cartridges eliminated cyclic local flooding and increased the complete flooding frequency by 10 and 25 cycles/min at volume velocities of 530 and 1060 gal/hr/ sq ft, respectively, and exhibited satisfactory extraction efficiency over a wide range of frequencies and throughputs. (auth)

For presentation at the 5th Nuclear Congress, Clevelands Apr. 7, 1959. Increasing emphasis has been placed recently on the application of solvent extraction to the recovery of uranium and plutonium from spent power reactor fuels. Zircaloy-2 jackets were removed from PWR blankettype fuels by dissolution with the Zirflex Process, and the UO/sub 2/ cores were dissolved in 10 M HNO/sub 3/. Zirflex treatment of prototype samples irradiated to 2500 Mwd/ ton resulted in satisfactory dissolution rates and losses to the dejacketing solution generally less than 0.2% for U and Pu. U-Zr alloy fuels were dissolved in 6 M NH/sub 4/F and adjusted for solvent extraction by the addition of ride was recycled by metathesis and precipitation. Stainless steel jackets were removed from Consolidated Edisontype fuels by dissolution in 6 M H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/ (Sulfex Process), and the ThO/sub 2/-UO/sub 2/ core was dissolved in 13 M HNO/sub 3/0.04 M F-0.04 M Al. Dejacketing losses in unirradiated samples were about 0.02%. Use of the ORNL Reference Darex flowsheet for APPR processing resulted in solvent extraction feed containing 30 ppm chloride. Mechanical equipment was designed to declad SRE fuels and chop and leach techniques are being developed to treat stainless and Zr …