This progress report discusses activities at Hanford Engineer Works for the month of July, 1944. The organization size increased rapidly in July, jumping from 1384 to 1886, an increase of 502 employees. Shortages existed on special lines such as electricians, instrument mechanics, and power operators. The opportunities to interview and employ Construction personnel improved as the Construction, organization moved past its peak employment figure. 269 houses were completed in Richland and 370 occupancies were reported, reducing the backlog of empty houses due to slow furniture movements. A total of 1530 houses or 35.6% of the village is now occupied. The overall canning yield increased from 63% to 75% while production leveled off at approximately two-thirds of design capacity. The metal machining operation and the test pile operated on a one shift-six day per week basis. The portion of the 100-B Area from the pump house through the filter plant and including the Power House was taken over by Operations on July 25. The Power House in the 200-W Area was started and flushing of process lines with water and steam got under way in the canyon. A new department was formed to control the Protection activities of the plant.

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Information required by operators exposed to radiation hazards is discussed. All areas of the plant are subjected to radiation hazards similar to those in the radium industry. Personnel in these areas are required to wear pencil meters and special badges that are evidently not solely for identification. They are required to submit to medical examinations more stringent and frequent than usual. They are required to wear heavy gloves in one location, thin gloves in another, disposable hats or rubbers in another. They are required to stay away from familiar objects that they could handle a few days before. They observe health instrument men making readings at points not tangibly influenced by the operations. Under these circumstances, operators cannot perform their duties intelligently without being advised of the general nature of the risks involved. Since the general beta and gamma hazard occurs at nearly all points and cannot reasonably be concealed, this is the feature selected for general information. The special hazard of 105 Building can then be concealed, and the origin, but not the nature of the hazard in 231 likewise concealed.

Hood Worthington reports that slug testing in autoclaves shows improvement to substantiate a meeting on the initial loading of pile B and production for B.F. Babcock report examining five drafts of Operating Standards for the 100 Area. C.W.J. Wende are considering alternative loading schemes due to the observation that lead dummy slugs at the inlet end of a tube may mushroom when subjected to the stress of discharging. J.A. Wheeler reports on heavy metal content of reclaimed slugs compared to normal slugs. Also, temperature measurements on slugs in 105-B and corrosion rates of heavy metals are given. P.F. Gast reports on safety rod control calculations. T.B. Drew report on volume estimations of the B pile and analysis of data from leakage tests. Lastly, W.K. Woods reports on testing of solid aluminium dummies in the W-tube using an electric needle technique to detect motion of the pieces. Water flow considerations are discussed.

This report discusses work at the Hanford engineering Works` 100 and 200 areas for August 11th through August 17th, 1944. Topics discussed include canning, slug recovery, testing and miscellaneous items. (JL)