The thoria program at Hanford was initiated in response to an order placed by the Atomic Energy Commission for the production of uranium-233 from the irradiation of thorium or thorium oxide (thoria). The initial orders called for approximately 130 kg U-233 and subsequent orders have since increased this figure. This report provides a brief history of the thoria program, an analysis of the thoria target element failures which occurred during the irradiation phase, and the significant changes in the fabrication methods and inspection criteria and techniques which were made in response to the large number of failures that occurred in the early stages of the program. The thoria program has sustained 25 thoria target element failures. Eighteen of these failures are believed to have been caused as a result of water entry through fabrication defects in the closure weld. Two of the failures were attributable to water entry through the cladding as a result of charging machine damage, and the remaining five failures were caused by water entry in some undetermined manner. The majority of thoria element failures occurred in the early stages of the program. Upon determining the cause of failure, Production Fuels Section initiated programs to upgrade the …

The power of some SRP fuel assemblies is limited by the burnout safety factor (BOSF) in some applications. This power limitation is unnecessarily restrictive, because the current conservatism in predicting film boiling burnout is unusually large compared to that in predicting unstable flow in fuel assemblies. In the past, most SRP fuel assemblies operated at the flow instability limit and were far enough removed from burnout that a convenient and very conservative burnout limit system could be used. If the same degree of safety was used for both burnout and flow instability, the power of BOSF-limited assemblies could be increased. This memorandum, which is part of the program to improve the system for protection against burnout, evaluates the probability and consequences of burnout at various BOSF levels.

This document summarizes the amounts of radioactive contamination discharged to ground from chemical separations and laboratory facilities through December 1965. Detailed data for individual disposal sites are presented on a month-to-month basis for the period of January through December 1965. Previous publications of this series are listed in the bibliography and may be referred to for specific information on measurements and radioactivity totals prior to January 1965. Several changes in crib nomenclature were made during 1965. These changes are noted on the individual tables so reference may be made to them in previous reports.

This report provides preliminary design and specification information to fabricate a compact Weapons Effects Display System. The system is capable of calculating and displaying the effects of thermal flux, radiation, and blast pressure from a nuclear weapon. EG&G was asked to evaluate analog computer logic of an existing Weapons Effects Display System (WEDS), make the necessary changes and develop preliminary specifications to fabricate a more compacted system. Also included was to design any new circuits required to make the system more accurate, and design new circuits to provide additional features as specified by LRL. The WEDS consists of an analog computer to compute the effects of thermal flux, radiation and blast; a display system for displaying the pertinent digital information; and a map display system for presenting certain information on a map. The weapon effects are represented by equations taken from ``The Effects of Nuclear Weapons,`` by S. Glasstone, other nuclear weapon effects documents, and from individuals working in the nuclear weapon field. These equations are solved with the use of an analog computer. The equation results, along with pertinent input information, are displayed on a digital readout panel and as an overlay on a map display system. The compact …

The Columbia River Cooling Program basically consists of effecting a reduction in river temperature at the Hanford site during the summer season. The implementation of this program in recent years has been accomplished through the selective and controlled discharge of waste water at Grand Coulee Dam. The purpose of this report is to describe the river cooling program conducted in CY-1965 by Facilities Engineering personnel, and present the program results.

This report describes EG&G activities in support of the NTO Test Cell A Program for February 1966. Details with respect to the various tasks included in our scope of work are discussed in succeeding sections and appendices. At Test Cell A, the NRX/EST test series continued with the performance of Experimental Plans IIA, IIB, and IIC. EG&G personnel maintained the test cell instrumentation and controls systems in a run condition and added new channels for the next experimental plan. This will be the last publication of the monthly EG&G/NTO progress report. The contractual agreements of the EG&G Electronics Support Services contract require a monthly technical and fiscal report. Reporting shall be in the following categories: (1) TCC; (2) TCA; (3) ETS-1; (4) R&E MAD Buildings; (5) Common Operational Support; (6) Miscellaneous; and (7) Central Support Shops. In addition EG&G will submit a weekly highlight report to SNPO-N with distribution to the users.

This document presents a survey of the EG&G NRDS photographic operation in four major sections and includes the work scope, procedures, some technical backgrounding and operational information. Two sections, Instrumentation and Photo Systems, include the areas of direct responsibilities while a section on Film Handling and Coordination and a section covering special information, pertinent to the project, are included to adequately complete this survey. The photographic group is housed in two trailers within the control point area at NRDS and from these trailers provides photographic support at a number of locations. Four camera bunkers, three camera towers, a kinescope system, a microfilm system and remote camera controls comprise the facilities that the group maintains and operates outside these trailers. The work load includes major items such as: motion picture coverage of the nuclear rocket engine tests, data record microfilming, kinescope recording, and documentary coverage of the company related operational responsibilities. In addition, a number of minor photographic services are extended, when required. The nature of the work, because of its importance within the research and development efforts at NRDS, requires optimum quality and efficiency throughout. The many procedures outlined here have been designed to satisfy these requirements.

SNAP 10FS-3 was the first flight-qualified SNAP reactor system to be operated in a simulated space environment. Prestart-up qualification testing, automatic start-up, endurance period performance, extended operation test and reactor shutdown are described as they affected, or were affected by, overall reactor performance. Performance of the reactor control system and the diagnostic instrumentation is critically evaluted.

Submitted herewith are source and special nuclear material composition for the month of June, 1966. Normal uranium, depleted uranium, enriched uranium, plutonium, thorium, uranium-233, deuterium, enriched lithium, neptunium-237, plutonium-238, and tritium are accounted.

This study, which covered the span from June 28 to December 31, 1965, was conducted by the Astronuclear Laboratory of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation under the direction of the New York Operations Office of the Atomic Energy Commission.

None

None

None

None

None

None

None

None

None

None

None

None

None

None