At present, emphasis is being given the application of nondestructive testing to the inspection of nuclear fuel in conjunction with complete product specifications. The objective is to quantitatively specify fuel quality parameters, and to measure the entire fuel production against these specifications nondestructively. Under this concept the acceptability of a given fuel element becomes a well-defined factor readily determined by appropriate nondestructive tests.

The work described was undertaken to provide data for nuclear safety studies concerning NPF reprocessing equipment. The original objective was to determine the uranium density and water (hydrogen) content of UO2-H2O mixtures ranging from compact centrifuge cakes to dilute slurries. The scope was later expanded to include mixtures of UO2 with hydrocarbon oil and mixtures of UO3-H2O.

With the development of the zircaloy-2 clad uranium fuel element, it was necessary to develop a method of closing the end of the element after the extruded tubes were cut to the desired length. Regardless of the ultimate design of the closure, a satisfactory zircaloy-2 fusion welding technique had to be worked out. The first fully successful welding was performed with electron beam welding in a vacuum chamber. To make satisfactory welds, the electron beam welding involved time and equipment, plus undue maintenance on the equipment.

"Additional mixtures of polymers and multi-unsaturated monomers have been prepared, irradiated and the gel content determined. The gel content determination of crosslinked polyolefins has been investigated in detail. The multi-unsaturated monomers used and radiation conditions applied up to this time have not given significant gel contents for polypropylene. the polypropylene resin used has been characterized by differential extraction."

When light propagates with the wave normal in the direction of an optic axis of a biaxial crystal, the usual ray theory breaks down. This phenomenon can be analyzed by means of an asymptotic solution of Maxwell's equations. The intensity is governed by a partial differential equation within the phase surfaces, instead of ordinary differential equations along rays. This example slows that light does not always propagate along rays. A similar phenomenon occurs in hydromagnetics.

The response of a two silicon p-n junction diodes has been measured for protons up to 13.3 Mev. In one case the dependence of depletion layer thickness with bias voltage was found to be T or V(0.46). The observed resolution, made up of contributions from crystal noise, beam width, and scatterer thickness, was about 1% for 9-Mev protons.

The magnetic properties of core materials ae investigated for a pulse width of 30 nanoseconds. Methods of testing which are necessitated by the sort pulse width are explained and the design of the pulser which is capable of 0.2 megawatt peak power is described. The data obtained if evaluated and presented for the various materials which were tested.

Abstract. A fast-slow coincidence scintillation spectrometer for gamma-gamma cascade measurements following thermal neutron absorption in nuclei is now in operation at the Livermore 1-megawatt pool-type reactor. Design features of the spectrometer and experimental techniques in its use are discussed with particular emphasis on the application of the recently introduced sum-coincidence method for analysis of capture-gamma double cascades. A new technique for the determination of added neutron binding energy is presented and various types of coincidence data from appropriate experiments are illustrated.

This document details activities of the irradiation processing department during the month of December, 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.

Production of Pu nitrate, UO{sub 3}, and unfabricated Pu metal met schedules. Decontamination performance of Purex process continued below standard. The cerium-144 cask is being redesigned. A ``powered ferret``, for driving a scintillation counter through a conduit to monitor ground activity beneath waste storage tanks, is being designed.

Production of Pu nitrate from separations plant during this month was below forecast. UO{sub 3} production, shipments met schedules; so did unfabricated Pu shipments. Purex plant was stopped to replace the final waste concentrator (F-11) (leak). Two Pu-U partition failures were attributed to foreign organic material in the nitric acid; the Pu product was kept within specifications by adding NaF and ANN to ion exchange feed stream. A Np recovery run was started in Redox, and dissolution was started of 12 special 2-ton test batches of normal U fuel elements, irradiated to provide information on Pu formation rates. The damaged B-2 E-metal dissolver was replaced with a conventional dissolver. Test of a new sieve plate cartridge in Recuplex H-1 extraction column was stopped. A new semi-continuous product concentrator-stripper was made to replace Recuplex batch concentrator. Conversion of Purex prototype anion exchange to a manufacturing unit is nearly complete. Design was completed on the new Redox E-metal dissolver. Process feed was introduced into RMC button line and 3 buttons made. Project proposal for NPF reprocessing was revised.

This document details activities of the Fuels Preparation Department during the month of January 1960. (FI)

On the 0000-0800 shift, October 15, 1959, the delayed neutron monitor on KER Loop 2 gave a high coolant activity signal indicating a possible fuel element failure in this loop. KE reactor was shutdown immediately thereafter. This report is being written to summarize the events pertinent to this KE reactor scram and to discuss the results and significance of data from analyses on coolant and coupon samples taken from KER Loop 2.

The objectives of this production test detailed in this report is to evaluate the behavior during irradiation of tubular fuel elements with hot-headed end closures. With natural uranium twenty-inch tube- and-tube elements will be irradiated to a goal of 2500 MWD/T in the KER loops. The inner tubes will be closed by the hot-heading technique and the outer tubes will have normal welded closures.

The Criteria for Speed of Control must be met for all cases being considered in the Expansion Studies. These Criteria are dependent upon the ratio Volume of water/volume of uranium in the process channel, the reactor power level, and the rate at which the vertical rods are released and inserted into the reactor. For those cases wherein the graphite channel is overbored by 0.200 inch., the criteria can generally be met for the power levels under consideration since the ratio of Vw/Vu is maintained adequately small by the use of large diameter fuel elements. If the graphite is not overbored, high pressure drop across the fuel element section must be maintained in order to maintain small values of Vw/Vu, which results in a substantial increase in the front header pressure. A method is developed in this document which ties together and defines the hydraulic and physics characteristics of the fuel-process channel geometry necessary to satisfy the Speed of Control Criteria over a range of feasible operating conditions. This study assumes no graphite overboring and employs throughout a smooth bore zircaloy process tube having an inside diameter of 1.650 inches. The fuel elements are self-supported., and the inner hole size was …

None

Experimental data on plutonium yield and U{sup 235} burnout are now available on the E metal portion of three central zone striped E-N columns and one fringe blanket E column. These data and an overall E-N load conversion ratio based on experimental data are now reported.

The proposed increased water capacity for 100-K plants will increase the electrical load to be supplied. The load study showed that the capacity of the existing 13.8 kV system is adequate to carry the increased loads proposed for Project CG-775, while for the 5 kV system, an expanded power system is proposed. Likewise, the voltage regulation on the kV system bus will be excessive, and voltage regulators should be added.

Use of X-8001 Al alloy as cladding for Hanford reactors was initiated because of superior (laboratory) resistance to intergranular corrosion over that of C-64 alloy. However, since severe pitting attack was observed intermittently, an evaluation was carried out on X-8001 alloy fuel element cladding.

This report presents provisional specifications for the modifications and additions to the Lead Dip Canning Process for Heat Treated Uranium for the production test fabrication of projection fuel elements by resistance spot welding.

This report is an interpretation of data (flow, pressure, temperatures within a process tube during events affecting single tubes) as applied to the most severe (rapid) K-reactor transients which are credible. Analyses indicate that no fuel channel burnout will result from a BPA power loss to the process pumps.

This report presents a technical and economic study of the lead-dip canning process compared to two types of solid state diffusion bonding processes (hot-press die and gas pressure bonding) for Hanford production fuel elements (exclusive of NPR). It is concluded that either bonding process has potential advantages over the lead-dip process. The gas pressure bonding process has advantages over the hot-press die process.

Seven water leaks during the past year because of internal corrosion of second generation process tubes have emphasized the need for additional corrosion information. Numerous out-of-pile and probolog examinations have been made to determine the nature of the corrosion, and mixer fuel elements currently are charged in central zone tubes in order to reduce the corrosion rates. This document presents the data obtained to date as a general description of the tube condition at the time when the mixer elements were adopted and outlines future action necessary to determine when the second generation tubes must be replaced because of internal corrosion.

This document details activities of the irradiation processing department at the Hanford Reservation during the month of February, 1960. A general summary is included at the start of the report, after which the report is divided into the following sections: Research and Engineering Operation; Manufacturing Operation; Facilities Engineering Operation; Relations Practices Operation; Financial Operation; and NPR operation.