This report discusses the installation of operational charge-discharge equipment on the Hanford reactors has been proposed as a means of eliminating the reactor downtime required for charging and discharging the metal in the reactors. Additional benefits such as the minimization of the effects of slug ruptures, improved reactivity control, and improved metal utilization have become apparent during the investigation of the use of the equipment. Since the minimization of the effects of ruptures has been considered only qualitatively in previous justification documents for operational charge-discharge, the purpose of this document is to evaluate quantitatively the effect of such equipment on operation with a slug rupture limit.

This report addresses the progress report of ANP chemistry for April 1956.

The introduction of aluminum in hot process water has been studied extensively and numerous reports have been issued on the subject. The conclusions reached have been largely empirical and can only be used to state what is happening under the given conditions existing in the corrosion experiments. It is only with difficulty and a great deal of uncertainty that these empirical results can be used to predict what will occur under a different set of conditions. If the fundamental mechanism of aluminum corrosion in water were known, it is possible that more accurate predictions could be made and that steps might be taken to affect the controlling factors and thus reduce the severity of corrosion. To keep the system as simple as possible one would attempt to study the corrosion mechanism by corroding aluminum in pure water. However, this is undesirable because of the extremely low corrosion rate of aluminum in pure water and the large water supply and treatment facility required to supply sufficient high purity water for circulation about the corrosion samples.

This report talks about Chemical Development Status Report for Week Ending June 1, 1956