At about 6:30 a.m. one of the two Process Operators regularly stationed at 233-S was performing routine work in the Control Room, heard a nearby Poppy alpha detector breaking down.'' He checked and found the instrument appeared to be in operating condition as it would respond to a high level source. Further checking indicated that he was contaminated and that nearby horizontal surfaces were contaminated. This information was phoned to the Shift Supervisor who told the Operator that he would be right out and to throw a pair of shoe covers out the door. On arriving, the Supervisor donned the shoe covers and then quickly checked the Poppy response and confirmed the report of the Operator. Both men then left the building. Just outside they met the other Process Operator assigned to 233-S, returning from the lunchroom. The second Operator was handed a smear, previously taken and checked by the Supervisor, and told to check it on a Poppy in the load-out-room, a room adjacent to where the contamination was originally found. When the Supervisor heard the load-out-room Poppy break down as the smear was checked he instructed both Operators to stand by just outside the building while he went …

Pile Engineering Sub-Section has been investigating the causes and effects of cocked slugs in process tubes for the past year because they are suspected to be the cause for some slug ruptures. In Project CG-642 - Continuous Charge-Discharge Equipment - C Reactor it is proposed that slugs be flush charged into the process tubes. This document reports the effect of flush charging slugs on their tendency to cock as discovered in laboratory tests.

This memorandum provides a comparison of monthly slug ruptures at the Hanford C-Pile.

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This document presents a summary of work and progress at the Hanford Engineer Works for May, 1956. The report is divided into sections by department. A plant wide general summary is included at the beginning of the report, after which the departmental summaries begin. The Manufacturing department reports plant statistics, and summaries for the Metal Preparation, Reactor and Separation sections. The Engineering Department`s section summarizes work for the Technical, Design, and Project Sections. Costs for the various departments are presented in the financial Department`s summary. The Medical, Radiological Sciences, Utilities and General Services, Employee and Public Relations, and Community Real Estate and Services departments have sections presenting their monthly statistics, work, progress, and summaries.

Some months ago, the Engineering Department was requested to make an evaluation estimate of the cost of obtaining approximately 150,000 gpm of cooling water from shallow ponds or from cooling towers. Their conclusions (see DPWZ-5305) were (1) that both schemes were feasible and each produced cooling water of approximately the same annual average temperature; (2) the cooling towers could be built more quickly, largely because no additional engineering data were required before construction would start; and (3) the cooling ponds probably would be cheaper. Data obtained from Clark Hill Reservoir in Georgia and Woods Reservoir in Tennessee indicated that significant reductions in the temperature of the cooling water could be made if the water were withdrawn from the deep portion of the reservoir rather than from the surface. Also, it appeared that the water from a reservoir 100 feet deep would be significantly colder than the water obtained from the reservoir only 40 feet deep. The studies reported herein were an attempt to evaluate the benefits that would accrue from obtaining cooling water from a deep lake rather than from a shallow pond.

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This report addresses the continuous plutonium isolation contactor.

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 describes a study which has been completed of Hanford production pile space requirements for the manufacture of polonium 210, thulium 170, and iridium 192. Sufficient radioisotope is required for the generation of 2000 watts of heating by radioactive decay after a decay period of 150 days.

A technique has been devised for the non-destructive determination of the uranium hydride and/or iron content in uranium fuel slugs of Hanford size. The technique, an adaptation of the Gouy method for measuring magnetic susceptibilities, is based on the ferromagnetic properties of the hydride below 173 deg K. A large electromagnet and a pain balance are utilized in measuring the magnetic forces on a vertically suspended slug at liquid nitrogen temperatures and at room temperature. It was found possible to test as many as 250 slugs per eight-hour day in this manner. (auth)

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A research and development program in the field of thorium chemistry and metallurgy was conducted. Most of this activity was directed toward the development of techniques for the production of metal by fused salt electrolytic approaches, little effort being proportioned to the preparation of an electrolyte for the process. An aqueous method for the preparation of an anhydrous cell feed was set up and operated for several months. Relatively high operating expense and difficulties with materials of construction prompted the development of a more direct approach for the production of electrolytic cell feed. The system established for cell feed preparation converts thoriumn nitrate to a basic carbonate via the reaction between the nitrate and sodium carbonate, this precipitation being quantitative. Following a suitable filtration and drying operation, the thorium oxycarbonate is converted directly to the chloride by reaction with carbon and chlorine, forming a cell feed containing between 40 and 45% thorium in a molten matrix of sodium and potassium chlorides. The preparation of cell feed by the descrihed process was carried out on a small- tonnage basis, in 1,000-pound batches. The entire process is capable of heing operated on a continuous or semi-continuous basis and presents a commercially feasible …

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The described plant will produce reactor grade Th at a price of 07 per pound. The plant operation is based on the preparation of electrolytic cell feed by fused salt chlorination techniques and converting the feed to high quality metal by high temperature electrolysis. (D.E.B.)

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