This memorandum discusses the deaeration of process water for the F area at the Hanford Engineer Works. The memorandum is dated July 13, 1944.

On June 3 the writer was detailed to the 300 Area to study operations in Bldg, 313. Seven days were spent with C shift in the caning and dipping area. In this period, a system of coordinating press cycles was developed to utilize machine time most effectively. Subsequently, a brief amount of time was spent working in a design of the can cleaning area so as to incorporate the aluminum can etching operation and facilitate the handling and flow of materials. The next stage of perhaps a week was devoted to a study of inspection and testing methods. The final period of one week was utilized mainly to develop a method of storing finished material so as to provide the maximum amount of piece-classification flexibility without incurring enormous burdens in the movement of material to later stages of the operation.

Progress on finding suitable water conditions for start-up had been approached as closely as possible with our present equipment and information as to the requirements. The water composition should be attainable that is not corrosive or build up a film rapidly, and we have means available for removal of such films. Slug classification methods were analyzed from a dimensional standpoint. Analysis of current CMX data was undertaken with the objective of establishing allowable variations in pressure drop in W-tubes due to film formation. Calculations were made of the number of slugs which have jacket temperatures in excess of various values, for various loading arrangements. On July 26 the proposed loading of the discharge nozzle is to be checked on CMX tube 1 during an inspection shut-down. Evacuation procedures in the event of a catastrophe in the 100-B area were discussed with W.E. Rapp during a visit to that area on July 19, 1944. Tests for slug leaks will not be less severe with water in the autoclave than with steam, and have a considerable chance to be more decisive, especially if a wetting agent is added to the water. Calculations were made on the sensitivity to be expected from three …

This technical progress letter details Hanford Engineer Works activities for the time period of July 7 through July 13, 1944.

Technical report describing development of the Clinton alpha amplifier. The circuit for the Clinton alpha amplifier which is used with an Offner scaler is shown attached to the report. It consists of a pre-amplifier mounted in a cylindrical alpha chamber, followed by a three state amplifier and a pulse height selector in a separate cabinet. Pulses are fed from the pulse height selector in the amplifier to the input tube of the Offner scaler. Through the third stage of the amplifier, this circuit is exactly the same as the California circuit now used by the chemical section for alpha counting. A type 961 Offner scaler was used for these tests. None of the latest Offner scalers type961A, were available to us when the tests were made. Method of testing is given, results are tabulated, computations are made, and eight graphs are given. it appears that the Clinton amplifiers used with a Offner scaler will give substantially the same performance as that given by the California circuit.

Newsletter of the University of Texas Bureau of Business Research outlining statistics and research related to business in Texas.

Technical report describing the investigation of the short-lived activities produced in oxygen compounds by irradiation with pile neutrons. The most prominent of these activities in cooling water is a beta and gamma emitting activity of about 8 second half-life. Because of its production by epicadmium neutrons it was believed to be the 8 second N16 produced in the pile by n,p on O16. The identification has been accomplished and it is established that the 8 second activity is N16. Part 2 of the report deals with the determination of the recoil range of the Al28 atoms formed by pile n,p reaction on Al27.

Technical report. The effect of temperature during pile exposure on the fast-neutron-induced change in properties of graphite was studied. Temperatures up to 125 degrees C have no effect upon the rate of increase of elastic modulus; pieces exposed at 300 degrees C on the other hand show no change at all in elastic modulus. The increase in electrical resistance s an inverse function of the temperature of exposure at all temperatures in the range 60 to 300 degrees C.

Technical report. Long-time tests have been made on the effect of various types of radiation on the corrosion of 2S aluminum in simulated W water. In no case was any acceleration of corrosion by the radiation observed; the effect of radiation, if any, appeared to be a protective one. Deuteron irradiation did accelerate the corrosion of mild steel at low flow rates in hot water of pH 6 to 7, but no appreciable effect was observed with copper, stainless steel, or tuballoy. The general theory of the effect of radiation on corrosion is discussed, with the conclusion that no acceleration of corrosion by radiation is to be expected in most cases of practical interest.

Technical report. Quite pure anhydrous ThCl4 in small quantity (8-10 g charge) has been prepared by the action of a mixture of Cl2 and CCl4 vapor on ThO2 at 675 degrees to 725 degrees C.

Technical report with short reports on (1) P-9 recovery from UO2F2 solution; (2) Correlation of theories on action of radiation on matter; (3) Literature surveys on organic compounds and on chemistry of UO2F2; (4) effect of radiation on organic compounds; and (5) Effect of radiation on 100 area construction materials.

Technical report abstract. The present state of knowledge concerning the effect of pile radiation on a variety of solid materials is reviewed. Radiation corrosion will not be a serious hazard for aluminum or stainless steel but it can be for iron or lead if either are exposed to water. Apart from corrosion the principal uncertainty is in regard to the Wigner effect on the behavior of metals. There is at present no ground for optimism regarding the behavior of tuballoy. The effect on aluminum or a bonding material while less severe must also be considered serious. The expectation in regard to graphite is that its behavior will not cause trouble during the first 100 days of operation although serious troubles will probably arise within two years of operation. Organic materials can be used safely only in regions of limited exposure.

Aluminum oxide occupies a larger volume than the aluminum it contains would fill as metal, consequently, the assumption has been made that holes in metallic aluminum would close by a sufficient amount of oxidation. Therefore, we were asked to investigate the rate of plug formation under conditions to be expected in the pile. For the latter we were requested to approach the pile conditions as nearly as we could by employing the Chicago cyclotron. It seems to us that the problem divides itself into two separate questions: (1) under what conditions may holes be expected to close? (2) if holes do close how much corrosion of uranium may be expected before the closure becomes impervious to water vapor? In this report only the first question is considered. The experiments and theory coupled with the data collected by other workers on the project definitely define the limits within which pores in the aluminum cans may be expected to close by an oxidation process. Under the most favorable conditions only small holes may be sealed in this manner. In the large majority of the cases the holes not only fail to close but become larger.

Various experimenters have shown (H.H. Gersman U.S. Patent 2,335,590, Nov. 30, 1943; Aluminum Co. of America, various technical papers; also CT-482) that when a billet is extruded by proper technique into a rod (or tube by a floating mandril) that flow of material is streamline and and the extruded article is essentially a space replica of the billet, with linearly distorted coordinates. Advantage is taken of this fact in the manufacture of alclad tubing in which a billet containing an inner core of one alloy with the outer part of another alloy cast around it is extruded together into an integral tube, e.g., to combine high corrosion resistance with high strength. The following experiments were carried out because of the desirability of obtaining a control rod which can be water cooled (or immersed in P9) and which contains boron. For some pile structures it may be desirable to have the major portion of the energy released by the neutron absorption of the control rod be spend in the rod itself by the nuclear reactions [formula] rather than in the surrounding media as is the case when absorption of neutrons is by cadmium according to the reaction [formula]. In the later …