This is a progress report of the production reactors on the Hanford Reservation for the month of April 1954. This report takes each division (e.g., manufacturing, medical, accounting, occupational safety, security, reactor operations, etc.) of the site and summarizes its accomplishments and employee relations for that month.

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To aid in the evaluation of solid-state bending techniques for cladding natural-uranium fuel-element cores with aluminum, tensile specimens, 1/4 in. in diameter and 3 in. long were made and tested. Results show that these techniques are capable of producing satisfactory bonds between aluminum and nickel-plated uranium. Pressing conditions of 1 min at 950F and 6000 psi produced consintent bond strengths equal to the yield strength of 25 aluminum. When optimum bonding conditions are used, anodic activation and strike-current density are not critical to bond strength. Nickel plating of the aluminum component of the bond couple reduced the tensile strength by about 50%. (auth)

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The corrosion rates of slug jackets exposed in the Hanford piles are monitored to determine optimum operating conditions and to evaluate proposed changes in process specifications. Selected process tubes are charged with weighed slugs, and the coolant flow rate and temperature rise through the tubes are recorded until the slugs are discharged. The corrosion rates of these control slugs are computed from weight loss data after discharge. The data obtained in this manner are used to find the relationship between slug jacket corrosion rates and the various conditions of power and temperature that are encountered in the piles. This report covers all of the corrosion data obtained to date for slugs that have been cooled with the currently specified process water, which is alum-coagulated and contains 2 ppm sodium dichromate as an inhibitor (see Appendix II for the water composition). All of the slugs were normal production pieces canned in 2-S aluminum.