The purpose of the test described in this report was to determine the effect of production reactor flux on ceramic materials being considered for lining the vertical safety rod channels at the production reactors. This document is being written to describe the test, the results to date, and the work which remains to be done. The materials being evaluated in the test are: Aluminum silicate (Maryland Lava Co.); silicon nitride bonded silicon carbide (Norton Co. ``crystalon``); and aluminum oxide 85% (Norton Co. ``Alundum RA-98``).

Irradiation of thorium oxide elements of the original test began in January 1964. Twenty columns of thorium oxide elements located in the outermost processing channels of F Reactor, accompanied by 40 columns of enriched, 0.947 w/o U-235, uranium elements in two adjacent lattice unit channels, were charged to permit evaluation of the reactivity effects of the loading and to obtain data on product and contamination build-up rates. Of the two loadings of thoria elements authorized by the initial test, the first has been discharged. Supplement A to Production Test IP-648-AC authorized two of the columns of thorium oxide elements to be irradiated through both cycles of the fringe loading. This supplement, Supplement B, to the test involves modification of the discharge schedule of the second loading of thoria elements and the two columns of elements authorized by Supplement a to permit discharge of the thoria columns at goal exposure of the supporting enriched uranium fuel columns.

This report, for March 1964 from the Chemical Processing Department at HAPO, discusses the following; Production operation; Purex and Redox operation; Financial operations; facilities engineering; research; employee relations; and weapons manufacturing operation.

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