This report provides a compilation of memorandums and studies related to a Hanford production cut-back.

Four years of intermittent development has culminated in the successful test drilling on-reactor, of one step plug hole. Since 1960, several different drive units and many diamond, carbide, and tool steel cutting heads were tried unsuccessfully in attempts to bore a stepped hole in a mockup of B, D, P side shielding. Success was finally achieved in 1963 using a standard horizontal boring mill and tool steel cutters. With slight modifications, this same equipment was successfully used in an on-reactor test drilling at F Reactor in December of that year. The on-reactor test revealed the need for improvements in the equipment. Chip flow was inadequate and appeared to be caused by poor air flow in the core receiver. Cast iron cutting technology used on the mockup did not work on-reactor and had to be revised on the spot. The graphite did not break up into chunks as desired and had to be manually removed. None of the steel cores were more radioactive than 50 mr/hour at approximately 2 inches, but the cast iron core read 300 mr/hour at 10 feet. It had to be handled very quickly. The dose rate for handling the graphite was 400 mr/hour. It, too, was …

Work has been progressing on the development of an extrusion process for I&E tubing. The ultimate object of this development project is to compare the extrusion process from a cost standpoint with, the presently used rolling-drilling process. Various experiments have been performed to determine the optimum billet I.D., the proper follower block technique, the proper tooling parameters for the process, and the proper metallurgical structure of the material for optimum results. This extrusion combines many of the past results as a further determination and refinement of the extrusion process to be used in the final semi-production optimization extrusion. The object of this extrusion was to evaluate the resulted of previous extrusion experiments to determine final process conditions prior to an optimization extrusion.

Process and Reactor Development progress includes depleted uranium irradiation in the B and KE reactors and thoria irradiation in the B, C, D, KE, and KW reactors. Reactor Engineering reports on higher graphite temperature tests, graphite strength tests, heat removal requirements following reactor shutdown, and reactor deactivation. Reactor Physics topics include: E-Q loading, test facility loss of coolant protection, ball 3X replacement, and in-core flux monitors. Radiological Engineering reports on radiation control experience, classification, radiation occurrences, effluent activity data, radiation standards and controls and procedures, and dose rates in the DR reactor block. Also listed are many revised standards issued during the report period. Operational Physics Operations report on pile physics plant assistance for the B, C, D, DR, F, H, KE, AND KW reactors. Process Physics studies include reactivity and control studies and product related studies.

At this present time, fuel elements of two basic lengths are used in the IPD reactors --a ``six-inch`` enriched uranium element (0.947 w/o U-235) and an ``eight-inch`` natural uranium element. Although fuel element diameters vary fro model to model, the length of the uranium cores is reasonably constant. An evaluation of fuel element lengths has bee made and the economic incentive for producing and irradiating longer fuel elements is fairly large. This test is a first step in evaluating the irradiation behavior of a new fuel model. The objective of the production test detailed in this report is to evaluate the irradiation behavior of ``ten-inch`` enriched (0.947 w/o U-235) uranium fuel elements.

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Information resulting from recent graphite investigations in the K Reactors were presented to the Council. Separations as much as three to four inches were reported. Contraction of the graphite within the fueled regions of these reactors is now about one per cent in the direction transverse to the extrusion axis of the graphite and about two per cent in the parallel direction. Saturation is not expected until shrinkage of at least two to three per cent is observed in the transverse direction. The contraction is resulting in two principal operating problems; control rod entry and loss of 3{times} balls in the separations following a ball drop. The principal purpose of the review concerned only the ball system and particularly the philosophy governing the system`s use. Following a historical review of the ball system philosophy, our present views were developed by the consideration of six questions and answers. Our points extracted from these questions were (1) the IPD reactors require a backup safety control system (2) the backup system should be separate from the primary safety control system, (3) the backup system should be activated automatically upon accidents capable off disabling the safety rod system, (4) the system actuation should be …

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