The objective of the production test described in this report is to provide the authority and mechanism to remove process tubes from the piles for inspection. The test is intended to provide a more positive tube inspection program than was previously provided under production test number 105-9-P, ``Corrosion of Slugs and Tubes``, document number 7-3928.

This is a progress report of the production reactors on the Hanford Reservation for the month of April 1951. 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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In this paper we discuss the electromagnetic field, as perturbed by a prescribed current. All quantities of physical interest in various situations, eigenvalues, eigenfunctions, and transition probabilities, are derived from a general transformation function which is expressed in a non-Hermitian representation. The problems treated are: the determination of the energy-momentum eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for the isolated electromagnetic field, and the energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for the field perturbed by a time-independent current; the evaluation of transition probabilities and photon number expectation values for a time-dependent current that departs from zero only within a finite time interval, and for a time-dependent current that assumes non-vanishing time-independent values initially and finally. The results are applied in a discussion of the infra-red catastrophe and of the adiabatic theorem. It is shown how the latter can be exploited to give a uniform formulation for all problems requiring the evaluation of transition probabilities or eigenvalue displacements.

The intercycle evaporators in the Chemical Processing Plant are controlled by density-measuring instruments. Because of difficulties in controlling these evaporators in a satisfactory manner, a series of investigations was begun to measure the boiling points at the elevation of the CPP, and densities near boiling temperatures of a number of solutions in the uranyl nitrate-nitric acid-water system. From these data it was hoped to evaluate temperature sensitve devices as controllers for the evaporators.

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A permissible limit for the release of waste cooling water from the Hanford reactors into the Columbia River must be determined not only from the effect on humans of assimilation of the radioactive isotopes in the water, but also from the effects of temperature, submersion dose, and metabolism of radioisotopes on fish and other aquatic life in the river, and of concentration in plants of the radioisotopes in irrigation water from the river, with eventual consequences to humans. This report derives permissible limits for human assimilation. 10 refs., 4 tabs.

About twenty-five to thirty per cent of the uranium slugs canned in the Metal Preparation Section do not meet specifications and are rejected. These rejected slugs are recovered by a chemical process and prepared for re-canning. The canning operation provides a coating of metal composed principally of elemental aluminum and silicon with traces of copper and tin, which bonds the aluminum can to the slug. The elements in intimate contact with the slug combine chemically with the uranium to form the tenacious compound layer. The current recovery process consists essentially of a sodium hydroxide-sodium nitrate bath for chemically removing the aluminum can and the bonding medium, followed by hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid baths to remove the remaining compound layer and to pickle the slugs before they are returned to the process canning line. Recent studies have indicated the possibility of using a more economical means of recovery. This includes the mechanical removal of the aluminum can and most of the bonding medium, followed by a chemical removal of the residual compound layer by a solution of sodium hydroxide. A laboratory scale investigation was made to determine whether a solution of sodium hydroxide would remove the compound layer from de-canned, …

The geology of the Hanford-White Bluffs area was studied preliminary to drilling well(s) and developing an underground water supply. A study of the geology of the Hanford-White Bluffs area has shown that it consists of terrace deposits of sand and gravel covering a consolidated sandstone known as the Ringold formation. Beneath the Ringold are successive layers of basalt interbedded with volcanic ash, sand and other materials. In the past the Columbia River has cut channels through the area which extended downward into the Ringold formation. The old channels have been filled and upgraded to the present land surface in repeated flooding of the river over a long period of time. An aquifer used needed to be capable of supplying more than 34 million gallons of water per day.

The installation of crossheader pressure gauges on the reactors has shown that excessive pressure drops occur across some crossheader screen assemblies, and that the pressure drop across the four inch assemblies in the B, D, and F Reactors is significantly greater than the six inch assemblies at the DR and H Reactors. Since the inlet water system pressure is limited to the 4.5 psi discharge pressure of the secondary pumps, the reduction of pressure resistance downstream of that point would result in higher reactor flow rates and increased boiling limits. This test described in this report was initiated to determine if four inch crossheader screens having equal and 50% greater free-area than DR -- H screens would significantly reduce the crossheader screen pressure drops at the B, D, and F Reactors, and to obtain information regarding cone screen plugging rates with larger size screen openings.

A scheme was proposed whereby the third and second uranium cycle salt wastes in the Redox plant are combined, stripped, evaporated, and then returned as scrub to the first (and possibly second) cycles as scrub, operating as a dual scrub column. It is the purpose of this report to study this proposed method of back-cycling, and to investigate other methods of reducing chemical and waste storage costs.

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This report describes the objective of this production test which is to simulate with a few tubes operation of the old piles with small water annulus at power levels in the range of 800--900 MW.