This report is applicable to the eight operating production reactors, B, C, D, DR, F, H, KE, and KW. It covers the following: operating parameter limitations; reactivity limitations; control and safety systems; reactor fuel loading; coolant requirements with irradiated fuel in reactor; reactor confinement; test facilities; code compliance; safety instrumentation and set points; and control criteria. Also discussed are administrative procedures for process control, training, audits and inspection, and reports and records.

This document details activities of the Irradiation Processing Department during the month of August, 1958. A general summary is included at the start of the report, after which the report is divided into the following sections: Research and Engineering Operations; Production and Reactor Operations; Facilities Engineering Operation; Employee Relations Operation; and Financial Operation.

The production of plutonium containing 17 to 18 per cent Pu-240 has been proposed for Hanford as part of the over-all process for production of transuranium isotopes. Purpose of this report is to summarize measures that would be taken to ensure good performance of the depleted uranium fuel elements and to predict the performance of the depleted fuel.

This document lists the physics factors for the K Reactors following the transition to the KV fuel element geometry and zirconium tubes. Each new parameter with the zirconium tube lattice has been calculated relative to the factors used with aluminum tubes and the KIV fuel elements. The purpose of this document is to provide working values for plant assistance use during the transition to the zirconium lattice. In some cases, where there are large uncertainties in the absolute values, the conservative end of the range has been provided for present operational use in safety and control administration. Refinement and publication of ``best`` values for the zirconium lattice based on the extensive experimental and calculational studies are included in future Reactor Physics Unit programs.

Reduction of the reactor process water pH from 6.9 to 6.6 at 100-B, D, DR, KF, and H currently is proposed in order to reduce the aluminum corrosion rate and the resultant outage time for water leaks, fuel ruptures, and process tube replacement. This document reviews the current knowledge of the effect of reducing the pH to 6.6 on aluminum corrosion. An estimate of the expected costs and benefits is included.

The completion of Phase III construction in B Plant will provide facilities to meet certain common needs of departmental Waste Management and Fission Product programs. This is an estimate of the total and unit costs of operation in these facilities on a `goin concern` basis, recognizing full well the highly tentative nature of information available with respect to staffing, process rates, equipment, etc., approximately 3 to 4 years in advance of operations. It is planned that this document serve as an operating cost guideline during the interim period, subject to periodic revision as more firm data of significant cost impact becomes available. This review covers those functions performed within B Plant proper plus a PAW feed material preparation function tentatively planned for Purex head end for convenience purposes. Feed material streams from supernatant and sludge removal functions are considered F.O.B. B Plant. No staffing or costs have been included for tank farm activities or the 200 North storage function. Cesium and strontium costs include processing to a solid and packaging in a high integrity container compatible with final confinement requirements. Staffing is provided to perform a peroxyacetate strike or similar function for the cerium-rare earth fraction, but additional study would …

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This monthly technical report details activities in reactor physics research and development during the month of April 1963.

In Part One they formulate in a general way the problem of analyzing and evaluating the aberrations of quadrupole magnet beam systems, and of characterizing the shapes and other properties of the beam envelopes in the neighborhood of foci. They consider all aberrations, including those due to misalignments and faulty construction, through third order in small parameters, for quadrupole beam systems. One result of this study is the development of analytic and numerical techniques for treating these aberrations, yielding useful expressions for the comparison of the aberrations of different beam systems. A second result of this study is a comprehensive digital computer program that determines the magnitude and nature of the aberrations of such beam systems. The code, using linear programming techniques, will adjust the parameters of a beam system to obtain specified optical properties and to reduce the magnitude of aberrations that limit the performance of that system. They examine numerically, in detail, the aberrations of two typical beam systems. In Part Two, they examine the problem of extracting the proton beam from a synchrotron of 'H' type magnet construction. They describe the optical studies that resulted in the design of an external beam from the Bevatron that is …

Optimization of the reactor process involves the knowledge of the longitudinal flux distribution on a semicontinuous, routine basis. The nonpoisonous spline was proposed as a way for obtaining flux traverses at any time during reactor operation, in virtually any location in the core. This report summarizes the findings of a feasibility study conducted in conjunction with PITA-18 and thus serves as a termination of the test phase of spline traversing.

Nine inch long aluminum clad Li-Al alloy target elements contained in 35 miI wall Zr-2 cans are authorized for irradiation in KER-1 and KER- 2 for up to 150 equilibrium operating days. The Li-Al elements will be irradiated in 1.9 inch OD, 1.5 inch ID Zr-2 flow distributing sleeves. Normal N inner fuel elements in Zr-2 sleeves will included in the tube loadings to provide sufficient heat to maintain the loop at the desired operating temperature.

One of the problems which may be encountered in the operation of NPR, or of any similar pressurized-water reactor, is the deposition of crud in the reactor core, particularly on the surfaces of the fuel elements. This crud consists primarily of iron oxides resulting from the corrosion of the piping. It has generally been found to deposit preferentially in a radiation field such as is present in the reactor core. Such deposition is undesirable for two reasons. First, the crud will become activated, and on subsequent release may create radioactivity levels in the ex-reactor components of the primary loop high enough to be a hazard to maintenance and operating personnel. Secondly, the crud deposit is a poor conductor of heat, and even a rather thin film can raise the cladding temperature by 100 -- 200{degree}C and result in accelerated corrosion of the cladding.

The detailed description includes flow measuring methods, flow rate calculations, operating pressure constants, crossheader number, header elevation corrections, and header pressures for the reactor record. The unit records include: tube number, header number, flow zone, trip dial readings, effective range, taps, corrosion index, rib type, rear fitting type, Panellit pressure, date, calculation methods, tube flow rate, tube class, load type, charge date, and header pressures. The reactor operating limits include: tube number and class, tube flow rate, Panellit pressure, boiling limits, base pressure, adjustment date, limit codes, load type, and flow factors.

Dissolver solution samples were analyzed for neptunium, and the data are plotted as g Np/t U vs g Pu/t U.

This is the monthly report for the Hanford Laboratories Operation, April, 1963. Reactor fuels, chemistry, dosimetry, separation processes, reactor technology financial activities, biology operation, physics and instrumentation research, employee relations, applied mathematics operation, programming, and radiation protection operation discussed.

Studies were initiated at Hanford in 1961 and 1962 toward the development of an alternate assembly process for the production of I&E fuel elements for the eight existing Hanford reactors. Of the processes considered, hot die sizing, a diffusion bonding process, offered the greatest incentives in terms of improved quality and potentially cheaper unit cost of fuel elements compared to the currently used AlSi braze process. This interim report presents the results of initial process variables tests designed to establish optimum process parameters for producing good diffusion bonds on the lateral external and internal surfaces of I&E fuel elements during the sizing step of the hot die size process. In a subsequent step, the end bonds are formed. Optimization studies for producing good end bonds will be reported in future interim reports.

It was stated by HAPO representatives at meetings held in Washington and Savannah River on May 1st and 2nd, that roughly 200 kgs of Pu of 18 percent Pu-240 could be furnished by July 1, 1965 to Savannah River for their proposed Cm-244 program. The Pu would be produced by irradiating .2 percent U-235 depleted uranium for a period of roughly ten months. The reactivity required for the depleted uranium irradiation would be furnished by .947 percent U-235 enriched uranium. Nine tons of slightly enriched uranium would be required for each ton of depleted uranium during its complete irradiation. To implement this program to deliver Pu of high isotope content by July 1, 1965 will require immediate internal program approvals and appropriate implementation steps. These steps will include design and specification of the depleted uranium ordering appropriate quantities of E and depleted; determining and ordering appropriate canning components; and determining reactor loading patterns. Special attention will ultimately be required in the separation of the reactor products. The additional quantities of E-metal required for the loading will probably necessitate early installation of the annular type Purex dissolver.

Hot die sizing is one of three solid state diffusion bonding (SSDB) processes that has been proposed as an alternate manufacturing process for fabricating HAPO metallic uranium, aluminum-clad fuel elements. This document establishes the provisional process specifications for the assembly of fuel elements by the hot die sizing process. These specifications were developed for the CDB2N model fuel element (CSN equivalent AlSi model) and do not necessarily apply to any other model.

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This report has been prepared primarily for internal use. The computer program it describes is presently being revised as outlined in Section V of Part I. The lessons learned from experience on proper source mesh spacing, choice of conditional weight function, ect. are not discussed in this report. Use of the program to compute eigenvalues is only outlined. The latter will be discussed in a subsequent report.

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Declassified 26 Nov 1973. Tory II-A was the first reactor in a series which will lead to development of a nuclear-powered ramjet engine in the Pluto program. The core embodied a design which is believed to be useable in an actual engine. All parts external to the core were intended only to form a suitable test bed, and had no relation to flyable hardware. Test operations were conducted during the period December 1960--October 1961, On May 14, 1961, following several months spent in low-power measurements and facility shakedown, the reactor was brought to 50 MW power (1/3 design) and 2580 deg F core temperature (300 deg above design) for a period of about one minute. All systems operated properly, and no indication of any damage was obtained. After a period of facility alterations, to provide the capability of delivering test air at higher temperature and pressure, the reactor was run three times at power levels approaching or in excess of the design operating value of 160 MW. The second of these tests fully achieved design operating conditions, and the third substantially exceeded them in severity. Again no indications of failure were noted during operation. Disassembly of the reactor has confirmed …