Included herein is a historical record of the AAF sponsored NEPA Project during the period of October 1945, to the present time, and covers in narrative form the nature of planning leading to the implementation of the project, the establishment of the operating group and its relationship to the Manhattan District (later to become the Atomic Energy Commission) and the approach to applicable technological problems bearing on both nuclear science and aeronautical propulsion engineering aspects.

Determinations of the density and coefficient of thermal expansions of postum (Polonium 210) were attempted on 20 curies of polonium as obtained from production foils.

The operation of the Fast Reactor is considered in terms of normal equilibrium conditions and normal shut-down. The proposed loading, control rod adjustment and subsequent "floating" operation are discussed. Safety devices and interlocks are described. Temperature and reactivity changes are examined with respect to various system failures, phase changes, and "flashing" of the reactor. Slow changes due to faulty slug cooling are also considered. The calculations were initially based upon 10 kw operation. Performance tests of the mercury system now indicate that 20-kw operation may be feasible. (D.E.B.)

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Investigation of dust loading capacity for various assemblies of air filter media on atmospheric dust has continued using the small tester described in previous reports. The effect of fiber size and packing density in Fiberglas mat has been studied. The combination of very fine fibered glass mats now in use at Oak Ridge was given special investigation. Tests were made using a coarser mat as a prefilter and an economic advantage was showm for such protection. As a result of laboratory studies on gauze backed hand sheets a paper mill run is planned to make paper comparable to #6 now used by Chemical Corps for AEC filters but stronger and lower in cost In this run the paper will be made with a reenforcing gauze backing. Fabrication work is being carried on with emphasis on two special shapes of units both of which aim to simplify installation and removal and to give better protection to operating personnel when filters are being changed. These shapes namely the hollow cube and the circular will be described in detail with sketches and test data. A 950 CFM full scale model of the hollow cube has been constructed to demonstrate the practicability of the …

The uranium metal, as discharged from the piles in the 100 Areas, contains the alpha emitting product, plutonium, in concentration in the neighborhood of 150--250 grams per metric ton, along with similar amounts of beta and gamma fission elements. It is the purpose of the Separations Plant to effect the separation of this product from the uranium metal and fission elements, and to prepare a concentrated, relatively pure solution of plutonium nitrate as the final product of the Hanford Plant. This section of the manual discusses the chemistry of the separations process, describes the buildings and equipment provided for carrying out the various steps in the operation, and presents the detailed operating procedures used. There are included, in many instances, references to other documents presenting a more detailed view of a specific point in the process.

The lubricant (Calel A-60) used to reduce pushing forces when discharging slugs from pile tubes forms a cloudy emulsion with water. During the initial period of operation at 100 B and D areas, spillage of lubricant during discharge produced so much cloudiness in the basin water that it interfered with sorting operations. An investigation was started to see if a lubricant could be found that would effectively lubricate tubes during discharge and which would form optically clear systems when mixed with water. This report presents the data on a number of lubricants which were suggested for test.

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Discussions included the aluminum nitrate recovery process; specifications for process pumps; a review of the safety of the Redox process; plans for the proposed Waste Tank Farm, retention basin, diversion box, and cribs; and a request from the US AEC for a concise summary of the entire Redox program.

The overall testing of the vertical sheet rod system is a comprehensive program which has been divided into several phases. These phases are presented here, with a short resume of the testing required under each phase, to enable the formulation of the project proposal for the complete test program. It is intended that very detailed test requests will be issued for the separate phases as data from previous tests and further design studies indicate the exact information or data desired from a particular test.

The following outline of the requirements for the Redox Production Plant design is transmitted to the Kellex Corporation by the General Electric Company to be used in carrying out the assignment directed by Work Authority C-187-C. This outline briefly describes the critical features of design and emphasizes the General Electric desires for certain types of process and engineering design. The purpose of this transmittal is to outline the minimum requirements as to process flow sheet and design criteria to initiate the carrying out of this assignment by Kellex Corporation. This document was originally produced on May 22, 1948 and was declassified on July 28, 1994.

This progress report discusses activities of the P Division for the month of April, 1948. The D and F Piles operated at 275 megawatts throughout April except for scheduled outages. Each operating area had an extended outage to remove a portion of the brick from the wall which runs across the rear edge of the top of the unit and to replace the vertical neoprene seal between the front face and the experimental side shields. This program described in detail under Mechanical Experience. The B-Pile was maintained in standby condition with a water flow of 10,150 gallons/minute. The 100 Area discharge rate continued at 60 tons per month. The exclusive use of lead dipped 4 inch slugs fabricated from alpha rolled or alpha extruded metal was started effective April 1. Work was stated April 12 in the 300 Area on a program of decanning 160 tons of 8 inch gamma extruded triple-dip canned pieces which were not considered good risks for pile operation. The slug recovery operation was placed on a 2 shift per day schedule on April 19 to expedite this work so that the metal can be recast and rolled at the earliest moment. The 300 Area canning …

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This report discussed cadmium coated splines which have been developed to supplement the regular control rod systems under emergency shutdown conditions from higher power levels. The objective of this test was to determine the effectiveness of one such spline placed in a tube in the central zone of a pile, and of two splines in the same tube. In addition, the process control group of the P Division asked that probable spline requirements for safe operation at various power levels be estimated, and the details included in this report. The results of the test indicated a reactivity value of 10.5 {plus_minus} 1.0 ih for a single spline, and 19.0 ih {plus_minus} 1.0 ihfor two splines in tube 1674-B under the loading conditions of 4-27-49, the date of the test. The temperature rise of the cooling water for this tube under these conditions was found to be 37.2{degrees}C for 275 MW operation.

This report discusses the pressure drop on the 100-F unit, as measured on the eight pressure drop tubes, which had increased to 24 lbs./in.{sup 2} above base by May 2. The unit was shut down on May 3 to purge with 50 ppm solids for 1.1 hr. and to take care of necessary maintenance work.

This report provides a discussion of technical activities at the Hanford Works as of May 10, 1949.

The basis feed to the Redox plant is 5,000 lb/day of uranium, supplied both as current irradiated uranium metal slugs in jackets, and as uranium compounds from the existing metal waste storage tanks. The proportions of the two feeds are chosen according to the enrichment level of the irradiated metal, so as to give a plutonium production of about 650 gm/day. The design basis has been taken as 0 to 1,500 lb/day U from the waste storage system and 2,000--5,000 lb/day of irradiated metal. Only the feed preparation from irradiated metal is discussed in this process description, and a basis of 5,000 lb/day is used throughout. The metal feed has associated with it 172.5 lb. Al and 2.5 lb. Si as slug jackets, and contains about 650 gpm. plutonium and 3 {times} 10{sup 5} curies of gamma-emitting fission products (FP). The purpose of the feed preparation section is to remove the aluminum and silicon, and to dissolve the uranium as an aqueous solution for feed to the Redox extraction battery. Secondarily, it is tentatively proposed to provide equipment in this section to achieve a preliminary decontamination from ruthenium, which is poorly handled by the Redox extraction system, and from FP …

This report details events of importance reported by the Hanford Operations Office for the week ending May 18, 1949.

This report details events of importance reported by the Hanford Operations Office for the week ending May 4, 1949.

This report details events of importance reported by the Hanford Operations Office for the week ending May 25, 1949.

This report details events of importance reported by the Hanford Operations Office for the week ending May 11, 1949.

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Exploratory tests are reported which indicate the feasibility of a one-step reduction process for the preparation of uranium metal from the hexafluoride by the action of calcium metal and iodine.