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In this document it is proposed to describe the plant site and to outline the nature of the pile in order to show the specific design and layout requirements for the production of plutonium by nuclear synthesis. The selection of the plant site involved a number of special considerations. An essential requirement was a large dependable supply of relatively pure water that remains at a fairly low temperature throughout the year. A large source of power was required to circulate the tremendous quantities of water. The potential dangers connected with the high energies of the nuclear reaction and the formation of a large quantity of radioactive by- products required large distances between each operating section of the plant, and between the plant and main rail and highway routes. The plant site layout and reactor areas are discussed in the first part of the chapter, followed by a functional description of the more essential pile components. The chapter concludes with a discussion of reactor instrumentation. 24 figs., 2 tabs.

This progress report by the Atomic Energy Division of the Savannah River Plant covers: Reactor Technology; Separation Technology; Engineering Assistance; Health Physics; and General Laboratory Work.

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Production of Pu from separations plants was only 58% of April commitment because of Purex difficulties. UO{sub 3} production, shipments met schedules. Pu shape production and shipments exceeded forecast by 14%. Purex HS column, repaired Oct 1958, developed another leak and was bypassed April 18, resulting in Pu and U that required reprocessing. A Palm recovery run at Purex with all- reducing flowsheet, resulted in 87% recovery and excellent decontamination of product. The prototype dual-pass silver reactor in Purex C-cell plugged with offgases. Processing of unclarified feed through Purex solvent extraction continued. Redox dissolver batch sizes for E-metal processing were increased from 1.75 to 2.0 tons. Testing of first extraction cycle acidic flowsheet at Redox continued, with Np losses to HAW being below detection limit. Ru in 1AFS stream increased 10-fold F.P. activity but was removed in acid deficient U cycles. A sulfamic acid process is being explored for dissolving Pu metal. Scope design of Redox dissolver and RMA line replacement at Z plant was completed. Shielding effectiveness of medium and high density x-ray lead glass was compared.

This report addresses the summary report of the Chemical Engineering Division.

This document describes aspects of heat transfer for the Hanford production reactors. Boiling, flow rate, cooling water failures, thermocouples, and shielding are considered.

This report addresses the chemical technology divisions' monthly report for chemical development.

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The authors are planning a calculation to be done on the Univac at the Louviers Building to estimate the effect of xenon transients, a high reactor power. This memorandum outlines the reasons why they prefer to do the work at Louviers rather than at another location, such as N.Y.U. They are to calculate the response of the reactor to a sudden change in position of the half rods. Qualitatively, the response will be a change in the rooftop ratio of the neutron flux. The rooftop ratio may oscillate with high damping, or, instead, it may oscillate for many cycles. It has not been possible for them to determine this response by hand calculation because of the complexity of the problem, and yet it is important for them to be certain that high power operation will not lead us to inherently unstable operation. Therefore they have resorted to machine computation. The system of differential equations that describes the response has seven dependent variables; therefore there are seven equations, each coupled with one or more of the others. The authors have discussed the problem with R.R. Haefner at the plant, and it is his opinion that the IBM 650 cannot adequately handle …

This report discusses the interim program for the production of neptunium oxide at HAPO which applies the following processing steps: isolation of neptunium from the Purex process streams, using Purex flow sheets specially adapted for this purpose; purification of the neptunium nitrate by an ion exchange process carried out in one of the Redox laboratory (222-S) multi-curie cells; and precipitation of neptunium oxalate and conversion of the oxalate to oxide in laboratory-type equipment. The process, being still in the developmental stages, is as yet subject to extreme fluctuations, both conditions and results.

Two new production records were set during April, for processed U and Pu production. 0.9 tons sheared NRX fuel were dissolved in Redox. Discrepancies in Pu yield are being studied. Alternate methods of recovering Np are being evaluated. The Purex prototype facility will be converted to the anion exchange process. Alternate designs for a Purex miniature service dissolver were reviewed. The Purex HA column will be replaced.

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Somewhere in the future lies the possibility that the existing HAPO reactors will no longer be required for the production of weapons grade plutonium. This could come about either through advances in technology or through changes in the requirements for this particular fissionable isotope as a weapons material. In any event, should these reactors no longer be utilized for plutonium production, it would be appropriate to consider the possibility of their conversion to other uses, notably that of electrical power production. Accordingly, this study has been made with the objective of investigating the economic and technological feasibility of such conversion. However, it must be recognized that the results presented herein are based on present day technology and economic philosophy and that within the next five years we may experience considerable renovation of these criteria which could alter the conclusions of the study appreciably. The primary benefit to be gained from this preliminary study is to narrow the area of future and more detailed investigation as much as possible so that if and when such a conversion appears likely, a significant fraction of the almost infinite number of combinations of reactor and power plant parameters may be rejected at the outset.

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.

A summary of research progress is given in this report. (1) Half-dollar size corrosion samples of aluminum-clad uranium, which were pressed with 3, 4, 5, and 6 thousand psi, have begun to fail by undercutting between 7 and 21 days. This behavior is contradictory to that of previous samples similarly pressed with 6,000 psi; corrosion of these samples was restricted to pimples, which grew slowly in diameter and did not undercut. (2) Moczik Tool and Die Co. has designed a streamlined die and a mandrel tip for use with the extrusion cladding equipment at BMI. Other methods of extrusion cladding are still under consideration. (3) Experiments on the internal cladding of tubes are awaiting the completion of tools. (4) Casting of uranium-aluminum alloy billets has begun for the purpose of determining the affects of the rate of solidification on segregation in the alloy. (5) An accurate determination of the uranium-aluminum constitution diagram in the range 16 w/o to 40% has been inconclusive to date. (6) Nickel-tin alloy plated over a flash coat of nickel did not provided to satisfactory bonding material on samples of uranium press-clad with aluminum at 950 C, 6,000 psi for 5 minutes.

This report addresses the AEC symposium on particle-fluid mechanics

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Many rivers are burdened with tributary streams of warm water and/or liquid wastes containing dissolved or suspended matter. The warm water and waste matter mix thoroughly with the river water some distance downstream from the point of entry of the tributary, but near the point of entry there may be high local temperatures or concentrations of waste. It is often necessary to know the local temperatures or concentrations of waste. The authors have used a formula for computing the turbulent mixing that takes place in such a situation; this formula fits quite well in the case of one Southern river.

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This report addresses the APPR critical experiment program meeting.

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