The uranium slugs were used as the charge into the pile for the manufacture of minute quantities of plutonium. So little was known of uranium`s commercially adaptable physical properties that it was relegated almost to the category of a laboratory curiosity. A series of experimental and developmental programs were inaugurated to determine not only the extrudability, machinability and other physical properties, but also the influence on these of microscopic quantities of impurities present in the uranium. This historical document describes these early studies in the following sections: exceptional characteristics of the slug program; extrusion; drawing, waging and rolling; outgassing and straightening; Project 1030 (procurement of an additional sixty tons of finished slugs over and above that quantity originally supplied to the Clinton Laboratories) Machining, grinding and grooving; development of canning methods; production of canned slugs; and The Dummy Slug program.

The usual method of producing uranium slugs for the reaction pile is to cast the metal into billets which are extruded into rod about 1.45 inches in diameter. Slugs are then machined from this to the final size of 1.359 inches in diameter by 8 inches long. Extrusion is done in the gamma range at a temperature of about 1000 C, where the metal is soft enough to be extruded at relatively low pressures. This operation is difficult and expensive and the product is not entirely satisfactory. The billets must be protected from oxidation during heating and extruding and the extruded rod must likewise be protected during cooling. Loss of metal due to oxidation is appreciable and a relatively large amount of scrap is produced. The production of dies suitable for use at the high temperatures involved is troublesome. The extruded rod must be straightened before machining and frequently contains stringers of oxide and voids or other internal defects.

It is recognized that the S-50 plant operations are far from standardized and therefore any manual will require continual revision to keep it up to date. Even during the period of writing this first edition, many changes occurred and were incorporated in the manual. Such revisions could delay indefinitely the issuance of the manual and it was felt that in its present form it could be useful in the training of new plant personnel. The specific purpose of the process employed by the Ferclave Corporation in the plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is one of secret information and cannot be released here. It can be stated, however, that the plant operation involves the processing of a chemical substance. This substance is not identified in the plant or in the process but is referred to only as 'material'. Its code designation is C-616. The process in general involves the separation of the raw material into constituents with more desirable properties. It is not necessary to know the name of the material nor the exact nature of the process in order to carry out the operations so this information will not be given in this Manual. The problem involved is to transport …

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The O. Hommel Company, of Carnegie, Penna., supplied Mallinckrodt Chemical Works with three types of Mg chips or powder (Type 84, 85B, and 87B) formed by machining Mg ingots. This material was tested and compared with standard New England Lime Mg in a series of reduction runs. A new type of powder (Type 93) developed by the O. Hommel Company during the course of the first experiment was also sert to Mallinckrodt Chemical Works foi preliminary testing. As this was superior to the other tynes tested, a large batch was made up and sent to both Electro Metallurgical Company and Mallinckrodt Chemical Works in order to confirm the preliminary results obtained by Mallinckrodt Chemical Works alone. (auth)

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