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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.

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This report discusses the operation of the Hanford Reservation`s 300 Area for December 11 through December 17, 1945. They discuss: extrusion, canning, slug testing, a magnesium chloride flux, and the composition changes of a aluminium-silicon dip bath.

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In the design of the pile, it was considered advisable never to impose so great a heat load on any tube that the available header pressure would be insufficient to sweep the tube free of vapor if boiling should accidentally be initiated in the tube. Figures are given for the maximum temperature rises permissible, as function of header pressure and orifice diameter.

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The average Q meter is an instrument which averages the Q over over short periods of time, thus taking into account non-productive moments due to sparking and other factors, giving a truer measure of production than the present instantaneous meters. Embodied in this report are its methods of operation, reasons for its use, and descriptions of various physical types of the average Q meter.

A new G slit support utilizing the standard G carbon now in use in all Beta production buildings was tested over approximately four months in the Pilot Plant with very successful results. A considerable saving has been made both in servicing time and in costs. The equipment has proved to be the best of any tried from the standpoint of run terminations due to alignment difficulties.

Experiments were carried out to determine how fast the concentration of suspended material decreases in fumes produced by the hydrolysis of UF/sub 6/ vapor in damp air. The rate of aggregation is a function chiefly of the number of particles per unit gas volume, but depends also on the chemical composition, size and shape of the particles, the temperature and pressure, and the degree of agitation. The rate of settling depends on the weight and shape of the particles and the viscosity of the gas. (W.L.H.)

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.

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The total power output of a unit may be represented by the power output of the most productive tube or tubes multiplied by a quantity designated as the ``number of effective tubes.`` The number of effective tubes observed at 105-D under two different arrangements of poisoned columns has been compared with values of this quantity calculated from theory. It was found that in each case the observed number of effective tubes was about 5% less than the ideal number obtainable by an optimum arrangement of the poison. In the case in which two poisoned columns in the pile took up 110 ih it was found that the loss consisted of 2% due to the necessary presence of a control rod in the pile and 3% due to the fact that the actual arrangement of the poison was not the optimum one. In the case in which a single, off center, poison column took up 60 ih, it was found that very little of the loss was due to the presence of the control rod and almost all of it was due to the eccentric position of the P-column. As a further result of this study, it was found that, apart …

This memo discusses the effects of advancing to higher power levels of the 105 Piles (D-Pile). It is concluded that there is no technical reason against a cautious advance to higher powers; the units can be run at higher levels than their rating of 250 MW, or the additional reactivity that they will gain with time may be taken entirely in the form of lower peak temperatures and radiation levels. The decision as to what course to follow between these extremes involves such issues as the best use of uranium and the most effective separation of adequate amounts of product of proper quality.

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