This document presents a summary of work and progress at the Hanford Engineer Works for August 1955. The report is divided into sections by department. A plant wide general summary is included at the beginning of the report, after which the departmental summaries begin. The Manufacturing Department reports plant statistics, and summaries for the Metal Preparation, Reactor and Separation sections. The Engineering Department`s section summarizes work for the Technical, Design, and Project Sections. Costs for the various departments are presented in the Financial Department`s summary. The Medical, Radiological Sciences, Utilities and General Sciences, Employee and Public Relations, and Community Real Estate and Services departments have sections presenting their monthly statistics, work, progress, and summaries.

The APPR-I is described and the various hazards are reviewed. Because of the reactor's location near the nation's Capitol, containment is of the utmost importance. The maximum energy release in any possible accident is 7.4 million Btu's which is completely contained within a 7/8 inch thick steel cylindrical shell with hemispherical ends. The vapor container is 60 ft high and 32 ft in diameter and is lined on the inside with 2 ft of reinforced concrete which provides missile protection and is part of the secondary shield. All possible nuclear excursions are reviewed and the energy from any of these is insignificant compared to the stored energy in the water. The maximum credible accident is caused hy the reactor running constantly at its maximum power of 10 Mw and through an extremely unlikely sequence of failures, causing the temperature of the water in the primary and secondary systeras to rise to saturation; whereupon a rupture occurs releasing the stored energy of 7.4 million Btu's into the vapor container. If the reactor core melts during the incident, a maximum of 10/sup 8/ curies of activity is released. While it appears impossible for a rupture of the vapor container to oecur except …

This memorandum provides an estimate of the uranium requirements for the third and fourth quarters of calendar year 1955.

This document presents a summary of work and progress at the Hanford Engineer Works for September 1955. The report is divided into sections by department. A plant wide general summary is included at the beginning of the report, after which the departmental summaries begin. The Manufacturing Department reports plant statistics, and summaries for the Metal Preparation, Reactor and Separation sections. The Engineering Department`s section summarizes work for the Technical, Design, and Project Sections. Costs for the various departments are presented in the Financial Department`s summary. The Medical, Radiological Sciences, Utilities and General Services, Employee and Public Relations, and Community Real Estate and Services departments have sections presenting their monthly statistics, work, progress, and summaries.

None

None

None

The preparation, purification, and chemical properties of THP have been reviewed with emphasis on the hydrolytic reactions. TBP is chemically a very stable compound as evidenced by its thermal stability and resistance to oxidation. The most important reactions are hydrolytic which cleave the butyl or butoxy group and normally produce butyl alcohol together with dibutyl and monobutyl phosphate (DBP and MBP, respectively), and eventually H/sub 3/PO/sub 4/. Hydrolysis occurs in either the organic phase or the aqueous phase and is first order with respect to the ester. Although the rate in the aqueous phase is much faster than in the organic phase, the solubility is so low in aqueous solutions that the organic phase reactions become more important. Acid hydrolysis depends on both the nature of the acid and the concentration. The order with respect to acid concentration is close to one but often less than one. Hydrolysis is catalyzed by both acids and bases. In the latter case, the reaction occurs only in the aqueous phase and normally stops with the formation of dibutyl phosphate. The hydrolysis rate increases greatly as the temperature is raised and an activation energy of the order of 20 kcal is often found. The …

Calculations were performed to determine the behavior of the TBR under certain conditions involving interruption of normal operation. The situations considered are sudden stoppage of circulation in the core circuit, sudden cessation of heat removal in the heat exchanger, and circulating pump failure. The first two situations result in a rapid, hazardous temperature rise; no danger appears in the third condition. (D.E.B.)

The capital and direct and indirect operating costs were estimated for erecting and operating mills of 220 and 440 tons of ore per day capacity. The ores considered contained 0.15 or 0.30% uranium. The processes considered included crushing, grinding, acid or carbonate leaching, and final recovery of the U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ in a Higgins ion exchange contuctor with a 5 M NaCl, 1 M NaCl, 1 M NH/sub 4/NC/sub 3/, or 1 M cost estimate have been given due and careful consideration with reference to requirements for a mill of this type. Further detailed information with reference to the construction and operation characteristics of the Higgins ion exchange contactor are given in ORNL reports 1907 and 1918. (auth)

None

None

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.

None