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.

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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 is the monthly report of the Hanford Laboratories Operation, August 1958. Reactor fuels, chemistry, separation processes, reactor technology, financial activities, biology operation, physics and instrumentation research, employee relations, plutonium recycling, programming, radiation protection, laboratory auxiliaries operation, and inventions are discussed.

The radioactive fission products formed during irradiation of the uranium fuel in the reactors are separated from the uranium and plutonium in the Chemical Processing Department`s separations plants. Most of these fission products are removed in aqueous solutions as high-level radioactive waste and are subsequently stored in large underground tanks. The purpose of this report is to record the history of HAPO process waste storage, together with the developments which have significantly affected waste storage volumes and costs since start-up in 1944.

The purpose of this report is to examine the theory of radiation damage to obtain an idea of the extent of this damage.

This document presents a summary of work and progress at the Hanford Engineer Works for January, 1958. 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.

This document details activities of the irradiation processing department during the month of January, 1958. A general summary is included at the start of the report, after which the report is divided into the following sections: Research and Engineering Operations; Production and Reactor Operations; Facilities Engineering Operation; Employee Relations Operation; and Financial Operation.

This report presents Hydraulics Laboratory data of the pressure drop characteristics for various combinations of ``pierced-solid`` dummy slugs in the support charges in the K, BDF, and C reactor process tubes. ``Pierced-solid`` slugs are regular solid aluminum dummy slugs which have been concentrically drilled so that mating against an I and E slug would not block the hole flow channel. No operating peculiarities were observed while using ``pierced-solids`` in the support charge.

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The recovery of fission products from Hanford wastes has for some time been under investigation by various HAPO workers. Flowsheets for the recovery of cesium have been demonstrated, and one for the recovery of cerium is ready for full-level testing. Several tentative flowheets have also been proposed for the recovery of other fission products and of waste plutonium and uranium. The {open_quotes}Integral Flowsheet{close_quotes} developed by Chemical Research Operation is based primarily on the work of G.B. Barton. The present work is a continuation of that begun by Barton. The primary objective has been the recovery of long lived fission products, other than cesium, with particular emphasis on cerium-144 and strontium-90. Secondary objectives of importance include: (1) the isolation of uranium and plutonium into solutions suitable for recovery by recycle into appropriate Purex plant streams, and (2) gathering data that may be useful at some later date on the recovery of the remaining fission products (other than cerium and strontium) should these become valuable. Precipitation procedures were principally considered since idle plant facilities already exist which were designed for this type of process. It is also desirable that the processes developed be compatible with the already demonstrated cesium recovery flowsheet.

This is the monthly report for the Hanford Laboratories Operation. Metallurgy, reactor fuels, physics and instrumentation, reactor technology, chemistry, separation processes, biology, financial activities, employee relations, laboratories auxiliaries, radiation protection, operation research, inventions, visits, and personnel status are discussed. This report is for February 1958.

The separations plants operated on schedule, and Pu production exceeded commitment. UO{sub 3} production and shipments were also ahead of schedule. Purex operation under pseudo two-cycle conditions (elimination of HS and 1A columns, co-decontamination cycle concentrator HCP) was successful. Final U stream was 3{times} lower in Pu than ever before; {gamma} activity in recovered HNO{sub 3} was also low. Four of 6 special E metal batches were processed through Redox and analyzed. Boric acid is removed from solvent extraction process via aq waste. The filter in Task II hydrofluorinator was changed from carbon to Poroloy. Various modifications to equipment were made.

This document details activities of the irradiation processing department during the month of March, 1958. A general summary is included at the start of the report, after which the report is divided into the following sections: Research and Engineering Operations; Production and Reactor Operations; Facilities Engineering Operation; Employee Relations Operation; and Financial Operation.

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The continuous calciners at UO{sub 3} Plant are of a new design which was developed at HAPO and placed in service late in 1956. The heat transfer troughs are considered to be the most vulnerable parts of the calciners because of their high operating temperatures. Thermal stresses are calculated to be quite high, and when added to the direct mechanical stresses from powder load etc., come close to the limiting safe stress for stainless steel at the operating temperature. It is felt that trough failure will be progressive as a result of creep type distortion and cracks at stress concentration points. The higher the stress (and temperature), the more rapid the rate of failure will be. All possible steps have been taken to limit maximum trough temperature, rate of change, and variations from one part of the trough to another. These steps were not always successful and various troughs have been subjected to rather severe temperature shocks as well as high mechanical stresses due to agitator failures. Despite these difficulties, no signs of failure could be detected by visual inspection. It was decided, therefore, that a more complete examination should be made. This examination was made to determine the present …

A procedure has been developed for the determination of silver, cadmium, indium, and tin in an alloy composed of these metals. The sample sample is dissolved in a mixture of nitric and fluoboric acids, after which the silver is determined gravimetrically as the chloride. The cadmium and indium are then determined polarographically in a potassium iodide solution, and the tin is determined polargraphically in an ammonium chloride - hydrochloric acid supporting medium.

The ultimate achievement of a research and development program at Sandia. Corporation, as at any other AFX or DOD project, is the physical design of a component or weapon system of high reliability. The design accomplishment is initially established when the basic drawings and specifications are released for production. These drawings and specifications are often based on engineering evaluations of bread- .board and early so-called & quot;gold plated prototypes. However, the design accomplishment is not completed until the item is manufactured by production tools and performs satisfactorily, meeting all the requirements specified in the engineering and manufacturing information. It is only at this stage that we have initial assurance that we may proceed with quantity production. This transition from essentially handmade prototypes to a production-tooled reliable product is a crucial one in any design development program, but it is especially as when the end product is complex and extremely high reliability is required.

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Output of plutonium from the separations plants Purex, Redox was slightly less than that scheduled; however, year-to-date production exceeds the corresponding commitment. Production of UO{sub 3} met the commitment, and UO{sub 3} shipments conformed to the established shipping schedule. Production of buttons and shapes was slightly less than the commitment as shown in the current Official Forecast. Shipments of buttons conformed to the current Forecast, while large shape shipments were slightly less than those forecasted. Feasibility of neptunium recovery was studied. Employee relations are reported.

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The objective of the production test is detailed in this report is to obtain information about the behavior of Zircaloy-2 jacketed rod-and-tube fuel elements during irradiation at high coolant temperatures specifically, this test should provide information about fuel element dimensional stability, suitability of the rod and tube support system, and behavior of the uranium--Zircaloy-2 bond. Four co-extended Zircaloy-2 jacketed rod-and-tube elements, two with welded tube end closure and two with integrally extruded tube end closures, will be irradiated to 2500 MWD/T at jacket surface temperatures up to 270{degree}C in the KER loops. One Zircaloy-2 jacketed seven-rod cluster UO{sub 2} element will also be irradiated.

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