Monthly Summary of Activities September 1948, U S Atomic Energy Commission

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1. - Aeceipts of uranium concentrates are runnine ahead of i n 194g were delivered i n the first nine months. Nearly nine-tenths of the expected receipts 2. - U-235 production increased i n both August and September, after a temporary decline. expected as a result of continuing barrier replacement and other plant improvement. Sustained higher output is 3. - Hanford has proposed new Redox construction schedules f o r a t e s t area and the first main plant. They would be completed i n January 1950 and October 1950, respectively. 4. - Concentration and disposal of waste under controlled conditions are recomended by t h e Liquid Waste Disposal Committee as basic policy, rather than present reliance on dilution 5. - The feasibility of nuclear pawered aircraft was analyzed i n the report submitted by the MIT Lexington Project. 6 . - Acquisition of asite near Schenectady for the Knolls intermediate reactor was authorized by the C mission. 7. - The new organization of the Washington Office became but a Director f o r the new Division of Beactor Development has not yet been appointed. The Directors of Production and Military Application became administratively responsible for particular Operations Offices. The Deputy General Manager assumed office 8. - Preparation of the 1950 budget estimates m a s a t the forefront of ’flashington program activities. the Bureau of the Budget are scheduled for early November. Fknd requirements of the expanded weapons program indicate a need fora 1949 supplemental appropriation.

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ploration party t o Korea. The likelihood of finding useArl amounts of radioactive materials does not warrant the cost. The USGS drilled a total of 15,929 feat i n the Colorado Plateau Area during September wlth an Indicated discovery of about TBOOO tona of ore. C a m p s have been prepared t o peFa it drilling in several important areas throughout the winter. mente were made f o r a geological examinatfan of the coppexwzrt%nium deposits of eaetern Utah. be found in northwestern Arizona indicate t h e i r wide bistribution, %ut the deposits appear t o be small. prospect adit t o aample a section of the Chattanooga shale. €%tellercounter mounted i n an automobile wad tried aut i n the four northern new England states. geological suky work. Ore stockpiling continued i n preparation for the beginning of operations at the k nti cello concentration plant i n July 1949. Receipts declined t o 2!,666tons I n September against 3,190 tons In August. Ore sampling was placed on a currant basis, and with the pected hereafter t o be avallable in leas than two weeks. &thou@ initial deliveries have included ore from dnarpa and tailings and do not reprerrent sustained production, a ffs ld atnrpey under way is expected t o show that by July 1949 current deliverfes w i l l be rvfficlent for capacity oyeratfon and that the 8tO Ck pile will be nearly 30,000 ton% Foreign, It has been tentatively decided not to send an exColorado Plateau Area, %porta that deposita o f this type are t o Arrangements were made with !PVA for driving a The method promisee t o meed up Vanadiprn Cornoration weren sar in ~conclusion which would bravide for ex_banded qe kt i one at its Rifle-plant and for the reactiktioa of Its plant at U r a m , both of which produce uranium concentrates. Regafiec tiona under ray with Vsaadiam Corporation of Aaterica would prOvl.de for its operation of the similar plnnt at barango, Calorado, owned by the Conmission, and-for purchaee by .the Comiseion of the output from the plant VCB proposes t o build i n the White Canyon district of eastern Utah for treating coppel.-uranlum ores being devsloped tlaerma Receipts of Concentratee daring the firat nine manthe o f 1948 amounted t o nearly nine-tenthe of the totdl deliveries antic ip ted for the year. annual tomage i s expected t o be exceeded. Deliveries of concentratea from all domestic and forePgn nourcea

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Rolling he rations Vulcan Crucible Steel Company snccessrully prepared uranium rads section by first forging under a power hammer and then rolling t o the reqaired size. The method offers promiee of good grain atructure and lees wid than occurs i n rode prepared entirely by rolling, The billets were elongrrted and reduced i n croaa completed p i l e foundation work and George L, Coaains Contracting Company began construction of the plant facilities bullding, provide for the Installation of brown oxlbe praceaelng equtpmmt were suspended temporarily t o satisfy certain safety and health rs qd re - is e-ected t o pennit construction t o be completed by Decamber 1, len metal plant at Mallinckxwdt. Baylaond Concrete Pile Cam Brown oxide alant, Alterations begun at Harsha w during July t o Esrly delivery of the necessary equipment f o r this pnrpoue Hew BX-UJUW~C~Laboratory. A contract i n the amount of $48,g93 for exterior alterations t o the existing building and for const rub tion of auxiliary EtOw space was awarded t o Frank Bellusclo and Sone, Inc., of Elizabeth, Eew Jereey. Bids f o r interior work Will be ready for solicitation in early Nombet. For the second consecutive month, 1x-235 output exceeded the Thie increase compensates in part f o r the dsclfne ex-echedule. perienced while cascade pressures were being Wlt up t o the higher levels 'requlwd for the most efficient rneration of the new, more productive barrler being installed. The rate of output is eve c ted to level off during October. Interconnection of K-25 and L 2 1 Campletion and lnapection of the tie line betveen G25 snb 1627 permitted series operation t o begin on +tember 28, from parallel operations is expected t e increase production by 2.7 Production of plutonium in Saptember was slightly greater than

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-ged i n September after receiflng an exposure of 230 t o 240 megawatt &aya showed a reversal i n the dimensional changes ob s emd previously. Nany of this group of slugs increased in length, the msxlumm increase i n order t o evaluate the possibility that higher levels might rrrpture Others tdll be discharged at t h i s exposure level slugs which atu& In the F P i l e on A-st 1 2 revealed extensive vrzrping, not found i n alpha-rolled dugs discharged at the same time. Carbon Dioxide in Pile Atmowhere gas eystem of Pile D with carbon dioxide, the temperature of centrally located graphite blocks increamed about 5@C. !!hemal, effects, such as expansfon of the face ehielda, have been anexpectedly small. Indications t o date are that the pile could be op rated without danger if the helium were completely replaced by carbon dioxide. graphite expansion can bs reduced in this way cannot y e t be betermined. pile expanded at arate 2% times aormal. %e rate of expansion appears t o be a fbnctioa of boron content and can apparently be accelerated by as much as 7 times. Sepaember 25 and 3y September 29 a t o t a l of 29 layers of graphite had end of the month. As a result o f replacing about 40 percent of the helium in the Graphite eamples Impregnated with boron and exposed i n a RRniord Pile DR. In the pile building (105 DR) packing was commenced The e n t i r e 100 DE project was 75 percent conrplete at tho Construction of pile area H was 22 percent complete Production at Morganton FELA ahead of at the end of September. additional changes in production methods are imposed. l&uimum output vas expected to be reached soon unless Construction of a 12-taak project (241-X) i n the 2M east area in the west area and they were accepted Sqtember 27. vork I s being done by General Electric. by Morrison-hudaon under a BFF contract was authorized and begua during the month. $lOo,O00 fee. The estimated c o a t is $2,5fO,OOO, excluskve of the

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Los Blamos Laboratom Progrem Alamos Laboratory during the calendar year 1949 was received f o r before being acted qon, St dies were initiated to &e airplane and bomb deeign complementary, possibly by tailoring new aircraft to lighter and smaller weapons, o r by reducing the weight of current bomb model8 in order t o achieve increased performance on the part of existing A statement of the program proposed t o be undertaken by the LOS It will be submitted t o both tb GAC and the MLC Preparations are being made f o r future teets, possibly i n l9fil. Arrangements are being disclissed f o r the develoyment of instrumentation; an architect-engineer contract has been concluded; and a srrvey party has been dispatched t o Enimtok. Selection of aad table site for Project Royal is proving difficult because of the variety of o9erations wMch are planned f o r this facility, ranging from metal casting, forging and machining t o electronics. t o study the possibilities of rnllltary use o f radioactive rnaterias, a program was prepared f o r consideration by the Commission. It outlines specific assignments for AEC dfvisions and installations, as w e l l as subjects of inquirJr by the National Military Establlahment. Based upon recornendations of the Noyes' Panel, aprJointed i n May Some delay has been caused bj design c?mnges and lack of Work on this project was 25 aercent complete against a schedule=--+---of 2 percent, an increase of 1 2 percentage points during equipment was continued throughout September. were being made in preparation f o r regular operations. was 97 percent coq let e. the second floor level and construction v a s 16 percent complete. Nound Laboratory, fnstczllatfon of laboratory furniture and S cio to Laboratom, Beinforced concrete formwork had reached

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Intermediate Powe r-Breede r Beact o r Acquisition of the 4,500 acre proposed power reactor s i t e near Vest Milton, Eew Yo&, 20 miles north of Schenectdy, was aT?roved k? the Commission, September 10,1948, 90 immediate site preparation can proceed i n anticipation of early Rights of entry have been secured A status report on the intermediate reactor was furnished tne Comnission by the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. general design of the reactor has reached the stage of detailed engineering design of tne ed p ment and buildings. assembly nas operated Ellnost contlnuoasly since May and bas prodded critical nudeax design data needed f o r the Intermediate reactor, as Well as others of this general tpe. It states that the An Industrial concern is being considered %y Argonne Yational Laboratory t o undertake tne detailed design and btlildlng of the shfpboard tned reactor now being develo?ed there. The NIT Leldngton Project submitted its report, nkderrr adequate t o permit tne desi,@ and construct~ono f R nuclear Dowered airplane at tms time, but t h t one covld probably be htlt if sufficient effort,in time, m,mpower and noney, is apnlied t o its dollars for Its development, the aircraft might be flown within 15 be i n the order of $150-200 million spread over a period of three t o Possibly reoutring expenditures of well over 8billion Initial financid requirements are estimated t o Reactor Developrient Relzctor (High-flw) A t Chicago a review 04 the facilities for irradiating materials and components i n the high flux reactor, 8 8 now designed, indicates limitations which would restrict Its ueeflilness as a reactor developmental irradia3ian facilities could be accomplished Hithin a few months. However, i t was estimated that a redesign o f the experiConsideration was glven t o using new PileE at Hanford-, t o be completed in midMl?49, for the study of reactor materials and components under irradiation. Although the neutron flux nanld be below the desired intensity, it was the consensus at the October 5 Chicega meeting that irradiation facilities at PileH would be valuable for certain types of experiments, such as the testing of fuel elements

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metal plant will not come into operztion until April 1949, instead of Ja.mary 1, 1949, as antic ip ted fast Augnst. Faced with the possibility of a two o r 3hree months delq in zirconium delioeries t o Cornitmion users* the New York Office hRs discussed wlth the Bureau of Shlpa the poseibility of diverting t o the Commission a 6-1 amount of the output now going t o the Office of naval. Research. The Bureau o f Mines reports that the extension of i t s zirconiwn A $350,000 fire, apparently o f accidental origin, destroyed a large part of the Bmah Beryllium Cow plant at Lorain, Ohio, on was destroyed or wed, but about $fjZ,OOO of dEComed @ pent located eleewhere i n the plant was Virtually unaffected. production program which Brush m n y undertake for the Commieslon m8 not seriously affected because the newly developed broceas eliminates the uae of the crystalization department, destroyed W the fire. A large p a r t of the iaEC res-& wo* is being conducted in Cleveland and hence was not interrupted. OX!& sponsored a symposium on shielding at O a k Ridge, September 27=JO, followod by the first meeting of the AXC Shielding Group. Group feele that satisfactorg ahielae f o r stationary reactors are currently available and research in the next two years a h a d d be concentrated on the problem of reOucing the weight and volume o f shields f o r mobile reactors. Under the Waehington reorganization effective in September, the Division of Znglneering became a part of the newly formed Mvieion o f Reactor Development with continued responai’bility f o r redox, waste metal recovery, liquid =ate d iq ioa al, control of atack gae contsmfnation, and related environmental englneerlng problems. Its other responsibilities were transferred t o the Division of Probuctlon. Preeent schedaline;, lpav echeaules ham been proposed by Ranford for the redox test area and the main pm hc tion plsnts. plant, whose design i a now about 2fi percent complete, i a t o be ready for beneficia3 occqancg i n December 1949, and t o be wholly complete Its total cost i s estimated at $21,321,000.

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Srrfficient capacity can be provided by two main production plants, althoagh critical it y studies still under way may indicate the advlsebility of three plants. The proposed schedule f o r the first of two main plents d1sfor beneficial occupancy in Awst 19 0 and final completion in October 1950, vith its cost estimated at $5z,ZgS,pO. Coltmm 8fadieS. On the basis O f 63% months operation Ofit8pilot piant, O m reports that by solvent extraction methods uranium has been separated aucceasfnlly and decontaminated toa level accmtable for feed have been established and attention l e now being turned t o methods for achieving the veq high degree of decontamination which wlll be required for the Word flow sheet. indicates that very hi# efficiency i n the removal o f uranium can be attained w l th …