Hanford Works Monthly Report August 1948 (Deleted)

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PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED #lo - Office of Hanford Directed Operations #11 - Office of Henford Dirzcted Operations #l2 - Office of Hword Directed Operatiom Attention: C. Shugg, Mmager Attention: C. Shus, Manager Attention: C. Shugg, Manager Attention: C. Shugg, Manager This Document Coqsists of I THIS DOCUKENT HAS BEEN SCANNED AND IS STORED ON THE OPTICAL DISK DRIVE PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED

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kin ten en ce........ Project Engineering Division.. Pile Technology Civiaion ... Metalurgy and Cortrol Division . Purchasing and Stores Division ....... Labor Relations and Wage Rate Division .... Plant Security and Sen ice a Division ..... Public Works Division. .......... Comaunity Cannercia1 Fec ili ties Diviston. ... Coknnunity Eousing Diviaion. ........ Cammunity Fire Division .......... Community Activitigs Division ....... Project and Related Personnel. ........ 275

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A total of 88.8 tom of =tal was discharged during +,he month as the three piles opera:ed an arerage of 87.5 percent of the tire. 275 MW ex c ey for ou%qa periods. The Power Level was 300 Area cannix15 qroduction amounted t o 133 tons of cczeptable slugs; a new Effective August 30, EM J all metal charged in20 the piles will be alF,iaA total of k.8 jatches were rroceseed thrcii;;h Isolation. all separat icns act i vlt iee averaged 2.4 gercent for the month. Wcrste losses for ConstructIan of sacd-bed fil.+,?rsas a mans of corracting t h e 200 Area steck &as caxternination is procee3iag at a repid rate. Operatimaal efl ic is uci as heve pernitTed a 25 percent reduction i n Isolation vere developed for m~a8uremen;~of the c iff mi on length of neutrons in the pile before the top shield it3 installed. The quality of all g-ephite deliveries deceased duzinj the mcath. situation is being activekv investigeted. made a number of ma,jor advances, among the% Seing (a) a demonstration t h a t a nitrogen sweep dur4hg grepkitfzation iq roves quality by about 0.3 dih; (b) identification of =re eerth impuritizs as europium and possibly samar21~13 and nedflium; and ( c ) a demo=tretioo - h a t pile exposures can be acceleratzd by a factor of at leest 2.j by iq re gaz - a g che gmphite test samples with The graphitz developmenr; program The complexity of parer coefficient behevior is pointed up by new evidence that there ect iv it y effects &de t o graphite temperature become smalier at higher te q era ture s.Amsid and unexplained rise in the "hot" reactivity of the D Pile is also ccxcmmaing much attention. The ton cent nti on of cerbon dioxide in the DPile atmosphere was raised from expected reactivity change. Aa electric reeisteace beater which reached a temperature of 500' C. in one of the tubs posizions of :he DPile failed t o produce significant ennealing. kepesium washera were found t o corrode too rapidly t o be usable as sacrificial corrosion inhibitors fcr Ven Stone flanges. invest igat ea. durm tha month, with no adverse therm1ef facts and with the hgnesiuu alloys are being The 16" Redox Scale-up column XRS place& h operation during t h e month and Six nitric ecid tr w fer runa carried out t o obtain preliminary infornation on cepec'ty, stage hcight and opercFing obrrnrcteristics. TSe results inciiceze

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thet the column, des’,@cd oc the basis of s m ~ l lcolu;rz perforr;lance with Fenske peckixq, is considerebly over-desieed f o r service with the Reschig ring packing enployed in colunne of t h i s size. increasfng mess thr%@qut t o an opt4aum value of ebout 1.8 f e e t at 275-37C$ of fl m he et rates. This velue is mch lover than that estinated in earlier fsa sibi lit y studies, and ifa graportionately low stage hsight is estsblishsd for uranium trclmsfer i n the ~ u 1 9scheduled for Ssptenber the packed tower will again becane a strong contender f o r select103 8 2 the preferred contactor in full scale plants. I n the meantime progress is being &e on the in st c ll ation of 1/100 acele a d f u l l scale mixer-aettler units received from the fabricator during the month, on& experinental studies with t,hese units will be ster ted Production tests to ex;slcre the possiblity of rs dc c iq 2rocess volmes i n the 20G Area hnve bhovn zhaz a 3% scving in >i*ocees volma (and thus i n stored wastes) cen be effected wit3 no lose in yield or decont;cmizlatlon efficiency. Evaluction of the spAd bea filter as a meane of controlling active spack contamination has co-tinued wit3 emphasis on the effect of pein size and bed de2th on efficiency and operating chnracterlstics. size mt be =.de fo? the first plat unit, which is t o be completed in the An early choice of gra-h 330 Area Plant Assistance personnel continued t o swer;ise the roll- of urenium rods for Eanford et Lockport, N.Y., and covered also the first productio1 Tests with mechanical ag it et ion of dug s in the bronze baths showed it t o had been required with normel manual di2pi.q. practice by’the P Division on August 27. This ImproJement was put into Eight ursnium billets were gamma extruded t o evaluate the effects of extrusion temperature and rapidity of quenching on aetal structure. The resultant rods contained so little of iAe desired grain size that neither variable is considered suff icienzljr ZroEls‘ag t o ce: It further study. Investigation of low canned slug react:vity observed recently In the Test P i l e has ah&= it to result from a5normal con+,ents of magnesium andnttrogen i n some of the Mallinckrodt and Electrcnet metal. reactivities have been setiefactory, these lmpurit ies evidently are segregated within the billets involved. Since all billet analyaes and egg Hanford remelt uranium cont aw s very satisfactory Eqer4bm tal facilities for metallurgical studies on irradiated uranium are being removed from the 212-R ala., 6s required fcrS Division resumption of operation& in this storage kaab early next moath. importaat studies must be suspeaded until projected re2lacement facilities This means That these In cooperation with the Accountability Unit, t h e Analytical Section ar,d the and precisioz of the two moat critical product eolution ana1.yses(8-1-~~and AT).

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The force increased by eigbt. Ona involved plutmium contaminated skin. deposition limit in the body, the incident gave concern s h c e about 6% of occurred with the overeWos*we cf four men t o beta maiation in the Melt Plant. There were four Class I specfal Hazds incidents. In view of t h e new permissible; In t h e Control and Developsnt Section, no abncmal conditions were detected in the rou tae water, air and vegetation s mplA g program. analyses showed no results above the waning limit for the plutonium excretion Ura a i um coateat of thirteen a aq les exceed 29 UJ U/liter. by bacterial and pro2ozoa3 disease which masked e=ly biOlOghi1 effects produced by t h e effluent watc. Radiobiological 6iz-re:Js of the Columbia River, d i s - continued last Apr-2, were sta,rted again along with the initial study in s seria s of biologjcal food chain iuvest igatlono. There was no enidence of inju?y t o any emplojree d wing the month due t o radiatioi With encouragiq p r ~ ; ~ ~ e s sbeing made on the send filter for the stacks, the most preusiag health pra kl a at present is t o get started on a long range experlmcntal program t o determine the effect of the inhalation of actiw Employee physical examinations decreased slightly while first aid treatments reached a new high of 22,9i6, approximately 8 B per day. Absenteeism due t o sickness reached an all t be low of 0.56. Clinic visits reached a new high of 10,294 for Rich lad and North Richland, up agein t o 3,970, a 20$ 4acrease over tho previous high. This represents 011 increase of 3%. Dental clinic visits were 0;Zen mquisitione for add it i mcl FersorLel increased from 443 at the beginning of the month t o 533 a t the end of Design and Construction Divisions plant roll decreased 112. Six general news releases made t o Radio brondcaat script concerning prepared f o r broadcast over G. E. one women employees completed the the math. Due t o scheauled Layoff in plus terninations of summer employees total local and other newspizpers i n the Northwest. G. E. Graduate School of Nuclear Engineering six weeks training program. Negotiations were made for our fourth q mr tar steel requirements. was set up to facilitate and expedite purchase of emergency material requirements wnicfi should nat cri ally speed up the procurement of urgently needed We were advised by the Schenectedy Purchasing Department t o place orders f o r our requiremats of all eluminm products t o be used on t h e project through to this material. This is due t o the increasingly critical situations with respect

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Bertram Miller, in chr ge of Labor Relationa and Wage Bates, Erie Works, arrived in Richlend August 2nd for the purpoae of assist b - g with the preliminary ch s s if i cation of all Eanford Works exempt personnel below the aaaistnnt superintendent level except those Individuals on era ime ring assigments . A prellmlnary compmtive w ~ g eanalyse0 was made from date assembled by t h e Pacific Telaphone and Tolegraph Company fnvolvillg Seattle, Portland, Spokane Awage rate rzsnud. for limited distribution tosu ~ ervi ~ ior tuhich was designed for the purpose of c.Lcrifging the non-exeqt wage structure was virtually completed and will bo =ea* for d is tri3uti on in early Septemter. There were tvo MaJor Injuries for the moreh me);bg a total of 10 for the year and a cumulative frequency rete of 0.88 for 194.8. Operation af 200-W A-ea laundry on asix - hy, three-ehiyt basis contimes t o ContinueJ. reduction of volme in 700 Area laundry u i i l permit return t o twoOperation of Patrol and Ff2.e Protection services on e six-day week schedule continued throughout t h e montk. Cn Auguet 31, 1948, the new center section (IJnit 2) of the Coiumbifl H i g h SchoPl was officiall;r accepted fron cowtmcfion. The Richland Junior Chamber of Commerce openzd its Atomic Front'er Days celebration on August 30, 1948. Sales b y established Comercia1 Fcc ili ties remshed constant during the moEth. Ther= is an apperent, marked telldency b: established foci lit y operators t o make iqrovemsnta, at their own eq ez se,tothe buildin@ and equipment leased The kterest of prospective fcc ili ty operators in building their own facilities for operation in Rich-d has shown conefderable decrease during the past several veeka. This i a apparently dce t o e reluctance on the part of operetors t o invest the hrge sum necessery for building construction in Richland. Responsibility for the operation of sewage disposal system, undergromd irrigetic3 system, senitary wter aystem, and steam plant was transferred t o the Public Nor& Division 011 August 23, 1948; this Till be known as the Utilities purpose of all o cnt inc the eccounting personnel and vork among the decentralized accounting divisions t o be formed. of the accounting fULctions will be made effective as of October 1, except that the cost sections w i l l opsrate as a central group until. additional cost personnel Revised cost codes were issued for the mu fac turing end releted service divisionL: community a d hospital, t o &e the new cost accounting systems effective 88 meetiqp of division accountants and others were held for the It was decided that the decentralization

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Aesistant to the General ?hnagsr Assi stant to t h e Genersl mnnqer Assistant t o the General Mcnager and lbnapr, Design and Construction Divisions .......F.R. Creedon Aknager, Tech io al Division ...............A. B. Grmingcr

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DESIGE & CONSTRUCXON DIVS .t.dministrat ive blorth Bfchland Realty Ma inta . n ce Gmployee de Comm. Relations Plant Security & Service Labor Relations & plage Rates 5 5

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A total of 88.8 tons of metal ma discharged during the aonth as the three p i l e s operated an average of 87.5 percent of the t'rme. Power Level was 275 hl!V except f o r outage period, The 300 Area canning production amounted t o 133 tons of acceptabls slugs-a new record f o r 4" slugs. Effective August 30, 1948, all metal charged into the piles will be A total of 48 batckes were processed through Isola tic n, Waste Zosses for all separations activicUies avenged. 2,4 percent for the month, Construction of sand-bed filters as a meais of correcting the 200 Area stack gas contamination i s proceeding ata rapid rata. Operational efficiencies have permit:ed a 25 percent reduction in Isolation Building man p mr requirements, On August 23, 1948, responsibility for Pmer, Maintenance, and Electrical maintenance activities i n the 700-UOO Areas, and associated regions, mas transferred from the hnu fac turing Divisions t o the Ccmmunity

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outages listed under Araa Activities in this report. tons of metal was dischaqed from the piles, A to'al of 88.8 T h e 300 Arm canning production amounted t o 133 tons of scceptabic slugs thus setting a new record for 4" slugs e7on thqh the long caiming cycle which started on Jtrly 9, 194.8 was in effect mtil Augwt 27, 1948. -4s of the latter dats, it was pwsible to duc s agitatian in the brmze baths. All mota1 cha ~ e di nto the piles after August 30, 194.8 will rolled, tI.iple dip&, ecd completely transformed i n t o the beta piase. cycle from 52 t o 47 sec dst hra gh the use of mec,Wcsl XI. ORGANiZATTON AXD PFCCNIEL Number of Einployees m Payroll - Acgx ' 3 Beginnkg of Month: 350 Erd of Month: - 3 5 3 OIle operator was transferred from the Transportation Division and seven were hired, a l l being assigned t o the 300 Area, lex? the 300 Area, one transfer rh g +,o the Service Divisicn and m e Two qs rat or s I. L. Huffhin - 8 s hired es Supsrvisor in Training in 100-7 Ares on Suped-sor i n Training in 10'3-F Area.

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of their ir radi a tim any 30 fmL 2: the iezhi - a i Section of this report. A second scdium d unx+m slug was placed i n E' Pile on A u g u t 13, 194.S; this one is lcsoL%c! in the ceater of The power level of the I? F i l e n m lowered for eight hours cn August 23, 1943 for a rocti- determiration of tine coeff ici ect.

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03 A-wt26, 1948, tho aixxnt of sc%m silicate c ddd &sing th treat in t cf the procass mter mas reduced other two areas, necessitating the continued w e of both helres of the Cunsiderable attention is bshg devoted …