Hanford Works Monthly Report for October 1952 Compiled by Department Managers (Deleted)

Page 2

Atomic Energy Commission Hanford Operations Office Atomic lhergy Commission Hanford Operations Office Atomic Energy Commission

Page 3

Engineering Department AM nist ration............ Fa-1 and Fa-2 Fin axial Department ..................... .1-1 through 1-3 Utilities and General Senrices Department Richland Public Li kary................. Le-1 and Le-2 Real Estate Engineering Unit............. Uc-1 and Lk-2 700, 1100, 3000 Area Services Section ......... Lm-1 through h - 3 Public Works Unit

Page 4

New high production records were established i n the Metal Preparation Section and inthe Reactor Section. Redox Plant was 99% and 96% of forecast, respectively. The production of U03 was Production i n the Bismuth Phosphate Plant and i n the Improvement was experienced i n process difficulties associated with the treatment Eleven ruptured slug jackets and one leaking tube i n the reactors were taken care of without excessive outages. The design of 1004 Reactor Facilities reached 42.6% of completion, and that of 1004 Water Plant Facilities 38%. Design scope of a new separations plant, and of expanded 300 Area facilities reached about 18% of completion. A surpey has been made of t h e various designs of plutonium producing reactors pFoposed a t other A X sites, and tentative conclusions are drawn. The first sdccessful etching and close metallographic examination of irradiated uranium has been achieved. The transfer of analytical. control laboratory services from Ikgineering t o Manufacturing t h a t was begun nearly a year ago has been completed. An eastward movement' of ground water under the 200 Areas was observed, presumably due tothe loading of the ground water mound by the Redox Process. Personnel and Services A study directed toward a better understanding of absenteeism, and means for its reduction,which was begun by the Medical Department, w a s expanded t o include the entire division. There were 716 housing applications pending. Work continued on the midyear review of the 1953 budget. estimates were revised downward from last May by about 500 persons. currently 8,804 employees on the roll. Turnover decreased from 2.60% t o 1.38%. A new high peak of electric power consumption was reached during the month. An employee attitude survey was conducted during the month.

Page 5

The production f o r t h e month was 44 tons of 4-inch material and 133 tons of 8-inch material, for a total of 177 tons. This represents 103.5 percent of forecast, and e stahl k he se new production record. The machining yield was 79.3 percent and 81.7 percent f o r 4-inch and 8-inch material, of' 84.3 percent and a solid yield of 94.5 percent. The canning yield was 84.4 percent f o r 4-inch material and 80.5 perThe melt plant groduced 66 tons of billets with a yield There were two autoclave failure a of 4-inch pieces fora frequency of 0.09 per thousand. There were two 8-inch piece failures for a frequency of 0.06 per thousand. The failures were attributed t o defective cans i n the &-inch pieces and operating technique i n the 8-inch pieces. The t o t a l reactor input production'was 114.3 percent of forecast record of achievement established i n September, 1952. duction f o r one da,; rms established on October 28 which was 21 MWD higher than the previously esta blis ki record. A n increase of 40 MW was realized i n established maximum operating 1eveL.i. This increase i s attributed t o lower inlet water temperalxre, increased reactivity and improved flattening. The reactor output production was 127.9 percent of forecast. the rescheduling of discharge at the D Area from the month of November t o avoid. an outage during the B a l l 3X shutdown and installation at F Reactor. and excecads the A new record o f input proThis high output production was caused by There were 11 uranium slug jacket f a i l u r e s during October of which four were Group 7, seven were Group 8, with no Group 9 failures. Seven of these were discharged within the scram recovery time, avoiding approximately 150 hours of outage t i m e . The operating efficiency of the reactors was 91.0 percent. This was primarily due t o the reduction of unscheduled outage time f o r ruptured pieces and leaking tubes. One leaking tube at the F Reactor, O585-F, was removed during the outage fora stuck ruptured piece. A negligible quantity of water entered the moderator as a result o f A t o t a l of 22 runs and one acid wash was started i n the Canyon Buildings representing 99.0 percent of forecast. I n Redox 112 runs were started representing 96.0 percent

Page 6

Vice President i n Charge ....................F. B, Prout Assistant t o the General Manager, Evaluation of Division Manager, Community Real Estate and Services .......... Le F. Huck

Page 7

UTILITIES & CENERAL SERVICES -General Electrical Dist. & Telephone 36 Plant Security & Services COWUNITY REAL ESTATE & SERVICES B EMPLOYEE & PUBLIC RELBTIONS

Page 10

occurred necessitating a cutback i n feed rate t o 3 tons per day by month end, plus the U s of about 8 days early i n tbe month. the replacement of the 3D column aa a part of the Phase I, Redox capacity increase, and re wing8 leaking waste evaporator coil. This decreased production reslilted when flooding of the LA column The outage was occasioned by Cold u r m runs from Redox URH were completed i n the TBP process with waste losses from the revised RA columns i n both the A and B lines reported consistently below one percent. A t month end, the final equipment inspection and adjustment was i n progress in preparation for "hot" operation. A t o t a l of 98.4 tons of uranium i n U03 was produced and vas 135 percent of forecast. Some difficulty was s t i l l experienced with foaming and caking i n the pots of the "cold" UXIH from the TBP plant, but steam stripping of t h i s material has reduced these Homogenization began this month in the C tank farm. There was one pump failure at The coal inventory increased from 4.7 months supply on haad October 1, 1952 t o 5.1 months supply on hand October 31, 1952. The 5.1 months coal inventory is based on recast consumption for the period November, 1952 through April, ~ " 3 . This in- ,rease is the result of request for heavy shipments early i n the moi:th which off-set the effect of coal s t r i k e which stopped shipments for a ten day period. Total on Roll October 1, 1952 3239 Total on Roll October 31, 1952 3316 *Includes 66 transfers from Technical, completing the transfers of the Analytical Laboratories t o the Manufacturing Department.

Page 11

All persona engaged i n work that might reasonably be expected to result in lnvuntions or discoveries advise that, to the best of t h e i r knowledge and belief, no inventions or discoveries were made i n the course of their work during the period covered by t h i s report except as listed below. Such persons further advise that, for the period therein covered by this report, notebook records, if any, kept in the course of t h e i r work have been examined for possible inventions o r discoveries. A. C . Morganthaler, Separations Section Application of an Immersible L e M. Vik, Separations Section Photo Electric Interface C. F. Setbacken, Separations Section Locater and Turbidimeter f o r Use i n Remote and Inaccessible

Page 16

Responsibilities of t h e Metal Preparation Section were unchanged. October September To Date Bare Pieces Machined (8")(Tons) Acceptable Pieces Canned (8")(Tons)

Page 17

D Metal Preparation Section October September To Date Melt Plant Solid Yield (e) 94.5 94.4 Oxide Burned (Wei@t out Tons ) 9 7 Poison Canned (Ihmber Pieces) 3447 5469 Chemical 68-56 C m THO. Pieces) 0 0 Chemical 10-66 Canned (No. Pieces) 295 740 Special Request (Man Hours) 6 52 430 305 Routine Tests ( M m Hours) 160 136 305 Special Tests (Man Hours) 576 3 56 Total Steam Generated (M l b s . ) 12,300 8,000 Total Water Average Rate ( g p m ) 1,014 859 Chip Recovery Yield ( 8 ) 88.7 85 - 7 Melt Plant Billet Yield (e) 34.3 83 .I Maximum Steam Generated (M lbs/hr.) 30 14.5 Average Rate Steam Generated Sanitary Water from 3OCQ Area The production of machined slugs during the month exceeded t h a t of any previous month. continued t o be satisfactory. divided between Hanford cast billets and virgin Mallinckrodt material. Approximately 60$ of the material had been rolled i n August, 25$ i n September and the balance rolled i n March, May and June. The general quality of the rods as received The material machined was about evenly A total of 177 tons of acceptable slugs were canned this month, establishing a new record at Hanford Works. The yield of four inch and eight inch material increased by 4.3% and 7.3$ respectively. The improvement was the result of a general decrease i n most types of rejects. Analysis of t h e four autoclave failures which occurred during the month revealed that two were believed t o be the result of defective cans and two were attributable t o operating techniques. Statistical analysis of slugs machined from the May rolling, taken before and a f t e r salt bath heat treatment, has been completed. that the slugs tend t o decrease i n length while increasing i n diaketer preferentially at the ends. D a t a have been gathered on salt bath heat treated material from the June and A u g u s t rollings and are presently being

Page 18

Metal. Reparation Section One l o t of simulated Hanford type slugs, produced at Fernald by centerless grinding, was processed through machining inspection, pickle inspection and canning. A yield of 86.04 was obtained i n canning, with no non-seat difficulties being encountered. Reactivity tests of bare and canned samples from this lot indicated quality t o be about the same as Hsnford material. Approximately $00 four inch pieces produced f r o m rods which were beta heat t r e a t e d at Fcrnald were canned by the lead dip method. Mechanical difficulties caused fluctuations of furnace temperatures which resulted i n AlSi penetration and a rejection of approximately 750 pieces. The program for dry canning enriched fuel slugs for "C" pile was completed with 575 pieces being accepted. There were 1,427 smooth surface four inch slugs satisfactorily canned under Production Test 313-105-11-M, "The Evaluation of Surface Finish of Slugs Machined at Fernald from Standard Rods Rolled at Simonds." A t o t a l of 435 eight inch slugs, lead dip canned under Production Test 313-105-3-M i n which transformation was questionable were inspected by mans of an ultra-sonic testing device. Of this lot an acceptance yield of 66.2$ was obtained. by the device were subjected t o destructive tests, which indicated very good reliability of the inspection. loaded on a Production Test basis. A t month end, 1075 four inch pieces had been inspected by this method with an acceptance yield of 87.4$. Samples of those accepted and rejected Acceptable pieces are t o be pile Machining production was 0.4% above forecast. Canning production was lO3.5$ of forecast and reflects the improved yield of both f o u r and eight inch material. Billet production exceeded forecast by 1.79 due toa reduction of 1. ope r a t ing Continuity Damage by construction forces t o the 12-inch water supply line from North Richland necessitated taking suction from the ground tank and obtaining a pressure boost from North Richland t o enable operation through the two 6-inch lines. 2. Inspections, Maintenance and Replacement Quslity improvement by the welding machine rehabilitation including certain mechanical changes, is expected t o show a 1.3% yield improvement.

Page 19

Metal Preparation Section Slugs Fabricated in Heavy Walled Aluminum Cans" (HW-22463). mately 35,000 slugs were fabricated and sent t o storage under this test on this test. down t o 2.5$; poor bonds were up slightly to 4.9s and marred surfaces rejected 2.2$ of t h e pieces canned. FT-313-105-7M "Irradiation of Alpha Canned Uranium Slugs from Rods Salt Bath Beta Heat Treated at Fernald" (HW-24829). were lead dip canned i n accordance with conditions of this test. Other than penetration difficulties caused by erratic temperature control, there were no unusual operational experiences. The yield wus &I$acceptable , the best yet attained Non-seats, formerly the highest reject category, were Process Tests and Revisions it i a ted with the fluxing of a fresh AlSi bath and during the first shift of operation, canning operations were not adversely affected. Upon subsequent repetition of the procedure, difficulties were encountered with a build-up of tin concentration i n the AlSi bath. velopment the test was discontinued pending investigation. of the condition. Tentative results of this limited test were encouraging. This test was inI n view of this deInventions and Discoveries Personnel i n the Metal Preparation Section engaged i n work which might be expected to result in inventions o r discoveries advise that to the best of their knowledge and belief, no inventions o r discoveries were made i n the course of their work during the period covered by this D. Events Influencing Cost 184 man-hours were required t o decontaminate seven rod and scrap cars received during the month. Poor surface quality of Alcoa caps continued. returned t o the vendor for credit with 16,000 on hand t o be returned. To date 34,000 have been The consumption of AlSi continued t o be high due t o the unexplained above average rate of tin build-up i n the canning baths.

Page 20

Metal Preparation Section -HW-26047 Project C-199 - 300 Area Sewage Disposal System. gress was made on this project during this period. No further work proProject C - 394 - Outside Facilities and Utilities for Laboratory Area. The steam lines are complete and stem service was made available t o t h e Bio-Physics Building, Library and. Files Building and the Badge The eight-inch fire and sanitary water loop was sterilized and placed i n service, making water available t o the above buildings. is approximately 85s complete. Project C-433 - Power House Addition. The boilers have been boiled out and are scheduled t o be placed on the l i n e by November l,.lg52. ance tests are scheduled for the first week i n November. Piping i s now layed while awaiting delivery of necessary cable and equipment. vised project proposal has been prepared and submitted by the Engineering Department requesting an extension of the completion date from October 23, Progress on electrical installations has been deProject C-481 - Equipment for 8" Slug Manufacmre. A revised project proposal requesting an extension of the completion date and …