Monthly Report Hanford Atomic Products Operation for April 1953 (Deleted)

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HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS 0P"ZUTION Operated for the Atomic Energy Commission General Electric Company THXS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SCANNED AND IS STORED ON THE OPTICAL DISK DRIVE

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Atomic aergy Commission Hanford Operations Office Atomic Energy Commission Hanford Operations Office Atomic Energy Commission

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TULE OF CONTENTS Laboratory Engineering and General Cost Unit.. .Manufacturing Cost Unit Engineering Cost Unit .Appropriations Section .P ay roll Unit..... .Internal Audit Unit.. Plant Auxiliary Operations Dep a r t ment Community Operations and Real Estate Department ... .Community Services Section ........... .Public Works Unit............. .Recreation and Civic Affairs Unit......

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In the Metal Preparation Canning of P-10 enriched HAWORD ATOMIC ??LODUCTS OP ZU TION Section net production for the month exceeded forecast. slugs continued during t h e month, and at month's end the second-conmitment for pile loading OS the slugs for the P-10 program was accomA major increase i n maximum operating level of the C reactor was established. uranium jacket failure occurred during the month; this was atC reactor. reactor input production and reactor output production exceeded forecast. addition of sodium dichromate t o the B, D and P reactor process water w a s resumed on April 10; the dichromate treatment of process water is now i n effect for all The Ball 3X outage was started a tH reactor on April 5. Separations plants exceeded forecasts by the following amounts: although a record high, was hampered intermittently by low inventory of feed material, even though the third tank farm was added on March 15, powder were shipped offsite from the U03 plant. responsibility for the complete reactivation of the P-10 facility at 108-B. Production at the TBP plant, The Separations Section assumed locking devices were received from ALCOA. i n aligning the slugs inthe process t.Jbes during the charging operations. hundred and f i f t y slugs were canned using these components. Design progress on 100-K Reactor Facilities advanced t o 80.& completion, while design work on t h e UO work on t h e 300 Area &pansion Program was 20% complete a t month end, treatment which gave 100 f o l d decontamination of ruthenium. Experimental cans an9 caps with interThe purpose of the interlock is toaid Plant Expansion reached 72% completion. Detail design Personnel and Services Electrical distribution for Sichland was transferred from the Plant Auxilia r ; r Operations Department tothe Community Operations and Real Estate Department-. Preparation ofthe budget for the Fiscal Year 1?Ss and revision of the budget for the Fiscal Year 19s& was completed i n April, the i in al budget letter being transmitted tothe Atomic Energy Commission on April 24. Agreement in principle was reached on a new GE-HAMTC contract, and a final draft was submitted tothe HAMTC on April 17 for review and comments.

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General Manager, Hanford Atomic Products Operation Assistant tothe General Manager, Technical Director, Radiological Sciences Manager, Plant Auxiliary Operations Manager, Conwunity Operations and Real Estate

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HANFORD ATOMIC PRUDUCTS OPERATION NUMBER OF EWLOYZZS ADD lied Research Labor at on Engineering Elec. Distribution & Telephone 32 53n has ing & Stores Administration Main. Service 11 Plant Auxiliary Operations Department Bnployee & Public Relations Dept. Radiological Sciences Departinent

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METAL PREPARATION SEXTIOR net production f o r t h e month was 159 tons (102$ of forecast) which included tons of 8-inch material and 1.3 tons of 4-inch material. the 8-inch material was 82.7$ and for the 4-inch 77.6%. The machining yield The canning yield was 60.5s for 4-inch and '73.68 for 8-inch. The overall canning field improved by 7s over the past month and is attributed to a significant reduction i n the number of non-seat rejects for both the four and eight-inch slugs. The melt plazlt produced 31 tons of billets with a yield of 86.2s and a solid yield There were no canned slug failures at autoclave testing.during the month. The canning of P-10 enriched slugs continued during t h e month with an overall canning yleld of 85$. month, and was t h e result of more stringent inspection procedures and the addition of a 100 percent radiograph test. This represents a decrease in yield compared with t h e past The overall field for the P-10 target slug program was 78$. provement over last month's canning operation. primary cause of rejection although some improvement was shown i n the welding opThis was a marked i m - Poor weld closures are still the A t month's end the second commitment for pile loading of the slugs for the P-10 program was accomplished. present canning operation and a quantity of salvaged P-10-A material used previously has been returned t o Savannah River for recasting and extrusion. Current reject material of the P-10 alloy from the The total reactor input production was 105.9$ of forecast, and the reactor output production was lOO.l$ of forecast resulting from t h e discharge of a new record quantity of metal. Increases i n established maximum operating levels during the month were 100 MU a t burnout at Cpile and 52 MU of "J" burnout at DR pile. The maximum levels include 9 MW of "C" metal The single uranium jacket failure which occurred at C reactor during this period, was the lowest number since March 1951. was 26.6 hours. In addition, three "C" metal slugs were found t o have ruptured. Two Of these were atH reactor and one atC reactor. confirmed when t h e slugs were removed during normal charge-discharge operations. The total outage time for the slug removal The high Beckman readings were

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There were no process tube failures during this period. Numerous failures of .solenoid colls, which are installed to operate the B a l l 3X dropped into one channel at each of the B and F reactors. After st&up of the B reactor on April 25, it was discovered that VSR No. 35 had broken, and the lower part had remained in the pile. quired for removal, and replacement of the rod, and startup of the pile. Failure occurred at one of the joints. The design of the joint is now being reviewed by a l l interested organizations. Two days were reThe addition of sodium dichromate to the B, D and F reactor process water was resumed on April 10, fol loving a review of corrosion experience and pertinent The dichromate treatment of process water is now in effect f o r A gradual increase of radioactivity in the effluent water from all reactors was experienced early in the month due to increasing turbidity caused by e spring originating in the raw water. %e B a l l 3X outage was started at H reactor on April 5, and is continuing on =chedule at month end. Other associated work is essentially complete. A total of 13 runs was started in the T Canyon Building and the production was The Redox plant produced lo55 of forecast. due to flushing columns and reworking batches of insufficiently decontaminated An equivalent af four days were lost The TBP plant production of uranium as UIlH was 1085 of forecast. although a record high, was hampered intemittently throughout the month by low inventory of feed material, notwithstanding the addition of the third tank farm on March 1 5 . Decontamination was not as satisfactory this month as in March due to carry-through of Yttrium. The U03 plant was plagued vith severe caking in the calcination furnaces f o r a few days during the month; however, the month’s production was 1195 of forecast. Ten cars of powder were shipped offsite. Both of these items represent new Sluicing activities progressed with improved results in all tank fanns during the month. It I s indicated that the first cascades of tanks in U and C farms are nearing.depletion of their contents.

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No failure of Nagle pumps occurred during this period, however, some time was lost at 241-CR due to a sluice pump failure and at 241-BSR due to a sluice pwrp The month's commitment of the 234-5 operation was delivered. done on the RM line during the month. A l l processing was The Separations Section assumed the responsibility f o r the complete reactivation Effective April 1, 1953, P. E. Love was transferred to the Atomic ficlear Propulsion Project at Evendale, Ohio. T. W. huff visited the Installations at Rocky Flats, K-25, Savannah River and Fernald from April 20 through April 30. This trip was made In connection with manufacturing process Information. Hot tar, which was employed on April 27 in making repairs to the pump pit i n the slug recovery room In Building 313, ignited and caused damage estimated to be There were no major or sub-major inJuries In the Department during the month. Total on Roll April 1, 1953 3310 Total. on Roll April 30, 1953 3308

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PATENT REPORT SUMMARY All persons engaged in work that might reasonably be expected t o result In inventions o r discoveries advise that, t o the best of their knowledge and belief, no inventions or discoveries were made in the course of their work during the period covered by this report except as listed belov. Such persons further advise that, for the period there in covered by this report, notebook records, if any, ketp inthe course of their work have been examined for possible inventions o r Reactor Section Compound-Action Gain Control,

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Responsibilities of the Section remained unchanged. Bare Pieces Machined (4")(Tons) 1 Bare Pieces Machined (8")(Tons) 91. Total Pieces Machined (Toss) 92 Acceptable Pleccs Canned (8")(Tons) Net Acceptable Pieces Canned (4")(Tons) Gross 14 Acceptable Pieces Canned (8")(~ons)Gross

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Metal Preparation Section Total Acceptable Pieces Canned (Tons) Gross 160 i83 647 Total Acceptable Pieces Canned (Tons) Net 159 180 637 Chip Recovery Yield Melt Plant Billet Yield ($) Melt Plant Solid Yield ($) Oxide Burned (Weight out Tons) Poison Canned (Number Pieces) Chemical 68-56 Canned (Number Pieces) Chemical 10-66 Canned (IJumber Pieces) Special Request (Man Hours 305 Routine Tests (Man Hours) 305 Special Tests (Mm Hours) Sanitary Water from 3000 Area Total Water Average Rate (gpm) The material machined consisted of 26% Hanford cast billets and the balance of virgin material. rods on hand including 29 tons of rods for the exponential test will be machined during the month of May. The n e t production of acceptable slugs was 159 tons of which 92% were attributed to a significant reduction i n the nunher of non-seat rejects f o r both four and eight-inch slugs. It is expected that a l l of the available An increase of about 7% i n the combined canning yields is The m e l t plant operated on a one-shift basis and the yields continued During the past m n t h the Process Control Unit has been reinspecting production material t o determine the accuracy of classification by

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operations personnel. Both good and reject material has been reinspected t o determine the correctness of classification. results of this study indicate the inspection of process material is being done vith little or no mis-classification of material. Reinspection V L l l be continued in the future as a means of conRecent studies on canning bath composition have indicated t h a t variations i n performance may exist between AlSi 'from different vendors or between lots of AlSl from the same vendor. 51 correlating these differences with canning yields, some peculiar canning behavior has been noted. a record for-low non-seating has been s e t aside as control material. This metal will be used for tests during periods of extended rates of high non-seating i n order t o evaluate the AlSi i n use. About 2400 pounds of AIS1 vith Receipts of insufficient quantities of lithium alloy target slugs t o meet production requirements necessitated t h e salvaging and recanning of P-10 alloy manufactured a t Hanford. addition tothe salvaged P-10-A Hanford material is being shipped t o t h e Savannah River plant for recasting and extrusion. Current reject material i n There were 4336 acceptable target slugs canned with canning yield, including recovered pieces, of 785. t h e prlmary cause of rejection although some improvement was shown in the welding operation. canned with an oversll canning yleld of 855. The decreaaed yield for t h i s material resulted from more stringent inspection procedures. The enriched slugs as well as the target slugs have been radiographed t o insure good weld closure. Poor weld closures are still There were 3091 acceptable enriched slugs Canning praduction exceeded forecast by 29 as a result of improved by 35 and machining production exceeded forecast by 145. Billet production exceeded the forecast 1. ope mting Continuity A minimum of production time was lost as a result of mechanical failures to canning equipment. Standardization of fumace types associated equipment has reduced lost time for change-overs toa

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1. ope rating Continuity (Continued) Air switches for the canning jack were mounted in a central location t o facilitate maintenance and prevent damage tothe switches from nected so that it could be used t o take over the operation of the jacks A third spare switch was mounted inthe panel and con2. Inspections, Maintenance and Replacement A new Ajax induction Purnace was installed and several tests have been run as a canning furnace t o check the temperature gradients and contr.ols. Preliminary results indicate that this will be furnace and wlll permit a very accurate temperature control of the bath, PT-311-105-10M - "Fabrication and Irradiation of Triple Dip Slugs Canned i n AlSi Bath vith Impurity Levels Above Nonnal" (HW-26860). test the tin content of the can na bath was allowed t o build up t o 2s mately 3000 slugs are i n storage awaiting shipment tothe 100 Areas. Approximately 3900 slugs were canned with a yield of Frost test rejects were the largest reject category. Approxion this test Kith a yield of 18s. a high percentage of non-seats which were out of specification 50 or 60 seats during t h e canning process. About 1 9 0 slugs were produced This low yield was due primarily t o Due t o operational problems it was not possible t o check for nonAs a result no corrective measures It is believed this difficulty can be overcome i n the future. The triple dip fabrication of 63s jacketed slugs was completed durinq the The lead dip portion of the test has not been started. Additional diffi - culty was experienced i n obtaining smooth welds on these slugs. This cor,dition vas alleviated to some extent by running the lathes faster to produce a smoother finish on the cap. Approximately 3200 slugs were canned with a yield of about 675. for shipping tothe 100 Areas. This material i s in storage ready PT-313-105-194 - "Irradiation of Triple Dip Canned Uranium Slugs from Rods same rate as last month's production. Canning on this test continued at about the

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Metal Preparation Section 2. Process Tests and Revisions It is estimated that the …