Hanford Works Monthly Report - October - 1948

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This roporl was proparad as an accounl 01 work sponsorcd by an agoncy 01 Iho Unitod Slalcs Govcrnmcnl. Nctlhcr tho United Slator Govornmonl nor any agency Ihcrcof. nor any 01 lheir omployoos. nor any of lhoir conlraclors. subconlfaclors or thoir ompfoyoas. makos any warranty. oxprcss or implicd. or assumcs any legal liability or rosponsibilily lor !ho accuracy. complolonoas. or any lliird gaily's usc or Ihc rcsulls of such uso of any inlormalion. apparatus. producl. or process disclosod. or represcntr that i t s usc would no1 infringo privaloly owncd righls. nclcrcncc hcrcin Io any specific commcrcial product, proccss. or scrvico by lradc namc. trademark. manulacluror, or othorwiso. docs no1 nocossarily conslilulo or imply its ondorsomonl, rocommondation. or favoring by fhc Unilcd Stalcs Govcrnmcnl or any agency lhorcol or ilr conlraclors or subcontraclors. Thu viuws and opinions 0 1 authors clrprosscd herein do not ncccssarily stalo or reflect lhoso 01 Iho Unilcd Slalcs Govcrnmonl or any This rcport hdr'bccn rcproduccd lrom tho bcst availablc copy. hinld in h e United SIJIOSe l Anwira

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TABLE OF CONTEPFTS +. Plant Stat let ice..... Mechani eel Divi si one Ma intemnce Divie Ion ................ 52 Tech ical Divleiona ................... 81 Pile Technology Division ......... Separatione Technologg Divieion ...... Metslurgy and Control Divleion. ...... - I I Putcharing and Stores Divieiun. ...... Plant Security and Se hi cee Divieion. .... .la .2024 Employee and Comaunity Relatione Divleion .... Community Activities Division .......

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.Atdal of 85.9 tons of metal M E discharged during tbe month asthe three pilea opemted a t an average efficiency of 75.0 percent. duru operation except a t 100-B which operated until October 6at reduced levels due t o the unter in the gruphite resulting from a ruptured tube and a t 100-F whicb operated a t reduced levelr: eubeequent t o October 20 when a tube nrpture A procees tubs leak in the F pile caueed P O great are activity lose that the pile could odly be operated a t 40 MW a t month-end, although all poison columna end epecial requeet eluge hed been diechnrged. The p i l e was shut down f o r four dags pending a demonetration at the B Pile that open tion of n mt pile did not eetablleh a permanent loss of reactivity, at a rate of about one gallon pes hour, with are activity recovery at a rate of about 0.7 inhour per hour. The tube leaks a t both B and F Piles were found t!o be cnueed by defective lithium fluoride elugs ana all euch eluga were discharged frau ths piles. are undermy to install tritium extraction facilities in au il ding 108-~,but tbe echedule for use of theee fac ili tie e is now m certain. The power level was 275 MW A t month-end, vnter was being removed The 300 Area canning production totaled 145 Cas of eccegtable eluge. The cennin yield was 88.w. The Melt Plant produced 65.2 tone of billets. of the north dike atthe 300 Area Retention Pond failed October 25, end emergency repairs were effected by October 27. into the river we detected by cmpreheneive teete. L No appreciable movement of contsmination A total of 42 batches PZLB processed through the isolation phaee of Separations the month. me Mete loeeee for all stparatione activities aversged 2.w for A t month-end the fndicated efficiencies for both the T and B Plant filters were 99f $ ..There verc no significant procees difficulties or changes in operation of the Separetions Plant8 during tho month of October. Filtration of the T Plant ventil ation air diecharge by paeeage through a sand hed me started on October 15. Alpha-rolled, lesd-dipped eluge continue t o show variable dimemion81 changes during irradiation, and are being limited to an crpoeure of 230 MD/ton. rolled, triple-dipped #luge, examined a f t e r an exposure of 160 MD/ton, give pramire of sst iai actor y performance a t 4oO m/ton. Diffusion meaeurementr a t the DR Pile indicate m even higher graphite quality than had been ehm by the Test Pile. witb 4OO inhours of reactivity greater than the F Pile did at etart-up, and with 120 lnhoure greater than the F Pile hed prior to the recent tube failure. By this te et,the DR Pile will atart

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/ - Proceee changee st Morganton include the conversim of three more graph it iz bg humscee to purification furnacee, the operation of all fourteen purification f’uznacee with a two-high etacking, and the cbarging of ell pur if ics tion fhmmce8 with *e-baked coke inatead of v i t h graphitized bare. Thie permits 60 t o 6% Of the total production t o be purified, gse-baked coke, - with @ne Of 80 t o 150 inhoure of reactivity canpared t o the DR Pile,with Intangible reduction in rate of graphite expansion during operation of the piles, and vith relatively small changes in the over - all graphite coet for nev piles in ccmparisan with the The graphite in the D€l Pile stacked up toa height about 0.2 inches be lw the intended e lew tion. Teets with the one tube mock-up ehaved that th ie condition MB undesirable laite effect on all mb le elope of the graphite etthe inner end of the gunbarrels end indicated the advieability of re-stacking the DR Pile. A t month-end 8uff ici ent equipment had been aeeembled t o comaence eegmented diecbarge on all pile tubee, If such procedure were t o be required in order t o reach product concentrations equivalent t o 400 MD/ton. Development of improved equipment wae continuing. ContLnuud etudiee of packed column8 for use in t h e Redox proceee have established tho throughput ve efficiency relationehips for colame brhcketlng both the Redox Teet and Production Plants. hae produced an H.E.T.S. value of ca. 1.2 rt. over a f o u r - f o l d range of throughput and an &inch column m H.B.T.S. of ca. 1.5 f:.. over 8 t w - f o l d range of throughto certain Redox proceee eolutiona. The etudg of poeeible methods of increaeing ruthenium decontamination in the Rodox proceee has been erpanded t o include the use of ieotoplc dilution, camPleXing agente, and vol a till z ation. The adeorption of zirconium by glaee wool and the extraction behevior of zirconium i e being continued in etudy. laboratory reeearch being carried out includoe etudiee of croeeover oxidation, oxidation of plutonium by ozone, heate of extraction, temperature coefficiente mente, filter aid product pick-up, solubility and partial preeeure relationehipe, and H.E.T.S. meaeurenente with e laboratory experimental column. Production rolling of uranium rode for Hemford continued a t Lockport, N.Y., and Aliquippa, Pa., under technical eu2ervieion by the 300 Area Plant Aeeietance then rolled to ?Inn1 rod size, Thie probdure l e much fnster than et rai gh t rolling; the structural eu it ability of tbe ree ul tant rod remahe t o be determlned. Revieione of t h e experimental mixer-eet,ler contactor models under etudy Flame-epreyed polyethylene ha8 shovn very prom i em reeietance During the run a t Aliquippa, 52billet e Yere forged t o 2” equeree and Prelimhetry flW8heett3 were developed for t v o 300 Area proceee modificatione briquettes and allow their direct remelting with imprwed billet yield; and (2) the chemical treatment of ecrap uranium f i n e s end oxides, a8 m alternate t o burning (with ita contamhetian control problem). (1)the pickling of utanium tura in geto give oxide-free Good progreee VRE made in the examination of uranium alloy eamplee being submitted by Battelle in the cooperative eearch for an effective grain refining agent. Some structural effects are being observed vith several of the eir teen alloy- elementr

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The H.I. Operational Division reported eurvey flndinge in the normal pattern. mathe releaee of large quantitiee of $5 tothe Columbia River from condensate from the Gee Purification Building fol lov lng a water leek. the rgtent,IgQ Of: thie activity until better p eMs el ble limit data could be Another incident, which pointed up t h e weakneee of preparation agnl.net a major disaeter, WBB the releaee of 300 @sa Retention Pond weter tothe Columbia River. In the Control aad Development DIvIEIoz~,eamplee of vater, air, and oegetction shared no mJor deviatian from previaue findinge. There w e continued difficulty vith law yields in the plutonium annlyels of wines, but no indication of poe it lv etrongly pw lt ive, reflect- the continued eubetandard canditione in uranium metal fabric at ion. ConvereeQ, tests for uranium b urine of 300 Area employeee were Biology Divieion flndlnge, already limfted by totally i-dequate labomtorn fac lli tie e, were further reduced by (1) down time of the 100-F Area Pile, affecting the fieh program; (2) predator xnide on etock. .There were two MaJor InJuriee during the month which bringe the total for the year t o date t o fourteen. The accumulative frequency rate for the year lgt8le On October 25, the Patrol Division returned tos five-dag work-week echedule vlth additional hour8 being worked t o provide an overlap a teh if t change neceeeary t o handle traffic in the variaue meae. Concurrent with th ie change, eeveral area poete were eliminated with the approval of the Atomic Energy Connmieeion.L/ On October 26, an Airborne Militarg group numbering appt'orinrately 250 and a vehicle convoy. canaisting of approximately 750 arrived a t Hanford Yorke f o r practice maneuvers in t h e areae. Trail blackout8 were held in all m eee except 300 on October 27, 1948. Additional allocation of @vanized steel sbeete was arranged under the Voluntary Steel Allocation Plan and ordere placed for our requirenente. W o shipment8 of process chemical8 were tied up by thelongehoremen'e e tri he, meat Coos Bay, Oregon, and the otber atSan Francieco, California. In one of the inetancee it vau neceaeary to protect our etock poe it ion by a epot purchaee for all rail ehipmente. The cmdeneed Y-Poiat Job Improvement Program f o r the staff group was completed with t h e exception of one meeting. Inetructore' claeees in & l e Program ere approrimntely 7046 complote and a number of individual cleseee have stor ted in varloue divi eim s. Open requleltiona for addlcianal personnel dscreaeed from 613 a i t h e beginning of the month t o 439 atthe end of October. by 103 emra1oyeee.- Recruitment act i viti ee for eienogrephrre, t niet e,cmp t meter Total plsnt roll increased during October

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. There vere 1,331. employee contact8 mede by the Employee Relatione Group. employee retired during October. October 15, with 97.- of t h e quota obtained. barrack'e f ire are about cmp let ed. The Community Chest Drive m e completed on F i ' teen eug gee ti mawr de,total ha The cornunity m.ge rate survey In Spokane, Seattle, and Tacana, Wnehington, and Portland, Oregon, me completed and the re eu lte are being mnlyzed. All craft job8 In t h e Maintenance Division and the Village MRLntenance Group vere revieved. Approval va8 received from the Atomic Energy Corniselon for eat eb li shing a job rate for Technical Omduntee. Hanford Metal Trades Com c il (A.F. of L.) filed petition with the Regime1 Director of theN.L.R.B. requeeting that their organization be cert if led a e barmining topreeentative for all production and malntenence employees otthe Hanford Worke. On October 4, 1948, representatives of the Genernl Electric Compnny end the Atomi Energy Connnieeion officially nccepted completed *nitnumber one of the Columbie High School additicm. Location8 vere nmrded for the following facilities : Repair Gorage, Service Station and Drug Store i n Richland; and Beauty Shop and Shoe Repair Shop in North Richland. Prckerd denlerehip, General ttee on Medicine and Biology epent two days i t the project. Dr. Werren advilsed that studies t o determlne the effect of inhaling active particles by laboratory anim le would be et arte dat an early date in Rochester. f o r un exchange of ideae. The average dnlly hospital ceneua wa8 88, identical with the previous month, but bC$ higher than the cenew a year ngo. The sverage hoe pital e tay wc8 5.3 dnys ne coarpared with 5.9 day8 p. year ago. I n controlling mosquitoes In the Cree,etat ol of 20,OOO gnllona of 3$ D.D.T. larvicide md adult ici de VRE spr qed over jO,CBO aeree by means of ground equipment and aircraft during the eeason. Decentrrlizction of accounting work ves completed during t b s month of October. Accomting functiane with t h e exception of payrolls, property accomtlng, issuancf of checke, bank accounts, end billing to the government are nuw handlod by the and billing tothe government are handled by the General Accounting Divieion. 3 ' reepective Accounting Divisione. Pnyrolls, property accounting, bank accounts, The Y cy roll Divieione returned toa forty-hour week a8 o f October 31, 1948. The transition from operating ae e n ieaulng Rgent for the purchase of U.S. Swings B mds to purchasing bonds through the b plo yee Saving8 Division in Schenectedy presented m.ny problem which have not ae yet been eat is factor i ly eolved. Coneiderable COnfU81011 vna ceused by the change-over due to the fact the t payroll deduction accounte are maintained e t Hnnford Work8 while bond8 are issued by the Employee Savinge Divieion in Schenectady. have been delayed due t o the fact that many Payroll Deduction Authorizetione were Fn tra ne it between Schenectady end Richland. Bond pUrChaee8 for t h e month of October

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Assietant General Manager. ...........R.S. Neblett Aseietant t o the General Manag5r Aeeletant to the General Manager A ee let ant to the General Msnager and Department Comptroller. ............F.E. Baker Manager, Deeign and Construction Divisions ......F.R. Creedon

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Construction A coo un ting Rani RICHLAND REALTY TUNS PCB TAT ION PLANT SLCURITY & SERVICE COAIIIUNITY DNIS IONS

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A total af 85.9 tone of metal m e discharged during ule month a8 fhe three piles operated a t an average efficiency of 75.0 percent, p mr level was 275 HW during operation except a t 100-8 which operated tmtil October 6at reduced levels due t o the water I n the graphite resulting from a ruptured tube and a t 1CXF.F which operatRd a t reduced levels subsequent t o October 20 when a tube rupftuw occurred. The ruptured tube i n the FPlle was found t o be duo t o the faU ure of a lithim fluoride slug, which alao appeared t o be the CBUS of the tube faflure in the B file. Subeequent to th io discooery all tubes containing this material were discharged, The 300 Area canning producthn totaled 145 tons of acceptable s1\)%8. The canning yield W~UI 88.8%. billets.A large eec tim of the north dike at the 300 h a Retentian Pond f a i l e d October 25, and emergency repairs were effected b~ October tected by oampmhenuive tests. A …