Monthly Report Hanford Atomic Products Operation for October 1954 (Deleted)

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IC. R. Van Tassel Atomic Energy Commission Hanford Operations O f f ice Atomic Energy Commission Hanford Operations Office Atomic Energy Commission

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Number of Employees C-1 Nanufac turing Department ..................... Monthly Operating Report ................... Metal Preparation Section .................. Purchasing and Stores Section ................. Maintenance and Renovation Unit............ Gga-1 through Gga-6 Community and Residential Property Unit........ Ggc-1 through Ggc- 9 Public Works and Recreation Unit............ Ggh-1 though Ggh-3 Financial Department ........................ 1-1 through 1-26 Operations Research Study ........................ J-1 and 5-2

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HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION The net production of acceptable slugs w a s U S tons which established a new production resulted from improved yields and efficiency and t h e reduction of inprocess canned The total monthly input plutonium production was 109 percent of the forecast. The higher-than-forecasted plutonium production was due t o the postponement of a one week outage atC reactor for rear pigtail replacement and slightly higher-than-forecast The high monthly production, which was lll percent of the official forecast, The rupture of slugs during the month was numerically the most severe i n Hanford "J" metal ruptures a t DR, and one eight-inch production test slug atD Reactor. ruptures a tH Pile occurred i n seventeen tubes in an area 10 row9 high and 11 rows the high incidence of ruptures. A total of 23 eight-inch uranium ruptures i n 17 tubes occurred a t H, five A localized hot spot of short duration during a rapid startup possibly caused The Redox monthly production from high concentration material was 123 percent o f t h e forecast, while the T plant production from low concentration material was 108 percent . ENGI qE RING TECHNOLOGY Two tubes of cored uranium slugs under test a t C P i l e have now reached 37S-kOO MWD/T. Plans are under way t o charge four tubes of extruded cored slugs atC Pile. Scavenging of the Waste Mew Recovery Plant aqueous waste stream with nickel ferrocyanide, inaugurated last month, h a s alloued the routine cribbing of over 25,000 gallons of waste volume for each ton of new uranium processed. prepared for treatment of wastes stored previous t o t h e start of scavenging. The fission product activity retention in used TBP Process solvent appears t o be caused by reaction products of the diluent rather than by degradation products of tri but yl phosphate as has been previously supposed. specifications for hydrocarbon diluent and possible advantages ofa carbon tetrachloride diluent are significant. A flowsheet has been The implications i n regard t o PERSONNEL AND SERVICES An Operations Research,Study was established by the General Manager effective October 15, 19sL, t o continue u n t i l December 31, 1955. Initial emphasis has been placed on obtaining a mathematical model of Hanford production operations which adequately represents the true physical conditions and can be used f o r production forecasting, planning and scheduling. computation of many plans based on various assumptions can be obtained readily, and each plan obtained will be optimum within the restrictions imposed. By means of the mathematical model, the

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HAWORD ATCUIC PRODUCTS OPERATTON (a- Becast t o reflsct dfsaolntlon of the Plant A m Xary Operations Department

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The n e t production of acceptable slugs vas 4 5 tons which established a new official forecast, resulted from improved yields and efficiency and the reduction of inproceas canned inventory. wad 7 percent above that of the previoua month. principally due t o an outgasaing process developed t o release hydrogen from the surface of the slug and thus reduce porosity difficulties erperfenced i n September. Continued emphasis on careful handling of slugs a t the facing operation contributed to an impmvement i n the marred surface reject category. The high monthly production, which was lll percent of. the A canning yleld of 83 percent was realized which The yield improvement was During the month there waa one autoclave failure of an eight inch normal uranium slug caused by penetration resulting from a defective can. Eight new autoclaves uera placed i n service in 313 Building during the month. The improvement i n bare slag surface quality continued during the month. The bare slug reject rate dropped t o 3.4% for October as compared t o four percent The t o t a l monthly input plutonium production was 109 percent of the forecast. The higher-than-forecasted plutonium prodnctian vas due t o the postponement of a one veek outage atC Reactor for rem pigtail replacement and slightly higherThe reactor time operated efficieslcy waa 82 percent f o r the month as compared t o 91.6 percent for September. amount of scheduled outage time, a high number of slug failures, and extensive process tube leak testing outage time. The lower efficiency was due t o an abnormally high The -mum established reactor power levels vem increased a t o t a l of 90 MW, 75 at F Reactor and 15 at the B Beactor, increase in perndssible outlet water temperature limit. The present reactor goal concentration is the base plus 125 MWD/ton except a t D Reactor where a p i l o t concentration program of base goal plus 225 MWD/ton is i n progress, and atC where the low concentration program of one third‘base goal is in effect. The gain was due primarily t o an

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The rupture of e ugs during L e month uaa numerically the moa, severe in W o r d Matory. A t o t a l of 23 eight-inch uranium mptureu in 17 tubes oucttfied at H, five WJ" metal ruptures a t DR, and o m eight-lnoh produotian test slag atD Reactor. The t o t a l reactor outage time required for removals of ruptures during the month The plutonium output production vas 11 percent above forecast, primarSly as a r e s u l t of above forecaat input production d-ng the past several months and the program of incremental increases in g o a l concentrations. The tonnages of law and other concentration materials discharged were 268 and 97 tons respectively, representing 97 and 127 percent of forecast. The high incidence of raptures at H Reactor, a J l occ-ng i n 17 tubes within a block of approximately 100 tube8 immediately above the near side center of the reactor, ha8 been attributed to high temperatures and frequent vide-range heat cycling, based upon a tendency of the loading pattern i n this location t o overheat daFing start-ups, and on evldence t h a t on one occasion during a start-up, tube temperatures in this block were above process limits for one or two minutes. To minimize the opportunity for further rvptures i n this zone from this cause, appr0mtely 40 tube8 were discharged. In addition, the loading pattern in this region i s being studied with t h e objective of ellmdnating the causes for this During October, 23 reactor scrams occurred. Of these, 16 a t C y DRY F, and H Reactors were caused by normal Panellit system variables. One scram a t D Reactor resulted from an electrical failnm in the circuit supplying the Ball 3X - No. 2 safety circuit inter tie when the hodzontal rod gate circuit ras grounded by of a high level Beclanan trip, which also caused a scram at D Reactor through the inter - tie circuit. Two Beclonen acram8 occurred at F Reactor, the first as the result of an unintentional by-passing of three Beclunans and the other as the result of suspected induced transient pulses inthe present wiring. Reactor resulted when an cell l i n e on the No. 2 horizontal rod shim pump broke. One scram at H Reactor resalted from a momentary unexplained low flaw on Production Test recirculation tube 0961-H. One scram at D6L Reactor occurred durlng a start-up as the result One scram a t IIR Total outage time resulting from these scrams w a s approrLmately 100 tubes were tested prior t o locating a leaking Van Stone flange. A t C Reactor, approxhately 750 tubes and all horizontal rods were tested. One minor nozzle leak w a s found, and nozzles on approxlmately 530 tubes were tightened. When water collection rates atC continued t o increase, approximately 560 addit i o n a l tubes were tested darLng a scheduled outage with one lealdng tube being found and replaced. A t DE Reactor, approximately TOO rear tube nozzles were tightened. AtH Reactor, a September leak testing outage continued into October. A t o t a l of 864 tubes were teated and nozzles on 1150 tubes were tightened without finding a leak. When collection rates continued high, 151 additional tubes were tested with no leaks found. At month end, all collection r a t e s are normal. Leak testing programs involved approdmately 125 h m of outage time during Oatober.

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Horizontal rod perfonnence in October was l e s s satisfactory than in recent month% A t DR Reactor, rod thimbles 2, 5 , 7, snd 8 were found t o be le-. 1 ~ 2 4was found t o be binding due t o track buckling, with thimble rupture suspected. & B Reactor, rod A was found t o be leakin8 aud was replaced. 9 apd 14 and their thlmbles were found t o leak. thimble 7 replacemsnt at D -tor, and thimble A replacement at B Reactor. In addition, a t C Reaator rods 3 and 4 were cleaned internally using a 10 per cent chromic acid solution w i t h resulting gains in rod exit water pressure of approximately five pounds. At H Reactor, rods Bod repaka included rod and The tritium and U-233 production p~ogreplscontinued thronghout the month with Fnput productions of lo3 and 101.5 per cent of forecast respectively. The shipment of J slngs continued a t the scheduled rate during October. the forecast, while the T plant production from low concentration mater kl vas concentration mate rid was 123 per cent of A production r a t e of apprarimately 6 tons pcr day was maintained in the Redox plant for the first five daya'of the moLIth. plete the second ruthenium scmbber (5-2) Jet out installati& end t o replace the D-13 waste receiver tank. rate was msintained until Ootober 2l when a shutdown was effected t o replace the waste neutralizer and centriiuga feed tank agitators vhich had failed. Operation8 were resumd on October 24 and a 7-ton per day rate was held the rcmaFnder of the with the &-ton crane. extraction cyc3.e feed pzqp capsalty premed the p l m t fiam achie- the 8-ton rate. 'Be facility total dpvntinw for tbs mnth was 193 hours. Efforts continued throughout the mnth t o Fmprava the decantamhatian factor of the final uranium product. However only 20 per cent of the e n t i n mantb'e uranium production was Kithin specifications. QI October 5 , the plant was shut down t o comOpeFatiaps were resumad on October 9 and a "-ton per day Delays in the startups o f both shptdams were arperienced due to difficult it6 Processing troubles at head end and a drop-off in the first Although minor mbchanical. and aperating difficulties were experienced during the month, T Elant production forecasts vere exceeded and three new recorda were established on total metal disaolved, total rum shipped, and. total runs started. On a test basis the first cycle waste YBB being scavenged a t month end. zhe !lBP facility production was 121 per cent of the official forecast. for the month was forecast low due t o the expectancy of preliminary work on s e r i e s conversion and insuf'ficient tank fann inventory of aged material. Ihe l i n e s operated only 48 percent of the mn th with the A Line being down for series conversion most of 241-Wa waste storage vault. Production waa adversely affected by a series of pump failures at the AU. vastes from the facility were scavenged during the

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The UO plant production was 1% per cent of the forecast. and 'Ed vas irregular and several day8 of downtime resulted from lack of feed. The feed from both Redox The 234-5 produrrtiapl for the fabricated large and s m a l l shapas was 150 and 100 per cent of t h e forecast rdspectively. per cent of the forecaat. ' h e West Area evaporator WUI inoperative the entire mnth becauae of equipment replace- !!!he button and the nitrate production was 100 apd 104 me EDsst Area eng orator operated s a a is factor i ly with a volume reduction of Metal waste remoVa continued to be slow because of the smsll remaining Fnventory of waste over three years old and TBP wsste pump difficulties. Effective October 1, 1954, the 'prrmsportatian Seotian, the Purchasing and Stores Section, reports of activities in these service sections have been included immediately follarLng the reports of the threa operating sections. Total on Eloil October 1, 19% mal an Boll Oatober 31, 19% -8 not include intra department transfers.

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PATENT REPORT SJMMARY 811 persons mngaged in work that ndght reasonably be expected to re aul tin inventions o r discoveries advise that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, no,inventions or dLscoveries were made in the course of their work Ctnring the period covered by this report except as listed below. Such persons further advise that, for the period therein covered by this report, notebook records, if any, kept i n the course of &eir uork have been examined for possible inventions or

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October September to Date Acceptable Piecer Canned (8")(Tons)Qross Total Accaptsble Piecer Canned (Tons)Ret S pe is l Eoqueet (man houre) 303 Routine Tests (man hours) Amrage Steam Generated (M lbelhr) Total Steam Generated (X lba) Total Water from 3000 Area (Average Rate--GPM) .Sanitary Uater from 3000 Area (Million Gals.) 61.1

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2. Act lr it iea Netal Preparation Section DECM$SIflEQThe rwt production of acceptable slug8 reached a ILW high of 415 tons, 83 tons greater than the -record eatsblished la.at month. realized vbich 1s seven percent above the previoua month. rut0 m a subrtarrtlally irpxwed dw t o an autgseaiag procesa developed t o release hydrogen fnm the surCaca of the rlug and thus ninlmize the porosity difficulties 6ooac in the salt bath he& treating facilities and quenching in vater. grab parth ve8 dotected (L. a result of t b i r procerr. conttawd t o ellminato hydrogen absorptian.at the source. Continued emphasis on cmful haadllng of slugs, together with the in6tall ation of improved chip breakers whlch reduce lathe at the fauw operation, contributed subat anti alb to an *- in the nmz-red rurface reject category. The poor bond rejection Outgassing ma achieved by heating the slugs to about Fim caaning 1-8 -rated vlth full relief d w the mnth. Th.80 wiU rilplity slim problome by po mitt lng minor adjastmsnts in all direatloxu ud rill …