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

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DIST Rl BUT ION Atomic Energy Cormnission Hanford Operations Office Atomic Energy Commission. Hanford Operations Office Atomic Energy Commission

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Laboratory Engineering and Facilities Unit........ General Cost Unit.. 9. Manufacturing Cogt Unit Plant Auxiliary Op e ratio m Department

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Net production f o r the month for the Metal Preparation Section w a s 106 percent of duction was machined into slugs and the machining uperation was discontincad as a production facility on May 28, 1953. All of the uranium rod material currently available at Word far proReactor input and reactor output production exceeded all previous records, with reactor input production being lOg percent of forecast and reactor output production 104.9 percent of forecast. The operation of six reactors d u r i n g a large portion of the month following the conclusion of the Ball yC outages is primarily responsible far t h i s production achievement. Increases in established msximum operat- levels d u r i n g May were 45 MI1 at C reactor, 65 MW at D reactor, and 5 hW at F reactor. There were six regular uranium jacket failures during the month; all of these were Group 8. In addition, there were six "C" metal f a i l u r e s and one "J" slug feilure. 104 percent of forecast was obtained at each af the following plants: carloads of product were shipped o f f s i t e , and operating rates of 15 tons per day were being achieved at the end of the month. operation was delivered. U03 plant production was 106 percent of farecast. Nine The month's commitment of the 234-5 The modified "Head-Ebd" m04 procedure was introduced int3 the Redox plant during success would mean that the plant cauld reduce routinely from three t o two uraniun F i r s t indications of its performance were favox&le. Its continuing Uranium removal rates from the tank farms were established atnew maxilnrms. Temporary construction on Recuplex, -496, began May 1, and construction on vrrious phases of the 300 Area mansion began during the month. work continued on concrete placement. At the 1004 Area facilities, Design prowess on the 1004 Reactor Facilities Firdings by the Radiological Sciences Departmext included a cantimiation of high reactor effluent activity, the observation of' significently contaminated sport f i s h above the reservation, and substantial emissions of particles, mainly contaminated with ruthenium, from the Redox stack. Personnel and Services. Reductions total- $2,088,OOO were made in the revised. budget for the Fiscal Ye= 1954 in accordance with changes recommended by the Office of the Director of the Budget, and corrected schedules were submitted t o the Atomlc Energy Cammission on There were no l o s t t i m e injuries during m. Two injuries during the moxxth of March were reclassified t o -or injuries, making a total of seven majar injuries for 1.953. Agreements with the HGU and the BSEIIJ were executed on May 8, and became effective on The personnel separation rate decreased from 1.35$ i n April t o 1.255 in May. employees, as well as female heads of families, were made e l i g l b l e for Wherry Act Formal ratification of the GE-HAMIIC Agreement was received on May 28. The t o t a l number of housing applications pending is 693.

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Manager, EvlotJee and Public Fielations Manager, Plant Auxiliary Operations Manager, Community Operations and Real Estate ........ L. F. Huck

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HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPEUTION NLPiBER OF EE LOXES Electrical Distribution & Te3 ephone Plant Am. Operations Department Administration Main. Service Community Operations & Real Estate Dept, 102 Empioyee & Public Relations Dept. Radiological Sciences Department

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METAL PREPARATION SECTION The net production f o r the month was 166 tons which was 106 percent of forecast. This production included 159 tons of 8-inch material and 7 tons of 4-inch material. The machining yield f o r the 8-inch material was 81.5 percent and for the 4-inch The canning yield was 35.9 percent f o r the 4-inch material and 71.3 percent f o r is attributed t o an increase i n the non-seat reject category f o r 8-inch slugs and a large number of corrosion re3ects f o r 4-inch slugs which occurrCd on Scoville alumFnum cans. The last of these have now been used. The decrease of approximately 5 percent i n the combined canning yield The melt plant produced 31 tons of billets vlt ha yield of 87.5 percent and a solid yield of 95.9 percent. Four autoclave failures occurred during the month. One was ab inch slug and three Examination indicated that all were caused by, defective cans. The overall canning yield of the enriched slugs f o r the present P-10 program was 91 percent and for the target slugs was 58 percent. major cause of rejection of the latter. duction of target slugs was made from recanned Haniord fabricated slugs which were l e f t over from the previous P-10 program. Weld closure is still the A l l of the uranium rod material currently available at Hanford for production vas machined into slugs and the machining operation was discontinued as a production facility on May 28, 1953. The total reactor input production was 109 percent of forecast and the reactor output production was 104.9 percent of forecast. duction exceeded a l l previous records. The operation of six reactors during a large portion of the month following the conclusion of the Ball3X outages Ispri - marily responsible for this production achievement. Both the input and output proThere was an additional production potential diverted t o the P-10 program at DR making the t o t a l diversion about 25 percent of DR production potential bt month end. The P-10 production was 94.2 percent of forecast.

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Increases in established maximum operating l e v e l s during May were 45 MW at 5 MU at F reactor. There were six regular uranilnn jacket failures during the month, plus six "C" metal and one "J" slug. Total outage time for slug rupture removal was 100.3 hours f o r the regular pieces, and 3.7 hours for t h e 'IC" and "J" pieces. During May, the reactors experienced a total of 42 panel lit scram. time at trl h ted to these outages was 41.5 hours. ing of theH reactor orifice pattern, 28 of the overall total of 42 panel lit scram was experienced in this area. reactor due t o a horizontal rod hose becoming wedged between the track and the I n connection with the changA total of 27.9 hours was lost at the C A total of 17 runs was started in the T Canyon Euilding and the production was 104 percent of forecast. The redox plant produced 104 percent of forecast. The Redox plant operated at an average operating r a t e of 4.5 tons per day with an efficiency of 85 percent. valve tothe 1-S column and (2) failure of the steam Coil3inthe D-12 evaporator for the third time since startup. Eu ing the latter part of the month decontamination, augmented by a new head-end treatment, improved t o such an extent that the sezond uranium cy-le was bypassed. The entire operation was shut down on the last day of the month t o do as much as possible of the Phase I and Phase X I equipment changes and t o replace the D-12 tank. The TBP plant produced a net of 218 tons of UIQB. During the first part of the month the rates were curtailed by insufficient feed material and t h i s was fcllowed by a period when the uranium concentration ir. the feed material v a s low. Production was accelerated at month end with the A-line on 7 . 2 tcns and the 3 - l i A e an 6.4 tone per day operating rate, Major lost time was attributed to (1)a stuck feed This was 104 percent of forecast. The 'JO3 plant c per a tim was satisfactory with rates dependent upon the amount Of feed available. The month's production was 319 tons or 106 percent of forecast. Xine carlcads of product, were ahipFed offsite. Operating rates of 1 5 tons per day were keiog achleved at the end of the m m t h . Generally, the sluicing activities progressed with good results in all tank farms. Two tanks were declared eqty of metal waste, 101-C and 101-U. There was one Nagle pump failure duriq thls period. Other major incidents that hampered full Scale waste removal cFeraticn: were: (1)the gross contamioation of the building and the surrcunding area a% 241-rJR cau-sed b y inadequate agitation of a Slend batch; and c,f lost time =E s+,tr:t,ated t o Zhese two items.

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The month's commitments of the 234-5 operation was delivered. done i n the RG line. - No processing was The work on the reactivation of 1084 was s l i g h t l y behind schedule at month end. Such Items as the building ventilation, the fresh a i r equipment f o r air masks, and the important power equipment were overhauled and placed i n operating condition. Total on Roll May 1, 1953 3308 Total on Roll May 31, 1953 3301

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All persoxis engaged in work that might reasonably be expected t o result in inventions or discoveries advise that, t o the best of their knowledge and belief, no inventions or discoveries were &e in the muroe of their work during the period covered by t h i s report except as listed below. therein covered by t h i s regort, notebook records, if any, kept in the course o f their work have been examined for possible inventions Such persons further advise that, f o r the period L. A. Carter, Reactor Section Detecting and Locating M. M. Cox, Reactor Section Radioactive Gas Leaks.

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Responsibility for instrument maintenance functions in the 700, 1100 and 3000 Areas was transferred t o the Plant Auxiliary Operations Departppent on k y 25, 1953. Two craftemen were involved in the transfer. Bare Pieces Whined (4") (Tons) 3 1 Acceptable Pieces Canned (4")(~ons)~rosrr 7 14

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Acceptable Pieces Canned (8")(Tons)Gross 160 147 710 Total Acceptable Pieces Canned (Tona)I?et 166 159 803 Acceptable Pieces Canned (8")(Toos)TOet 159 146 702 Total Acceptable Pieces Canned (Tons)Gross 167 160 814 Chip Recovery Yield Melt Plant Solid Yield ($) Oxide Burned (Weight out TOM) Poison Canned (Ifumber Pieces) Chemical 68-56 Canned (Rumbar Pieces) Chemical 10-66 Canned (Number Pieces) 305 Routine Testa (Mun hours) 305 Special Tests (Man hours) Sanitsr_v Water from 3000 Area Total Water Average Rate (gpm) All of the uranium rod material available at Hanfprd f o r production vas machined into slugs and the machining operation discontinued as a production facility.In addition, 29 tons of large diameter rods were machined into special size slugs for the exponential test pile program. It is planned that the exponential slugs w i l l be returned for drilling during June and July. The net production of slugs was 166 tons of which 965 were eight-inch. A decrease of approximately 5s i n the combined canning yields is a t - tributed t o an increase inthd non-seat reject category for eightinch slugs and a large number of corrosion rejects f o r four inch slugs. ?!he excessive corrosion rejects for four inch slugs occurred i n Scoville cans which have been s e t aside as being unsuita5le f o r regular canning.

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Analysis of four autoclave failures (one four inch and three eight ~ inch) which-occurred during the month, indicate t h a t all were'caused by defective cans. Melt plant yields continued at a high level. Bare slug inspection of material received from Fernald has shown less than one percent of this material fails t o meet bare slug m e t a l quality defects with very few dimensional defects having been sampling plan for dimensional inspection has been applied t o all is still on a lOO$.basIs. The primary cause for rejects has been seams and To take advantage of loo$ off - site inspection, a statistical Metal quality (pickle) Inspection of all material I n a further attempt t o reduce the incidence of AlSi rejects 180 eight inch cans wfth a 1/4 inch knurl near the tap were used f o r tween the can wall and the sleeve. during the test and these were made by purposely employing improper The knurled area helped prevent penetration of AlSi beOnly three AlSi rejects occurred The e n t i r e months production of lithium alloy target slugs was made from recanned Hanf'ord fabricated slugs which were l e f t over from the previous P-10 program a6 production commitments could not be m e t with t h e outside supply of the alloy. were canned v l t h an overall canning field of 584. still remain the major cause for rejection. A total of 3503 acceptable slugs A total of 2709 acceptable enriched a ld num alloy fuel slugs were canned w f t h an overall cam- field of 914. reject bare slugs were recovered as a result of a slight revision tothe specifications for minimum bare slug diameter. Brperimental work on mechanical stripping of aluminum cans from rej e c t canned uranium slugs with the Medart rod straightener is continuing. Relimlnary results indicate that there are no dimensional changes of t h e slugs; however, there is some burring at the end of the slug which, it i s believed, can be corrected by proper adjustment of C w production was IC%$ of forecast wely an a result of reduction of Is-process carry over from the past month. Billet production exceeded forecast by 7s.

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Two and-one half hours production timc on the canning lines was lost on M B ~16 when it becaaue necessary t o shutdown the furnaces due t o an obstruction in t h e process sever causi4g water t o back up'into the the sewer. A large rock and accumulated debris were removed from The X-ray tube failed oa the radiograph machine and was replaced by one on loan from Seattle. lost time in radiograph test- of target and fuel slugs for the The tube failure resulted in five days Inepection, Bhintenmce and Replacements All equipment hnaged by t h e fire in the slug recovery room was placed in operable condition. replaced and all equipment and steel work i n the room was painted. ApprOximatelg 60$ of the storage platform was Ateet ya8 amde with the enmrgency generator t o determine steam requirements under full load conditions. with 8,000 lbs/hr. of steam and idled v i t h 6000 lbs./hr. It picked up a 650 kilowatt load in five seconds with a total steam consumption The turbine came u p - t o speed …