Monthly Report Hanford Atomic Products Operation for April 1955 (Deleted)

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ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION Operated for the Atomic Energy Commission General Electric Company THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SCANNED AND IS STORED ON THE OPTICAL DISKD3IVE I II PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED

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Atomic Energy Commission Hanford Operations Office Atomic Energy Commission Hardord Operations Office Atomic Energy Cods sion

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Engineering Bdminis t ration..................... Fa-1 and Fa-2 Employee Cod cations and Public Relations ....... Gb-1 through Gb-9 Cod ty Section........................... Gg-1 Public Works and Recreation Unit......... Ggh-1 through Ggh-4 Water and Sewerage Utilities Unit.......... Ggi-1 and Ggi-2 Financial Department ....................... 1-1 through 1-36

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ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION KE Reactor was started up for production operation a t 3:39 P.M. April 17, and a t month end had achieved a maximum operating level of 1000 megawatts. of both E Reactors continue t o be limited t o a maximum tube power of 500 kilowatts pending design and procurement of new front fact connectors. ICE and KW Reactors were shut down on April 25, when it w a s discovered t h a t a section of the KE Reactor outfall line had broken loose from its anchor i n the river bed. The line was blanked off, pending completion of repairs i n progress at month end, and effluent flow from both reactors was diverted through the KW Reactor line.This incident resulted in a total of approximately 150 outage In-pile experiments using a nitrogen gas atmosphere indicated that there ell be no serious corrosion problem in using nitrogen i n the p i l e atmosphere unless water i s present i n the liquid phase. The KE Startup technical program was completed during.the month. determined t h a t a single channel containing a 50-50 mixture of steel and boronsteel balls would have 95 percent of the poison effectiveness of the all boron-steel It was detennined t h a t sufficient control would be obtained by providing Extensive emergency work was done on the east l i n e of the 1004 Effluent Lines by Minor Construction after this 8b-inch steel pipe moved from its bed i n the river about 3/b of the circumference of the east line uas found about 350 feet from repairing the line have been completed. A diver was employed t o inspect the lines, and a break around The reactors were returned t o service on April.28, and plans f o r Dr. Norwood was elected a director of the Industrial Medical Aasociation, a professional organization with some three thousand physician members. The AEC Award of Honor was presented t o the General Electric Company for the injury t o any employee achieved during 1954.

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General Manager, Atomic Products Division .......... General Manager, Hanford Atomic Products Operation ..... Operations Research Study ..................

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HlWFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATIOEJ bperations Research Study Anx. Oper. & Plant &do Radiologtcal Sciences Department

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MONTH OF APRIL 1955 METAL PREPARATION SECTION A n e t production of 36b tons of acceptable slugs, including 1 7 tons of cored slugs, was achieved i n April. This production was 100 percent of the official The cenning yield f o r the soUd and cored slugs was 79 and 7 l percent respectively with a composite g i e l d of 79 percent. The major causes for rejection were bad welds, poor bonds, and marred surfaces. reflecting the occurrence of dimples i n the weld bead was 5 percent f o r the Receipts of the regular uranium s o l i d and cored slugs increased over the scheduled requirements t o the extent that the bare slug inventory a t month end was equivalent t o approldmately a two weeks supply. The bad weld reject rate Investigation of the problem was continuing a t month end. There were no autoclave failures in April. The total and plutonium input production were 101 percent of the official foreApril, significantly lower than the 83.6 percent i n March, a s the result of a two week horisontal rod replacement outage a t IR Reactor, a process tube leak testing outage atF Reactor, cushion chamber difficulties atB Reactor, KW and KE Reactor outages associated with the failure of the KE effluent outfall line, and outage time resulting from I 3 ruptures atC Reactor. The reactor time operated efficiency was 73.1 percent i n The plutonium output production was 37 percent greater than forecast as the result of discharging extra quantities of low concentration metal t o meet 200 Area requirements, and t o compensate for an increase i n metal cooling time because of the iodine emission problem. centration metal discharged were 284 and 54 respectively. Tonnages of l o w and high conDuring April, established maldmum reactor power levels, excluding enrichment burnout, were increased a total of 60 megawatts, notwithstanding the rising river water temperature. An increase of 2 5 megawatts a t C Reactor resulted from an increase i n the allowable tube exit water temparature l i m i t from 100°C t o 105OC. F Reactor gained 35 megawatts i n maximum level a s the combined result of long term reactivity gains and flatt.ening pattern adjustments that

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permitted more nearly t h e attainment of tne maximum benefits a 1 tube exLt water temperature limit. operation a t 3:39 p.m. April 17, and at month end had achieved a maamum operating level of 1000 megawatts. t o be limited t o a maxLmum tube power of 500 kilowatts pending design and procurement of new front face connectors. A total. of 13 ruptured slugs occurred during April with eleven a t C and two and six uranium production t e s t pieces that included such types a s cored, powder metal compact, and bonded and unbonded with point closures. Total outage time a t both reactors attributed to ruptures was 234 hours. Twenty-six reactor scrams occurred during April. and KE Reactors were caused by normal Pane Ut system variables. scrams occurred for the following reasons: t o by-pass a Beclunan while resetting the trip point; one at.D Reactor from a short circuit in a clock on the instrument circuit ; one atF Reactor from the by-passing of three Beckmans a t one time; one a t D Reactor from u-bypassing a Beclanan on bucking voltage while at full scale; one a t KE Reactor from failure to reset the trip point while coming up t o level; and one a t KtrlReactor from an unexplained rise i n power level. rise has not been determined, although the presence of air in the process water system i s considered t o have been a contributing factor. KE Reactor was manually scrammed when an incorrect rod movement caused a period KWBeactor high pressure cross-tie valve opening when water pressure a t KE-Reactor inter ties as.the result of Beclanan scram atC and KE respectively. outage time attributed to these scrams was 137.h hours. IG Reactor was started up for production The levels of both K Reactors continue Among the ruptures were one J slug, six regular uranium slugs One atC Reactor from a failure To date, the cause of this unexplained - increase during start-up. 'gWReactor was scrammed twice a s the result o f the KEOne scram each a t B and KW Reactors resulted through the Beclanan One process tube leak occurred a t F and following tube replacement, the water collection rate returned t o normal. Horiaontal rod work during April, i n addition t o the DR Reactor rod replacement, included the replacement of a rod and thimble atH Reactor witha thimbleless rod, the removal without replacement of one rod at D Reactor, and the removal from service of a rod suspected of leaking a t B Reactor. KE and KW Reactors were shut down on April 25, when it w a s discoversd that a section of the KE Reactor outfall line hsd broken ioose from its anchor i n the a t month end, and effluent flow from both reactors was diverted through the KW The U-233 input production was Ir percent below forecast a s the result of alow operating efficiency a t C Reactor. The balance of the enriched thorium loaded tubes a t C and H Reactors was 111 and 50 respectively. The line was blanked off, pending completion of repairs i n progress This incident resulted in a total of approximately 150 outage

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All of the official forecast production quotas for the month were exceeded with the exception of the T Plant production of l o w ngs plutonium which was only 66 percent of forecast. The T Plant was operated a t low rates throughout most o f April i n order t o increase the decay time for the feed material and to pennit tests involved i n the analysis of the 1-131 stack emission problem. A t month end all dissolvers were in full operation, and while the iodine problem was not resolved, sufficient control was being maintained over t h e dissolution process t o keep the average emission rate below one curie per day. The Redox Plant was shut down on April 9to divert the plant capacity back t o high concentration material and t o permit the tie - i n of the new Final Product Concentration Facility. Following t h e start-up on April 14, considerable difficulty was experienced throughout the remainder o f the month with high plutonium waste losses. Subsequent reworking of the waste resulted in rates being reduced below 9 tons/day f o r a considerable portion of the month. A t month end the production forecast had been exceeded by 2 1 percent; however, high waste losses were continuing t o be a problem. The TBP Plant production was 109 percent of the forecast. Operating rates continued t o be low during the month because of dilute feed from the nearly depleted metal w a s t e inventories i n the 200 East Area tanks and the limited feed concentr at or capacity. t o be leaking and was taken out of service. section was i n progress a t month end. The UO plant operation was no111181 with production being limited only by the Around April 22, one of the two feed concentrators was found Work on a spare feed concentrator availa2i lit y of feed material. The Isolation Building experienced no difficulty in processing the small anounts of low ngs material from Redox and T Plants. The new Purification and Reduction Tasks i n the Metal Fabrication Facility were put into production during the latter part of April. did not prevent t h e plant from making i t s forecast production of fabricated parts. The West Area Waste Evaporator operated during the month on TBP waste with a 54.6 percent volume reduction. During April, the rate of removal of metal waste was low with effort be;ng concent rated on small heels i n several tanks. full cascade containing one year old waste. A number of start-up difficulties associated with new equipment The East Area Evaporator remained ina standby condition. On April 29, sluicing was started in a On Roll April Total on Roll

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All persons engaged i n work that might reasonably be expected to result in inventions o r dissoveries advise that,to the best of their knmledge and belief, no inventions o r discoveries were made i n the course of their work during the period covered by this report except as listed below. Such persons further ad&e that, for the period therein covered by this report, notebook records, i f any, kept inthe course of their work have been examined for possible inventions o r discoveries. A . K. Hardin, Reactor Section Front Face Crossheader R. D. Schiiling, Reactor Section Check Valves

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I n view of ths similarity of work performed in the 3717 Building Shops and the Technical Shops of the 300 Area, these facilities were consolidated April 1, t o the 328 Building 'when space is available. will continue as the Fabrication Unit, Metal Reparatian Section, with the Technical Shops Superrisor responsible for manpower levels, job priorities, and financial cat r ol. The Machine Shop formerly located in the 3717 Building has been moved The craft labor and supervision April -March To Date Total Acceptable Slqs Canned (Tons) 364 421 1587 Efficiency ($1 (Cann iq Through Put) 94 94 94 Forecast Achievement (Current Commitment) 100 114 105 N e t Acceptable Cored Slugs (Tons) Acceptable 10-66 Slugs Oanned {Pieces)

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March-S tat is tics - continued April Averaqe Steam Generated (M Ibs/!r) 42.7 56.7 Total Steam Generated (M Its) 30 725. 42 234 Total Water f r o a n 3000 Area (Avg.Rate-Gm) 1 183 1 2 3 3 Act iv l ties A net praductlan of 364 tans cf acceptable finished slup w a s attained in April, essentially 100 percent of forecast. Seventeen tons of this total minimrua relief basis throughout the month. Three canning lines were operated on a two-shift, The composite field continued at 79 percent in April. The major causes for rejection were bad welds, poor bonds, and marred surfaces. The bad weld reject rate, reflecti-.zq primer i ly the occurrence of dimples in the weld bead, remained at five percent during April. Approximately 2900 enriched uranium - aluminum a l l o y resect slugs were Shipments of regula. uranium solid and cored slugs were recaived 2s schaduled during the month. imately a two-weeks' supply and c&ed slug inventsry had increased t o Bare slug inventory had increased t o approxdepression-type weld redects and the impurity content of the cannw baths as measured by the. percentwe of lead present. In an e f f o r t Lo h wove this dimple defect experience, atest was initiated on April 18, wherein one canning line w a s started with virgin metal. tent of the cannbg bath w i l l be controlled t o less T;hm 2 6 for st will be campared with that for the control lines. Th9 Iacidence of depression rejects for the tesr, line An SF Materlal Accountability Manual was issued dwicg April. This mnual outlines SF mterisl transfer procedures for the production streams in a cantlnuous flow rather than the the former individual lot or cart basis. Transfer procedures for both internal and off - sits ship nts are included. No autoclave fail i res occurred durlng the month. I n view of possible aliunlnum shortages. cap and can inventories have

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Act ivit ies - cant inued A vendor evaluation order for 100,000 caps and 100,000 can6 has been placed with the Reynolds Aluminum Company. tinaed efforts to find a second vendor for component parts. A total of 1,498 enriched uranium-aluminum alloy slugs were canned by the hot press procedure during April with a yield of a pox lm at ely slugs, which could not be readily removed by acid etching, w a s the major lubricant essentially ellmlnated the occurrence of carbon scale at A …