Hanford Works Monthly Report for September 1950 (Deleted)

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-Knolls Atomic Powcr Laboratory Knolls .;tomic Power Laboratory Hanford. Operations Office Em ford Operztions Office Attention: B. W. Richardson, I is tori an

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kufa c turing Divisions ........................ 26 Tec Mcd Di - r is ions.......................... 98 Pile Technology Division .................... 101 Tschnical Sc re ces Division ................... 138 General Accounting Division ...................... 199 Plm t Security and Services Divisions 223 h plo yee mc! Community Relztions Division ...... Engineering a d Contract Division ................ 322 Rich lad Fire X vision................... 356 Public Safety X vision................... 360 Commcrci.fi and Other Property Division ........... 366 Genereal Servicas Divisions ................... 370

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A total of 70 tens of metal was discharged a t the goal concentration, with 30 tons being pushed a t 150 percent of the g o a l value and 10 tons a t 37 per cent of the goal. The operating efficiency was 80 percent, being adversely affected by the continuance and completion o f the nozzle replacement program a tD pile and by aloss of U O operating hours a tH pile during install a - tion ard testing of the P-13 (AKL-lkO) project. The nominal pile operating levels at month end were 335 ?dW atE pile, 320 MW month end was varying between 295-320 %!'N because of low reactivity believed caused by a small water leak. The D pile actual level at The H-10 program was completed in its initial phase with a total of 796 tubes charged. The DR p i l e loading was 72 percent com2lete a t month end, and plans were completed for initial operation on October 3 , 1950. A total of 76 tons o f acceptable slugs was canned at a yield of 91.6 percent. A new record machining yield of 80,9 percent was set. duced 15 toils of billets at a yield of 85.5 percent. from scrap was a new record a t 94.2 percent. A total of 106 batches was started in the Canyon Buildings, 106 were processed through the Concentration Buildings, and 105 through Isolation. decay time of dissolved metal was 75 dqvs. batches was 98.5 percent. The a el t plant proThe solid metal yield The average purity of completed Plant Utilities and Maintenance Divisions While the D Area p i l e nozzle replacement, van stone, and tube clearance program wasin progress, piping changes were made i n 11% Building for the purpose of serving DR pile as well as Dpile ; The 1950 Area Road Maintenance Program was completed. area roads were seal. coated, The electrical peak demands for the month weret the Village increase was due to seasonal trend. Sixty miles of plant ?he increase i n process demand was caused by DR;

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Pile Technolow Division The H-10 lodi ng in the H Pile was enlarged t o 796 tubes during the month. nominal 825 tube lozding m i l l be approached cautiously to avoid prenature discharge of U-235 i n consequence of reactivity considerations. Start-up preparations at the DR Pile involved shift coverage by physicists during loading t o dry and wet critical s and during 3coefficient test on a small wet pile. Critical mass experimental work was concentrated on s2her ical geometries. Differences between spheres and cylinders have been i n accord with expectations. An apparent difference in diffusion lengths i n exponential piles, depending on arrnngement of the sourccs, TTES under study a t month end. An unlocated water leak in the D Pile has involved important operating About 70 inhonrs of reactivity have been lost i n an erratic Studies indicate quite conclusively that omission of upstream durmqy slugs from process tubes have contributed t o general accelerated corrosion of the tubes and that the dummy slugs should be replaced i n the ne.= future. Data on graphite samples mined from the ?f Pile show that tht?use of undersized process tube blocks is extremely beneficial. September, and fuel loading m s scheduled for early October. Metal1urgic.d studies of uranium which hzd been reprocessed after previous Hanford irradiation are reported. The dilatometer f o r demonstrating the dcgree of transformation of tamed slugs was given extensive field tssts during Septcmber. P-10 extraction operations were shifted to the evening and night shifts during the month t o avoid operations concurrent with s rect ion of a new 300 foot stack adjacent to the building. Lack of irradiated slugs for processing permitted the production lines to be used for development work during part of the month. Slug mmufacture reverted toa one shift op ration ; new facilities permitted all slugs to be welded a t the site dwing September rather than a t 300 Area. New basic health standards for P-10-X, involving major upward' revision of permissible tritium con cent rat ims,resulted in the immediate concl.'.mion that stripping lines were not required for P-10-X for health considerations, though they may be desirable for economic recsons. i n excess of current norking limits a t Building 108-~,but the exposures were well below the new basic he ol th stvldards. In P-10 development work, revision of the first glass line is i n progress and procurement of metal pu ? s to pennit the glass lines to deliver product a t 'lho glassblowers were contaminated

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atmospheric pressure has been initiated. the back-log of air contnminated product and continued t e s t i n g of the furnace system for the metcal extraction line represented important investigations. E!eantime, metallurgicnl studies of the process have shown the possibility of hydrogen contaminati9Ii by diffusion inward through the hot furnace walls. Process studi c stop ern it had ing of Separations Technology Division Production testing of methods of shortening time cycles i n +.he Concentration Duildings has succeeded i n reducing Ell1 process steps below the desired ninehour cycle, with no.significant adverse effects on product yields. Process testing directed toward to tal eliminztion o f plutordum solution evaporation between Isolation and Piri fi cation is still continuing. methods o f Building 23h-5 Purification supernatant re cove q zrd Casting skull recovery i s being initiated. Pmauction testing of k total of 101 solvent ex trnc tion runs was carried out during the month on Redox and Metal Recovery process development, essentially completing all "coldrt packed and pulse column studies necesszry for firming up previously submitted 321 were shut down a t the end of the month and placed i n strnd-by condition for start - u p and uae i n the S Division training program s ck du led to begin i n Fabruary, 1951. The major activity of the Development Section i n the interim period will be devoted t o the preparaticn of TechnicLL Manuds and Start-up Operating Procedures for the Redox and 'EP Production Plants, as ws1l.c~t o accelerated equipment development skidies. In the research lcboratory, Bi POL pl rn t studies have confirmed the feasibility of a f i e l d proposal to reduce time cycles and process volumes by changing the routine method of reworking the lanthanum fluoride by-product waste slurry, but have not been able t o confirm the dcsired improved removal of iodine from dissolve r solution by air-sparging. studies of llElectrolessll plating of nickel cn uranium and the arsenete coupling of Redox t o metal fabrication ha been obtnined. i n place of Fil t rolf or Redox head-end scmenEing hes been further explored. 'IEP process studies have been directed town d mezsurements of the performance of various solvent dil u ents and the properties and mechanisms of reaction products i n the 'BP systems. In the 2%-5 process development laboratory, al x ge batch of Casting skulls has been dissolved and readied for recycling to the Isolation process by tute reducing agents for hydriodic acid reduction of plutonium to the (111) state have been continued i n investigation. Preparations are being mzde t o stmt the autoradiographic examination of finished plutonium cores for coating thickness measurements, as requested by Los Uamos. Continued improvexent cf results i n the The use of bh02 Stack gas filter life - testing has been cor.tinucd i n pilot plant models. The first dissolve r off-gas Fiberglas filter ard silver rec ct cr to be installed at for improved performace, indicated by the preliminary tests, are being carried out f o r completion by mid-October.

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Technical Services Division The P-10 Program continued t o require increasing support from both the Andy ti - and product, together with the det emi nation of ionization factors, zccounted for the &O-odd mass spectometric m aly sts completed during the month on a twoshift basis. 3ost cf the gless shop capacity continued on P-10 work with all of the experienced glT-ss blowers on a 6-dqy week. that the El@. 101 Shops also would have to begin a 6-day vorlc mek because o f the load being imposed by t h e P-10 Progrm. In the former, analyses o f by-product By nonth-end it was apparent The review of the Rosener prelimin,.ry plans and specifications for the Radiochemistry Bldg. was completed and arrangemznts were made through D & C f o r certain essential design changes. Those will raise the architect-engineer fee about $3,&O@ but should result i n a construction cost reduction of about volume type laboratory hoods. No extension i n design time w i l l be involved. A . E. C. approval was obtained f o r Projact C-39h, Part 11, which covers preliminary construction work on the Hanford Works Laboratmy site, and this field work was initiated by D B C. Preparation was essentially completed on the project proposal covering the design of the Mechznical Developmsnt Bldg., adthe construction af its shell for use by contractor forces during erection of the laboratory buildings. scoping of t h e Pile Tcchnology Building, a d considerable IAme wzs spent with D CL Cin connection with their estimation o f the building's cost as presently Most of this swing mill result from the adoption of constantTechnical liaison work continued on the design Additions and deletions tothe to- force resulted in a net decrease of eight employees for the month. -Four QassI Special Hazard Irxident Investigations Operational Divisi cr surveys of area work locations showed no serious deviation from satisfactory hazard control. result in sign if ic vlt radiation e qo sure of personnel. Xisadventnres that did occur did not Routine cctivity density measurements by the Control groups of the Biology and Development Divisions on samples of a i r , water, soil, vegetation, znd wildlife showed the usual pattern of activity dspcsition. dcposition of 1131 increased i n accordance vrith the short end metal cooling There were no major injuries during the month. injuries during the year 1950 for3 frequency rate of 0.179. There were seven minor f i r e 6 during the mmth. "here have been two major No loss resulted. Approval has ken received and an architectural cc n tract lEt for the construct ion of a nev wing of the Administration Building.I

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Volume o f work i n the Office Services Divisjons decreased sll g huy during Retention and disposal schedules have b.een completed on approdmat.ely 75 percent of a l l plar:t records. approval during October. Estimated savings resulting frum Office Methods Division activities were $L,875 of which $4,300 will be on a recurring annual basis. 'hree new patrol posts were added during the nonth and one discontinued. 'ke balance of schedules will be ready for EMPLOYEE AND CONMUXITY XILATIONS DlVIISIOMS The number of applicants interviewed increased from 1,229 during August t o for emplayment rcith the Com?any for the first time. applications were received through the mail. requisitions increased from 247 at the beginning of the month t o 280 a t the month end. Turn-over rate increased from 1.57% i n August t o 2.60% i n September. primarily t o employees returning to school and entering military service. During September, 69 new requests for transfers to other type of work were received i n the Emplopent Office. Fifty employees were transferred during to3in Spokane, Vashington, 8in Denver Colorado, 10 i n Chicago, Illinois, and 9inSt..Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Field recruitment o f designerd rdt s men resulted in 53 being interviewed i n Denver Colorzdo, and 12 in St. Paul and Ffinneapolis, Ninnesota; however, no offers were made t o any of these individuals pending a reviem of their qualifications by interested divisions. Of these applicants, 337 were individuals who applied Total plant roll decreased from 7,839 t o 7,795. This increase was due Field recivitment of stenographers resulted in offers being made During September a history of Employee Sen ef it Plans for the period from September 1946 t o September 1950 was prepared i n conjunction with the overall plant history presently being compiled i n Schenectady. bee employees retired during September and two emplcyee deaths occurred. One hundred forty-two visits were made t o employees confined c it her at Kzdlec Hos pi W cr a t home, and fifty - four salary checks were delivered to employees by a representative of the Employee Services Croup during September. September there were 600 reservists on our rolls, and 587 of these have been categorized by the Joint Manpower Mobilization Committee. requested for reservists have bcen pmted.At tke end of September there were 827 employees registered under the Selective Service Act of 19b8 with 106 being being granted ud 46 still pending. $LOs, were made during Septcmbcr. ment o f Lzbor and Industries, and two property damage and two bodily claims were reported to the Ih vel ers Incurtnce Company during the past mnth. ' One corripensation claim ms settled during September Prith m estimated savings of $19,765.% f o r the Company. oras again made available f o r supervisors and. 58 supervisors attended this keep the matericd. on a current basis. A t the end of Deferments have been requested for 63 employees With 1 7 lhmty-seven suggestion awards, totaling These suggestions resulted in 211 estimated Ninety compensatim claims were reported to the DepmtA few revisions have been mzde over the program fmm Last Year to Two issues of the Harford Works SAGE

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were distributed during Septenber. '&e final meetipgs of the special prcgrain f o r Medical Divisicn employees were held during the month with 1s supervisors and 156 non-exempt employees participating. A special program on the revised Instructions Letter No. 155, Vorhweek -- Method of Scheduling and Making Payment for Weekly Paid Employees1t, was presented t o 317 supervisors i n order that they would become familiar with the policies and procedures outlined i n these instructions letters. On Septexber 22, 1950, the first of a trial test program f o r non-exempt employees, covering 1 7 subjects i n 8 hours, vas conducted with found t o be effective and desirable,a complete prog rm for all non-exempt em?loyees will be prep aed. Since this type cf program has been Upon completion of negotiations, a coritract n s executed on …