Hanford Works Monthly Report March 1950 (Deleted)

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PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED 7 # 8 - Hanford Operations Office - Hanford Operations Office - Hanford. Operztions Office $2 - Hanford Operations Office 733 - Hvrford Operations Office This Docment Consists of PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SCANNED

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Lmu fac turing Civisions .....a.. 26 Fro duct ion Div is gn s In st mien t Division ........a......a.. 63 La in ten axe 3ivLsion ..a...e....e. 68 Z lect rica i Division 72 Pile Technology Division .a.......a...... 96 Separations Technology Division .....e........ 110 Health In st ment Division ....e..........e. 155 Purchasing and Stores Divisions ...a..aa. 234 h ? loyee and Community Relations Division ., .e.aa 245 Project and Related Personnel ........ee 345

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A total af 54.0 tom of netal Y;as discharged incluZing ail re mining Class I and Class I1 meterial, thus leaving the p i i e s charged with nothing but Class V material, centration, and 10 were ct 132 percent of the goal concentration. pile oFerating efficiency was 93,5 perc2nt; which isa riew high forfo : n the circulating gas mas 96 pr cent, 80 ?ercent, 60 percent: and 92 percent Fxty-one tons were at the god con- The A total of 92 tons of acceptable slugs Tas caared at a yield of 9?.0 despite the transfer of 13 operators from the 300 Area during the month, The rachining yleld of 77,3 Fercint matched last Iccnthts record high, The Melt Plant produced 24 tcns of billets ate yield of 68.2 percent, This represents a record production for one shift operatiotl, canning of enriched uranium alloy slugs for the P10 program mas start ad. This new high record production for one shift was reached A total o f 21 botches mas stslrted inthe Canyon auildings, &l were processed thought ha Concentration Buildings, and 88 were completed t,hrough the Isolation Building. The average f o r completed batcnes mas The Divisionis backlog of scheduled work shows a decided upward trend, For example, railroad car movements increased t o 2,978 forl kr ch as compared with 1:433 in Feb r ury. The electrical peak demand for b'kch o f 78,200 KW is a substantial reduction from t h e February all time high o f 88,200 KF. The first ap$ication o f immersion welding o f tantalum in carbon tetrachloride WES prformed. The program t o reduce inactLve stores in vs z tories rs sul ted in the excessirg of $29,720 of m te rials.

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The major effort of the Physics Section involved planning for the loading of the central 600 tubes of tne H Pile for incressed ?-lo proA large 2eaelopment program for extraction pkases ofthe ?-lo prog-am has '*en i hit i a ted. Irnprovenients have been effected LT the metnod of cann hg P-10 fuel Ekperimentel rior!c intte DR Pile i s being plamec? Lo de term - e An ixproved pile start - up pr xe dur s, which has significant advantages over the conventional "reduced pxer " start - & p procedure, was demonstrated, Precise measurements of the curvature near the inner end ofthe gun barrel in top central tubes of the piles shoa that the woyst condition prevails at the P Pile, with a radius of curvature o f 660 inches. Developent of equip ent for insuring ccmplete trans for nation of production slugs i s continuing. The first of ca. 4-50 ifm/?GIl metal is now being processed in t h e Separations Plants under close observation, normal product hold-up obtained in recent B Plant Acid Piash Runs are testing has been satisfactorily obtzined end variations in the Isolation Building final product solcticjn vol me arc being studled via po duct ion tests i n an effort to improve product accourl*tabflity and transfers beconversion yields are being attempted, Accumulated "scow sweepings" from Dry Chemistry op rations Five been separately reduced t o plutonium netal outtons which are being store2 for future recovery op rations, The causes of higher than - Metathesis time cyle shortening bj production # tween Buildings 231 and 234.. Improveacnts in hil ding 231, Dry Chemistry I n iicdox and Retd Waste Recovery proccss dzvelopmcnt, 61 additional solvcnt extraction col y mr us iJerc msde d ring the pstn on tt,all un TEP process studies, Spray Base asthe TBP dil u ent ma:: poorer than that with Stoddard Solvont pe vio us ly reported. have produced waste losses o f 0.1 - 0.2% fo=. bo5h t h e RA and RC Colunns advanced setisfa2toril;. t 3 the Firh There purr? specifications for Production Plant design ai-e now being eztoblished, Packed colmi Ferforrrmcc with Shell Deodorized Md it ional pds e colunn runs under optimum conditions Redox pump testing has I n the research lcboratcry, ?ado:: studios have cf in i noted previous concern about possible plQtonium prc c ip it ation in product streams, and additional sczvenging a d ozanization azta have besc obtained. Ti3P process

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studies have incllrded dispersion studies in liquid - liquid extractors, acid butyl phospnates formation and properties, fluoride complexing, and decontmination behavior of various T3P diluents. Process scouting far Building 234-5 operations .has involved studies of niki c acid recovery leaching of slag and crucible wastes: " electro less " plat kg of nickel on plutonium, and col;pling of Redox solutions to Buildlng 234 . operations. Various potential methods o f separating aluminun and U235 are being investigated as a necessayy x qui site to the development of a more ie sir able process €or the recovery of "25". Inthe 234-5 process developner,t laboratory, the stndy of s lib st it uti on of peroxide for oxalate purification has been continued, f o r plutonium "skull" recovery has been issued. Considerable improve-. merit hias been nade i n producing plutcnium cores that will pass through the *Got1 gage i n all d bec tio as. Improvements i n ra2iographic methods and techniques have been obtained. Investigation of sub-co--mal TFl act sand filter efficiencies ,has revealed the filter to be saturated vrith water from steam leaks into the ventilation duct axd 2revious cell flushes, iodine have been trapped in the filter and appear t o be the cause o f low "apparentll filter efficiency, m d the filter bsd i s being dried out slowly. reactor for io d ne renoval znd Fiberglas pcr ti clc filters so being Unusually large quazitities of The steam leaks have a l l been corrected Pilot. runs on the silver Rala laboratory design work continued inthe Analytical Section on a 6-da3 week basis, and fabrication was i r - it i at cd on several phases of the necessary nock-up i n Bui1dir.g 101. Sample sizes and analytical methods coctinued mder stud? and tec-hniages were proposed for the adequate ev du tion of to tel lodine and I1jl i n gases t o be evolved during the dissolution of Rala slugs. The s pn tai eo us fission counter was received from IUPL and i s being with the alpha pulse anclyzer i n the det cr ri nation of individual plutoriium isotopes in Hanford proccrs mterials. The Analytical Section has initiated a survey of all ana1,vtical proc?!dc(res presently employed in the control of the scparations process, with a viem to in trot king improved methods mhcrcver possible, i s being given initially to the AT assay. Far tic ule ratt cnt ion Shipnent tothe du Pont Col,:pany of copies of essentially all classified records accmulated by the Operation's Central Files during du Font's tenure a t Yenford Ras maZc on Ksrch 29. packing CBSCS, cavers t h e ?cried fron tl;e fall of 1943 through August 31, 1946. Only ebout 4 pacl:ing cases, consisting of records ?resecting special documentation problems, remin to be processed. This mterial, comprising 263

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Initial steps were taken t o cefitralize i n t.he Information Gro q the control of code designations used st Sanford. geetings were held with representatives from Mmufacturing, E. I:, Techniczl, and Design and Construction, and a draft of an Instruct lons Letter on the subject is The force increased by nine. Four s pci al hazards incidents occ ' med, The results of the Op rational Divisio2 and of the control phases of the Biology and Development Divisions followed normal patterns. Eeview of past data showed borderiine evidence o f some accumulation of plutonium inthe There were no major injmies during the nm th, year remain a t one, a frequency rate of 0.27. Major injuries for the Tncre were five mh or fires in the industrial areas with no loss. Volume ix both the 700 and 200-Wcst Area laundries increased slightly over January and February. Work load continues t o increase in the Clerical Services Section, particularly in the hinting Secticn where there isa backlog o f three weeks work on multi li th orders. The Records Control. Divfsion is now review kg files in various divisions ' and setting up retention p rio ds on office and rocord files.A tabulation of the volume of duplicate material that can be disposed of shows atote1 of 52.5 percent i n the Security and Services Divisions, On March 9the prclirninery group of thc 516th AAA Battalion moved into the Hanford Project and established czm?, with the nab force arriving at officers and enlisted men. Then 2.40 mxhanized attaches signal corp, engineers and quarterxmster troops arrived t o increase the number in cam!, area, reducing the numbcr stationed at Eanford Uorks t o 900. This on tire force consisted o f 1,000 Later during t h e month, part of the group was moved out of t h i s Four ' additional battalions of the 31st AAA Brigade will move in inthe A to t bl of 1,950 applicants mre in tc rvi emd during Usrch, 4.89 of mhich were individuals who applied for enployment nith the Company for the first tk. In zddition, 271 applications mere received throllgh the mail, Open requisitions incrzased from 103 a t the beginnirg of !!!ch t o 152 a t the end of the month. Total plant per some l increased from 7,464 t o 7,565. Turnover

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rate decreased *om 0,899$ in Feb rwy to 0.35 % in Farch. of certain enployees of commercial facilities operators m s discontinued in a particular seniority group have been considered for upgrading prior to transferring employees o r engaging employees from the outside was trans - fer red from the Wage Bate Division t c the Ehqloyment Group effective l kr ch =-, b ve stig ation The res Fon sibi lit y for de5ernining that an en?loyees The const i tilt ion w.d bylaws for the proposed G. E. & ? lopes Services Fmd were completed and discussed r i t h the HAMTC during March, Red Cross Drive for 1550 resulted in contrib ct ions totalling $13,235.58, or 88.8% of the quota allotted. State Director of Selective Service and the local Board Chabm advised during a visit that all single registrants under the Selective Service Act are being classified as rapidly as ps sib lo, There were 237 visits made t o emplo,vces off work because of illnoss, employee death occurred during March, $150, were granted t o employees during Wch. Insurance Cornpany t o settle the idaim o f James G, Oe streicher,for the death of his wife inthe amount of $30,000, sustained a 6ecision of the Department of Labor and Industries ref l sic g the claim of William D. Shw who had alleged that he had received a hernia while decision was approxinatcly $500. Si.r divisi oas exceeded the irq wta, The Four employces'retircd and one Seventeen suggestion awards, totalling Theso awards reprosented an Approval has beer! granted to the Travelers The Board of Insuranca Rppeals Xstimated szvings resulting from this Thirty-four supervisors part ici p ted in the @&Hour Training PTagrm during Narch, which included a lunchoon for all pmt ici pants during the last day of this Program. The Current Event Economics Prograx for exempt employees, started in February, was extended into March with a total of 803 exempt employees participating during the two months. held for non-exempt employees on tho Current Event Economics Program during March. This program ill extend into April, and 2,900 non-exempt employees have already participated. on the Employee Benefit Status Report were held during the last week o f March and will extend one week into April, participated in a conference i n New York City on the Labor Larp Training Pro&ran: which i s being develop d by the Ke7 York Office, In for nation meetings for all exempt employees Four additions and six revisions # tothe Supervisor's Randbook on Ehployoe Relations were distributed during A representative of tho Training and Frogram Development Group Certification of tho Industrial Firemen's Union as prt of the WU C vas received from the NLRB, after which negotiating meetings were held. notice was distributed to all supervisors tht the present Agreement with the HAMIX mould continuo in force for another yearo for de certification of the HA;JTC, and in answer to a letter receLved from tho CXO seeking recognition, the Company took the position that it would recognize only organizations certified by the 9LR3, Council Grievance Cornittee, that our margin over othcr cozpanics inthe Area has decreased since the 194.8 Survey from 12.55 above the community t o 8.5%. rates of pay for industrial firemen in the community. Trades Council decision t o :7ork Pacific Stzcdard Time during the comixg months then the Project n ill bo operating on Daylight Saving The,a survey I n reply toa request Two meetings wore held nith the The analysis of the wage rate survey revealed A survey mas made of As a result of the

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was instigated to determine the extent to which such action would affect the over-all continuity of Operations, to Plm be rs and Steamfitters for travel during April, May, June a d July, 1942, was Tesolved with t h e plumbers returning t o work 03 Itarch 27, Dwbg the month the News Bureau sup mis or, together nith others in Cormunity and ?ublic Relations, assisted in the preparation o f statements for the local newspapers concerning the ps sibi lit y of a shut50wn of construction work because of the refusal by the Plumbers Union t o supply worknen for bo com yi es concerned with plumbing work. publicity .in the newspapers was ir,s-trmental i n keeping tri - citg area residents informed concerning the matter, and it was pss i ble through this method t o obtain factually correct stories and t o place a final story which announced t h e reaching of an ageement by which plumbers wo?ild be sent t o Through the medium of a press conference, the desires of newspap?;. represent at ives serving Richland were fulfilled regarzing the Eiichleud Town Plan. Vorking cooperatively, t h e News Bureau supervisor and the supervisor of Cornunity Divisi0r.s Public Information set up a co-nference a t which copies of the …