Hanford Laboratories Monthly Activities Report August 1964

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MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SCANNED AND IS STORED ON Til: OPTICAL DISK DRIVE HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION DECLASSIFIED~ c 4 II ICI LI ID. .Urn.

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This mport w& prepared as an account of Government sponsored work Neither the United States, nor tho Commission, nor any parson acting on behalf of the Commission: ploteness, or usefulness of the infonatlon contained in this report, or that the use of any information, apparatus, mothod, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe privately owned rights; or 8. h m e s any liabilities with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report. As usod in the above, ' p e m acting on behalf of the Commission' includes any employee or contractor of tho Commission, or employee of such contractor, to the extent that such employee or contractor of tho Commission, or employeo of such contractor prepares, disseminates, or provides access to, any information pursuant to his employmont or contract with the Commission, or his employment with

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WT his document consists of 162 pages. Copy No. HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATIOI - This report was prepared only for use within General Electric Company in the course of work under Atomic Energy Commission Contract AT(45-1)-1350. Any views o r opinions expressed in the report are those of the author only.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ivF or ce Report and Personnel Status Changes . Reactor and Fuels Laboratory Physics and Instruments Laboratory Applied Mathematics Operation Radiation Protection Operation Finance and Administration Operation Test Reactor and Auxiliaries Operation *F - 1: Programming Operation has been merged with Physics and Instruments Laboratory and Radiation Protection Operation. These groups are now reporting fuel cycle analysis and nuclear health and safety work,respectively.

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BUDGET AND COST SUMMARY August operating costs totaled $2,596,000, a decrease of $45,000 from the previous month; fiscal year - t o - date costs are $5,236,000o r 1570 of the $34,863,000 current control budget forFY 1965. Hanford Laboratories ' research and development costs for August compared with the previous month and the current control budget are shown Month Month T o Date RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 1. Reactor and Fuels A second comparative irradiation test of fuel elements of N - Reactor uranium fuel composition and of elements containing 400 ppm iron and 800 ppm aluminum i n the uranium was completed. density measurements show consistently less swelling in the latter case. Post irradiation bulk A failure occurred in one of two N - Reactor single tube fuel elements with fluted outer surface which were under irradiation in the ETR.The failure, which occurred at an exposure of approximately 2500 Mwd /ton,

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was adjacent toan end cap and i n the vicinity of a marker tab that had been spot-welded onto the cladding surface. Irradiation testing of fuel fouling detectors fueled with T h - U alloy has been successfully completed. Four detector probes are now in use in The 17 uranium alloys t o be used in experimental irradiation studies t o evaluate the effects of alloying and heat treatment on swelling have been fabricated into Z irc alo y - 2 clad rods from which test specimens are being All target elements for N-Reactor production test NR-8 have been and 135 short target elements. made on 108 of the enriched uranium driver tubes to be used in this production This delivery included 650 full length elements Complete dimensional measurements were Visual examination of a series of lithium-containing ceramic test elements after irradiation testing revealed no evidence of irradiation - induced gas contents of the test samples (GVR) up t o 12. 9. These elements were irradiated for sufficient time to give calculated Corrosion testing of defected Li-A1 target elements in 280 C water has been completed. In those elements in which the target core was exposed directly to the coolant, swelling caused by corrosion was observed within the first 4hr and extensive corrosion damage and clad splitting had occurred at the end of the 297 hr test period. and b razed elements have given closure strengths in excess of 30,000 psi. Highest strength was obtained from an element having six - ring projections. Two transient heat transfer experiments were conducted t o investigate fuel temperatures following the possible rupture of a main water supply line

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rate the maximum temperatures in the test section did not exceed 1100 F. It was found that with a normal decrease in heat generation The time to boil water out of small production reactor process tubes filled with t horia fuel was calculated to be well over a minute for cases where water loss occurred after the reactor had been shut down for The crud film removed from a portion of the ruptured N - Reactor fuel element was less than0.05mil thick and would increase the surface temperature less than1C at a heat flux of 500, 000 Btu / h r - f t .2 No stress cracking was found on copper tubing and brass fittings exposed for5moto stagnant pH 9-10 ammonia ted water and vapor at graphite cooling system. Corrosion evaluation in high temperature water of nickel plating techniques for aluminum and the effects of diffusion heat treatment indicate chemical nickel is superior to electroplates. Coupons of Z irc alo y - 2 and 4were exposed 58 days in - reactor and in out - o f - reactor control experiments to a 400 C (752 F) helium atmosphere containing CO, H2, and water vapor. corrosion rate i n - reactor was noted. No evidence of acceleration of the The first stress rupture test of a section of an irradiated KER pressure tube has been completed. of 300 C (572 F) and a hoop stress of 61,000 psi. the un irradiated condition would have been expected to fail at the same It ruptured in 492 h r at a temperature A similar specimen in Under certain conditions hydrogen reduces the rate of oxidation of graphite - water vapor by factors of 3 - 1/ 2 and 7 . Continuous analysis of effluent gases has been demonstrated as a successful way of determining instantaneous rates of oxidation of graphite by water vapor.

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The long term irradiation of N - Reactor graphite in the GETR is progressing satisf actor ily . Three fuel elements were delivered to the PRTR.A short core fuel element,a prototype for possible high power density PR TR testing, was prepared using U02-filled rods assembled into a 19-rod cluster. Swaging and extrusion are being evaluated for fabrication of plutonium alloy wire for enrichment of uranium oxide pellet-filled rods. A new swage rod loaaing hood, which incorporates several improve - ments,was put into service. Excess oxygen in non stoic hio metric U02, introduced both by roasting and by adding U308, was found toe qui lib rate among the various U02particle size fractions upon heating under vacuum at 1200 Cfor 80 minin a double Examination after 106 h r of operation in the PR TR rupture loop revealed no fuel washout o r changes in the appearance of a n intentionally Failure in the modified end cap region of aPR TR rod, containing contaminated fuel material,indicates that end cap crevices are not the cause of previous fuel element failures. Machining appears to enhance susceptibility of PR TR Z irc alo y cladding to hydride attack. The reaction layer on Z irc alo y - 2capsules exposed t o iodine at 400 C has been identified as alpha - zirconium. The full length, Mark IX-B U02inverted cluster fuel element was successfully irradiated in the PR TR rupture loop and displayed no visually detectable dimensional changes or surface fouling. Capsule tests of EBWR U02 - Pu02rods are performing satisfactorily under proposed42 Mw EBWR conditions (60 w / c m t o the exposure of most interest (-2. 5 x lo2' fission s / c m ). maximum heat flux) and

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Several dozen specimens of two overlapping Z irc alo y strips, 3 / 1 6 in. wide by0. 010 in. thick, were spot welded together under water. Based on visual examination, the aluminum -clad fuel elements from C - 1 Loop, which had been exposed i n - reactor for 1400 hrt ore circulating water at 260 C outlet temperature and pH 4.5 with phosphoric acid, did not appear to have nonuniform corrosion. A 3 / 8 in. OD, 0.035 in. wall stainless steel tube, 18 in. long with a 0. 110 in. tungsten heater wire down the middle, was vibration ally com - pacted with U02to 85% TD. This rod is to be used in fuel relocation Examination of a PUN-15 ~ 0 1 %Pu cer met irradiated to an estimated burnup of 35 x IO2' fission!cm3 showed that a portion of the specimen was converted to a fine power. The thermal expansion of a single crystal specimen of U02was measured between 300 and 1600 C. Irradiation was completed on the first of a series of U02 melting tests investigating the effect of stoic hio me try on thermal conductivity during and after reactor startup. At horia element originally containing 680 ppm nitrate released 180.2 m l of gas, 170 m l of wnich wasN2, after 1. 1 x lo2' nvt exposure in ' Five irradiated PR TR fuel rods with different fuel fabrication history were transferred to the Radio metallurgy Laboratory for sectioning. Approximate ly 12 in. rod sections will be slotted, capped, and subjected to simulated reactor coolant flow conditions t o develop fuel washout data. shows uniform plutonium distribution by auto radio graph y and chemical testing. No gross inhomogeneities in plutonium concentration were found ina electron micro probe.

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Specifications were written for U02 powder t o be used in the pneumatic impaction process. Vibrational compaction loading of fused U02particles in a thin wall Z irc alo y - 2 clad, tube-in-tube fuel element resulted in greater than 86% T D i n both the inner tube and the outer tube. All six of the small can s of BeO-nickel coated PuOz impacted material have been opened. of the samples. The Be0matrix appeared to be bonded in all and sealed with powdered niobium end caps was fabricated by pneumatic The first use of rectangular tooling i n the Dynapak machine was Previously reported differences in the tensile properties of Inconel X-750 have been shown to result from variations in grain size resulting from the conditions of heat treatment. Oxidation rate data for Hastelloy-X and Haynes -25 have been obtained at 1120 C (2048 F) in various pressures of oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide , and atmospheric pressure air. Rate processes are generally Internal oxidation of cold worked TZM exposed 11 days to 1000 C Room temperature tensile tests on control specimens of various nickel base alloys exposed t o 580 and 740 C (1076 and 1364 F) helium were completed and the data compared to that for specimens irradiated under similar thermal conditions to an exposure of 9 x 10 1 9 nvt.

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Preliminary results from high rate loading fracture experiments on AISI A302B SS indicate a possible correlation between fracture phenomena and deformation behavior. A 10% oxalic acid solution has been used to metal lo graphically con - firm the presence of marten site in cold-worked AISI 304 SS. The special E TR C-7 Loop test with a hydrogen addition t o the cool - ant, which started in July 1964, with a varied charge of corrosion specimens, appears from water analysis to be progressing satisfactorily. The first controlled pressure - temperature swelling capsule is oper - a ting successfully in are actor at 450 C (842 F) and 1000 psi. 0. 1 6 at.% burnup at 605 C (1121 F) showed small pores attached to a few of the second phase particles and almost no matrix porosity or tearing. The radiation-induced reaction of carbon monoxide with water vapor In gas mixtures con-w a s found t o be very efficiently sensitized by helium. taining up t o 9870 helium the yield of products based on total energy absorbed was invariant, with aG value of 1 5 .- The oxidation rates of a highly purified graphite, SP-6, i n air and i n air with C-C12F2 inhibitor were found t o be greater than rates for EG CR - type graphite. The results are anomalous since the SP-6 material contains a much lower content of vanadium thought t o be the oxidation catalyst of The first boronated graphite samples recovered from the ETR irradi ation facility confirmed earlier results obtained in the Hanford reactors. Increased stiffness in rolling Z irc alo y - 2strip has been observed on several occasions when a period of weeks has elapsed in the fabrication schedule, indicating a possible aging process.Laboratory tests show that increased strengths of 3000 t o 6000 psi can be achieved by aging; however, these changes do not appear to be sufficient to cause the apparent increases in roll force.

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Irradiation of three tubular Z irc alo y - 2 clad Th-U fuel elements continued successfully in the ETR-P7 loop. more than expected from the solid fission products. increase at 8500 Mwd/ton was 0.9%. Fuel swelling continues t o be no The measured volume Irradiation of a uranium test rod containing a sub micron dispersion of uranium carbide in the fuel has been completed. been shipped to Radio metallurgy for examination. The test capsule has Techniques have been developed for strengthening the beta phase of , unalloyed plutonium and for eliminating micro cracks in high purity plutonium. Molybdenum foils having three controlled carbon contents have been Deformation studies in the electron microscope of irradiated molybdenum have demonstrated that moving dislocations interact with defect clusters and form jogs that impede their motion during glide. Large dislocation loops have been observed by transmission electron microscopy in specimens of irradiated carbon-doped molybdenum that were The character of the smaller loops present in these specimens could not be These loops are interstitial in character. A discontinuity at approximately 110 C (230 F) in the differential thermal analyses heating curve of plutonium has been reported by investigators at the Mound Laboratories. The specific volume - temperature curve of high purity plutonium derived from heating rates of 1C(34 F) per hour contained no discontinuity between 100 and 119 C (212 and 246 F). change in either crystal structure or atomic structure in this temperature range, no volumetric change takes place. In the event of a The first shipment of 810 EBWR U02 - 1.5 wt% Pu02 fuel rods was made to Argonne. Awet hydrogen, high temperature treatment was found to remove