Hanford Laboratories Operation Monthly Activities Report September, 1961

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HANFORD LABORATORIES OPERATION MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION THIS DOCUNENT HAS BEEN SCANNED AND IS S TO X ED ON THE OPTICAL DISK DRIVE DECLASSIFIED

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This report was prepared as an account of Government sponsored work. Neither the United States, nor the Commission, nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission: Makes any warranty or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information contained in this report, or that the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe privately owned rights; or Assumes 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 used in the above, 'person acting on behalf of the Commission" includes any employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor, to the extent that such employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor prepares, disseminates, or provides occess to, any information pursuant to his employment or contract with the Commission, or his employment with

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HANFORD LABORATORIES OPERATION MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION was prepared only for use within General Electric the course of work under Atomic Energy Commission report are those of the author only. Any views or opinions expressed in the

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Atomic Energy Commission, Hanford Operations Office G. F. Quinn, Director, Division of Production Savannah River Operations Office, Aiken, South Carolina

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Force Report and Personnel Status Changes iv General Summary ..................v through xiii Reactor and Fuels Research and Development Physics and Instrument Research and Development Operations Research and Synthesis Operation ....E - 1 through E-8 Professional Placement and Relations Practices... 1-1 through 1-3 UNC LASSIF TED

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September operating costs totaled $2, 472, 000; fiscal year-to-date costs are $6, 936, 000 o r 26% of the $26, 236, 000 control budget. research and development costs for September, compared with last month and the cohtrol budget areas follows: Current Previous FY Month Month To Date RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 1. Reactor and Fuels About 2. 870 increase in volume is indicated for NPR fuel irradiated to 2000 MWD/T. Examination of an NPR-type element irradiated to 3600 MWD/T showed ridges o r buckling on the inner clad asa result of fuel swelling. In other NPR fuel development work the sixth and seventh i n - reactor rupture tests were conducted in ETIR, and atest element b razed with an F e - bearing b r a z e compound showed evidence of an incipient shear-type failure mechanisi-n similar to that observed in unbonded fuel closures when irradiated at high Preliminary study indicates that a single tube fuel element for N Reactor is feasible. With the high enrichment fuel located in a discreet layer near the outer surface and depleted material near the core, the relative heat fluxes in the inner and outer surfaces can be nearly balanced and operating fuel temperatures can be minimized. Considerable cost reduction appears possible in the replacement of a two-component element with one containing only a single component. Another alternate metallic fuel element is the fluted element, designed to minimize clad failures due to uranium swelling. ready for reactor charging. Atest specimen is ne&r!y

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The NPR helium stack gas may require small percentage additions of both CO and H2 to attain conditions compatible with both the Zircaloy-2 p r o c e s s tubes and the graphite moderator. Two NPR Zircaloy-2 process tubes have been tested and prepared for installation in KER Loops 3 and 4. Detailed measurements of inside diameter and wall thickness and kinescope records of the inner surfaces will be retained for comparison with future i n - reactor monitoring data. Approximately 60 additional boiling burnout conditions w e r e obtained using an electrically heated t e s t section simulation of the NPR fuel elements. T h e s e data and previous data indicate that the tube power required to result in boiling burnout should be 1. 7 to 2 . 0 t i m e s the maximum NPR design tube Boiling burnout data applicable t o the existing Hanford production reactors were extracted from results of heat transfer experiments performed during the past few years. It was concluded that a reduction in flow of atleast 50% o r roughly a 100% surge in power level would be necessary to reach boiling burnout in the highest power tubes. PRTR operation was stable and reliable during the month in marked contrast 1 with numerous "debugging" difficulties encountered during the power testing i early in the month. ca. 50-60 lbs per operating day and further reduction is being sought. A review of the Critical Facility by the General Electric Technological Hazards Council has resulted in recommendations that include reducing moderator level during fuel loading, providing internal support members in the reactor core for the fuel elements, and adding additional safety features on the crane. Scoping of ways to accomplish the proposed changes has been of July and August. The principal problem was high D20losses encountered I iExtensive leak checks and repairs reduced this loss to Wire wrap loosening observed on discharged PRTR Pu-A1 spike elements is now believed to be a shutdown phenomenon only. the wires retighten. At operating temperature The cold swaged U02elements in PRTR exhibit no Electrodeposited U 0 2 w a s cold swaged to approximately 9 1%theoretical Qu mt it at ive data have been obtained which show the relocarion of fission € rag * ments during the irradiation of high power density U 0 2 fuel elements. most interest is a region ront;iinmg single crystals which 1s markedly depleted in fission products.

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Electrical conductivity of irradiated U02 specimens was found to be slightly higher than that of a corresponding non-irradiated specimen. This result is contrary to previous data and as yet is unexplained. The electrical conductivity of single crystals of U02was shown to be substantially higher than that of 967' dense sintered polycrystals. Eight Pu-A1 fuel element clusters have been assembled this month, making a total of 49 Class I Mark I-H clusters fabricated for the PRTR. The first Phoenix Pu-A1 capsule (GEH-2 1- 1) in a series to include various plutonium-240 contents and irradiation exposures was discharged from MTR on September 25. Its reactivity will be measured in the ARMF. The final five Eur atom test fuel rods containing high exposure plutonium oxide (177'0-240) have been completed and shipped. being fabricated f o r BAPL. Metallographic examination of a sample of PuOl 83 gave indication of a lamella r eutectoid type of structure. Physics test standards Satisfactory welds of SAP were made in air, helium, and vacuum. Over - all performance on a current vendor order for over 1000 Zircaloy-4 sheath tubes is the best t o date. r e j e c t rates of less than 10% at the vendor's plant, and an additional 1770 at testing of these tubes has been improved. The tubing is of excellent quality, with Correlation between Zyglo dye-penetrant testing and ultrasonic T h e onset of Zircaloy hydriding in a dry, hot, hydrogen atmosphere is p r e - ceded by a significant drop in the electrical resistance of the ZrO2 film, suggesting that the hydrogen penetrates the film through oxygen vacancies in This may offer a technique for identifying protective and The first i n - reactor creep capsule in the third generation series was charged into the reactor late in the month. This capsule contains a 2070 cold worked satisfactory manner. However, insufficient time has elapsed t o obtain com - parative i n - reactor and e x - reactor creep rates. The capsule appears to be operating in an entirely Burning tests show only marginal reduction in potential burning hazard from coating EGCR graphite fuel sleeves with silicon carbide. 2 . Chemical Research and Development La bom tory Tests showed 9570 removal of tracer arsenate from synthetic reactor effluent water by high Z 18-20 ppm) aluminum f1oceulat:on treatment I Subseqilent

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flocculations on the same water sample showed removals of 77, 21 and 4%, ment findings where the high alum process results in little o r no removal of These data contrast sharply with reactor process water treat - The assembled automatic A s - 7 6 monitor w a s placed in continuous operation on a sampling line f r o m the inlet of the 107-F retention basin. Background tests and counter efficiency measurements were satisfactory. Three parts per million of the complexing agent, EDTA, were added continuously to the cooling water of a chemically decontaminated reactor tube to test its effect on reducing the adsorbability of the radioisotope parent mater i - als. No practical beneficial effect w a s observed with this agent. Two fission product release experiments were made using uranium irradiated to about 1300 MWD/T. Heating t e s t s ( 2 4 minutes at 1200 C) showed a 13% greater ross metal oxidation than that encountered with lightly irradiated (2 x l 0 l f n v t ) uranium; liberation of fission product xenon as a burst when the metal temperature reached 1000 C; the first detection of cesium evolution at 680 C, followed by a higher but more uniform release of the cesium at The initial test to determine the feasibility of the in-tank concentration of certain liquid wastes by submerged combustion techniques was made. Although some difficulties were encountered in the burner ignition system, a 4 M sodium carbonate solution was concentrated to about 8 M at which point thy tank contents on cooling solidified to a "rigid slush. " is i n - progress and has, in addition to the primary objective of ree over in gI strontium, the secondary objective of exploring the technology required f o r the recovery of a pure cerium and dse rium - free promethium { rare earth) \ product by solvent extraction techniques. The recovery of technetium-99 from alkaline Purex waste supernate was successfully demonstrated on a large scale in the A-Cell ion-exchange equipment; four grams of technetium were recovered from about 450 liters of feed in this preliminary experiment, for an over - all recovery of 80%. Initial studies to determine the path of technetium in the Redox and Purex processes showed the Redox and Purex final uranium produ5:s to contzin about one and nine percent of the plant feeds, respec:ivelv. Dipisrylamine in nitrobenzene snows prom lse of being an effective solver;, for the ex tnc tion of cesium-137 from Purex neutralized w-ste, The presence of air Ltmospheres 2nd moisture duri2g 'he electrodeposition of 5 ' 0 2 f r o m mclten cn!or:de stilts continues to show detr,men:a: effects on

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product quality, namely, product form and high oxygen-to-uranium ratios. Large scale electrodepositions in the absence of air and moisture resulted in the preparation of about 100 pounds of U02 with the closely packed rectangular crystal structure and an oxygen-to-uranium ratio of 2 . 01. The ion exchange extraction (Duolite C-3) of cesium from high level Purex waste supernate was tested on a substantial s c a l e in the hot cells. decontamination factor for the first seven column volumes of effluent was greater than 500; 50% breakthrough was reached after 13 column volumes of waste. Greater cesium capacities are expected with wastes at higher pH. Micro Pilot Plant Run 18, evaluating the decontamination ability of clinoptilolite for radioactive condensate waste, was completed. During the treatment of 5000 l i t e r s (20, 000 column volumes) of radioactive condensate waste, the C s - 137 and strontium concentrations in the effluent did not exceed t h e i r MPCw until a f t e r 15, 000 and 5400 column volumes, respectively. 3.Physics and Instrument Research and Development An i n c r e a s e by 40% in the batch limit in melting crucibles in 234-5 Building will be possible as the result of successful completion of an experiment which mocked up the essential nuclear safety features. ments of this type, which are cooperative efforts between CPD and HLO personnel, the critical mass was obtained by extrapolation of subcritical In the NPR Program the fuel temperature coefficient of reactivity has been evaluated following earlier PCTR experiments. 9600 C. The results are needed to provide a basis for control and hazards calculations for the reactor. with increasing temperature. Data were obtained up t o The results show 8 non-linear loss in reactivity Precautionary measures to avoid inadvertent in:roduction of fission products into the NPR coolant system will be based on use of an alph2 monif,or recently completed and delivered to FP D for detecting surface contamination of fuel No detectable contamination has been found on YPR fuel tested to Nuclear purity of the NPR graphite stack after completion of layup will be measured by methods now being tested in mockup experiments for IPD. ning and procurement of instrumentation is also under way f o r IPD. In support; of existing resctoPs :%e optical device for measuring process tube distortion has been completed and delivered for use zt C reactor. instrument of improved design is being fabricated and one suit,aSle f o r use in

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lattice was mez sure d in The PCTR. The measurement is t o be repeated dfter irradiation of the splines to determine the burnout rate of the poison material. The inspection and measurement of weapons components will be improved by a new, special groove-depth microscope developed for and delivered to CPD. Contours of grooves can be measured to an absolute precision of better than In the Plutonium Recycle Program,further insight was gained during the month on "Phoenix" fuels application to compact, w a t e r moderated power reactors.A preliminary study indicates that highly recycled plutonium does not produce the desired reactivity flatness during reactor life, but plutonium low in Pu-240 (-10%) compares favorably with the flat reactivity response of self-shielded burnable poisons without the disadvantage of occupying non-fuel bearing core volume. An improved method for calculat ing plutonium reaction rates with thermal and near thermal neutrons became available with the coding and debugging of the MWX code during the month. By treating the neutron energy spectrum more rigorously the code achieves results which can be used, for example, to obtain improved results from W L EAGER. New equipment for the nondestructive testing of fuel core-cladding bond quality by heat transfer tests has been installed in the 3 14 Building for further development and concurrent testing of AlSi process and NPR fuel elements in Several improved models of the miniature dosimeter with a register readout and the one with an audible alarm are being experimentally fabricated. types of both designs were successfully demonstrzted to several plant organizaKnowledge of atmospheric. dispersion processes was increased by comparison of recent data obtained at Cape Canaveral with previous Hanford res uk s. Atmospheric stability has less effect upon the horizontal s p r e …