Hanford Laboratories Monthly Activities Report September, 1963

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Location Route Date Signature and Date This document consists MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION 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. and de clas sifi c at io n Excluded from automatic downgrading

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Atomic Energy Commission, Richland Operations Office F. P. Baranowski, Director, Division of Production Savannah River Operations Office, Aiken, South Carolina

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ivF orce Report and Personnel Status Changes. Reactor and Fuels Laboratory.. A- 1 through A-55 Physics and Instruments Laboratory.. B-1 through B-37 Acting Manager, M. Lewis Finance and Administration Operation.. H-1 through H-15 Test Reactor and Auxiliaries Operation . . 1-1 through I - 7

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BUDGET AND COST SUMMARY . September operating costs totaled $2,697, 000, a decrease of $103, 000 over the previous month; fiscal year - t o - date costs are $7, 914, 000 o r 24. 570 of t h e $32, 269, 000 control budget. development costs for September compared with last month and the control Hanford Laboratories ' research and budget a r e shown below: Month Month To Date Budget Spent RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 1. Reactor and Fuels Irradiation for two months in a high pressure loop did not significantly change the bulk density of eight experimental lithium- aluminum target Post irradiation examination of fluted tubular elements of the N-inner size, which were irradiated to 2000 Mwd/ton i n cold water, indicated density losses up t o 77'0 - primarily by grain boundary tearing.A normal tubular

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element would probably have failed ata much lower volume increase by Post irradiation examinations of KSE- 5 elements, irradiated to 1070-1350 Mwd/ton at temperatures from 525-600 C, showed a2.3% volume increase and evidence of systems of parallel micro cracks within isolated t o which these micro cracks have contributed to the measured fuel volume Further examination will be required to establish the extent Brittle fracture tests on N- Reactor pressure tube sections containing milled slots1.5 in. in length and 80% through the wall thickness resulted in failure at stress values more than six times the proposed reactor operating I n - reactor tests on Zircaloy-2 confirm that the creep rates during irradiation approach a steady state value which is independent of path. is, the steady state creep rate during irradiation is a function of temperature, stress, and neutron flux only. This result is predicted by the dislocation model developed t o explain i n - reactor creep behavior of Zircaloy-2. Preliminary examination of data from an electrically heated test section representing the downstream half of an N-Reactor fuel train and process tube indicates that the pressure drops during boiling conditions are not as great as calculated, and flow instability should be a lesser problem than Graphite burnout monitors in B - Reactor indicated no increase in burnup Savings fro mr ate using a gas atmosphere containing up t o 60% carbon dioxide. reduced helium losses should result. t o resist fretting corrosion after 184 days of severe testing in an out - o f - reactor

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The homogeneity of thePu02 - U02 densified by the Nupacp roc ess. (impaction) process makes decontamination operations simpler than those involving physical mixtures of the oxides. Capsule irradiation of earlier prototypic EBWR fuel (depleted plutonium a n d fission products distribution) in impacted fuel than in physically hazard potential of flaws on the inside surface. to be discharged for the PR TR pressure tube surveillance program. One of the pieces will be burst - tested to determine the This tube is the eleventh Calculations for PRTR operation at a power level of 105 Mw indicate that convective cooling would b e sufficient to cool t h e fuel elements following abss of electrical power to there circulating pump. Z r fuel elements have been irradiated to 3400 Mwd/ton. increase of 0.570 for the highest exposure element and 0.370 for two lower minimum density change attributable to the fission products. The irradiation is Weight measurements made at this point indicate a total volume This very low volume increase represents the theoretical The use of a finely dispersed second phase to improve the already favorable swelling resistance of metallic thorium fuels is under study. Aluminum o r beryllium additions (500 to 2000 ppm) have been made to thorium base alloys containing uranium and uranium plus zirconium. The study of metallic uranium fuel modified by "shot forming" to produce an extremely fine carbide dispersion has shown that the carbide particles obtained are1micron or smaller even after beta heat treatment of

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Finely dispersed inter metallic particles have been successfully - delineated metallographically i n - 9 of the 31 dilutely alloyed uranium samples under study for their swelling resistance. Stress - strain rate tests on molybdenum at room temperature indicate the existence of arate - controlling, thermally activated deformation mechanism. The effect is slightly more pronounced in cold-worked material. Molybdenum seed crystals have been prepared for growing singlestresses will be a maximum for [ 110 ] planes and for { 112 ] planes. Orientations selected are those for which resolved shear Diffraction micrographs have been made from (110) and (100) faces The (110) photographs showof a zone-refined molybdenum single crystal. what appear to b e regions of lattice curvature. faces show only a pattern of faint, finely spaced lines resembling slip traces. The combined effect of reaction rate and compressive load on transformations train during the a= inves ti gat e d. transformation of plutonium is being The respective steady state creep rate of beta phase unalloyed plutonium at 150 C under compressive loads of 2300, 1300, and 800 psi was 2.4x7x and less than lom 7p e r minute. The steady state creep rate at 130 C (266 F)at 2300 psi was6xper minute. The increase in yield strength of Zircaloy-2 as a function of neutron exposure has been compared for neutron irradiation s both at 60 C (140 F) and 280 C (540 F). For integrated exposures less than 1O2Onvt, there is no significant difference in the rate of damage accumulation for the two irradiation temperatures and a linear function exists between yield strength and log nvt for several conditions of prior cold work. accumulation in annealed Zircaloy-2. yield strength of cold worked Z irc alo y - 2 begins to decrease with irradiation, At integrated exposures greater than At exposures greater than lo2' nut, the 20 nvt, the higher irradiation temperature results in a higher rate of damage

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is higher for the higher temperature of irradiation. A series of sintered Tho2 - Pu02 fuel specimens were fabricated and shipped to NRTS for irradiation tests. crossed progeny fuel cycle. Fuel compositions are typicdl of a uniform plutonium distribution was prepared by impaction. include both long and short duration irradiation s. A tungsten-molybdenum billet has been successfully extruded on a low speed press employing only 170 of the available 700 tons pressure. Success may have been largely due to the unique use of a pyrolytic graphite sleeve as a combined insulator and lubricant for the billet. This successful extrusion represents a major step in the program of developing a tungsten clad, tungsten-UO honeycomb fuel element by co ex tru sic n techniques. The first irradiation test at 3000 C of an impacted, W-clad, W-20 vol'lo U235 O2 cer met fueled plate was successfully conducted. The fueled plate remained intact during the four - hour irradiation, and U02 loss through nonclad areas appeared minor. Other, longer irradiation s of W-50 ~ 0 1 %U 0 2 and Mo-U02 cer met rods were successfully conducted. A series of reactions was visually observed in a50 wt7' W-U02 cer met during heating between 800 and 1900 C. Vibrational compaction equipment was isolated and modified for compaction of U02 into beryllium tubes supplied by CEN, France. Esld closure welds were successfully made on test pieces of beryllium employing the magnetic force welder. Two wt70 apd 1 0 wt% Sm0specimens were pneumatically impacted with micro niz edU02. Samples were prepared for analysis of Sm203

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Tungsten clad, tungsten-U02 cer met plates were successfully butt welded. There was no cracking. Beta - Pu203 was found tobe compatible with tungsten, molybdenum, tantalum, niobium, and vanadium at 1650 C in helium at one atmosphere pressure for 24 hours. During irradiation to a high burnup a specimen of fused Pu C fractured extensively and released 22% of the fission gases. Pressure drop measurements for an electrically heated 19-rod bundle test section were examined and equations were developed to correlate the results. An equation was developed to give the overall pressure drop for the bundle combining single phase, local boiling, and bulk boiling flow When irradiated at 30 C, a series of graphite s made from different petroleum fillers expanded inthe direction transverse to the extrusion axis at about the same rate as conventional nuclear graphites; however, one material made with iron oxide addition showed significantly better dimensional Electrical resistivity of graphite for possible High Temperature Lattice Test Reactor use was measured for 25 C to 940 C. Agas chromatograph claimed by the vendor t o be sensitive to1 quantitative results indicate a sensitivity of 10ppm is attainable and with further cleanup of the carrier gas the claim of 1 ppm sensitivity maybe achieved. Exponential pile experiments in an over bored C-Reactor lattice were completed this month. Information was obtained on the effect of adding one column of enriched uranium (0. 947% U235) to each eight columns of natur d

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The PC TR was used to obtain information in support of operating Assembly of N-Reactor startup instrumentation is being accelerated. Water cooled thimbles have been designed for the installation Of ionization chambers with which neutron flux measurements will be made. Sample line changes were made on the gamma energy spectrometer at K E loops 1and2to permit adjustment of the sample delay time from 40 to 80 seconds. Installation of reactor fuels test loop at PRTR is moving rapidly ahead. Pneumatic line, electric lines, and voltage controllers have been installed. Water sample lines have been extended to the cell room; flow transmitters have been installed; and connections have been made to the sampling glove box. N- Reactor pressurize r simulation test runs have revealed new data that confirm the need for addition of the derivative (rate) mode to the pressurize r level control system.Scram induced pressure surges were evaluated with a proportional - plus - reset control, and it was determined that addition of rate action reduced severity of the pressure surges by providing a negative error signal to there set mode. the N-Reactor primary flow system has been developed; it appears to circumvent difficulties with the first model. The steam generating system has been simulated with a mathematical model now ready for the computer. A second model of New results were obtained in the Critical Mass Laboratory from experiments applicable t o nuclear safety problems associated with wet compacts were used having a hydrogen-to-plutonium ratio of 15. material was used without a neutron reflector it was found that a block 12x12x12.66 in. would chain react. of 34 kg. With a reflector of lu cite in place, a cube 9x9x 8.38 in. corre - sponding to amass of 12. 6 kg, was critical.Critical it y data were obtained also on a6x7 in. column. Neutron lifetimes and temperature coefficients were also measured. This corresponded to a critical mass

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The hfgh accuracy, cylindrical interaction code INTERSET was on the interaction problem. i n this code has advanced the art considerably beyond that in common use between cylinders with different heights, different nuclear char act eris tics, and external reflectors. variables exist, the This completes the scheduled work T h e mathematical interaction model postulated This is the first known description of interaction Since little or no experimental data with these possibilities for such experiments are being informally Nuclear safety consulting services continued. Participation in the hazards review for the2 Plant Waste Treatment facility was completed. Two lecture series on nuclear safety were begun to train Chem icd Processing Studies of the scattering of slow neutrons by 95 C light water continued. This month the reduction of raw data from previous measurements was completed. Theoretical calculations were performed to compare theory with experiments. At the moment the comparison is rather unsatisfactory. A step plug which will serve as a neutron beam shutter for a new time-of-flight spectrometer for slow neutron scattering studies was completed. Another series of total cross section measurements for neutrons of Five elements were studied for which3 t o 15 Mev energy were completed. no data previously existed. Measurements were repeated on six other Experimental studies of the nuclear physics properties of P u - A l rods in light water continued at a rapid pace. data have now been obtained on four different lattice spacings. fifth lattice spacing is under way. Buckling and critical mass A major goal was attained on September 13 when the first irradiated PRTR fuel cluster was moved into the Plutonium Recycle Critical Facility

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which had been cooled fora long time. It was possible to override the . photoneutron production from the fuel element without exceeding the current that techniques can be worked out t o obtain worthwhile physics measurements in spite of the photoneutron production problems. Thus, for long cooled fuel elements it appears The burnup data from the destructive testing of PRTR element 5108 are complete. Element 5108 is a high exposure Pu fuel element, Pu, 1 6 at. 70which has received an exposure of 3 0 Mwd. In the analysis of PRTR burnup experiments, improved values for the fuel cross section ratios have been obtained using fitted polynomials t o describe the atom density changes as a function of burnup. Extensive work on other reactor physics codes was also under way. Development a n d / o r checkout of RBU, BARNS, HRG, and PHYSICS CHAIN was carried out. Modifications of some of the cross section constants for the one-dimensional burnup code ALTHAEA were formulated. Members of a committee appointed by the ANS Mathematics and Computing Division met at Hanford t o plan a Master Cross Section Library Processing Computer Code to process data from the Brookhaven Master Data File in aform useful t o all reactor organizations. Progress was made on the development of the High Temperature Lattice Test Reactor. not turn up any severe visible corrosion or carburization on materials contemplated for use in the HTLTR. A 200 hr corrosion test in nitrogen atmosphere did Work on advanced reactor concepts was considerably expanded during September.The Phoenix core survey was extended t o include various M:W ratios from0to 2, and core sizes ranging from 250 t o 1000 liters. A brief study assessing the accuracy of current fast reactor cross section sets was

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Reactor tests to experimentally evaluate theBl1 neutron flux monitor were inconclusive because of beta current assumed to b e generated in the electrical lead-in cable. The use of …