Hanford Laboratories Operation Monthly Activities Report September, 1958

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This document consists of 13; pages. Copy No. Box NO. FORD LABORATORIES OPERATION 3)6 MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SCANNED AND IS STORED ON THE OPTICAL OIS K DRIVE This report was prepared only for use within General Electric Company in the course of work under Atomic Energy Commission Contract W-31-109-Eng-52. Any views o r opinions expressed in the report are those of the authors only. THIS DOCUMENT IS

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Atomic Energy Commission, Hanford Operations Office E. J. Bloch, Director, Division of Production, Savannah River Operations Office, Aiken, South Carolina

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Force Report and Personnel Status Changes ............v General Summary.................... vi through x1 Reactor and Fuels Research and Development 4000 Program Research and Development ...... A2- 1 through A2- 16 Physics and Instrument Research and Development Operations Research and Synthesis Operation E-1 through E-5 Financial Operation ................. J- 1 through 5-5

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BUDGETS AND COSTS the finai month of the calendar quarter, work order charges for five weeks. for FY 1959 t c date are $4,409,000 or 23 of %he Part of the increase is aue to the normal practice a t HAP0 t o include i n Cost-budget relationships are satisfactory at thls tim with per hp s the minor exception of CPD Separations. program and should be corrected later in the year due to shifts to CPD Separations 'Tkis imkalance i s due to emphosis an the Palmolive FGSEARCH AND DEVELOPMEMT 1. Reactor and Fuels radiation characteristics. However, OB iiischargp, soae of the ele wot s showed %as the precipitation hardening stainless steels iqp ~ swere bafiy embrittled during ir radi a tic n. h t - o f - reactor loop testing of defected coextruded fuel rcd reveals a high degree of resistance t o undercutting aod a remarkable aegree of uniformity in the manner of failure. The failure charecteristics of all the specimens tested have been far less drastic thaz expected. Electron microscopy techniques lead one t o believe w',th a fair degree of certainty that the voids noted in uranium after modest ir radi at ioa are real and are not artifacts fomed by the etch hg process. Several aluminum clad fuel elements appeared tobe in good condition after operation in 811 ex-reactor organic loop for five mofiths a t 370 C . Two graphites being tested for possible NPR use from Texas Lockport and Sohio Lima cokes were mandactured by Speer Car5on Conrpany using iron oxide t o increase density, thus elin bating a time-corsuming pitch impregnation step. Purification by a chlorine treatnent resulted i n a purlty nearly as high as that obtained by theF Process. Experiments simulating the rupture cf a C Reactor front hydraulic connector indicate adequate coding at 900 KW when she rear header preasure is 25 psig or more. Damage i s indicated a t lower rear header pressures. Preliminary experiments indicate that critical flow ( e .g., velocity of sound) w i l l occur with resulting increased process tube pressurizatioo in the event of a B-D-F Reactor rear pigtail rupture. One, four-rod cluster of Al-Pu alloy is currently be kg irradiated in KER Loop 3 and a second cluster is ready t o be charged into KER Loop 1. AluminUm alloy specFmens w i t h plutoniui contents va-rying from 5 t o 20 W/o arein the final stages of preparation for ir redi ation testing. Heat

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generation calculat-ions fc ra series of Pu02-U@ oxide capsules equivalent t o the aluninum-plcltonium alloys have be%r c o wf eted. A glove box mounted hydrogen sio ter bq furnace is completed and in use on A small scale experiment i n which pi'tsnilm was &,ractec? from a Pu-A1 alloy by bismuth, recovered fm the bisactin as an oxide, ana reduced and alloyed with aluminunto complete the cycle has beec conrplated. of the plutonim was recovered in t2.e fiaa- a k o y . The irradiation of eight U02 swaged cluster assemblies L o KER has continued successfully since their cherging in ec ly August. 1958. An 87.5 percent yield shows that the An order has bezrr piaced with W e ReduAag Corporation fi.r 100 PRTR process tubes. Although tb.e first completed tules ere expected about. June 1959, the vendor w i l l receive a p,-emium paymest if 25 tubes are delivered by March 1959. Fabrication of tke tTJ$Fzrg billets is well under way. PRTR Phase I construction i s 24% coq let ed. mailed t o prospective bidders. criteria were completed and approved. The Phase I11 bid package and Plsse 11-A intr',tations tobid were The Fuel Element -tion Facility design coq let ed. Phase I11 design is 45$ ccmpleted. 2. Chemical Research and De velo mt Instantaneous dissolution rates of mi.,-radiated Dingot, uranium-silicon alloys in nitric acid are comparable to that of praduccuion k got urs niu m proM-ded t h a t a3out 0.05 weight per cerit silicon is presert. In pyrochemical processing studies, mcuum heat bg of the plutorzium-zinc alloy button prepared by reduction of plukoniun cUoride from a sociium chloridepotassium chloride system reduced the zinc coaten-t. t o less tfisr one B a r t zinc per million parC,s plutonium. Altbcugb tke magnssium cate at was estimated at one-tecth t o one -per cent by weigkt, it is believed that it could be elimI n the alkali halide-aluminum halide-ahmiaum system the eff'ects of cations azid anions other than potassium chloride were i n accord wi,th tkeory. example, sodium chloride o r potassVan brGmi.de k crease the yield of uranium metal whereas cesium chloride reduces the yield. both laboratory and field tests oc the flow of synthetic, high level, Redox wastes in soils, penetration was limited t o shallow CieFths. . p l u g s pore spaces ir the soil and encourages Lateral sprea-g of the wastes. In waste processing studies a proposal. for a field test on concentration of coating wastes by submerged combustion was prepayed.

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Studies on neptunium chemistry continued t o give better TEderstanding of the relationships of the various oxidatloo states of neptunium. In fission product recovery studies additional work is reported on the development of the CsgZaFe(CN)b process f o r cesium recovery. on a solvent extraction process t o recover StmEtiiun and 31: determination of the fate of technetium in Word separations processes. Work has been initiated Studies on the reprocessing of Mon-Prodaction Fuels coctizue t o snow that Hastelloy F is a promising materisl. o r construction of wide flexibility, with potential application t o the Zirflex, Niflex ssd Sulfex feed prep ration steps. Passivation of' stainless steel under Darex dissol-fiig eondLtiona appears t o be avoided by the inclusion of copper metal with the stainless steel charge. To obtain s t a b l e feed solutions from %rex of NifZex dissolutions, lower pE than current. Redox feeds i s required.. Conseqxiertly ,dist.ri3utim &C,E contime t o shgw that. fission product separa%ion frm these feeds wiil be lower in the first salvent extraction cycle. proceeds smoothly in these solutions. Pluto niu oxidaticn t c ? plutodun(VI) with dichmmete Experimental work continued on the nuclear safety of Non-Production Fuels of enrichment both Fn dissolver situations and i n t.he subsequent solution stages of the process. Tests with sllialler diameter f u e l eiements indicated smaller dissolver critical masses than those previously re?ortc,ed. Review of a shipping container f o r 5$ enriched uranium slugs was among the nuclear safety consulting work undertaken this month. t h i s container would not provide safety under all coaditions. Loadings of I and E slugs in the B, D, and F Reactors will gain more reactivity upon loss of coolant than is the case witb solid slugs according to results of exponential experiments which were in l i n e with sFailar results previously In the Plutonium Recycle Program, studieS of the neutron behavior in the PRTR lattice were aided by the completion o f analysis of tfie PCTR measurements It was demonstrated that Pilot experiments and testing of protot-jpe equipment for the Air Fxce-AEC cooperative atmospheric diffusim prcgrssl was in full swing. previous work were found t o be tra rsl sts ble, for planning uses, t o situations t o be encountered in this program. Testing of construction materials of the Body Monitor f o r inCvrinsic radioproduct, Kr85, content. Procedures t.c be used in exd ning subjects with activity levels near background were explored. .The accuracy of the pulse method f o r r5aW-S p5ncil ion .-,h&ers was determined Io the course of t h i s work coxmexially available krypton be unsuitable for filling X-ray counters becacse of if a fission

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Satisfactory progress was made on the many development prcjects i n the radii tion monitoring field ; anong them was the use of a single detector for alpha, beta, and gama radiation with electrical sorting of counts obtained. No important changes in actiTrL-Ly densities cf wi-ldlife scarred during the Young rats fed SrSo a constant ratio of Sr over calciuc deyasi3iro. rather widely varying r a t i o s obtained a), dLZfereIZ c&kLum levels in mature with dLete of varymn wtd calcium rlcritent. show A study of the process ecqe snd costs fnr zapF",L z'scydities necessary f x facility serviced by a mobile crane, wculd CGS? smut, $2,5OC,OOO. sure plutonium would shorten by twa years ",e tke req=lLred for the PRTR t c reach near steady-state operation. rem-&der was foucd t o be by irradiatim OD depleted u=er,.',um in HanZord A 3 the request of t h e DivisLon of Reactor Develcrpmert, xamal work on plutonium recycle analysis was postponed in order t o pernit pr tic i patio o in a "crssh" program, jointly with ORNL and ANL, $0 calculate plutonium values i n several current reactors as an a i d t o $he est.ablis'her;t of Comission plrttonium pricing policy. Hazards aspects of the PRTR were reviewed with members 5f t h e Hazards Evaluat i o n Branch of the AEC at a meeting i n Washington, D.C. an Sep5ember 1 5 0 Technical and Other Services No new cases of piutonium deposition were detected. 1131 emission from sepazations facilities averaged 11.4 curies per week - primarily from the Purex plant. as the source of increased emission. past I 2 months has been 8.1 curies. Statistical and mathematical assistance on 22 separate problems was given within HLO and t o other departments and opera tim s. mathematical and statistical methods for studylng the fornat.im of gas bubbles in irn dik ted uranium, and a report on the analysis cf cEtlibrat,icn data for 200 Area vessels which includes a rather comp1et.e discussion of the whole calibration Some difficulty with the vessel vent system was suspected rate for theThe average weekly dsP ion O f particular interest were

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The necessary development work is connection with conputatiord programs f o r generatiog input -outpcz response simulatim models was completed t h i s month and dats FreFamtioc is well under way. There were 20 authorized pm j acts(excl ~ aiv eof PR'l3 and PFPP) at. Donth end, with total authorized funds of $4,161,800. The total eat hated cost of C,hese projects proposals f o r twelve new projects are -& prepsra?.icnTwo projects were completed during t h e mnnt.h. %e project proTesz Reactor a t Arc0 is schedded for Oct.n%r 5 , been completed and bid invitations f o r fabrizaticn 'have been issued, Desigz CJZ' the 6 x 9 loop has de-r.ailc; not previously obtained, were revealed. Preparations are under way f o r establishing tfie qx-cJved zentral storage area f o r EL0 equipment and materiel in the 325 Bullding basemat. cover a C,mck access and other work re qa red for the starage i s lzl process. Tbe physical inventory of unine+&ed cataloged equipment i n the custcdy of Laboratory Auxiliaries was completed w i t 3 satisfectc?; resuLts. The smount of underruns on appropriation reques%s cont,inue to exceed the averruns. Of the 142 completed sime July 1457, 74 (52$) hwe deviate8(e it be rmer or under) by mre than loqd from the original est hate. Cost of the U-233 plates for WEI during Septenber was $38,OCO Wing a total of A t month's end, the staff of the Hanford Laboratories 9pention totalled 1193, including 562 exemp3 and 63. nonexempt eq lc yee s, 3 e r o vere L7E exewt employees Placement of excess RaiUation Protectioa persomiel i s continuing at. s satisfactory level-with a t o t a l of 8 who had not been placed by the end of the month. Laboratories personnel worked a total 09 186,581 msn-hc)ul"s during the moth with no disabling injuries. was completed with no disabling injuries. September was 1.23 as compared with 1.86 during August. There were 2 security violations during the month, bringing the total for the caen dar year t o 36. Since September 1, 1956, a total cr' 4,709,121 man-hours Regional Monitor negotiations were completed on September 26 with the signing of a contract: by %he Company and the Union RepreseEtatfves.

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Duricg September employmen+, offers were extended candidates accepted our offer and one was placed t o eight PhD candidates. Three on the roll. One of those accepting eniployment will be placed in HLO. 11;addition, employment o f f e r s were extended to ten experienced BS/MS candidates with s-& accepzing and four placed on the roll. O f these numbers, five will be placed in HLO. Offer action t.0 Progm BS/MS candidates WBS confined t o Lqloy?es on leave of aksezlze TO fhe di it ary service. In this area, f o u r offers we-- extended w-th one scce3tanze a a one employee placed on the roll. Firm recruit bg dates for all schools t o be B',si.te?. by Ha&$rd recxxiters during the fall bave now been established. requiremer5s appear t o be up substantia2yfrm arprcxi.m%ely 20 t o axroximately Five eq lo yee s terminated during the mnthm a?xerd colleges of their choice under the General Electric Educat.ional Loan Program. Thirteen suggestions were approved for awards to tailing $275 at the Septeniber meeting of the EL0 Suggestion Board. The avera.ge year t o date suggestion award f o r S O wa5 $24.81 with a ratio of awards t o savings of 12.1%.

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REACTOR AND FUELS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OPERATION Interim Comparison of 360 C Water and 400 C Steam Corrosion Rates of Zircaloy. The corrosion resistance of four l o t s of Zircaloy is being compared i n water a t 360 C and i n steam a t 400 C and 1500 psi in order to learn how reliably corrosion behavior may be predicted from short, high temperature steam tests. The four l o t s were selected and rated on the b a s i s of earlier 400 C steam tests as ''very good" Zr-2, "good" lated below, each entry being represented by five or more samples. In t h e case of Code "5" material, t h …