Monthly Report Hanford Atomic Products Operation for January 1956 (Deleted)

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IC. R. Van Tassel Atomic Energy Commission Hanford Operations Office Atomic Energy Commission Hanf ord Operatims Office Atomic Energy Commission

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DECLASS!F\ED TABLE OF CONTENTS Employee and Public Relations Department ...........G - 1 through G-3 Commercial and Residential Property Unit..... Ggc-1 through Ggc-7 Public Works and Recreation Unit......... Ggh-1 through Ggh-5 Financial Department ...................... 1-1 through 143

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the month. ! 5 i e total eqaslled tbe rupture mte of tbe previous month which was the bigbest in plant U s t o r g o Qu-&erhTe tim for ths removal of these rupTha scheduled ttibe replac6umu-t program wes continwd during the month. '&e Furex plant completed psocessiqg cold uranium on January logical startup of the facility USs i Bg isJP%dihited -tal as feed was aa follows: The first dissolves wa8 e g e d OB da,nuayy 13, feed was started to #e precyele battery on January 22, to the partition and aecond plutonium cycle on January 23, and the gecad uranium cycle on Ja.nuary 24. mutonium and uranium l o s e s were essentially lowler than flowsheet d u e s , but the decontamination factors OB both final pmductap were above allowable Ilmits. Inmstigation and sub8eqwn-b a.dJus-ts to the flowsheet had by month end subartantial&y reduced %he decontamimttfon numbers, bu% continued imgmvement wa.s w c e 1 s l ~t o obtain

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ject CO-654 for the initlatian of advance snglneerfng; studies for w design cia new plutxmium pmducing ,zeactor e mhd y t qa =circulating cooling A study is being mrds under Design Seetion Process !lkdamLogy funds to determine means of p v i d i n g him emergency coolant flows to the 100-K reactors. fmm one IC plant to the other, asuuming a minimum amount of power available isom eadating ensrgsncy gsncrstian eqzlpent, and investigations of thp, feasistudy includes determination of o f increa8b.g the flow delimmd The first anmal kasuroments Data Books (one conring Elspo a8 a whole and a second detailing the Financial Departmnt) wen iramed i n December.

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General Manager, Hanford Atomic Products Operation ........ W. E. Johnson Acting Manager, Engineering ................... 0. H. Greager

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HAWORD ATOMIC PRODUCT3 OPERATION EMPLOYTZ AND PUBLIC REZATIONS DEPARTMENT Salary and Wage Administration 11 Personnel Practices 196Educat,ion and Training r .oyee Zmmunications and Public Rel, 11 Auxiliary Operations and Plant Rot. 116 Purchasing and Stores Budgets and Measurements Records and Standards Administration and Communications

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!be cauporite cazming y i e l d was the same as that of the previous month at 73 percent. The maJor causes of rejection were marred surfaces, bad welds and inclusions. An increase i n the miscellaneous reject category occurred when 12 tons of canned cared slugs, snspected of containing partially untrsnsrrarmed pteces, were rejected, co my or system modifications substantially reduced the marred surface reDue t o increased reactor conmugtion the canned slug inventory was reduced during the month from an eight t o six weeks supply. slug receipts throughout Jaauary caused the inventory t o vary from a six t o Improved slug handling and finishing a two aas supply. !The eqerimental processing of I and E slugs started during the month. There were no slug failures at autoclave this month. !he plutonium input production, adversely affected by a 62.6 percent reactor operating efficiency, was 88.7 percent of the official forecast. of outage were tube replacement programs, rupture removal, the K Area emergency generator repair and inspection, and leak testing, Reviouslg established meJdmum operating level, excluding burnout, was exceeded by 102 MW and contributed by C Reactor. tening obtained by discharging fringe tubes a t goal concentration. This her ease was due t o improved flat - The reactor output production was 94 percent of the forecast with discharges of 253 and 164 tons of low and high material respectively. A total or 39 ruptures, including 35 regular metal slugs, occurred during the the highest i n plant history. This total equalled the rupture rate of the previous month which was Outage time f o r the removal of these ruptures There were 13 reactor scrams during t h e monthb seven of which were due t o panel lit ergstem variables.

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Process tube leak testing outages were necessary at D and F reactors due t o In addition, two tube leaks at DR abnormally high water coilection rates. Reactor, and 11were found at F Reactor. and one a t C resulted from ruptures. Six leaking tubes were found at D The scheduled tube replacement program was continued during the month. Seventy-tuo t u b e s were changed at F Reactor, 61 tube8 at D Reactor, 20 tubes atB Reactor, and 37 tubes at H Reactor. The production of l w ngs plutonium from the T and Redox plants was lo7 and 111 percent of the official forec&t, respectively. I n addition, although not officially forecast, the Purex Plant produced a quantity of plutonium. This material was the first produced falluwing the startup of the new facility and it exceeded the maximum fission product activity specification. end it was being stored pending shipment f o r rework i n another plant. At month The Redox Plant resumed operations on Jan- 17 following an extended outage for ZnskaUation of ozonization, precycle and backcycle equipment oxidizer, which urns leaking, was replaced during this shutdown. operating period using a 5-ton per day rate was made i n order t o check out new equipment and adjust the process toa new nowsheet. Following adjust - ments t o the flawsheet, the 10-ton rate was again reached on January 25 and continued through month end. At T Plant, the processing of extraction wastes from normal plutonium runs for recwery-ef neptunium uaa continued. tailed for two weeks during the month because of major equipment difficulties. !The operation of the facility was curThe Purex Plant completed processing cold uranium on January 22. logical startup of the facility usin@ irradiated metal. as feed was as follows: the first dissolver was charged on January 13, feed was started to the precycle battery on January 22, t o the partition and second plutonium cycle on January 23, and the second uranium cycle on Januccry 24. Plutonium and uranium losses were esse at i ally lower than flowsheet values, but the decontamination factors on bath final products were above allowable limits. Investigation and subsequent adjustments t o the flowsheet had by month end substantially reduced the decontamlnation numbers, b u t continued improvement was necessary t o obtain The TRP production was 78 percent of the forecast. fi cul ties such as plugged process or condensate lines, pump failures, and faulty control valve operation curtailed operation for the first weeks of the month. However, after repairs the operating r a t e s were satisfactory and production was limited only by availability of feed material. Waste metal removal rates were generally low because of difficulties associated with pumps, tank cleanout and adverse weather conditions. A series of operating dif-

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The UO3 production was 94 percent of the official forecast. Redox outage and difficuLtfes at TBP, l i t t l e production was made for the iirst two weeks of the month. Because of the Production at the metal fabrication facility exceeded the forecast by 32 percent. D m i q the first week of the month the feed was high MWD plutonium. Following a plant cleanout, the processing of low MWD plutonium was started. The fabrication of a new model assembly from low MWD feed was atarted late in the month. No Uri cult tes were encountered in the On Roll January I, 1956 5339 Total on RoU January 31, 1956 53=

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PATEXI REPORT SUMMARY All persona enetsged i n work that might reasonably be expected to result in inventions ur discoveries advise that, t o the best of their knowledge and belief, no inventions or discoveries were made i n the course of t h e i r work during the period covered by this repart except as l i s t e d below. sons further advise that, far the period therein covered by t h i s report, notebook records, if any, kept in the course of t h e i r work have bean examined f o r possible inventions or discoveries. Thermocouple Cast in Ceramic Material Liquid Flow Monitor Fuse

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METAL PREPARATION SECTION There was no change i n responsibility during this period. A. operating Exper ienc e January December t o Date Total Acceptable Slugs Canned (Tons) 320 336 32.0 Composite canning Yield $) 73 73 73 N e t Acceptable Solid Slugs (Tons) 305 313 3rJ5 Slugs Returned from Reactor (Tons) 1.59 1.77 1.59 Net Acceptable Cored Slugs (Tons) Slugs Returned from Reactor (Tons) Average Steam Generated (M/lbs/hr) Sanitary Water from 3000 Area (Zg a l s )

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Metal Preparation Section Net production of 320 tons of acceptable finished slugs, achieved in 2l working days, was 100 percent of forecast. 15 tons were cored slugs. during the month, canning production fluctuatsd from four to six canning-line shifts per day. Of the 32O-ton total, Due to a low bare uranium inventory A compoeite yield of 73 percent was experienced in January. , r ~ ajo rcauses for rejection were: i incluefons. An increase in the miscellaneous reject rate occurred i when twelve tons of canned, cored slugs were suspected of containing 1 a few partially untransformed slugs and were rejected. Increased inclusion reject rate was believed due to copper contamination in the allmrinum components cleaning solution. Improved slug handling and finishing conveyor system modifications reduced marred surface the combined Metal Preparation and Reactor canned slug inventory was reduced to about a six-weeks' supply at month-end. Forecasted Reactor consumption during the next month w i l l permit an inventory reduction to an optimum four-weeks' supply. A reduction in the bare slug shipments from Fernald caused the inventory to remain low in the 300 Area. in process, fluctuated during the month from a six to a two-day supply. marred surfaces, bad welds, and Due to increased Reactor consumption during the month, The inventory, exclu ing slugs Due to the inadequate performance of positive identification of partially transformed slugs by the cored slug transformation tester, cored slugs will be transformed in the 313 Building salt bath facilities. This duplicity between Metal Preparation and Fernald will continue untU 8 satisfactory tester and standard is provided or until satisfactory controls of the process are established at Fernald. During an irradiated slug test in the 305 Building, a column of slugs jammed in t h e process tube while being pushed from the slug cask into the pile. Considerable effort was required to push the irradiated slug back into the cask. occurred. The cause of the difficulty has not been determined to No significant personnel exposures On January 13, 1956, a new Metal Preparation Section Official Production Forecast (HW-40817RD) was issued on the basis of a revised Reactor Section Official Forecast. This forecast was used as a basisar budget revision for FY 1956-57 and budget estimation f o r An evaluation of the 3400 caps received from the Hunter Douglas Corporation was completed. All caps but one were acceptable. A i pile evaluation of 2,000 slugs canned using these caps is planned. No autoclave failures occurred during the month.

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Metal Preparation Section HW-41205 A test lot of 61 internally and externally cooled slugs (I & E) were canned, using the two-piece aluminum components. operator skills and the improved design of the components enabled two slugs to be canned simultaneously. A total of 136 small diameter uranium enriched aluminum alloy C-4 slugs were canned by the hot press method. facilities, no slugs were bond,tested or transferred to storage. Approximately 2000 hot pressed canned slugs are ready for bond testing, Due to lack of testing During the month, 4$29 Pb-Cd poison slugs were canned with a continued high yield of 97.8 percent. All existing Chemical 10-66 slugs have been collected from the Reactor Section and stripping operations were completed. being held until final shipping decisions are obtained. The material is Fifty-six tons of uranium dingot slugs were outgassed in the salt bath heat treating facilities during the month. Ten tons of cored and solid slugs were transformed. These slugs were processed through the salt bath and inasmuch a$ the new equipment did not adequately clean this type of slug it was necessary to use the manual dip pickle Acceptable canned slug production was 100 percent of forecast, based on the January comnittment of 320 tons. The canning line "time operated" efficiency was 81 percent which was a decrease of 3 percent from last month. 'due to forced downtime due to the low inventory of bare uranirun., The Acme-Gridley lathes and the penetration tester were the main causes of finishing line downtime. the number one lathe and additional electronic testers are availThis reduction was primarily Continuity should increase when I 2. Inspection, Maintenance, and Replacements Increased inclusions on the exterior surface of canned slugs is believed due to the use of the new cap and can machine and/or sleeve machine. Evidence indicates that brass or copper particles from the hangar rails conveying the cleaning baskets are either lodging on the cans or sleeves or are being deposited ioto the cleaning etchant. No conclusions are reported yet. The o l d cleaning line w i l l be used until necessary corrections are made to the brass

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Metal Preparation Section ThL nunber two pickle machine has been modified by the installation of new type acid spray nozzles and baffles. at least a 50 percent reduction in the acid consumption of this This has resulted in A l l component parts conveyors were placed into operation for delivery of com@uents t o the canning furnaces andhaveoperated Slug recovery operations were disrupted during the month due to a ,treater tank steam coil failure. troublesome during the past few months and the Process Sub-section is conducting a study to determine corrective action. Steam coil failures have been The peroranent installation of the Argon supply for the four new welders was completed. line operated successfully. line were still in testing stages at month's end. system now permits individual regulation. Tw'o new welders on the number three finishThe two new welders on theonumber one Two safety improvements were made by modifying existing equipment; ' an additional catwalk was installed over the nitric acid storage tanks to provide easier access to valves and lids, and air lines were raised over the entrance to the slug recovery filter press platform to provide ample headroom. The number one Acme-Gridley lathe was out of operation during the month for overhaul and modifications to the sound barrier. The processing of eight-inch drilled cored slugs with aluminum end plugs by the lead-dip process was continued. of finished slugs was produced with a 38 percent yield. yield resulted from rejecting 2,750 finished slugs ,for incomplete transformation tester is unable to distinguish between relatively small areas of fine grained transformed and non- transformed uranium. Consequently the slugs …