Hanford Laboratiories Operation Monthly Activities Report December, 1958

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HANFORD LABORATORIES OPERATION MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT FOLDER b)! fi JANUARY 15, 1959 THIS U O CU Iq ENT HAS BEEN SCANNED HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION RICH LAND, WASH I NGTON

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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, express 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 to the extent that such employee or contractor prepares, handles or distributes, or provides access to, any information pursuant to his employment or contract with the Commission.

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This d xu ment c ons ists HANFORD LABORATORIES OPERATION 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 the report are those of the authors only. Any views or opinions expressed in Route To: I P, R, No. I Location' (Route Date I Signature and Date

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Procurement of field equipment for next summer's joint AEC - Air Force program i n atmospheric diffusion proceeded on schedule. The data analysis system, using digital computers, has been developed. The background inthe body monitor was determined t o be satisfactory after its inthe 329 Building monitoring facility. The examination re-emphasized the need for more data on normal activity in humans. Two subjects exposed t o airborne fission products were exaained Satisfactory progress was =de on the many projects in the in stm ert field among which were: airborne particle measurements, contamination surveying, alpha air monitoring, and automatic data reduction. Useful results were obtained with the analog computer i n the simulation of both Rabbit thyroids from Wahluke Slope had about 10 times more 1131than one year Whitefish at Priest Rapids continued t o show high P levels - about four times that of one year ago. Contamination of a l l other forms were about t h e same as one year ago. Metabolic coefficients needed for setting the MPC of w185 were found. drinking water, this i s 0.02 pc/ml. (more conservative) than those listed by ICRP. Some of the coefficients found are smaller Assistance was rendered t o CPD i n carrying out an economic study of several alternate "head end'' processes for potential use in low throughput power reactor fuel processing plants. A detailed study was completed on the use o f high exposure plutonium in the PRTR; early introduction of high exposure plutonium was found t o save up t o two years in attaining equilibrium recycle conditions. About 54 Kg of high exposure material (20$ Pu-240) will be required, and the procurement of this was discussed with the Commission. Steps were taken to initiate the r e - irradiation in the Mlli and ETR of the plutonium bearing fuel plates recently discharged, i n order t o provide about 2 Kg of high exposure material for lattice measurements inthe PCTR, and then for PRTR fuel. A more refined study of plutonium burnout in t h e PRTR was completed. determined that plutonium spike assemblies will be consumed at arate of about one per6 days rather than one per 8 days as forecast some time ago. The neutron temperature and epithermal ratio of the PRTR were re-evaluated on the basis of recent British data and analysis. turned out t o be only slightly different from values used in the past. These more refined constants

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Atomic Energy Commission, Hanford Operations Office Savannah River Operations Office, Aiken, South Carolina

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Force Report and Personnel Status Changes Reactor and Fuels Research and Development Physics and Instrument Research and Development Chemical Research and Development Operation Operations Research and Synthesis Operation Radiation Protection Operation , Laboratory Auxiliaries Operation .

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Manager, Hanford Laboratories, Manager, Chemical Research and Development . Manager, Laboratory Auxiliaries . Manager, Operations Research and Synthesis , Manager, Physics and Instrument Rei Manager, Radiation Protection. Manager, Reactor and Fuels Re sea rc Manager, Employee Relations

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BUDGETS AUD COSTS Costs f o r December were $1,571,000 an increase o f $16,000 over the month of November. F is cel year to-date costs are 43$ of the $20,941,000 Midyear Budget Review submitted RESEARCH AND DEVEUPMENT The first irradiation in the ETR 3x3 bop, consisting of three, seven-rod cluster, co-extrusion Zircaloy-clad elements, is proceeding satisfactorily. Ho ruptures t o date have been suffered by cluster fuel at exposures up t o 3000 MWD/T. Two, 36-inch long rod and tube elements of uranium c l a d with Zircaloy-2 continue t o operate i n KER Loop 4. The first coextruded Zircaloy-clad rod fabricated a t Hanford was produced, employing equipment available on-site. shows the quality to be excellent. Preliminary examination of the product The self-supported-fuel development w a s successfully completed, and the program No evidence of a recurrence of the deep pitting of fuel elements clad in X-8001 noted in-reactor on the first lots of this alloy has been found on the many elements now being routinely discharged from t h e production reactors. Ata surface temperature of 260 t o 290 C , the in-reactor corrosion rate of 5 mils/year i n an NPR type environment at a maximum surface temperature o f 350 C. This corresponds toa corrosion rate of 3to Samples o f NPR Zircaloy process tubing have withstood burst testing at 10,500 psig and 300 C. The tubing was not stressed to the yield point i n these tests. Irradiation s have been started in HAP0 hot test holes on candidate NPR graphites. Steady state tests of the effects of a C-Reactor front connector rupture were completed. They indicated that the reactor could sustain a connector loss i f rear header pressure exceeds 15 psig. A four-rod cluster with Pu-Al alloy cores and jacketed in Zircaloy i s under irradiation with high-temperature coolant in a KER loop. ready for charging during the first quarter of 1959. A second cluster is Various plutonium-bearing fuel specimens were prepared for irradiation in the ranging f r o m 5 t o 20 w/o Pu, high-burnup A1-Pu experiments, and injectionSmall additions of Pu02 t o U02 enhance its s inter ability, whereas larger amounts (25 and 50 w/o Pu02) result ina lower density after sintering than fcr

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Aluminum-clad alumihum alloy co-extrusions have been successfully made i n preparation for co-extrusion cladding of A1-Pu alloys with aluminum jackets. The first U02 swaged rod assembly being irradiated in VBWR is operating Unsintered UO specimens have operated in the a t heat flux values of The Pacific Scientific hydrogen sintering furnace is installed and operating Flexure testing of a PRTR outlet jumper has been completed, with no indication of damage o r leakage. Phase I PRTR construction is 60% completed versus 70% scheduled. construction i s 48% completed versus 49% scheduled. i s ll$ completed versus 9$ scheduled. PF'PP construction is 54% complete. The PFPP Phase I11 desi@ w a s comyleted on schedule. 2 . Chemical Research and Development Neptunium process chemistry research continued and results a r e reported on nitrous acid effects in the Purex HA column, further study of anion exchange chemistry including engineering tests of a large (25-l/2 inch) annular fixedbed anion exchange column, investigation of recovery schemes f o r Redox, and basic neptunium chemistry. Ten tests were completed in the pilot plant for nitrate waste treatment by per a ture s, feed rates, feed positions, and reaction periods. Up t o 90 per cent of the nitrate may be vol at ili zed and the waste effluent reduced t o nearSystem behavior was stable and safe for various temA final report is i n preparation. Examination of ion exchange resin after 140 days operation inthe Purex continuous anion exchange contactor indicated t h e material is approaching the radio ly tic degradation. Resin replacement i s required because of chemical and The Hastelloy-F pilot scale dissolver and condenser were completed and heat treated to make weld areas more corrosion resistant. assembled t o allow study of the Miflex process. The equipment i s being Some sixteen flowsheet tests at O m using anticipated Darex and Niflex feeds in atypical Redox HA system indicated general system losses and stability to be satisfactory although the decontamination was poorer than present process. First experimental tests were completed on the vol at i liz ation of some fission products from low-level irradiated uranium. evolved activity consisted of iodine and tellurium which vaporizes from the metallic specimen as it was heated t o 1200 Cin an air atmosphere. As expected, the large fraction of

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Examination of a stainless steel pigtail downstream from a zirconium reactor process tube identified the radionuclides responsible for activity deposited in the pigtail. pigtails on aluminum process tubes. The distribution of isotopes was similar to that found i n Arsenic-76 was a major contributor i n Improved calibration standards have allowed more precise reporting of some eighteen radionuclides presently analyzed forin Columbia River water. Standard deviation on these very low-level analyses is now k 25 per cent cornpared with previous + 100, - 50 per cent limits. A process flowsheet study indicated five countercurrent stages (equilibrium) would separate plutonium efficiently from irradiated uranium oxide ina showed the distribution of protactinium inthe metal - salt phases favors the studies using zinc as adi lu ent in the aluminum phase. The two component metal phase also allowed temperature effects to be studied toa range below the melting point of aluminum. Distribution data for uranium inthe system were extended by Old river channels were found as much as fifty feet below the present water table i n some parts of the Project adjoining the 200 Area. contain highly permeable flu via tile gravel and may offer course for much of the ground water flow tothe Columbia River. permeable channels will be plotted as part of other geological and hydrological Where possible, t h e location of The reaction of fluoride ion with gypsum t o form fluorite (CaF2) was studied as a mineral reaction potentially capable of removing strontium from acid product formed was fine and plugged the mineral column. First results show Srgo was removed from solution but the fluorite 3 . Physics and Instrument Research and Development The study of temperature effects on the neutron economy of present reactors continued i n both the experimental and theoretical areas. a bearing on safety of operation of the reactors. These effects have Experiments on large solid fuels continued for the longer range Production Reactor Program as did the cluster element experiments begun last month. latter experiments severely tax the capacity of the present PCTR because of the large lattice spacing. Muclear safety experiments continued i n the area of slightly enriched production reactor fuels. i n with critical experiments performed atOm. An experiment is i n progress totie PCTR measurements decreases as the diameter of the fuel rods drops, the value of .6-inch rods being 284 pounds as compared t o 394 pounds for .g-inch rods. I n dissolving fuel rods, the nuclear safety limits will have t o be set on the basis of the smallest critical mass applicable as the dissolution proceeds. Experiments t o determine this will continue t o smaller rod diameters.

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Progress continued on the computer machine analysis of plutonium utilization, and in particular was directed toward cases of various plutonium compositions used in conjunction with depleted uranium feed. Activities of the Radiological Evaluation Task Force were devoted largely to revisions of estimates of %he environmental dose for incorporation into idor? mation to be provided in the forthcoming hearings on Waste Disposal. Other matters receiving study were the calculations bearing on reactor accidents, organization of a dietary survey, and revisions to portions of the forthcoming AFSWP training program. An invited paper on radiological hazards was presented at the national ANS Seattle with the faculty of the University of Washipgton for discussion of A presentation on PRTR hazards was made to the AEC Hazards Evaluation Members of the Hanford Laboratories University Relations Council met in Technical and Other Services Release of 1l3 to the atmosphere returned to normal with an average emission of 2.1 curies per week. Documents HW-58569and CLVI-569, "Report of Task Force for Evaluation of Capital evaluate longer range programs of capital expenditures under the AEC ground rules. Fallout from bomb debris continued throughout the northwest. The task force concluded that it was feasible to A formal report is being prepared jointly with the Atmospheric Physics Operation concerning the statistical analysis of data from the planned deposition and diffusion In addition to the above, statistical and mathematical assistance on 35 separate problems was given within HLO and to other departments and operations. There were 14 authorized projects a t month end with total authorized funds of PF'PP are recorded separately.) Two projects were completed during the month. new project is awaiting AEC approval. are in preparation. The total estimated cost of these projects is $7,691,000. (PRTR and Project proposals for fourteen new projects The number of requests from customers for emergency shop work decreased framthe previous month permitting the achievement of a normal overtime level. machine shops were utilized to provide assistance to the extent of ten man moriths. The lead time requested for completion of a typical job where the labor was estimated at 40 man hours averaged 17 working days versus what is considered to be an optimum lead time of 8 working days. Personnel requisitions were filed for two additional The 1958 report on HAP0 memberships in Technical Societies was submitted to Contract Accounting together with the list of 1959 memberships approved by Department Control of code designations for classified titles was transferred to the Security and Patrol Operation effective January 1, 1959. 1 ' . i 1

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Continuity of service rates will be raised from 16to 12$ of salaries,effective January 1, 1959 t o provide for the expected increase from the Savings and Security Final transfer of the 231-2 Building was received from CPD during December. Current authorization of 4000 Program equipment funds are still limited to the Plutonium Recycle Program. funds necessary for the Gas-Cooled Reactor and Swelling Studies. Steps are under way t o attempt t o obtain the equipment The systems study for converting the present cost accounting system t o electronic data processing i s nearing completion. A t month’s end, the staff of the Hanford Laboratories Operation totalled 1204 employees, including 568 exempt and 636 nonexempt employees. There were 484 exempt Since no agreement was reached atthe December 26th meeting between the Company and the HAKE …