Hanford Laboratories Operation Monthly Activities Report June, 1957 (Deleted)

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HANFORD LABORATORIES OPERATION MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION RIC HLAND, WASHINGTON THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SCANNED of its contents AND IS STORED ON THE OPTICAL DISK DRIVE V This report was prepared only for use within General Electric Company in the course of work under Atomic Energy Commission Contract those of the authors only. Any views o r opinions expressed in the report are

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Force Report and Personnel Status Changes ................v General Summary.........a............ vii through xii Reactor and Fuels Research and Development Operation....A1 -1 through A 1 -22 Physics and Instrument Research and Development Operation Chemical Research and Development Operation....... Operations Research and Synthesis Operation ....... Radiation Protection Operation .............. Laboratory Auxiliaries Operation ............. Employee Relations Operation .............

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Manager, Chemical Research and Development. .V. R. Cooper Manager, Operations Research.........C.A. Bennett Manager, Physics and Instrument Research and Manager, Reactor and Fuels Research and

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&<ky@ defb '-ccrrveLf closing cost , it appears that the 48sca3 year ended with the operatLao i~ an acceptable positioo with respect k the S - p r ~ gm y have led, tkrrough delayed action, t o under-runs in several IE f a c t , it is probable that the severe control system applied TLLa qp lies ta the separate 3udgets for attendance a t meetings of professional a ~ r 3trade socle$ies, and for attendance at off - site courses and seminars. gri seer rir t.s cmc3de t&%t h e Laboratories' needs were satisfied by the sums mxSm ? reef fez t lv ely in nat iom l profess i mal affairs. I%:) suggest,ion awards were paid during June. %.?nount tc $2,849, which FncLuded a sizeable amount paid on matters pending a d cpem5ians we ?ace the risk of serious damage to t h e suggestion system i;firau@ lack of fuuds for the balance of the year. Calendar year payments t o date In common with other departments 1. Reactar ad Eels S b q l e mpesi.sn cladding of uranium was inadequate in organic coolants, due .tc wall. penetration of pyro li tic hydrogen. refa,ted tcor ~ m i ceoolaots were all favorable. Other reported tests en@o~rag2~1@;;we now have on hand three 48' ribbed tubes of promising -verkL:zsl. bc il hg curves for Hmford process tubes can now be cal - .:*;lst,ed fr x a at ral gh t fozward eq ir ical correlation; this should be frm ths fr set wed surface of a ursnium tensile specimen was obtained; 5% showed very spall v5ids.rot found i n %he unirradiated material. 'Ilze s t ~ d yof apprcpriate testing conditions for a fuel elemeat test rsa z tor was campleted. Scape preparation on t h e plutonium recycle program reactor is on sc bed de. Recent cost es+,-tes are in the acceptable range. The hazards evaha-klon report i s essenti-y complete, at draft stage.

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t5e obv.fow way 20 restore the required percentage of plutonium C,c, spent alloy fuels is ts add plutonium, tbe potentialities of A pzscticaL plam pmhler~involvbg release of presumably corrosive oxides of ti5xge3 in hrex waste tsdrs has developed. radioljs5s, Ega tmpem32-e deca3pcli5lx i n the presence of mild steel, Understanding is required

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de fLit4cr of ccndZtions under which radioactive liquid waste may In WQ1 smare dfzect interest, i% establishes that our processes are nof -?;?e m x r c e of this eont,amFratFon through lack of correlation with FY tie IPR pmgrm, the buckling of a lattice containing large solid ~ST.~JZ&LuracFum faei elements was measured ina small exponential pile LgX water m de rated lattice 53 sssist in developing nuclear Safety apecif5cections. A pmgram of: meam=ements t o develop a dissolver t o ~ d l eC.gk$ em faed elene?iC,s was dram up. on bpiz,>ge2eXIS enri zhed mani-m-wa%e- mktwes continued. pera.;Del 1~eCUer8, wkica em plop electronic pulae tecbniques. a d possibiLity of a utm at fc record bg and analysis of results by data delayed nextrcn groups f o r tfie PRPR.hazards report. cases of bGLl - out are being prepazed for running on the computer. E b e r 4as%z-mectat3m work involved major effcrt on the Radiotelemeterbg system, a transistor2zed Sc'in%iUai,ion Alpha Hand Counter, a Fluorescent Pae i cle Caunter, ada plutonium Mouse Counter ?or Biology research speed of res d bg, higher sensitivity, improved accuracy, For IPD, additional

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be.-a:ee cf 2% ireportaxe in r f v e r contamfnatlon, the Zn65 MPC is being reassessed in zats. %e bone is def3aitel.y shown t o be %he critical 02 :zs-iLts, wkicb differ fmm $he claseical concepts, have a vltal bearing CD Yae pemisaLble number of nuclear tests. T3yrr+.d damsge was observed to result in swine fed 45 T of 1'3.1. daily for IT-...-e de%enxLza?;bz of the dis - t r ~ but ~ o nof radioisotopes in gonads was irL%a:ed et5 Cs137 ahi xh te red to rats; this will be part of a battery ~f st.-;Ces GG tzkzil, gonad dose in the a t o d c age. lccrfh. Fisalon products, probably cming from the recent Nevada shots, One case of p k b n i u u deposLtPon (less than 18 CPC) was confirmed durFng the me mremge ch?ly eds sion of I1g frm chemical proeessiag plants continued t o decreeae to C.4 curie as ccsrpared t o 0.6 curie i n May. t5.e plant 0% the mall a s m a t s of HAP0 genemted 1 1 3 was completely masked by The deposition outside Three teck i esl overexposures occurred. t o +,he skin of 4 rads and 36 rads. exposure t o beta aQd was detected on t h e employee's film badge. 'pwo of these involved localized doses The remaining case involved whole body Tfae term hd report on co zp rst ive dimenslcnal stability of I and E and solid -2. elements was issued.

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& sia cf We rheE t support t o Prjcess Equipment Developmnt Operation. Greater coverage w i l l be provided various €€LO components. k zac gem x k hs-re beec made with CEO t o record and report costs of HLO spx::>ccred prajac$s. Report,s will be available t o HLO personnel, showing iq-tc:-b%e costs on a weekly basis. A FA--- .,Ady is zm-rer',Ly i n progress t o determine status of FY 1958 equipment f:m6& e& s --esu.l% of AEC ehangbg fm an obligational ceiling to a cost In process items will be reported t o Level 3 Mamgers for Az-rar-gmcts bve begun t o place the Hot-Semi Works i n standby status (See also Budgets and Costs) Appraval has been received from AEX t o write-off SS materials 2.Eq lo yee Relakions A t mo~zth'send, the staff of the Hanford Laboratories Operation totaled 1,154, including 481 exempt arrd 673 non-exempt employees. 403 ex qt a ploy ees possessing tec iz ical degrees including 203 BS, 103 MS The ffrs': twr, cmzses 02' PBM - 1 were coq let ed during June with 33 graduates.

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professors aad one emplcyee of QRCXI-AECI partFcipst’Lng. A 390 Area Open House was heid c,r 1 under the jcict apezlsorsLip of There were 36 medical trea-kmen2 &juries during the month f o r a frequency of 2.07 cmpared t o 1.42 last rnorxfk.. Two unstlal incidect,s were reported possibilities is being undertaken. exe ed st ke expected incidence, acd a care5.d restudy of improvement The sta*us of t h e Maki grlevazze mmk~sunchanged.

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REACTOR AND FUELS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT O?ERATION grooves and pits on the downstream fuel elements. These downstream elements were jacketed with M-388 aluminum alloy rather than the standard 1245 alloy, and the question arose whether these grooves and pits, hereafter called erosion-corrosion, were characteristic only of the position of the element in the reactor and the operating conditions, or were an indication of a greater susceptibility to this type of attack A similar attack was produced in the 314 Building low temperature loop by disturbing the water flow. Corrosion rates of several mils per day were produced on spool pieces and lesser rates on the slugs downstream to this attack than the softer M-1245. Also, sections of the can wall were examined metallographically in Radiometallurgy to elucidate the extent and nature of the can wall attack. The deepest observed pits extended into but not through the AlSi. There was no mechanical deformation of the grain structure nor any evidence of intergranular or transgranular corrosion. From all of these tests it is concluded that the observed grooves and pits were due to erosion-corrosion and were characteristic of the slug position and operating conditions rather than any greater susceptibility of M-388alloy. In these tests M-388was actually shown to be more resistant The production test was continued in C Reactor under different exposure conditions, and no evidence of erosion-corrosion appeared in this part of the test. The slugs in C Reactor were charged in B-D-F tubes (small annulus) and consequently ran at considerably higher temperature than compared with 900 MWD/T at H Reactor. Exposures at C Reactor were approximately 500 MWD/T Chromic Acid Autoclaving of Fuel Elements. Production Test Lp-59A authorizes an in-reactor corrosion test of standard fuel elements autoclaved in one percent aqueous chromic acid at 170 C for 40 hours. The required 170 fuel elements so treated have been processed and are ready for charging. This autoclave treatment produces a small amount of a highly localized corrosion on the surface of the fuel element. This corrosion takes the form of a small irregular elongated pit (about 20 mils wide, 50 to 150 mils long, 3 to 6 mils deep) filled with adherent corrosion product. Attempts to eliminate this localized attack have not been successful to

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Effect of Iron Additions t o Can Stock. minum containing 0.21 t o 1.5 Fe have been tested in water ata temperature i n which normal can stock fails by rapid intergranular attack. Preliminary test's have shown that small iron additions reduce the susceptibility to this type of attack. The series of alloys described above i s being studied t o determine whether the effect of iron is t o increase the induction time before intergranular attack begins orto decrease the actual rate of inter - granular attack. Preliminary studies a t 290 C suggest the main effect is increase of the induction time. More experiments a t 290 C and other tem - peratures are planned. Eight alloys based on 1245 aluEvaluation of Zirconium Alloy Weldments. There i s no current HAP0 standard for the corrosion evaluation of zirconium alloy weldments. In cooperation with the Structural Materials Development Operation, corrosion testing techniques will be sought which: (2) reduce test time toa minimum, and (3)establish proper welding condithe conditions, 750 F and 2000 psi, used a t WAPD in similar testing. Methods established by this study will be applied inthe 12' long autoclave t o be procured for testing PRPR fuel elements. (1) differentiate good and bad weldments, A small testing facility has been assembled which will operate a t Organic Coolants. Zirconium has favorable properties of high temperature strength and low neutron cross-section. However, zirconium reacts with hydrogen with almost complete loss of ductility, and hydrogen is always present i n organic cooled reactors from the thermal and radio ly tic breakdown of t h e organic coolant. Hydrogen pickup seems t o be a function of time, temperature, and partial pressure of hydrogen, and t h e following experiments were intended t o define the allowable ranges of these variables. pressure was not under adequate control, hence only total pressures are The hydrogen partial Hydrogen Content of Zirconium i n Closed Systems Time, days Max. Press., psig

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Corrosion of Irradiated Uranium in MIPB (RM-171). piece of irradiated uranium (520MWD/T) was immersed in fifty milliliters of monoisopropyl biphenyl (MIPB) at 400 C for 90 hours, with the pressure over the liquid held to less than 300 psi. sample showed no evidence of any corrosive attack. indicated a weight loss of 0.024 g, in substantial agreement with corrosion rates measured previously under comparable conditions for unirradiated the same conditions of temperature and pressure. uranium cored thermocouple slug which was cold canned, point closed with two thermocouples was examined after irradiation (GEH-4-C) . irradiation dimensional measurements showed the canned slug to be elliptical, with a minor diameter of 1.441 and major diameters of frorc 1.446 to 1.452 inches. The pre-irradiation dimension was 1.440 inches. The slug was sectioned and revealed no evidence of melting or any gross dimensional Visual examination of the The weight change The same sample has been started on a twenty-one-day test under Coaxial Fuel Element Examination (GEH-4-15)(RM-175). A three-eighthsinch thick transverse wafer was removed from the center of the coaxial fuel element to determine by metallography and hardness examination whether any phase changes had occurred in the slug. was completely unbonded throughout the slug. The center section Rupture - GEH-4-20-G(RM-195). Two cored, ceramic, uranium dioxide fuel elements irradiated to about one MWD/T (GEH-4-20-G)are being examined to determine the cause of rupture. in the weld of the female end of sample GEH-4G-1. This piece also exhibited marked warping. Visual inspection disclosed a crack The male end of sample GEH-4G-3which mated with the cracked weld of sample GEH-4G-1showed evidence of cracking or scaling of the weld. exact nature has not been determined. No other signs of defects were seen on either sample. Basic Metallurgy Studies Optical and Electron Microscopy. The examination of the microstructure of materials by microscopic techniques is a relatively simple and valuable way for detecting the effect of prior treatments. tionship between prior histories, such as fabrication, heat treatment, and perhaps most important, reactor irradiation, and the associated microstructural changes are understood, a logical approach to improving the performance of reactor materials can be made. ported, the microstructures of irradiated uranium metallographic specimens have been studied by direct comparison of identical areas in replicas of the specimens prepared before and after irradiation. Some microstructural changes have been detected. (154) diffraction peak shape and position for the three specimens irradiated to approximate burnups of 0.03, 0.07, and 0.1 percent have been X-ray diffraction study of the

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conducted. Preliminary analysis indicates very little damage t o the specimens, which is i n accord with the microscopic observations. Density, hardness, and chemical burnup measurements will be made i n order that the irradiation effects can be characterized more accurately. The development of the microstructure of materials is essential to microscopic studies. Etching by ion bombardment appears t o be universally applicable to metals, cermets, and refractory materials. A paper descri bing the apparatus, procedure, and results by ion bombardment has been prepared f o r publication. Specimens of reactor grade graphite and thorium - 5 w/o uranium alloy have been etched and optical and electron microscope studies are now i n progress. Study of the fracture surfaces of irradiated uranium and non-irradiated sintered uranium oxide specimens is also under way. A note describing a method developed for optically isolating a prescribed area of a metallographic spec ben for subsequent electron microscope study has been prepared f o r …