Hanford Laboratories Operation Monthly Activities Report December, 1959

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Ope rat ion Managers 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 ATQ45-1)-1350. Any views or opinions expressed in the report are those of the author only. THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SCANNED1

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Atomic Energy Commission, Hanford Operation Office, G. F. Quinn, Director, Division of Production, Savannah River Operations Office , Aiken, South Carolina

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Reactor and Fuels Research and Development Physics and Instrument Research and Development Chemical Research and Development Operation. . . Radiation Protect ion Ope rat ion. ....... Laboratory Auxiliaries Operation ....... Professional Placement and Relations Practices . .

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Manager, Physics and Instrument Research and Manager, Reactor and Fuels Research and Manager, Professional Placement and Relations

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Costs for December were $1,851,000, a decrease of $97,000 from currently authorized to Hanford Laboratories. programs at December 31, 1959 have the following cost-budget relationFiscal year-to-date costs are 49% of the amounts Cost Budget 70 Spent Research and development costs for the Hanford Product Departments w e r e in line with the amounts authorized except for the IPD - New Production Reactor. Funds for F Y 1960 w e r e 6670 spent at the end of from the Irradiation Processing Department. An increased authorization in this category is expected RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 1. Reactor and Fuels The PRTR Phase III contract is 48.5% complete versus a scheduled 54'10 based on a contract completion date of May 20, 1960. A study of problems associated with cooling the PRTR in the event of a comibined BPA outage and emergency generator failure w a s completed and issued a s HW-63046. The report of comments by HLO on the engineering review of the PRTR by APED has been published a s The PRTR spare shaft-seal pump was disassembled after 2000 hours of operation. Excessive wear, approximately 1/4 inch, on the primary seal is attributed to helium coming out of solution as the pressure is reduced across the seal face. water into the seal chaamber is being investigated asa possible solution to this problem. Approximately half of the 85 PRTR process tubes have passed all tests and surface preparation steps and are ready for reactor ready when required by the Phase UI construction contractor. The balance of the tubes needed are expected to be

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Design progress on loops and associated PRTR facilities wasas follows: the design criteria for the High Pressure Loop were approved and issued as HW-61543, and an evaluation of the effects of the High Pressure Loop on PRP objectives has been issued as HW-62531. The scope description for the Fuel Element Rupture Facility w a s issued as HW-62878. proposal for the Plutonium Recycle Critical Facility were completed and a r e being circulated for approval. portion of the Pressurized Gas Cooled Loop has been completed. Heat transfer experiments to define the thermal hydraulic behavior of the concentric tubular fuel element w e r e completed to tube powers of 1530 kw. At these powers, which are 25% greater than the maximum proposed f o r PRTR operation, flow reductions to give outlet s t e a m qualities of 16% by weight were accomplished with no adverse effects, The design criteria and project The design of the in-reactor A 19-rod A1-Pu alloy fuel element was irradiated without incident to an average burnup of 4370 of Pu atoms and a maximum of 60% in design closely simulated expected PRTR conditions except for length of the element (33" core). Similar 7-rod clusters are operating successfully in the ETR 3" x 3" loop and in a KER loop. Heat fluxes, fuel temperatures and fuel Twenty -four Zir caloy- clad Al- P u fue 1 capsules have been irradiated to date with heat fluxes up to 950, 000 B T U / h r f t 2 and burnup as high a s 100% of PU atoms. of these capsules has been noted, and the fuel c o r e s were readily removed from the cladding after irradiation. No significant change in external dimensions with heat fluxes as'high a s 440, 000 BTU / h r ft2. occurred during the irradiation of any plutonium containing capsule o r cluster to date. No failures have Components have been assembled for a resumption of development work on the nested tubular fuel element. Redesign of end hangers and tube closures has radically reduced machining costs for this

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Comparative room-temperature burst tests and flattening tests on sections of unirradiated and high-irradiated KER Zircaloy-2 pressure tubing indicated that the ductility of the Zircaloy was only partially destroyed by the irradiation. 'burst with ductile fractures, rupturing a t slightly higher internal pressures than comparable unirradiated tubes. The two irradiated tube sections both More abrasion-resistant autoclave films a r e produced on Zircaloy-2 by increasing either the autoclaving time or temperature. the time 10-fold doubled the film weight but increased its abrasion The first graphite samples removed from the GETR after prolonged irradiation at temperatures up to 1500 C showed small length increases rather than the expected contractions. However, the capsule contents showed that some of the aluminum structural components had melted, and the expansion observed in the graphite may have been caused by chemical reaction with aluminum vapor. Other high-temperature irradiation t e s t s continue to show that the needlecoke graphites exhibit better irradiation stability than CSF graphite. Autoclave tests in 400 C steam indicate that a 1500 psi autoclave proof test for NPR production fuel gives a far more rapid defect indication than 100 psi testing. defected NPR fuel samples in 300 C water at 1500 psi indicate that a 10-milZircaloy cladding ruptures sooner but then proceeds at a slower rupturing rate than 30-mil clad samples. Autoclave rupture tests of pre - The limitations of fuel element failure testing in autoclaves or e x - reactor loops were pointed up by the appearance of a coextruded rod which failed under irradiation. Significant undercutting, p r e - sumably resulting f r o m bond determination during irradiation, was The first deliberate rupture test with a coextruded Zircaloy-clad element was conducted in the HAP0 3x3 loop in the ETR. element was irradiated at full reactor power and loop temperature f o r seven hours after defecting the element. Operability of the in-reactor rupturing device was confirmed and prototype NPR instrumentation given an evaluation t e s t during this experiment.

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Evaluation of a ruptured tubular fuel element has revealed as much a s 500 ppm of hydrogen in the Zircaloy cladding. This element had incurred heavy crud deposits during irradiation, and high clad temperatures are, therefore, assumed to have existed during HW-63139 reports the results of a study to predict the events occurring in a production reactor process tube with no coolant flow Recovery of neptunium in Redox was judged feasible by more than one method. Laboratory results, though not complete, confirm the methods proposed. Close cooperation between CPD and HLO personnel has continually improved methods by which crude fission product concentrates can be removed f r o m the limited head-end equipment in the Purex plant. Methods now exist f o r cesium, strontium, cerium, and promethium but yields a r e not high. All components of the Fission Product Packaging Prototype except the filter were demonstrated in operational testing. tions were achieved. Inspection of the dismantled Radiant Heat Spray Calciner column after 200 hours of high temperature operation revealed no detrimental corrosion to column internals. Remote operation and maintenance awaits Successful shakedown of the prototype fluid-bed waste calciner was completed with a Redox-type waste feed. Study of Purex Tank Farm condensate decontamination is planned in a pilot-scale mineral bed column completed in the 271-CR Facility. Corrosion tests were initiated on twelve experimental Ni-Cr-Fe-Mo alloys prepared by Battelle Memorial Institute as potential dissolver materials. Significant differences in corrosion were observed over the range of alloy composition in various media.

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First experiments with irradiated U02 feed for Salt Cycle tests showed satisfactory dissolution of the fuel wafer and electrodeposiMeasurement indicated low gross decontamination a s 3. Physics and Instrument Research and DeveloDment Reactor phykics measurements continued on natural uranium fuel elements similar in size to N reactor elements. been taken now to verify that the N reactor if fueled with natural uranium would lose reactivity upon loss of water. the uranium is not expected to alter this picture. Enough data have In the NPR Fuel Failure Monitor Program, laboratory tests demonst rated the validity of the concept of rapid mechanical scanning with one detector of gamma activity f r o m a number of samples. These tests demonstrated the feasibility of scanning rates of twenty samples per second. Ten monitor stations monitoring 102 samples each would be required for the full N P R installation. The detailed mechanical design for the system is 5070 complete? Study of the reactor kinetic equations indicate that the solutions under some conditions are more unstable for a large reactor with non-uniform flux distribution than for a small reactor with uniform flux. The first approximate solutions obtainable analytically also indicate the possibility for spatial flux distributions different f r o m those caused by xenon poisoning. An experiment began in the PCTR to measure the ''neutron tempera - ture" of a graphite cylinder surrounded by graphite at a different neutrons f r o m the Maxwellian distribution characterized by the cylinder temperature to the distribution characterized by the tempera - ture of the surrounding graphite. of similar work previously done in slab geometry. The purpose of this work is to study the transfer of This experiment is an extension In the Plutonium Recycle Program, satisfactory results were obtained f r o m the evaluation of the Minneapolis -Honeywell Automatic Controller for the PRTR. The analog computer was used to simulate the reactor and the controller was connected to control the simulated reactor Demonstrations and instrumentations were given to PRTR Operations

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Work continued on the PRTR Wide Angle Viewer, Profilometer, and evaluation of the Rupture Monitor. planning and preparation of the PRTR startup experiments. Orderly progress was made in In the Nuclear Safety Program, PCTR measurements in support of processing of nonproduction fuels showed that 3% enriched uranium solutions will always be safe when the ratio of hydrogen to total uranium atoms is greater than 44. Major construction work on the Critical Mass Laboratory is nearing completion on schedule. finishing and equipment installation. The remaining work is primarily interior Nuclear Safety experiments continued on heterogeneous and homogeneous systems in support of power reactor fuels processing. Advice was furnished CPD on the design of a fuel element mechanical disassembly cell and a fuel element dissolver. Some difficulties are being experienced in the Nondestructive Test - ing Program in obtaining the desired sensitivity from the experimental broadband eddy current equipment being used to measure the Z r jacket thickness and air gap thickness in unbonded PuAl fuel elements. Work oegan on a new investigation of infrared and inductive thermometry methods of measuring the heat transfer characteristics of fuel elements. Operation of the Shielded Personnel Monitoring Station was improved ay installation of a thin lead lining on the inner walls of the iron room to reduce the background f r o m low energy radiation. Neutron dosimetry problems a r e being given increased attention on a plant -wide basis through cooperative technical meetings and Reduction of data f r o m the Atmospheric Physics experiments of last summer extended the previous Air Force data for an 800 meter grid to distances of 2, 8, and 16 miles in a logical and consistent manner. These results and a preliminary study of predicting initial arrival times for particles downwind from a source during inversion conditions were transmitted to the Air Force. Orderly progress was made on the development of a number of radiological instruments in support of the Biology and Medicine program.

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It was noted that radiation induced darkening of long glass fibers being investigated for u s e a s light pipes for flexible probe scintillation detectors may be turned to advantage a s a method for integrated Beta emitters in fish collected at Hanford were present in approximately one-third the concentration observed one y e a r ago. Concentration of Zn65 in o y s t e r s was higher than in any other mollusks sampled at Willapa Bay and ten times that in specimens from Dungeness. P32 concentration in fish held in effluent treated with aluminum turnings was approximately half that of fish held in untreated effluent. In five of a total of 14 weanling pigs from sows fed 25 pc/day SrgO, there was a suggestion of microcytic anemia. Body burden is estimated at 5 to 1Obc S r 9 0 . Increase of plutonium excretion from pigs was much greater than predicted from r a t studies. is presumed to reflect a higher level deposition in pigs a s compared Increase was largely in the feces and Preliminary data suggest a slight advantage of tourniquets in decreasing transfer of plutonium from contaminated wounds. No increase in polyvinylpyrrolidone excretion through the intestine was noted in dogs irradiated w i t h 350 and 500 r X-rays. Permeability studies on yeast suggest that increased permeability is a consequence of damage to transport systems rather than to a generalized permeability of the membrane. A program of research and development was outlined for additional efforts on ionium recovery and preparation of uranium-232. The report which was prepared supporting a request for about forty kilograms of high Pu-240 plutonium for PRTR w a s issued.

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Initial planning and evaluation was begun on the possible approaches to the economic model for the plutonium value study. Three speakers have now accepted our invitations to participate in the 1960 Hanford Science Colloquium. These speakers are : Dr.Soma Kagan, staff economist'tor the Joint Council on Economic Education; Dr. Joseph Kaplan, U. 8. Chairman of the International Geophysical Year; and D r . George Gamow, physicist and noted TECHNICAL AND OTHER SERVICES Work on the GCL estimation program is essentially complete although extensive testing remains to be done. A final r e p o r t was issued upon an investigation of the effect of exposure angle on gamma film badge response. Several approximating solutions were obtained to the mathematical model of the heat transfer process during the regenerative phase of a gas-catalytic reactor WhiCh clearly exhibit the travelling heat wave phenomenon that has been consistently observed in physical models. Work on 7 operations analysis programs continued during the month. In addition, statistical and mathematical assistance on 18 problems was given within HLO and to other .departments and operations. Seven minor plutonium deposition c a s e s were confirmed during the month. The total number of deposition c a s e s that have occurred at HAP0 is 244 and 1 7 7 a r e currently employed. A Report to the Community - Radiation Protection at Hanford, was presented over KEPR-TV, …