Hanford Laboratories Operation Monthly Acitivites Report January, 1960

Page 1

HANFORD LABORATORIES OPERATION MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SCANNED AND IS STORED ON THE OPTICAL DISK DRIVE HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION

Page 2

This document consists of 157 pages. Copy No. of tE7 copies. Series 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 w o r k under Atomic Energy Commission report a r e those of the author only, Any views or opinions expressed in the THIS DOCUMENT IS PUBLiCLY AVAIL AS LE

Page 3

Atomic Energy Commission, Hanford Operations Office, Savannah Rivet- Operations Office, Aiken, South Carolina

Page 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS 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 Professional Placement and Relations Practices

Page 5

Manager, Hanford Laboratories . Manager, Chemical Research and Development Manager, Operations Research and Synthesis . Manager, Physics and Instrument Research and Manager, Radiation Protection . Manager, Reactor and Fuels Research and Manager, Professional Placement and Relations

Page 7

Costs for January were $1,820, 000, a decrease of $31, 000 from currently authorized to Hanford Laboratories. programs at January 31 have the following cost-budget relationship: Fiscal year-to-date costs are 5670 of the amounts (Dollars in Thousands) cost Budget 70 Spent An increase of $223, 000 for research and development on IPD sponsored programs was received during the month. research and development for Hanford Product Departments are in line with amounts authorized. Costs of HLO RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 1. Reactor and Fuels The PRTR Phase I11 contract is about 5570 complete versus a primary shields is completed. has oeen discussed with AEC Hazards Evaluation Branch personnel. and a final review oy the ACRS w a s held on January 2 8 . Writing of Critical Test outlines for PRTR startup is complete and review i y tne Startup Council has oegun An analysis of PRTR primary pump rundown times following simulated total loss of electrical power indicates that present pump flywheel assemblies a r e adequate to prevent ooiling in the hottest channel of the reactor Fabrication of the calandria and top and bottom The PRTR Final Safeguards Analysis Full operational control of the Plutonium Fabrication Pilot Plant was estaslished during the month, and on January 22, the first tions in the cuilding had oeen w i t h fully jacketed plutonium-enriched materials o r dummy materials ~

Page 8

Local overheating produced by draining the water w a s determined to be the cause of the pressure tube failure in the 6x9 loop a t the A sufficient number of swaged U 0 2 fuel rods has been fabricated to fulfill the needs of the f i r s t PRTR fuel loading. End closures on swaged rods made by welding have shown an acceptance r a t e of 99. 5 percent in the past three months. The 46 PRTR Zircaloy process tuoes with acid-stained surfaces have been reprocessed, and between 85 and 9 0 tubes which meet all specifications are expected to be ready for installation in the Initial heat transfer experiments were performed to determine circumferential temperature variations around Hanford fue 1 elements and to investigate forced convection boiling qy high speed gradients within the cooling water and local boiling effects can be Preliminary results indicate that temperature A study of thermal damage to irradiated masonite when heated in a i r at temperatures up to 200 C has ueen completed at the request of the masonite siiields to an air atmosphere has oeen raised from As a result of this study the temperature limit for exposure Tensile properties of specimens cut from the discharged KER loop show effects of thermal recovery and radiation hardening. strengths of the irradiated specimens varied from 50, 300 psi to 99, 000 psi a s compared to the average yield strength of the unirradiated material of 88, 300 psi. The irradiated Zircaloy-2 KER tuce sections which were ourst tested at room temperature (reported last month) elongated 2. 7 and 3. 070, somewhat less than the 3 . 370 elongation for the two unirradiated control samples. The defected rod from the f i r s t ETR intentional rupture test has aeen sectioned through the defect. packet of oxide 1/8” in diameter within the defect. Examination disclosed a small The rod did

Page 9

not measurably distort. ppm at the outer surface to 50 ppm at the inner surface were found in the Zircaloy-2 cladding of the ruptured rod f r o m the 7-rod cluster element which failed in the KER Loop 2 in October 1959. Hydride concentrations varying from 280 Pickling Lircaloy-2 surfaces p r i o r to salt oath heat treatment of NPR size coextruded tubes was found to be the source of d O ppm of hydrogen in the cladding. Vapor blasting between pickling and heat treatment eliminated this pickup oy removing the layer of zirconium Hot heading has been successfully employed to produce closures in 1. 8" KER s i z e Zircaloy-2 clad coextruded inner tubes. Laboratory hydriding studies show that the NPR gas atmosphere must be maintained free of hydrogen to avoid r i s k of hydriding the NPR Zircaloy process tubes from the gas side. A pre-autoclaved film on the Zircaloy tubes gives temporary but not absolute protection. Twenty-one NPR prototype Lircaloy-2 process tubes w e r e ready for inspection at two vendors' plants at the end of January. Graphite contractions ranging generally from 0. 03% to 1% were measured f r o m the second high temperature graphite experiment removed f r o m the GETR, after a maximum damaging dose equivalent to about 10, 000 MWD/AT in a Hanford reactor. The needlecoke graphites generally contracted l e s s than CSF graphite, and all samples showed higher contraction r a t e s at higher temperature. Analysis O P the effect of the Fuel Element Rupture Test Faci1it.y effect to be small. Preliminary heat transfer experiments with a PRTR 19 -rod cluster fuel element indicate moderately lower heat transfer coefficients within the element from surfaces facing the larger flow areas, from surfaces facing the process tuoe wall. and from those surfaces behind awire wrap, Texture studies of Zircaloy-2 coextruded with uranium have revealed an alignment of the prismatic planes normal to the extrusion direction. The basal planes a r e predominately at angles of approximately 5 5 O to the tuoe radius. This structure is quite different from that in extruded Zircaloy tubing.

Page 10

After irradiation, no visible changes were found in the U02 adjacent to an intentionally produced defect in the Zircaloy-2 cladding of a swaged fuel rod. Although hydride w a s observed in the cladding near the defect, the oxide fuel appeared to have operated in a No measurable creep has been observed in a Zircaloy-2 creep specimen under irradiation at a stress of 25, 600 psi up to 550 F (288 C) for the last month 01exposure. The particle s i z e of - 0 2 produced by calcining the oxalate in a i r with temperature up to 2 . 3 microns at 1000 C , the highest temperaOn further heating particle size increases Ten Zircaloy clad aluminum dummy PRTR elements have been thermally cycled at atmospheric pressure eighty times with no cycling tests at 1000 psi. Samples a r e being prepared for thermal 2 . Chemical Research and Development Equipment will be ready on time in the A cell of the High Level Radiochemistry Facility to demonstrate promethium recovery from the forthcoming plant-prepared rare earth concentrate. Intensive laboratory research resulted in firming up important flowsheet details for the strontium recovery process destined f o r In the development of fission product isolation and prototype equipment, manipulator, hydrolyzer and filter difficulties were encountered and progress was made toward their solution. appears not to be a problem at lower temperatures. Fluid-bed calciner studies in the prototype equipment and batch calcination tests yielded significant findings for simulated ICPP and other high-level wastes. The u s e of Mistron (a surface active agent) in pilot plant studies significantly decreased gross crud formation in a Purex-HA-type column without producing oovious adverse effects on column p e r -

Page 11

Development of methods continued in the study of mechanical handling, feed preparation, extraction and materials of construction for non-production fuels reprocessing. Loss of plutonium on p r e - cipitated molybdic oxide formed in the dissolution of U-Mo fuels in strong nitric acid may be a proolem. composition but staoilized with titanium rather than niobium shows oetter corrosion resistance than the usual alloy and has good promise for u s e in decladding and core dissolution equipment. An alloy of Hastelloy F In research on the Salt Cycle process, plutonium dioxide dissolved from the irradiated mixed oxide and co-deposited with the uranium dioxide in the reduction step; 00th oehaviors a r e opposite from those found with unirradiated fuel. value in the handling of blended fuels for recycle. The anomalous behavior may be of 3 . Physics and Instrument Research and DeveloDment Reactor physics measurements were made with the PCTR on tubein-tube fuel elements in a graphite lattice similar to that for the N reactor. The PCTR also was used to study the effect of graphite temperature on neutron temperature using a core of solid graphite. Experiments were completed over the temperature range from Development t e s t s were completed on the detectors and circuitry for the prototype 105-N Building a r e a radiation monitor. development continued on the N P R Fuel Failure Monitor program with completion of new circuits which improve the discrimination between signals from adjacent fuel channels. The power decay of the NPR for the first minute following a scram has been studied with the analog computer. During this period the temperature feedoack from the heat exchangers may be ignored and the coolant flow r a t e and temperature assumed to remain studied with the analog computer and a simulation of the NPR Heat Exchanger System is being prepared. Various NPR startup situations a r e currently Deing In the Nuclear Safety Program, criticality experiments were oegun with Pu-A1 alloy ( 5 w / o Pu)fuel element rods in light water. near serious contamination incident occurred in this work when a

Page 12

compound w a s squeezed out of one of the rods by action. Similar criticality experiments also were conducted with 0.175-inch diameter uranium rods of 3. 063 percent of spent power reactor fuels were studied and safe dimensions were determined for a dissolver design. Nuclear safety studies associated with the dissolution Evaluation tests were completed on the detectors for the PRTR Fuel Failure Monitor. components for probes for measuring the temperature of irradiated Radiation damage tests are under way on In the Nondestructive Testing Research Program, the experimental oroadband eddy current equipment has shown sufficient sensitivity under ideal laboratory conditions to measure either clad thickness o r a i r gap thickness for unbonded Pu-A1 alloy core, Zircaloy clad, fuel rods. .Further refinements are needed to make this a practical fabrication control tool. Infrared methods for determining the heat transfer characteristics of fuel element core-cladding interfaces a r e under investigation. A photoelectric system was devised for detecting s m a l l cracks and flaws on the inside surfaces of tubes. The defects a r e revealed ~ j ythe fluorescence of dye penetrant material under ultraviolet illumination. The Shielded Personnel Monitoring Station was closed for two weeks for changes to the cell door to permit it to be opened from the inside even in the event of power failure. A recalibration of the whole ljody counter f o r potassium increases previously reported results by 15% and brings them into good agreement with the results of other laborafor Zinc-65 because of the presence of potassium. Average values of Linc-65 found in people a r e decreased 20 percent oy this change. This also led to a change in the correction in the calculation In the Atmospheric Physics Program, the determinations of filter loadings of tracer materials collected during last summer ' s dispersion experiments were temporarily delayed. The filter assay equipment failed to maintain adequate calibration over the wide range of pigment loadings encountered. is oeing requisitioned. of the field sampling grid to 3, 200 m e t e r s distance from the source and including all 20 sampling towers. More adequate equipment Plans were completed for the reactivation

Page 13

Development continued on a numoer of radiological instruments in support of the Biology and Medicine program. results w e r e obtained with a new high level alpha air monitor and with a transistorized portaole beta-gamma dose-rate meter which has either a linear ora logarithmic response. Biological monitoring revealed no marked trends from the pattern developed in previous years. Acute lethal dose of inhaled plutonium oxide appears to be l e s s for beagle dogs than earlier estimated. dogs dying within two months after exposure w e r e less than 50 uc. Initial lung burdens for Fecal excretion of intravenous administered P V P occurs when rats are exposed to single doses of 1, 000 r , out does not occur when the dose is given in 250 r increments over a period of two seen with radiation. Nitrogen mustard provoked a response similar to that Swine exposed to 900 r total-oody x-irradiation w e r e treated with injections of 70-day-old fetal swine hematopoietic tissue. animals died, suggesting that such young fetal cells afford no Commission approval was granted for the program to prepare about 40 kg of high exposure plutonium for Plutonium Recycle Program use by the irradiation of Pu-A1 fuel elements in SRP Work was completed on improving and converting from IBM-650 to IBM-709 format the Meleager, PUCK, and GPR plutonium fuel cycle analysis codes. Current and potential programs for the AEC Division of Reactor Development were reviewed with senior DRD personnel.

Page 14

A review of all 6000 Program activities was presented to the Advisory Committee to the AEC Division of Biology and Medicine TECHNICAL AND OTHER SERVICES The programming of the GCL estimation procedure for systems of structural equations has been completed and the program is now being Assistance has been given in designing experimentation procedures to obtain information concerning rupture r a t e s at powers and exposures beyond the range of present experience. formation essential in making long t e r m expansion plans at HAPO, the test as designed w i l l also answer questions concerning certain aspects of the fuel element manufacturing process. In addition to supplying inStudies a r e oeing made of the behavior of the solutions to the threeparameter differential equation of reactor kinetics" mate solutions thus far obtained have exhibited instability. A statistical analysis of zirconium corrosion data was completed and the results will oe used to calibrate future autoclave experimentation. Statistical studies …