Hanford Laboratories Operation Monthly Activities Report November, 1961

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HANFORD LABORATORIES OPERATION MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT BOX No. om THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN SCANNED AND IS STORED ON THE OPTiCAL DISK DRIVE HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION RICH LAND, WASHINGTON

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plied, with respectto the accuracy, comort, or that the use of ony informotion, Assumes any liabilities with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from the use of As used in the above, 'person acting on behalf of the Commission' includes any employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor, to the extent that such employee or contractor of the Commission, or employee of such contractor prepores, disseminates, or provides access to, any information pursuant to his employment or contract with the Commission, or his employment with apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe privately owned rights; or any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report. - - .

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HANFORD LABORATORIES OPERATION MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT Location Route Date Signature and Date HANFORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION RICH LAND, WASHINGTON This report was prepared only for use within General Electric Company in the course of work under Atomic Energy Commission Contract AT(45-1)-1350. Any views o r opinions expressed in the report a r e those of the author only.

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Atomic Energy Commission, Hanford Operations Office F. P. Baranowski, Director, Division of Production Savannah River Operations Office, Aiken, South Carolina

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Force Report and Personnel Status Changes General Summary . . v through xiv Reactor and Fuels Research and Development Physics and Instrument Research and Development UNC LA SSIFI ED

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BUDGETS AND COSTS November operating costs. totaled $2, 185, 000; fiscal year-to-date costs are $11,431,000 o r 42% of the $27,138, 000 control budget. increased by $800,000 to reflect the additional amount promised by and development costs for November, compared with last month and the control budget areas follows: The budget has been Hanford Laboratories research RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 1. Reactor and Fuels Metallic NPR fuel irradiated to 3600 MWD/T in the KER loops showed a decrease in density of a.6%. Other specimens irradiated to 2400 MWD/T . Heat treatment studies show that although preferred orientation in the uranium metal is an important cause of warp following a first beta heat treatment, warp on subsequent heat treatment is determined more by variations in cladding and uranium tube wall thicknesses. A device to intermix the three flow streams of the NPR fuel elements was designed and tested in the hydraulics laboratory. Mixing efficiency of the mixer was found by introducing salt solutions into entering flow streams and measuring concentrations in each of the flow s t r e a m s leaving the device.

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A U 0 2 fuel rod containing a 1/8 inch diameter segregated oraloy piece placed adjacent to the jacket operated satisfactorily in the MTR for 16 days at full power. No evidence of hot-spot failure was apparent. Three advanced-type U 0 2 fuel elements --vibrationally compacted concentric tubular and 19-rod elements and a hot swaged 19-rod element--were successfully irradiated in the PRTR at full power. The irradiation testing A cold-swaged U 0 2 element fabricated with central thermocouple wire was operated at 70 M W in PRTR and revealed a center Line fuel temperature 200 C less than the value used as. a design basis. A photomosaic of the c r o s s section of an irradiated loose powder U02 fuel element revealed sintering and grain growth similar to that observed in pelleted UOz, irradiated at comparable heat ratings. A cold swaged U02-Pu02 seven-rod cluster is under irradiation in the ETR fuel material have been completed with the exception of the autoclaving. Three Pu-A1 irradiation specimens containing 6.25, 27.17, and 16. 13 w/o plutonium-240 have completed their first cycle of irradiation in the MTR as a first step in the evaluation of the Phoenix concept. 240 sample is now being irradiated for a second cycle. No change in ID was noted in six PRTR process tubes monitored in-reactor during the month. shroud tube) w a s 90 mils for Tube 1857 (nominal is 270 mils, specified minimum is 50 mils). The smallest gas gap (between the process tube and the A new facility for stress-rupture testing of unirradiated pressure tubes at elevated temperatures is being put into use. stress-rupture tests, and two for burst tests. It includes six stations for A practical method of removing oil contamination from D 2 0 w a s develcped. Approximately 4000 lb of D 2 0 w a s suczessfully cleaned to less than 0.1 ppm turbidity by coagulating the oil with an aluminum hydroxide floc and subseDuring measurements of the temperature drops through aluminum corrosion films in deionized w a t e r at 6 0 0 F, the oxide films built up in thickness and then flaked off during times of temperature cycling.

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Samples of EGCR graphite have been successfully irradiated in the GETR to 60,000 MWD/AT. Samples of NPR graphite w i l l be charged into the GETR during the November 27 shutdown to start long-term proof test irradiations. In research on the swelling phenomenon, low burnup uranium specimens showed marked increases in porosity along the grain boundaries after annealing at 615 C, but at 575 C Very little effect w a s observed. increase in fission product gas mobility near 600 C is inferred. A creep test in-reactor w a s successfully initiated on a 2070 cold worked Zircaloy-2 specimen. Incorporation of water cooling coils in the creep capsule has alleviated excess gamma heating problems. At the test temperature of 310 C an initial creep rate less than the ex-reactor rate was observed. After 300 hours at a stress of 30, 000 psi the rate is 2.2 xin / i n / hr. stability in the transverse direction for annealed Zircaloy-2. instability, defined as the limit of uniform strain, is at a considerably higher strain value in the longitudinal direction. w a s observed to reduce the effect of irradiation on plastic instability in the The point of Cold working prior to irradiation An exposure of 1017 nvt (fast) w a s found to have different effects on cold worked and stress relieved molybdenum foils. a slight increase in x-ray lattice parameter while the stress relieved material showed no change. The cold worked foil showed Fourteen boiling burnout points w e r e determined in the laboratory with an electrically heated model of a 19-rod bundle fuel element. fluxes found were roughly the same magnitude as those found with test sections consisting of a single tube. need not be paid in the form of reduced heat fluxes o r lowered burnout safety factors when using 19-rod bundles as fuel elements in nuclear reactors. The burnout heat This indicates that severe penalties 2. Chemical Research and DeveloDment In laboratory tests simulating reaetor water-treatment processes, 2 0 ppm alum was found to be optimum for the removal of water impurity colloids. At this alum concentration, the alum floc and primary colloids form agglomerates which a r e large enough to settle rapidly o r to be easily filterAdsorption of P-32 and A s - 7 6 as phosphate and arsenate from process water onto aluminum turnings was studied under conditions which simulated those of reactor operations. The addition of sodium silicate at a concentration of 10 to 50 ppm a s silicon reduced the adsorption of these isotopes by three orders of magnitude.

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Preliminary measurements indicate the seepage of thermally warm (130 F) spring water into the 181-B forebay effects an approximate five degree rise in the intake water temperature. the warm w a t e r seepage corresponds to about six to nine per cent of the total influent volume. A chromatographic ion exchange process was demonstrated for the recovery and purification of promethium-147. (non-radioactive) samarium and neodymium. This and other measurements indicate that A total of 26, 600 curies of Pm-147 The product w a s radiochemically pure but contained some Studies of the extraction of cesium-137 from synthetic 103-A Purex waste supernate by dipicrylamine have revealed that the extraction efficiency is grossly affected by temperature. The extraction of cesium-137 is improved about six-fold when the temperature of the system is lowered from 50 to 6 C. Measurements were made at various temperatures and in the presence of inert and oxidizing atmospheres to determine the release of radiocerium, euthenium and zirconium f r o m the sodium cerium sulfate salt which is to be used for the offsite shipment of kilocurie quantities of Ce-144. Maximum measured releases for cerium, ruthenium and zirconium were 0.11, 3 and 5 . 5 per cent, respectively. Tests indicate that the double bellows jiggler ion exchange column is a competitor to the Higgins unit a s a semi-continuous contactor. unit contains no internal valves. Laboratory data have been obtained to show that strontium and r a r e earths can be extracted from formaldehyde-treated Purex wastes using di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid in the solvent. Inerts (chromium, iron, sodium, aluminum) and unwanted fission products (zirconium, niobium, ruthenium) a r e not Final material balances on the overall strontium-90 recovery program in the Hot Semiworks indicate that 745, 000 curies of strontium-90 which met product specifications and 170, 000 curies of strontium-90 requiring some further purification were recovered from a total input of 1, 180,000 curies. The HAP0 I Fission Product Shipping Cask (for cerium-144) w a s loaded and 2H20 and finely divided copper powder as feed, and 4 M HNOQ as dissolvent. Capacity of the filter cask exceeded the design capacity. A neutron multiplication instrument has been tested in the laboratory as a monitor to detect approach to criticality. and a conventional BF3 counter are under study. Both a solid state neutron detector

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In the advanced process control studies it has been can be represented by a mathematical model which necessary to represent experimental profile data. shown that the C-column has the characteristics Coefficients of the simultaneous differential equations were determined using the analog computer. Cathodically produced deposits of two to three g r a m UO2 crystals can be consistently prepared at 550 C in the PbC12-2. 5 KC1 system. Impurity levels in these large crystals are as low as 20 ppm P b and 10 ppm K. Other studies indicate the LiC1-KC1 system to be suitable for the growth of large, ceramic grade U02 crystals; and the crystal growth characteristics may depend strongly on the uranium concentration in the melt, formation of the larger crystals being favored by high uranium concentrations. Equilibrium experiments with clinoptilolite show that cesium is readily extracted from synthetic, formaldehyde-treated IWW waste at a pH a s low A Micro Pilot Plant run w a s completed in which the decontamination performance of a cation resin (Amberlite IR-120) followed in series by a mineral (clinoptilolite) w a s evaluated. Optimum removal of cesium-137 and strontium-90 from Purex condensate waste occurred at about pH 4; cesium was largely removed by clinoptilolite while strontium was primarily removed by the organic resin. Measurements w e r e made on the kinetics of erythrocyte hemolysis in isotonic solutions following absorption of gamma radiation. Erioglaucine at a concentration of 5 x w e r e found to protect the erythTocytes from radiation-induced hemolysis. M and several amino acids at 5 x M Physics and Instrument Research and Development A reactivity increase will occur in the NPR if water gets into the annular steam vents around the process tubes. by exponential pile measurements to be 1570 increase in buckling when the steam vents a r e half-filled with water. This expected effect was determined ' This corresponds to an increase in keff Of about 170. IPD is being aided through a technical review and audit of the NPR primary flow monitor and the total instrumentation system for the Heat Exchanger The reactor automatic control studies being conducted jointly with IPD moved forward with approval of a Production Test which authorizes experiments to obtain in-core neutron flux data a s a function of control rod position. equipment w i l l be installed at 105-KW during the next scheduled reactor

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Buckling measurements continued on a C-reactor mockup lattice. is a portion of a program to establish the safety of an overbored C-reactor during a flooding accident. Measurements of the critical mass of plutonium nitrate solutions continued in the Critical M a s s Laboratory. The effect of the vessel walls on critiassembly would have been lower by a volume equal to the stainless steel vessel wall volume if the walls had not been present. Roughly speaking, the critical volume of a reflected In the correlation of theory with experiment, calculations were extended to include plutonium nitrate solutions. ranging from 30 to 700 grams per liter. ment with critical masses measured to date. The results cover concentrations Initial comparisons indicate agreeMore detailed comparisons A n analog simulation of a chemical separations pulse column is being developed to guide process improvement. The first of f o p possible mathematical models of varying complexity to be tried gave results in reasonably satisfactory agreement with experimental data. In the Plutonium Recycle Program, a practical method for handling the non-linear aspects of equations giving isotopic changes with exposure has been developed. The method, involving a new approach to the coding of this general type of problem for machine solution, w i l l handle the equations in a simple and reliable manner with improved accuracy and represents a significant advance over MELEAGER. Measurements of the fuel temperature coefficient of 1.8 w / o LX PuAl were under way in the PCTR. Data have been taken for fuel temperatures up to temperature is extremely small. Preliminary data indicate that the variation in reactivity with In other calculational developments, a multi-group code HFN, w a s successfully applied to several test cases in preparation for its use in studies of plutonium value" in breeders. The same code, however, encountered difficulties in application to a thermal, graphite-moderated reactor problem. Difficulties with the Monte-Carlo portion of RBU were also experienced in application to Further computations regarding breeder -type extended-lifetime neutron flux monitors showed that the optimal initial composition for a detector located in graphite moderator is U-235:pU-240 = 6:4; and for a detector located in a

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An invention report w a s filed on "A Quantitative Method for Mapping and Displaying Values of a Variable, ' I a mapping system developed for the nondestructive test for heat transfer quality of fuel core-to-cladding bonds. Some exploratory experiments showed it may be possible, with microwave techniques, to detect certain types of defects on the inside surfaces of fuel Some improvement has been obtained in the uniformity of low-energy gamma response with a new thermoluminescent dosimeter design. the best of four tested varied less than * 2570 over the energy range 34 to The response of An automatic system w a s developed for recording on punched paper tape the digitized data f r o m dimensional measurements on NPR fuel elements. Satisfactory results were …