Letter from Carey H. Bostian to Deans, Directors of Research, and Department Heads

%MurNBcomparison000053; ]> Letter from Carey H. Bostian to Deans, Directors of Research, and Department Heads Machine readable transcription Bostian, Carey H. Creation of machine-readable version: Russell S. Koonts Creation of digital images: Russell S. Koonts Conversion to TEI.2-conformant markup: Russell S. Koonts ca. 19 kilobytes NCSU Libraries Raleigh, NC Modern English, MurNBcomparison000053

Available from: NC State University Archives

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URL: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/archives/etext/engineering/reactor/murray/

20 November, 2000

Nuclear Reactor Digitization Project

Raymond L. Murray Reactor Project Notebook

Illustrations have been included from the print version. Scanned by Russell Koonts with Photoshop 5.0 software. Letter from Carey H. Bostian to Deans, Directors of Research, and Department Heads Carey H. Bostian

2 pp. Manuscript copy consulted UA 105.16

Prepared for the North Carolina State University Science and Technology Electronic Text Center

The lineation of the manuscript has been maintained and all end-of-line hyphens have been preserved.

Keywords in the header are a local Science and Technology Electronic Text Center scheme to aid in establishing analytical groupings.

Library of Congress Subject Headings January 7, 1954 English LCSH manuscript 24-bit color: 400 dpi Letter from Carey H. Bostian to Deans, Directors of Research, and Department Heads Typescript 2 pp. January 7, 1954 MurNBcomparison000053

CopyITEM LOS ALAMOS PAGEREFER-ENCE N. C. STATE PAGEREFER-ENCE COMMENTS ActiveMaterial 14 % isotopic concentrationUranyl nitrate aqueous so-lution870 grams, 13.5 liters 2 80-90% isotopic concentrationUranyl sulfate agueous so-lution915 grams, 14.36 liters 22-24 UO2SO4 used in low power boiler;later choice of UO2(NO3)2 basedon ease of ether extraction pro-cess. Higher U-235 concentrationchosen to minimize fuel material. Shape of Coreand Material ofConstruction Spherical, 1 foot diameterStainless steel 2 Cylindrical, 27.2 cm O.D.,27.0 cm highStainless steel 24 Cylindrical shape more con-venient construction. Power level &Cooling method 5.5 kw (later 10 thru 25)6 turns of 1/4" I.D. stain-less steel157" total length, helixFlow rate 50cc/sec. 217;Fig4 10 kw3 Helical coils of 1/4" I.D.stainless steel30 ft. total lengthFlow rate 3 gallons/min. 2020;Fig6 Equivalent cooling system. Entrances "Glory hole" (horizontal) 161831 Re-entrant tube (vertical)Level indicator; contactrecorded electricallyThermocouplesSampling line 36423041 TamperReflector Be O shell; graphite(24" x 24" x 27"); (60" x 48"x 60") 20Fig2,6,7 Graphite16" thick on all sides,4" x 4" bars. BeO not use in N. C. Statereactor because of expense. Drip pans .020" stainless steel pan be-tween BeO and graphite3/16" lead pan below graphite 20Fig.7 Aluminum and stainless steelconcentric envelope38.3 cm I.D. close fitting,but shell filled withgraphite.- - - - -Secondary flat catch basin,below graphite- - - - -Tertiary lead, shild 24Fig.72728 Equivalent ExcessReactivity 0.0150/units? 35-36 0.0165 23

*L.A. 394**Program Administration and Installation Design of the Nuclear Reactor

ITEM LOS ALAMOS PAGEREFER-ENCE N. C. STATE PAGEREFER-ENCE COMMENTS Shielding 8" pier of Bi between tamperand thermal column1/32" Cd, 4" Pb, 5 ft. concrete 21Fig.10b 4"/2" lead-additional graphite out-side6 ft concrete.Cd and 4" lead on thermal column 3817 ThermalColumn 5' cubical pile of graphiteCd curtain 4' from front 20 Several feet of graphite, with4 exposure ports 39Fig.8 Control andSafety Rods Two regulating shims, on con-trol rod, one safety rodCadmium absorberTotal equivalent 160g U235Magnetic coupling\?? 21 Two boron-filled tubes, onecontrol, one safetyCd sheet .02" x 2" wide shimfor regulationTotal grams 170Magnetic coupling 28 Instruments Galvanometers activated by twokinds ionization chambers(BF3, U-235)Three detectors that drop con-trol and safety rods 27-30Fig20 Fission chambers (6 in number)Three chambers will trip safetydevicesAdditional scintillationdetectors 30 RadioactiveProducts 50cc/sec at air flow intospace above solution by 1/4"tube; solution catcher,platinum gauze to preventback explosion. 200 ft. tubepassage to silica gel drier,200 + 1800 ft. tube to a distant point.Stack release. 18 Dilution of gases, hydrogen andoxygen recombined, residualgas held in storage tank fordecay, dilute final gas withlarge volumes of air andrelease from tall stack. 43 Only new features are thecombination of gases and theholding for decay products. Function Activations of material byneutron irradiation in centerof sphere or thermal columnFission spectrum source ofneutronsTransmission and scattering ex-periments 42 Preparation of radioactivesamplesIrradiation of animalsNeutron experimentsInstruction in NuclearEngineering Decontami-nation ofboiler solution Drain and store solution intank of underground vaultEther extraction of uranium 12 Pump out to lead enclosed traps,or remove entire reactor insidelead plus aluminum shield, andship to Oak Ridge. No processingof solution at Raleigh.