%DONRdis071955; ]> NCSC-106: Disposal and Examination of components from the Raleigh Research Reactor [a machine-readable transcription] Beck, Clifford K. Creation of machine-readable version: Russell S. Koonts Creation of digital images: Russell S. Koonts Conversion to TEI.2-conformant markup: NCSU Science and Technology Electronic Text Center. ca. 12 kilobytes NCSU Libraries. Raleigh, NC. Modern English, BecProp

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 2000

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 Illustrations have been included from the print version. Scanned by Russell Koonts with Photoshop 5.0 software. Staff NCSC-106: Disposal and Examination of components from the Raleigh Research Reactor <author>Clifford K. Beck</author> <respStmt> <resp/> <name/> </respStmt> </titleStmt> <editionStmt> <p>Revison.</p> </editionStmt> <extent>4 pp.</extent> <publicationStmt> <publisher></publisher> <pubPlace></pubPlace> <date></date> <idno>Manuscript copy consulted: NCSU Libraries call number UA105.1</idno> </publicationStmt> <seriesStmt> <p/> </seriesStmt> <notesStmt> <note></note> </notesStmt> </biblFull> </sourceDesc> </fileDesc> <encodingDesc> <projectDesc> <p>Prepared for the NCSU Libraries Science and Technology Electronic Text Center.</p> </projectDesc> <editorialDecl> <p>Spell-check and verification made against printed text using Microsoft Word spell checker.</p> <p>The lineation of the manuscript has been maintained and all end-of-line hyphens have been preserved.</p> <p>The images exist as archived TIFF images, one or more JPEG versions for general use, and thumbnails.</p> <p id="ETC">Keywords in the header are a local Electronic Text Center scheme to aid in establishing analytical groupings.</p> </editorialDecl> <refsDecl> <p>ID elements are given for each page element and are composed of the text's unique cryptogram and the given page number, as in BecPropa for the title page of Clifford Beck's Propsal.</p> </refsDecl> <classDecl> <taxonomy id="LCSH"> <bibl> <title>Library of Congress Subject Headings 1955, July 19 English non-fiction; prose LCSH 24-bit color; 400 dpi NCSC-106: Disposal and Examination of components from the Raleigh Research Reactor.

NCSC-106 TO: Dr. Herman Roth FROM: Clifford Beck DATE: July 19, 1955 RE: Disposal and Examination of components from the Raleigh Research Reactor.

Persuant to our several discussions relative to the failure of the fuel cylinder of the Raleigh Research Reactor, we have dismaulted the assembly and arranged to send it to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in accordance with the arrangements you have made for examination of the core and disposal of the contaminated components.

One of our staff members will accompany the shipment of reactor components from Raleigh, we are sending the material on one of our trucks, and in accordance with instructions and advice from Mr. McAulderf, of your office. A separate letter will contain details of the shipping arrangements.

I list below the specific operations involved in handling the various materials sent, and the data which seem to us should be obtained from the components.

1. Disposal of waste with trace contamination:

One or two containers will contain paper, gloves, kleenex and other miscellaneous materials contaminated with traces of fission product activity. The major portion of this can be disposed of by incineration.

The principal shipping container for this material is the 2 1/2' x 3' x 5' aluminum safety envelope which enclosed the reactor mechanism. The outside of this envelope is uncontaminated, but the inside has adherent surface activity. The loosely adherent material was removed, and most of the remainder could be removed by further treatment. However, this envelope is to be replaced, and hence this item may be scrapped and disposed of as the Laboratory may desire.

2. Disposal of highly contaminated components:

Disassembled sections of the gas handling system were placed at the center of 55 gallon drums which were then filled with concrete. These containers are to be disposed of without any attempt at recovery or examination.

3. Recovery of Uranium for inventory and accountability purposes:

It is estimated that as much as 20 grams of U235 may be contained in the components and rinse-liquids included in this shipment. The usual care and attention should be given to retention, extraction and recovery of this uranium. Its location is:

(a) Inside the fuel cylinder: a small amount of liquid remains in the core; uranium may be deposited on the inside metal surfaces; some uranium peroxide precipitate may be in the bottom of the core or deposited on the surfaces. (b) Inside the 11" diameter, 30" deep aluminum safety envelope thimble which snugly enclosed the fuel cylinder in its lower portion. Fuel solution did escape into the annular space and shim-rod pockets in this envelope. Attempts to wash this out were not successful. Some wash liquid (500 cc or so) remains in this spaced. The fuel cylinder, also, is in place, not having been removed for fear of undue spreading of contamination. Above the fuel cylinder in the envelope thumble the space is filled (a) with sheaths and tubes which attach to the core, and (b) packed graphite pillets and rods, (c) contained in several bottles of rinse-solutions which were used to reduce the fuel and fission product activity inside the core and envelope thimble, (d) on the surfaces of the two shim-rods (flat, 4" wide cadmium sheets clad with thin aluminum).

4. Examination of the Fuel Cylinder:

The basic object of this examination is to determine why failure occurred and to obtain any data which might assist in the design of improved fuel containers.

Evidence clearly indicates the presence of at least two separate defects which seemed to occur at approximately the same time. (a) One is in one of the four cooling tubes. This is a small leak. In pressure tests, 50 pounds of pressure on water inside the sealed off coils showed a negligible drop in several hours; 30" of Hg vacuum on the sealed off coils showed a slow rise over a period of hours. It is suggested that the four coils be removed intact from the sectioned cylinder for testing and examination as to the location and cause of the defect. At some point in the study, a look should be taken at the inside surface of a cooling coil as well as the outside surface. (b) The second leak is in the exterior wall of the cylinder. At least a considerable amount of fuel solution seems to have escaped into the annular space around the cylinder. Heavy contamination was found on the shim-"rods", and some clue to the depth of liquid in the annular space may be gained by examination of the surfaces of these "rods". There is a "butt" weld in the vertical wall of the cylinder, one inch from the lower end where the shaped bottom and the wall of the cylinder were joined. The lid was welded on at the top. Fifteen tubes connect to or project through the top surface of the cylinder. All are welded in place.

It is not know, of course, where the leak in the cylinder is or why it occurred. There are the welded points which may have been defective, a defect in the metal components is by no means impossible, there was a tendency of the fuel to precipitate as uranium peroxide which may have caused unexpected corrosive attack; finally, there was on record one fairly large pressure surge and one or two smaller ones over the preceding months due to erratic operation of the catalyst in the gas recombiner system.

If corrosive attack is found to be the cause of the defect, any clues to the reason for this attack should be sought.

5. Analysis of a fuel sample.

One small sample of the fuel solution removed from the reactor core and placed in storage is included in this shipment. It is anticipated that a careful analysis of this for anomalous components, metallic ions, evidence of UO4 precipitate, etc. may give some clue to the corrosive action which may have occurred inside the fuel cylinder.

This analysis has particular importance for it may indicate whether or not the fuel solution should be reprocessed before it is placed again in the reactor.

cc: Dr. Clarence Larson, Director ORNL Dr. John Swartout, Chemical Division ORNL. Dean Lampe Chancellor Bostian Safety and Health Committee