%MurNBaecreport040154; ]> Annual Report to AEC on Raleigh Research Reactor Project Machine readable transcription Beck, Clifford 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, MurNBaecreport040154

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 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. Annual Report to AEC on Raleigh Research Reactor Project Clifford Beck

5 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.

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Library of Congress Subject Headings April 1, 1954 English LCSH manuscript 24-bit color: 400 dpi Annual Report to AEC on Raleigh Research Reactor Project Typescript 5 pp. April 1, 1954 MurNBaecreport040154

Murray April 1, 1954 NCSC #68 Clifford Beck, Director Nuclear Reactor Project N. C. State College

Annual Report To AEC on Raleigh Research Reactor Project

Article III, Section 2 (Modification #6 to Contract No. AT-(40-1)-1032): "This agreement and the loan may be extended from year to year there- after if (a) the Contractor shall on or before April 1, 1954, and on or before each April 1 thereafter, submit to the Commission such reports of the current year and proposals for the ensuing year as may be required by the Commission with respect to (1) the Contractor's financial plan for operation of the reactor faci- lities, (2) technical competence of responsible personnel engaged in such opera- tion, (3) the research and training program to be conducted with the loaned fissionable materials and the reactor and (4) the Contractor's compliance with the Commission's requirements as to health and safety, accountability, and secu- rity of information; and (b) the Commission shall give its approval to extending the term of this agreement and the loan. When the Contractor shall have made timely submission of the above reports and proposals, this agreement and the loan shall remain effective until 90 days after the Contractor is notified of the Commission's disapproval with respect to extending the term, or until expiration of the then current term, whichever is later.

In telephone conversation, information was transmitted to the Pro- ject Director that the Commission's requirements in this section of the Contract would be satisfied by brief statements on each of the items specified, plus the data requested in Appendix "B", Section 1 of III B; "The following reports shall be provided the Commission: 1. An annual report which includes: a. Average power level by months. b. Brief narrative summary, including results, of in-pile and beam hold experiments. c. Accumulative release of activity in liquid and air waste by months. d. Summary of meteorological and water monitoring results. e. Statement of all personnel exposures three or more times greater than average maximum permissible dosage levels. f. Average radiation level of reactor facilities by months." The information requested is submitted herewith.

Approved by: J. H. Lampe, Dean School of Engineering Clifford K. Beck, Head Nuclear Reactor ProjectC. H. Bostian, Chancellor

1. The Contractor's Financial Plan for Operation of the Reactor Facilities In basic concept, two general types of usages of the reactor facility, and two primary sources of funds to support its operation, are visualized: a) the reactor is to be operated by the Physics Department, in the School of Engineering, as an integral part of the research and instructional programs of the department. Financial support for this portion of reactor use has been in part, and eventually will be entirely, provided from the College budget. In operations to date, a generous grant from the Office of Ordnance Research has furnished a major portion of the funds needed for this work.

Continued OOR support, to the extent of $16,000, has been assured for 1954-55. A budget request has been submitted to the College for the 1955-57 biennium, and approval is expected, for provision of sufficient minimum staff and supplies for execution of routine operation in regular departmental programs.

b) The reactor will also be utilized to the fullest extent possible in research projects of other departments of the College, of other institutions, and industries in the area. Participating staff and reactor supplies required in these operations, above what are provided by College funds for regular depart- mental activities, must be furnished by the various projects in which they are required. Sponsorship of three small projects, from which about $3,000 or $4,000 for reactor support will be provided during 1954-55, are already assured. Very little effort has been expended in this direction, however. It is anticipated that several other sponsored projects will materialize as staff efforts required on the reactor itself decrease.

2. Technical Competence of Responsible Personnel No changes in personnel responsible for direction of the Reactor Pro- ject and few changes in participating personnel, from those who were engaged in development of the Project, have been made.

Those presently participating in reactor operations (along with their discharge of other duties) are: Clifford Beck, Director J. Thomas Lynn, Asst. ScientistRaymond L. Murray, Deputy Director E. J. Brown, Asst. ScientistDavid O. Lintz, Reactor Safety Officer Joe Lundholm, Reactor SupervisorArthur Menius, Jr., Scientist Harold Lamonds, InstrumentationSupervisorArthur Waltner, Scientist Charles Terrell, InstrumentationTechnicianClarence Turner, MachinistDwight Pendergraft, Machinist

3. The Research and Training Program to be Conducted (a) Further calibration and adjustment of the reactor itself. Most of the effort to date has been devoted to this, and until September, 1954, a full year from startup, considerable effort will continue in this direction. During April and May (1954), mechanical revision of components in the gas-recombiner system (replacement of the re-circulating pump), the gas disposal system (addition of more hold-up volume and automatic operation devices), the liquid level-sampling system (provision of an "always safe" emergency fuel storage vessel), and control rod (replacement of defective position-indicating heliopots) systems will be made. These changes, planned as a result of further study and operating experience, will permit subsequent reactor operation at full design power levels. Studies of reactor characteristics, now partially complete, will be continued: (1) Absolute and relative effectiveness of the various safety and control rods. (2) The temperature coefficients of the reactor. (3) Transcient responses to changes in k. (4) Geometrical and spectral distributions of radiations. (b) Training activities. Advanced students will be given opportunity to participate in supervised operation of the reactor. A number of thesis research projects will involve use of the reactor. One instructional course, Elementary Reactor Theory, beginning in 1954-55 will have an associated laboratory period each week in which super- vised experiments in reactor behavior and operation will be performed. Two members of the staff (Beck, Murray) have started the assembly of a manual of procedures and instructions for these experiments. (c) Research and service activities in prospect Projects definitely planned for activation in 1954-55. (1) A study of the porosity of ceramic layers at high tempera- tures to transit of fission products. (2) A study of the effects of radiation on wool and other textile fibers. (3) A study of the effects of radiation on ovary production in wasps. (4) A study of the gamma rays emitted from excited nuclei after neutron captures. (5) Development of activation analysis techniques for application to assorted problems. (6) Completion of a 40-channel time-of-flight analyser, a slow "neutron chopper" and a crystal spectrometer as major tools for use in basic solid state and nuclear physics studies. Preliminary experiments on some of those projects are already under way.

4. Compliance with Commission requirements on (a) Health and safety - all requirements met, so far as is known. No difficult problems of personnel protection or area monitoring have been encountered, since the reactor has not been operated at high levels. No acci- dents or above daily tolerance exposures have occurred. (b) Accountability - monthly reports have been supplied as stipulated. No losses have occurred. (c) Security of information - ratings of "good" have been reported after each F. B. I. and A. E. C. security inspection of the facility.

5. Items required in annual report outlined in Appendix "B", Section 1, of III B. (a) Average power level by months September, 1954 - critical experimentsOctober, 1954 - critical experimentsNovember, 1954 - critical experimentsDecember, 1954 - 1 wattJanuary, 1955 - 2 wattsFebruary, 1955 - 2 wattsMarch, 1955 - 2 watts, 5 watts maximum
 (b) Narrative summary of in-pile and beam hole experiments Service irradiations: KCl crystals - flux not sufficient for color changes.Textile fibers - effect on mechanical characteristcs uncertain, flux too low.Wasps - no results reported.
 Numerous metal foil activations to determine neutron flux distri- bution: Incomplete. Activation to produce γ s for calibration of gamma ray measuring equipment. (c) Accumulative release of radioactivity in (1) liquid - none (2) air - 5 microcuries total (d) Summary of meteorological and water monitoring results: 1. Two hundred fifty smoke signals (15 minutes each) have been released from the exhaust ventilation stack of the reactor build- ing under a wide variety of atmospheric conditions. Observations were made of the patterns of dispersal as affected by meterologi- cal variables. This first series of observations were completed at the end of March (1954), as a Master's thesis project. The data are now being correlated and analysed. When completed, copies of the results will be furnished the A. E. C.

2. Three sets of water samples from the Raleigh watershed have shown no activity difference from that of controls. The methods used, however, have not been as sensitive as desired, hence, further work on this is in progress. (e) Statements of personnel exposure three or more times above per- missable dosage levels. None. Two pocket meters and a film badge are worn by each operating or participating person. The film badges are developed and analysed by Brookhaven National Laboratory. (f) Average radiation level of facilities by months. Background