Homogeneous Reactor Project Quarterly Progress Report For Period Ending July 31 1956 PDF Download

Homogeneous Reactor Test. Experiments and tests conducted preparatory to operation with unenriched UO/2SO4 are reviewed. Remote maintenance practlces and operation at reduced pressures and temperatures were analyzed. A simplified freeze jackct design for remote operation wlil be used in the HRT system. A differential-temperature flowmeter was designed for use on feed and purge pumps. The preliminary design of the replacement pressure vessel is shown. Fuel and blanket feed and purge pump test using UO2SO4 solutions were continued. Performance and corrosion results are given. HRT controls and instrumentation status is reviewed. Flowsheets for the fuel and blanket chemical processing systems are shown. The construction and engineering test status of the fuel processing plant are presented. Reactor Design and Analysis. Prellminary design parameters indicate the feasibility of a 500 Mw homogeneous research reactor using UO2SO4. The fuel costs for homogeneous reactors whose fuel is processed on a batch rather than a continuous basis were analyzed. Tables of data were prepared indicating the effecta of fuel isotopic concentration, the use of Li/2SO4 additives, fission product removal, reactor operating periods, and Fu recovery on per krv power cost. The effects of Xe135 on reactor conditions following shutdown were determined for the case of a U235O2SO4, D2O, spheri cal reactor operating at 280 deg C, assuming no fission product removal. Engineering Development. Developmental studies of ThO2 blanket slurries were continued. Experience with ThO2 deposits in circulation loops is tabulated; and shear diagrams, friction factors, and heat transfer characteristics are plotted. Slurry blanket system operational tests indicate satisfactory operation up to 300 deg C. Corrosion and Matertals. Studies of the corrosive effects of UO2SO/ sub 4/ on Zircaloy, stainless steel, and Al/2O/sub were continued. The appearance of liquid phases as a function of temperature in UO/2SO4-- Li2SO4, UO2SO 4-BeSO4, and BeSO4-- UO3 systems is plotted. Additional observations of pump corrosion and performance in reactor blanket loops contalning a range of ThO2 concentrations are reported. Further attempts were made to establish the effects of slurry particle size on corrosive attack rates. Results of metallographic examinations of in- pile corrosion specimens of Zr and Ti alloys and stainless steel are tabulated and discussed. The effects of high temperatures and welding on crystalline phase changes in Zr alloys were investigated. The crystailine phase changes in H pickup in Ti, Zr, Al-Ti-V alloy, and Zircaloy upon exposure in the recombiner loop were determined. The effects of aging and temperature on Zircaloy impact strength are plotted. Chemical Engineering Revelopment. Chemical and engineering studies associated wlth HRT fuel processing are reported. In the study of Pu-producer blanket chemistry, adsorption of Pu on metals, Pu behavior in UO2SO4 solutions at 250 deg C, and dissolutlon of corrosion product oxides were considered. Slurries of ThO2-U0/3-MoO3-H/ sub 2/O were prepared and irradiated. Radiation effects and gas recombination rates for this type slurry are repcrted. Methods of particle size control in Th and U oxide preparation, and the effects of additives on oxide sedimentation rates in slurries were investigated. Supporting Chemical Research. Studies of slurry particle preparation and suspension are reported. The methods used in separating Pa231 from Mallinckrodt waste are reviewed. (D.E.B.).