ML20028E668
| ML20028E668 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000340 |
| Issue date: | 06/22/1959 |
| From: | Lambertus H SPENCER CHEMICAL CO. |
| To: | Delaney J US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20028E609 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-82-562 NUDOCS 8301280104 | |
| Download: ML20028E668 (1) | |
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1/j2ence/demknb 2"ompam, DWIGH T DUILDING
$n.kr.)$ly.5C$3JOtwi' June 22, 1959 Mr. J. C. Delaney Division of Licensing and Regulation U. S. Atomic Energy Co=d.ssion Washington 25, D. C.
Dear Mr. Delaney:
We are submitting herewith thre copies of our licerise application covering a facility for bandling uranium up to and including 5% en-richment in U-235. The system is designed to process either UF6 or scrap to an oxide, nitrate or sulfate.
At the present time we are operating a similar but sinaller facility under license No. S'IM-1514, and plan to continue its operation. The plant covered in this application also is to be located at our Jayhawk Wods, but is physically located approximately one quarter mile from the smaller plant. Therefore, we are requesting a new license for the facility described in this application. The sace laboratory facilities will serve both plants. Our current plant superintendent will have responsibility for both plants.
The new facility is under design and construction and we are plan-ning to have it ready for operation by August 1,1959 On that date depleted UF6 will be used as feed for the startup operation.
If there is any further infory.ation required, please contact us inmediately by collect telegran or telephone in order to prevent any undue delay in the consideration of this application.
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Yours very truly, Nuc ar Fuels Department
.arold abertus Manager cM\\ hI /y HL:e1
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Enclosures:
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.aL SPDiCER CHDUCAL C ANY W
V NUCLEAR FUELS DEPARTMENT A
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v APPLICATION FOR 5PECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL LICD;SE, June 22, 1959 i
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TABLE OF CC'3 TENTS O
Page No.
I.
INTRODUCTION AND APPLICATION......................... 1 II. QUALIFICATIONS OF PEFSONNEL.......................... 2 III. PROC ES SING AREA...................................... 3 IV. PRECAUTIO'IS FOR SAFErr................................ $
V.
FINANCIAL QUALIFICATIONS............................. 6 VI. INSU RANC E............................................ 7 APPENDII I.
PROCESS DESCRIPTION.................................
1-a II. PLANT LAYOUT AND EQUIPIENT DESCRIPTION............... 2-a O
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III. C RITICALITY C ONSIDERATIONS.......................... 3-a A.
C riticality With UF6 Fe ed.......................
3-a' B.
UO2 Feed........................................ 5-a 1.
General.........,........................... 5-a 2.
Iow Density UO2 Dissolution..'............... 5-a 3.
High Density UO2 Dissolution................ 6-a lg. Allowable Interactions With UO2 Feed........ 6-a Tab le I..................................... 6 -a -a G
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INTRODUCTION AND APPLICATION 1.
This application for a special nuclear material license is submitted by Spencer Chemical Co:::pany. The company is incorporated in the state of Mis-souri and has its principal office in the Dwight Building in Kansas City, Missouri. The principal officers of the Company are:
K. A. Spencer, President C. Y. Thomas - General Vice President (Operations)
J. P. Miller - General Vice President (Finance)
J. E. Culpepper - General Vice President (Marketing)
E. V. Friedrich - Vice President, Administrat-lon, and Assistant Secretary J. C. Denton - Vice President, Agricultural Chemical Division H. R. Dinges - Vice President, Industrial Chemicals division F. L. Pyle - Vice President, Plastics Division N. C. Robertson - Vice President, Research and Development Division E. W. Morgan - Treasurer w
A. Mag - Secretary 3
2.
All these officers have their offices in th Dwight Building except for Mr. Lg whose address is 9 West Tenth Street, Kansas City, Missouri. All are natural born citizens of the United States. The company is not con-trolled by any alien, foreign corporation or foreign government.
3.
This' license is requested for the processing of any enrichment of uranium uo to and including $%. The uranium in the form of UF6 or scrap is to be con-verted to the oxide. The processing will be done at the Jayhawk Works of the Spencer Chemical Company located between Pittsburg, Kansas, and Joplin, Mis-souri, with a freight shipping designation of Military, Kansas.
It. The license is requested for ten years.
- 5. 'Ihe product of the process nor= ally will be finely divided UO2 Powder. Oxides other than UO2 may also be produced as finely divided powders. Nitrates and sulphates my also be produced.
6.
The uranium will be processed for other licensees. Plant start-up is scheduled for July 20,1959. The maximum dWign pmcessing rate is 300 pounds of uranium O
ver aer-The ectu>1 Procesetas rete -111 aegeaa upo= the exmet =>ture or ts-feed material and upon customer demand. Inventory of U-235 at the plant will not exceed 1,000 kilogra: s.
Processing losses generally will be held to less
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O than one percent, but may exceed this foi small lots.
7.
The Spencer Chemical Company is currently engaged in the manufacture of ammonia, nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, polyethylene, nylon, urea, methanol and other similar products. Since December 1,1957, Spencer has been operating a uranium oxide pilot plant (under license No. S2-15h) and has gained much valuable experience in the handling and processing of enriched uranium.
II QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONNEL '
1.
The processing of uranium is the direct responsibility of Harold Lambertus, Manager, Nuclear Fuels. Mr. Lambertus reports directly to H. R. Dinges, Vice President, Industrial Chenicals Division.
2.
Mr. Dinges received a B. S. degree in chemistry fro: College of William and Mary in 1938, whero he also served as instructor from 1939 to 19h1. He was employed by E. I. duPont de Necours and Conpany 19hl-h2, and Olin Mathieson O~
Chenical Company 19h2-h7 before joing Spencer Chemical Company in February, 19h7. Since February,1957, Mr. Dinges' has been Vice President, Industrial Chemicals Division.
3.
Mr. Lambertus received his B. S. and M. S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering I' rom Purdue University and California Institute of Technology respectively. He was ecployed in 19h6 by the American 3 earing Corporation where he received a background in engineering, sales and production. He was a vice president at American Bearing prior to his leaving there in 1958, and was responsible for the planning, building and staffing of a nuclear fuel element manufacturing
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facility. Just prior to joining Spencer Chemical Company as Manager of the Nuclear Fuols Department in April, 1959, Mr. Lanbertus served as a consultant to several manufacturers of nuclear fuel eleaents.
h.
The operation of the uranium pmcessing plant is the' responsibility of George E. Chenoweth, Plant Superintendent. - Mr. Chenoueth received a B. S.
a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri in 1951. He was employed by Phillips Petroleum Company from 1951 to 1952, and joined Spencer Chemical Company in 1952. He has been responOle for much of the process equipment design for the experinental uranium racilities and has been in charge of the operation of the uranium pilot plant facility since January 1, 1959.
- 5. Mr. Sinesio A. Zagnoli has been responsible for a major portion of the process design. ' Mr. Zagnoli received his.d. S. in chemical engineering from Purdue
!Q University and his M. S. in chemical engineering and M. S. in gas technology from Illinois Institute of TechnoloEy.He had some three years of. industrial experience with petroleum and natural gas industry before his ent.y into j :*b 1
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atonic energy activitics in 1952. He entered the atonic energy pmgram with Nuclear Pouer Group in Chicago representing the Con onwealth Edison Company.
He participated in several studies made by the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois and Commonwealth Edison Corpany before the latter joined Nuclear Power Group. With NPG Kr. Zagnoli's work was with hea.t transfer, fuels pmcessing and fuel clonent metallurgy. He joined Spencer Chemical -
Company in October 1955, and has helped plan and design experinental programs and facilities, $nd has made econdaic analyses of various projects in the atonic energy field.
6.
Dr. Russell A. Ifesler of the University of Kansas is our consultant for criticality considerations. Dr. Mesler's background includes the.0ak Ridge School of Reactor G'echnology 1951-52; Ph.D., University of Michigan 1955; Project Engineer for Ford Nuclear Reactor and Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering, University of Michigan, 1955-57. He is presently Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Kansas.
i III O
raocsss1xo iari 1.
The following equipment and facilities will be used to protect health and mininize danger to life and/or property.
2.
The building used for uranium processing is constructed of a steel framework and covered with transite siding. The building acasures h5' x 1128 and is 30' high except for a 50' high bay in the center of the building.
3.
The processing equipment will be located along the east half of the building only. Storage area has been provided in the west sido of the building.
- h. A fence enco= passes the entire Jayhawk plant works and entrance into the plant area is controlled by a 2h-hour guard force.
- 5. Tornadoes are a possibility in Kansas. Plant design is on the premise that a condition of criticality resulting from tornado damage would do negligible damage compared to that of a tornado.
6.
The building site is 30 feet above any previous flood stage.
7.
Loss of electrical power presents the hazards of loss of ventilation and an inoperative radiation alarm systen.
8.
In compliance with section 70.2h a radiation alara systen will be installed in the plant. Two detectors will jd located in the. plant, one on the ground-
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level near the hydrolysis and scrap dissolution. area and one on the first balcony at the panel board. These positions are indicated on the plot plan
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(Drawing Ho. 1-2600-h). Outside alarm horns will also be connected to these alarns which will be clearly audible in the curmunding area.
9.
The monitoring system to be installed is the IIuclear Measurements Corporatiou Gamma Alarm system (GA-2). This system consists of individual integral units containing the detector, poiaer supply, meter, alarm bell, alarm lights and relays for connecting external warning devices.
10.
These units win be set to give an alam when the meter reads 6 mr/hr. or The time constant of this instrument is 2 seconds so that a 6 mr/hr more.
reading would occur aftei the following delay times when the radiation level at the detector is instantaneously changed to a higher value:
$0mr/hr 0.236 sec.,
100mr/hr 0.nB sec.
$00mr/hr 0.02k sec.
Once the meter reads 6 nr/hr, the alam would sound within 0.1 second. The response time will be verified by tests after the system is installed.
,q 11.
The detector will be activated by a low level source installed at the pmbe t/
so that the meter reads at least 0.1 mr/hr under normal conditions. If failure of the instrument causes the meter to drop to 0.05 mr/hr, a light on the unit (normally on) will go out. Another light on the unit indicates the instrument is drawing current.
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O IV PRECAUTIONS FOR SAFETI 1.
The following procedures are proposed to protect health and minimize danger to life and/or property.
2.
All personnel working with uranium are required to pass a complete medical examination including a chest I-ray before starting to work. Monthly urine samples will be analyze,d for uranium. Chest x-rays will be requi. red annually. No stoking or eating will be permitted in the uranium processing building.
3.
Coveralls, safety shoes, safety glasses, acid goggles, dust masks, and rubber gloves are furnished for all personnel working in the plant. A change house and locker room are provided so clothing may be changed be-fore entering the plant area. A washing machine is provided and coveralls must be washed daily after use. Individual film badges are prbvided and are checked monthly.
- h. Good housekeeping vill be exercised. Wet mopping will be performed in order to rainimize air polution.
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and to avoid spread of contamination. Clean-up solutions will be stored in safe containers avaiting return to the process. Major spills may ne cessitate orderly plant shutdown and reducing of the inventory of uranium in the spill arsa to allow more freedom of movement.
6.
Portable Geiger counters will be available in the plant for surveying.
working arcas for contamination. Building and exhaust air will be sampled to see that concentrations are below permissible limits of 6.0 x 10-11 and 1.7 x 10-12 microcuries per n1 respectively.
7.
Aqueous vastes will be discharged to the sewer which carries an average daily flow in excess of ten million gallons away from the plant. The quantity of waste released to the sewer will be limited to a quantity which, if diluted by the average daily flow of sewage, will result in an average concentration less than 2 x 10-4 microcuries per nl.
These condi-tions are set by Title 10, Part 20, Code of Federal Regulations.
8.
Only one uranium container may be in motion at any one time and no uranium container may be moved unless all other uranium containers are in approved locations.
9.
The uranium processing building will be posted and uranium containers win be labelled acce; ding to Title 10, Part 20, Code of Federal Regulations.
Outside shipping containers will be labelled according to ICC regulations.
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- 10. Safe geo=etry' storage is provided for all process streams.- Before pumping any solution from safe waste storage tanks to the sewer, it is to be
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sampled to assure that the uranium concentration is below the permissible
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o O 11. While the building housing the plant is essentiany fireproof, a fire in the processing area presents three problems. First, the organic phase for extraction is inflammable. Second, the reducing atmosphere in the furnace is both inflam nble'and explosive. Third, water used in fighting a fire could mix with uranium and create a criticality condition. CO2 win be used to control any fire in the uranium building and the plant fire de-partment is instructed not to use water unless requested to do so by the Plant Supervisor. Precautions have been taken to prevent explosions of,
the atnosphere in the furnace. In the event of a fire or explosion, the area will be surveyed for uranium contamination prior to re-entry. -
- 12. The radiation alarm deteetors will be checked hourly and the meter reading recorded on log shee.ts. The built-in low-level source provides a cali-bration check at one. point. A portable source will be used to check the instrument at higher levels. The calibration win be checked once per week.
- 13. A training program will be initiated for all personnel who would be affected by a high radiation incident. Instructional meetings win be held for all'
. people involved in the handling and processing of uranium to familiarize them with the alarm system and the proper procedures for evacuating the area in the event of a radiation incident. Unannounced practice evacuation drius wn1 be held once a week the first month, another one a month later and then once every three months.
Ih. Criticality is avoided primarily by proper spacing of "always safe" geo-metry vessels. Concentration and mass control is exercised in handling dilut'e solutions. Mass and moderation control is exercised in handling dry UOp and 'n shipping and storing, scrap uranium. A combination of mass, volume and mu 'eration control is used in specifying containers for shipping and storing UL2 Product. All safe parameters are safe with a thick water reflector. The, interaction between all vessels containing uranium in significant concentrations is within anowable limits.
- 16. A process description and equipment layout are prpsented in the aapendix with a discussion of methods used for prevention of criticality.
V FINANCIAL QUALIFICATIONS 1.
A copy of the 1958 annual report of the Spencer Chemical Con:pany is submitted with this application in support of the coc:pany's financial qualifications to handle enriched uranium.
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O VI INSURANCE 1.
Spencer Chenical Company carries a $$,000,000 liability polic7 to cover property damage or bodily injury to the public attributable to the umnium facilities. Spencer is also fully insured against loss of materials at the plant or in shipment. These two policies are issued by Nuclear Energy N
Liability Insurance Association and Nuclear Energy Property Insurance Association respectively.
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1-3 APFEIDIX I.
PFDCESS DESCRIPTION 1.
This process 'is designed to produce primarily UOp from either UF6 or scrap. With UF6 as a starting material, a cylinder is weighed and then vaporized using steam heat. A vacuum punp preceded by a cold trap and a chemical trap permits evacuation and leak testing of the UF ii 6 P P ng.
2.
The UF is hydrolyzed by admitting the gas into a' circulating stream of f4 AL(NO33 Acid may also be added.to adjust the acidity. The hydrolysis
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,py solut2.on is transferred to rich acid storage.
3 With scrap UO2 Pellets', a weighed quantity of scrap is added to the empty dissolver and 2I03 circulated through it and a rich acid storage tank un-g til the desired concentration is reached. The dissolver vessel is jack-
,y eted to provide for heating or cooling.
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14. Since "off-spec" product may be produced from time to time, provision is made for recycling it through the. process. This scrap UO2 Po'wder is dis-solved in a kettle using always mass safe batches, and then pumped to the rich acid storage tanks.
- 5. The rich acid is pumped to a countercurrent pulse extraction column. A solution of tri-butyl-phosphate in kerosene is'used as the solvent. The
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rich organic phase from the extractor overflows to the scrub column. The raffinate flows to the waste storage tanks where it is sampled. From here it is either dra#ned to the sewer or recycled to the system depending on the uranium concentration.
6.
In the scrub column the rich organic is contacted with water. The water is recycled to the extraction column and the rich organic flows to the stripper where the uranium is stripped from it with water. The stripped organic phase overflows to a system which continuously cleans the solvent for reuse.
The rich aqueous phase is fed to an evaporator to concen-trate it and.then precipitated'with ammonia.
7.
The ammehium diuranate precipitate is reduced to UO2 in an electrically beated furnace. The UO Product is discharged through a mill to hoppers 2
where it is sampled for moisture and other properties prior to being charged to the blender.
8 A dry atmosphere is maintained in the blender. Mass and moderation lim-its are used to determine the size of lots blended. After blending the UOg is discharged into approved shipping containers.
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V Appendix II.
PLANT LAYOUT AND EQUIPITIT DESCRIPTION 1.
The building to house this facility is contained with,in the Jayhawk plant site. It is constructed of steel framework and covered with transf te siding. All processing equipment is located along the east half of the building. High equipment such as the extraction colurns is located in the 508 high bay in the center of the bui1Mng. I,ayor r, of the equipnent is shown on drawings 1-2600-h and 1-2600-802.
2.
The east wall behind the tanks and equipment is lined with stainless '
steel sheet to facilitate clean-up of spills and splashes. A stainless steel drip pan is provided along this vall under the equipment to con-tain leaks and spills. There are no floor drains to eliminate the pos-sibility of a spill being lost to the sewer.
3.
The UO2 scrap pellet dissolver is 8.25" I.D.
The dissolver for "off-spec" 1102 powder is a kettle and will be used with mass safe batches.
The coJ.d trap is of.ha pipe and the evaporator is 8" Sch.10 pipe. The pulse columns are ha pipe with 8" pipe end section. All ur'anium-contain-ing storage tanks are 10.25" maximum I.D.
- h. The UF6 ' cylinders are vaporized in a closed room. This room is provided with adequate forced ventilation. The exhaust air from the room is
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drawn through a scrubbing system to remove any UF6 vapors. A fluorine detector is located in the duct carrying air from.the room to detect any UF6 leaks. The same fume scrubber system also is connected to a hood over the UO. powder dissolver to recover any uranium carry-over from the 2
dissolutions.
- 5. Storage area is provided in the southwest quadrant of the processing building fer feed materials and/or packaged product. Safe spacing will be riaintaired on all containers of uranium stored in this area. If more space is required, UF6 cylinders may be stored outside in their bird cages on a concrete pad near the southwest corner of the building.
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Appendix.
3-a 2
III. CRITICALITY CONSIDERATIONS A.
Criticality With UF6 Feed
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UF6 in cylinders at enrichments no greater than 5% U-235 will be i
s remo';ed from storage or brought directly to the southwest corner of ~
the processing area. Cylindu s will be transportad into the pro
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2-cessing area on a monorail and placed in stations pmvided for the h(
vaporization of the UF6 With full UF6 cylinders at all stations, the total U-235 inventory will be 66 kilograms. According to' f
d TID-7016, page 9, there are no mass limits on a non-hydrogenous chemical compound with a U-235/U-238 ratio of.05.
The individuale cylinders are spaced at distances of greater than 1 foot edge-to.
edge according to K-1019 Rev. h, page 25.
2.
The UF6 is reacted with water and the resulting solution is stored in vessels R-1, R-2, R-3, R-h, T-1, T-2, T-3, and T-h..The mark i concentration of uranium in these solutions is 100 grams ' er liter p
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which corresponds to a maximum U-235 concentration of 5 grams per 1
liter for 5% U-235 enrichments. According to K-1019 Rev.; h, page 20, 5.0 gra=s of U-235 per liter is an "always-safe" parameter. Further,[i according to page 2 4, interaction need not be considered' for homo-
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geneous solutions with a U-235 concentmtion no greater than 5 gram's per liter. Vessels R-1, R-2, L3, R-h, T-1, T-2, T-3 and T-h, are all 10-1/h inch diameter vessels which is a " limited safe" para-meter according to K-1019 Rev h, page 21, for 5% enrichment and o
below.
d 3.
The UF6 solution is pumped to the extraction columns where the uranium is extracted into an organic solution of TBP. The mininn=
ratio of H to U-235 in the organic phase is 6p According to there are no restrictions for solutions if the
.8 TID-7016, page 9,/U-235 is greater than 2300. The maximum conc atomic ratio of H tration of U-235 in the aqueous stream from the strip column (TA-3) is again 5 grams U-235 per liter for 5% U-235. In addition, the columns are h inches diameter with 8 inch separating sections.
This utream flows to the neutralizer where the uradum concentra-tion is slightly decreased. The neutralizer is a 10-1/k inch diameter vessel as an extra precaution.
- h. Out of the neutralizer the stream flows to E-3 on the first bal-cony. In E-3 the uranium concentration is increased to h50 grams per liter (22.5 grams U-235 per liter at 5% enrichment). E-3 is an 8 inch pipe with a 2 inch leg. By comparison to a " limited-safe" diameter of 10.25 inches, E-3 is considered safe. Interaction has been calculated between the evaporator and (1) the furnace, (2) vessel R-9, (3) the UO2 hoppers, T-18 and T-19, (h) the blender L5, (5) UO2 Packages on the first and second floors, and (6) vessels T-13 and T-lh.
The total solid angle viewed of these is
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less than 0.5 steradians.
- 5. The stream fmm E-3 is stgfed in two vessels, T-13 and T-lh.
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veeee1= re 1o-1/h inches I.D. x 8 feet tall, so that they are safe. Interaction must be considered between each other and the blender. The total interaction is.9 steradian which is less than the allowable 1.0 (K-1019 Rev. h, page 2h.)
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Fr,m R-13 ana R-15 the rich aqueous is pumped to n-9 on the =econd balcony.
R-9 is a 10.25 inch diameter vessel. It sees even 1 css than the neutralizer (R 8) which sees.50 stcradians so that inter-action is safe.
7.
The product from R-9 is transferred to the furnace. The fumace proper is fitted with a 9 inch I.D. liner. The feed screw drops the uranium bearing material onto this furnace liner. There are three scr,2ws each operating in 2 inch pipe conveying the uranium.
The fumace gases pass countercurrent to the uranium, and con-ceivably could carq light dried mterial into the breech where the Eases leave the furnac^.
No significant carryover has ever -
been observed.
The volume in the breech is.625 cubic foot compared to a safe volume of.95 cubic foot. The gas discharge line is steam traced to prevent condensation in the Eas line before the condenser.
8.
The.... ace tube itself never operates more than one quarter Ib11 It discharges into a breech of 1.h65 cubic feet capacity. At a discharge rate of.25 cubic foot per hour, hourly inspection will pmvent anything approaching an unsafe accumulation. Should the furnace exit gas temperature fall 500 below its normal value, the feed to the furnace will be shut off automatically. The furnace sees less than.9 steradians which is safe.
fl 9.
The furnace discharges into T-18 and T-19.
The quantity of UO2
'd allowed to accumulate in T-18 or T-19 will be~ kept below the safe amounts as limited by enrichment.
(Table XVII, K-1019 Rey, h).
These vessels each have a k of.65 because they are mass safe (K-1019 Rev. h, page 26). The allowable solid angle is 2.51 compared with an actual value of 1.28 steradians.
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- 10. After a moisture analysis has been obtained on their contents, T-18 or T-19 can either be transferred to M-5 or to storage.
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- 11. The entire inventory of UO2 in M-5, SC-1 and at the bullion bal-ance is limited to a safe mass quantity as limited by moderation.
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Table XIX of K-1019 Rev. h will be used to specify the safe mass V
to that corresponding to the highest H/U-235 ratio of any material added to the inventory. Table XIX is for UF, but since the 6
density of UO2 here is no greater than for UF6, the table is applicable. The maximum solid angle of interaction at M-5, SC-1 or the bullion balance is.77 compared to a safe interaction of 1.0 steradians.
- 12. After filling the UO2 containers, they are spaced at least one q
foot edge-to-edge from each other while they are weighed and f
transported to storage.
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B.
UO2 Feed 1.
General a.
The criticality conditions of the uranium process using UF6 feed hue aircady been described.. Use of UO2 feed alters the situation in the following respects (1) Dissolution of fired UO2 represents a special problem because of the high density of fired UO2.
(2) The solutions produced from UO2 dissolution are more concentrated than those produced fmm UF6 b.
The portion of the plant beyond the extraction columns operates the same regardless of the feed. However, there is more inter-action wh'ich must be considered.
There are two types of UO2 -- high density and low density.
c.
High density UO2 is that which has been pressed and fired, while the low density material is characteristic of scrap gen -
erated in the pmcess.
2.
Low Density UO2 Dissolution h
I.ow density UO2 (less than 3 grams per ml) is batch dissolved a.
in R-5.
The charge into R-5 is limited to the mass limits shown in Tabic XVII of K-1019 Rev. h, page 22.
b.
The UO2 scrap is generated at T-18 and T-19.
The scrap is J M drained from the hopper into a 5 gallon pail on the first balc ony. After each pail is filled, it is carried down the north stairs to the first floor where it is weighed on SC-1.
The pails will be rarked with the weight and assay. From weigh-ing, the pail is carried either to storage, or is carried to R-5 The route taken is to be over to the west side of the process line to the south stairs and up them to the UO2 dis-
- solver, When dissolving a batch of low density UO, R-5 is first 2
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emptied. Then the safe mass or less is carried in 5 gallon pails to the dissolver. Never will the total quantity of uranium in the vicinity of R-5~ or within R-5 exceed a safe mass.
Be-fore making up a batch, the supervisor is to certify that the quantity of uranium in pails is a ' safe batch.
d.
When a batch is dissolved, it is pumped to storage. A check valve and a manual]y operated valve prevent solution in storage from increasing the uranium in R-5.
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3 High Density UO2 Dissolution High density UOp is dissolved in R-13 which has safe dimensions. '
a.
is hoisted to the first balcony on a monorail at the The UO2 southwest corner of the process. The monorail carries the UO2 to the north side of R-13.
Only that amount of UO2 which R-13 can accomodate at any one time is hoisted. The UO2 is dumped into R-13 The total amount of UO2 being added to R-13 is mass safe by moderation. R-13 must be emptied prior to re-l charging.
b.
The safe diameter for R-13 was determined in the following.
fashion: Calculations in E4-57861, page 2h, show the maximum i'
buckling for 5% U-235 metallic uranium rod in water lattices to be 150 x 10-h cm-2 Values for other parameters, near this f
maximum buckling, are as follows:
~
, koc = 1.6,'
L2 1.1 cm2
=
g 32.5 cn2 T
5
=
For an 8.25 inch digmeter vessel, K-1380, page I-13 to 15, showsB{=.03hh,B)=0.0h9 The value for k effective is:
)
J
~
4 koc e
- c. 5 gg j
k=
i + L* BI l
A value of 10.25 for the radius gives k =.7, but the actual vessel radius of 8.25 is specified as an added factor of l
safety. Another safety factor is included because UO2 with
~
its lower density shows lower maxinum buckling than does the metallic uranium as discussed in h4-57861; page 19 The random placement of the rods when merely dumped into a c.
vessel presents some uncertainty. Lattice values given above are for orderly spaced, uniform rods. Prelininary experiments mentioned in E4-56919, page 20, indicate the randomness tends to lower the buckling.. This was assumed also in TID-7016, page 21.
d.
Interaction between R-13 and its neighbors is less than 1.75 steradians compared to an allowable of 3.9 steradians (see Table I).
- h. Allowable Interactions With UO2 Feed The interactions between all vessels which contain uranium at n.
7~1 concentrations above 5 grams U 235/11ter with UO2 feed have V
been conservatively estimated by the methods given in TID-7016, page Ib. These estimates are shown in Table I.
Where the "l.y(
i.*
- .y
~
O-U 6-a-a Table I O
Vessel Diameter Contents Interaction
" (Inches)
(Steradians)
E-3 3.25 b*
1.6 F-h 7.75 a*
2.8 a
2.5 F-5 7.75 2 32 KL-1 9.0 1*15 UO2 R-1 10.25 a
1.56 E-2 10.25 a
1.91 1.65, R-3 10.25 a
R-h 10.25 a
1.97
.h5 R-5 22.0 a
{
R-B 10.25 a
1.56 R-9 10.25 b
.93 1.73 R-13 8.25 UO.
2.05 -
sc-1 2
T-1 10.25 a
1.92 T-2 10.25 a
1.98 T-3 10.25 a
2.22 T-h 10.25 a
1.83 T-13 10.25 b
86 T-lh 10.25 b
86 2.28 T-18 & T-19 9.0 UO2 TA-1 h&8 a
1.80 UO2 1.92 Bullion Ba1.
g g
"a" and "b" are process solutions containing uraniu:s a
- 'j
h h
l I'"
App'endix' Q
interaction is below one storadian, there is no limit on what may be placed in the vessels since each vessel is "always-safe".
The basis for this is a statement in K-1019 Rev. h, page 25, a
which states that if the vessels meet "always-safe" parameters the k value may be assumed equal to 0.8 for which the maximum solid angle is 1.0 steradian.
f b.
For those vessels where the interaction is greater than one f storadian, a limi.t is placed on the maximum concentration or '
s mass of U-235 which can be placed in these vessels.
Uranium in the process is contained in aqueous solutions in two c.
different concentrations above 5 grams U-235-per liter. The more dilute of these two is designated solution "a" in Table I, while the more concentrated solution is designated "b".
d.
The maximum permissible concentration for solution "a" is cal-culated as follows: Among the vessels containing solution "a" and excluding F-b and F-5, the== Hem interaction is en-countered with vessel T-3 at 2.215 steradians. The next highest is T-2 at 1.982 steradians. The maximun. e for an allow-able 2 steradians is 0.713 (K-1019 Rev. h, page 39). Now k -
gf Ur Uth (Page I-9, K-1380).
1 (conservative estimate)
Assume Uth
=
O B{ =.02h2 for D = 10.25" (K-1380,pageI-13)
Uf =.596 (K-1380, page I-lh)
1.195 r}f
=
This is the naamnm value for v1f. Assuming the solution con-tains nitrogen, hydrogen, U-238 and U-235, an wf less than 1.19$ requires the following quantity to be greater than h55.
1.88 N 33 H # W' U-235
- U-235 where N/U-235 is the ratio of nitrogen atoms to U-235 atoms and similarly for H/U-235 If T-3 is in the system, this must be greater than 510.
Returning to F-h and F-5, these vessels have a diameter of e.
7-3/h inches and have an allewable solid angle of 3.5 when nf = 1.195 The allowable solid angle for R-13 was dis-ctissed above.
f.
The maximum concentration of solution "b" is such that the minimumH/U-235is920. Under these conditions the maximum nf is 1.36. This concentration gives the madmnm allowable interaction for E-3 of 2.26 compared to the actual 1.6.
o
.m
,V-
~
T-13, T-lh and R-9 all have interactions less than 1 steradian.
t
$k
.n t
5/ h d.d ?
8-a Appendix-Q g.
The fumace has an I.D. of 9 inches. However, it never runs more than 25% full. This gives it an equivalent diameter less than 5 inches. The safe interaction for a $ inch pipe is 3 2 steradians (Table IX, K-1019 Rev. h) compared to the actual value of 2.32.
h.
The quantity of UO2 allowed in either T-18 or T-19 is limited to the safe mass as limited by enrichment, (Table XVII, K-1019 Rev. h). The k for these mass safe vessels is taken as 0.65 (K-1019 Rev. h, page 26), so that the allowable solid angle is 2.51 compared to the actual value of 2.28.
- i. After a moisture analysis has been obtained on their contents, T-18 or T-19. can either be transferred to M-5 or to storage.
- j. The entire inventory of UO2 in M-5, SC-1 and at the bullion balance is limited to a mass safe quantity as linited by moderation. Table III of K-1019 Rev. h will be used to specify tha safe mass to that corresponding to the highest H/J-235 ratio of any material added to the inventory. Table III is for UF, but since the density of UO2 here is no 6
greater than the density of UF6, the table is applicable.
k.
The k value for this total mass is taken as 0.65.' This is in accordance with K-1019 Rev. h, page 26 for safe masses.
O Although this reference is not specifically justified in this n
d instance, a value of.65 is considered conservative for two reasons.
Pirst the uranium is at most 5% enriched, while.
Table III is for any enrichment. Secondly, all the mass
['
will not be accumulated in a configuration approaching an optimum arrangement. For a k of.65, tthe allowable interac-tion is 2.51 steradians. The maximum interaction fmm M-5, SC-1 or the bullion balance is 2.05,ateradians.
1.
Almost all piping which might conceivably carry uranium so-lution is 1/2 inch which presents no interaction problem (K-1019 Rev. h, page 2h). In the fmnt of the process, sizes no greater than 3 inches are used sparingly. They are all spaced at least ? feet from any vessel and enter the vessels either near the top or bottom so that they are safe.
Drip pans beneath p(rocess vessels overflow at 1/2 inch so m.
that they are safe K-1019 Rev., page 2h).
n.
All pumps and pulsers are located on the floor and are of safe volume, each having less than a gallon holdup. They are included in interaction calculations as extensions of the process vessels.
(3 v
[.
6M on.".m n-