AIRCRAFT NUCLEAR PROPULSION PROJECT QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT FOR PERIOD ENDING SEPTEMBER 10, 1953

Technical Report · Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 EST 1953

OSTI ID:4153071

Cottrell, W.B. ed.

A higher value was obtained for the critical mass for the Aircraft Reactor Experiment. The enact value of the critical mass was not determined, but it is expected that the reactor will be able to "go critical." Structural poisons were removed from the core. The increase in the critical mass reduced the heat removal capacity by one-half. Coincident with these changes, both the fuel and sodium systems were revised to operate with only one pump. Vertical-shaft, sump- type, gas-sealed centrifugal pumps are to be employed in both systems. Pump seals with packings of graphite, graphite and metal wood, and beryllium fluoride and various vitreous and frozen seals were tested for use in continuous remote operation. No seals for such an operation were found suitable; however, several seals operated in encess of 1000 hr with leakage rates of less than 10 cm/sup 3/ per day. Suitable instrumentation to indicate leaks in the sodium and the fluoride systems was developed. Reliable fluid-flow measurements were made by using two Moore pressure transmitters across a venturi. Several series of reactor and shield designs were made to determine the effects of reactor power, reactor core diameter, and division of the shield on aircraft performance. The activation of various secondary coolants, including Na and K, was measured. Sodium was found superior to K on the basis of total weight of the system, although the activity of the K was about 2 to 5% that of the Na. An analysis of a power plant system enternal to a reactor was made for a 200,000-lb aircraft with a 100- or a 200-Mw reflector-moderated reactor and two or four Wright turbo- jet engines. The analysis revealed that the off-design, as well as the normal performance and control of these subsonic planes, is satisfactory when four engines are employed with chemical augmentation. The critical experiment facility was used to determine the relation between minimum critical mass and uniform thermal-neutron flun. The assembly investigated consisted of concentric cylindrical aluminum shells filled with vanying concentrations of aqueous uranyl fluoride solution. Critical height and mass were measured, based on theoretically determined fuel loadings, and found to be within 2.5% of the corresponding calculated parameters. Phase equilibria studies of UF/sub 4/, UF/ sub 3/, ThF/sub 4/, and UCl/sub 4/ compounds were conducted. problems in the preparation and purification of fluoride mintures were investigated. The corrosion of Inconel by NaF--ZrF/sub 4/--UF/sub 4/ (50--46--4 mole%) was studied as a function of time and temperature. The initial corrosion rate ( approximately 1 mil/day) was higher at higher tomperatures but decreased after several days by a factor of 10. Creep-rupture data were obtained for both coarse- and fine-grained Inconel in fluorides at 815 deg C over the stress range 2500 to 7500 psi. The beneficial effect of adding ZrH/sub 2/ was demonstrated in additions as small as 0.1 wt. %. The corrosion of Inconel by fluorides at high fluid velocities was no greater than in static tests. Of several stainless steel convection loops tested with circulating lead, only the loop constructed of type 410 stainless steel did not plug. High-conductivity radiator fins were fabricated (copper clad type 310 or 346 stainless steel) and assembled into high- temperature high-performance radiator segments. The high-temperature physical properties of several molten fluorides, chlorides, and hydroxides were measured. The viscosity and density of the system The corrosion of BeO by Na both under the influence of radiation and without radiation was studied. Spectrometric analysis revealed no gross segregation of the U in irradiated fluoride fuels. The determination of Zr in fluorides by a spectrophotometric technique utilizing the zircorium-alizarin red-S complex is described. (For preceding period see ORNL- 1556.) (C.J.G.)

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• NSA Number: NSA-14-018646
• OSTI ID: 4153071
• Report Number(s): ORNL-1609(Del.)
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Decl. with deletions Nov. 12, 1959. Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-60
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

REACTOR TECHNOLOGY
ACTIVATION
AIRCRAFT
ALUMINUM ALLOYS
ARE
BERYLLIUM FLUORIDES
BERYLLIUM OXIDES
BUCKLING
CENTRIFUGATION
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CONFIGURATION
COOLANT LOOPS
CORROSION
CRITICAL ASSEMBLIES
CRITICALITY
CYLINDERS
DENSITY
DISTRIBUTION
FINS
FLUID FLOW
FLUORIDES
FUEL SOLUTIONS
FUSED SALT FUEL
GRAPHITE
INCONEL ALLOYS
INSTRUMENTS
IRRADIATION
LEAK DETECTORS
LEAKS
LIQUID FLOW
LIQUID METAL COOLANT
MASS
METALS
MIXING
NEUTRON FLUX
NICKEL ALLOYS
NIOBIUM ALLOYS
OPERATION
PERFORMANCE
PHASE DIAGRAMS
PLANNING
POISONING
POTASSIUM
PREPARATION
PROPULSION
PUMPS
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
REACTOR CORE
REACTORS
REFLECTORS
REMOTE CONTROL