HOMOGENEOUS REACTOR PROGRAM PROGRESS REPORT FOR PERIOD FROM DECEMBER 1, 1960 TO MAY 31, 1961
Homogoenous Reactor Test. Four HRT runs were performed to study the reactor behavior with downward core flow. The upper patch was found to have fallen out, resulting in an increase in core-to-blanket mixing. The reactor will not be operated again. In the HRT processing plant, the development of a process for removing Ni and other soluble contaminants from fuel solutions by peroxide precipitation was continued, and efficiency tests of stackfllter iodine traps were performed. Power-trace data and computer analysis of a HRT flow model indicate that the HRT power fluctuations were caused by flow perturbations. A flow diffuser was developed to reduce core wall temperature and core power oscillations. Temperature transients due tc density changes were determined. Engineering Developent. ThO/sub 2/ slurries were found to show a slip effect in small-bore capillary tubes, while chemically dispersed slurries showed no such effect. Slurry friction factors in turbulent flow were correlated with Reynolds numbers. Solution Fuels. The stability of Pa tracers in Th(NO/sub 3/)/sup 4/ HNO/sub 3/ solutions was studied at 21 to)200 deg C. The effect of inorganic ions on the solubility of H/sub 2/ in H/sub 2/O is shown graphically. The solubility and nature of UO/sub 3/ hydrates in H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/ solutions were studied at 150 to 300 deg C. The effect of pressure on the liquid-liquid immiscibility temperature of UO/sub 2/SO/sub 6/-- H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/-- H/sub 2/O solutions was determined: Critical temperatures and liquid-liquid immiscibility boundaries were determined for UO/sub 3/-- CuO--SO/sub 3/--D/sub 2/O, UO/sub 3/--NiO--SO/sub 3/D/ sub 2/O, and UO9/sup -/CuO-- NiO-- SO/sub 3/-- D/sub 2/O systems. The solu->s bility of ThO/sub 2/ in HNO/sub 3/ solutions was determined at 150 and 200 deg C. A UO/sub 2/SO/sub 4/-- CuSO/sub 4/-- D/sub 2/SO/sub 4/-- D/sub 2/O solution wa s circulated for 553 hr at 360 deg C in a Ti loop to study its stability and corrosive effects on Zircaloy-2. Sorption of U from a similar fuel solution on Zircaloy-2 surfaces at 360 deg C was - studied, and recombination rates of radiolytic gases in the irradiated solution were determined. The activation energies of anodic and cathodic reactions were determined in Zircaloy-2 by electrochemical measurements. Slurry Fuels. Radiation effects on ThO2 pellets and ThO/sub 2/-- UO/sub 2/ slurries were studied. Development of Pd as a gas recombination catalyst for O/sub 2/ and D/sub 2/ in slurries is described. Some physical and attrition properties of Code P-82 ThO2 pellets were measured. In- pile slurry autoclave experiments were performed to compare the radiation effects on agitated ThO/sub 2/-- UO/sub 2/ slurries with those for loop slurries. Corrosion of Zircaloy-2, type 347 stdinless steel, and Ti alloys 45A and llOAT by in-pile ThO/sub 2/--UO/sub 2/ slurries was evaluated. Fuel Manufacture. Development of the sol-gel process for preparing large ThO/sub 2/ particles is described. Metallurgy. The effect of preferred orientation and texture on the knoop microhardness of Zircaloy-2 was studied. A pressed-cube technique was developed for fabricating spherical ThO/sub 2/ pellets. Analytical Chemistry. An amperometric method used for Th titration with EDTA is found to be applicable to the determination of Cu and some rare earth elements. (D.L.C.)
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-26
- NSA Number:
- NSA-15-030264
- OSTI ID:
- 4838344
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL-3167
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-61
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BLANKETS
CATALYSIS
COMPUTERS
CONFIGURATION
CONTAMINATION
CORROSION
DECOMPOSITION
DENSITY
DEUTERIUM
FILTERS
FUEL SLURRIES
FUEL SOLUTIONS
HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
HRT
IN PILE LOOPS
IODINE
IRRADIATION
LIQUID FLOW
MEASURED VALUES
MIXING
NICKEL
OPERATION
OSCILLATIONS
OXIDES
OXYGEN
PALLADIUM
PELLETS
PEROXIDES
POWER
PRECIPITATION
RADIATION EFFECTS
REACTOR CORE
REACTORS
REPROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
STAINLESS STEELS
STATISTICS
TEMPERATURE
TESTING
THORIUM OXIDES
TITANIUM ALLOYS
TRANSIENTS
TRAPS
URANIUM DIOXIDE
VARIATIONS
VESSELS
ZIRCALOY