Cover Sheet for a Hanford Historical Document Released for … · Cover Sheet for a Hanford Historical Document Released for Public Availability Released 1995 Prepared for the U.S.

Cover Sheet for a Hanford Historical Document Released for Public Availability

Released 1995

Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-ACOG-76RLO 1830

Pacific Northwest laboratory Operated for the U.S, Department of Energy by Battelle Memorial Institute

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G E N E R A L E L E C T R I C HANPORD ATOMIC PRODUCTS OPERATION - RICHLAND, WASHINGTON

DATA AS

D O T H E R OFFlClAL CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

TH1 S MATERIAL CONTAINS I NFOR MAT1 ON AFFECT1 NG T H E NATIONAL DEFENSE O F THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE: MEANlNG OF THE ESPIONAGE LAWS, TITLE 18, U. S. C., SECS. 793 AND 794, THE TRANS- MISSION OR REVELATION OF WHICH I N ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON 1s PROHlBlTED BY

F I L E DES I GNAT1 ON

DOCUMENT NO.

m-31905

DATE

May 20, 19% COPY NO. AND SERIES

Critical. Mass Calculations f o r the Recuplex Izstal la t ion

AUTHOR . . R. P. R a f t e r g

P

t t

C O M P A N Y I

. . . . HANFORD A T O M I C PRODUCTS O P E R A T I O N

c: 1. Fw Utm?gh >u.* GM Maler 2. R3 Beeton 12. WJ Ozeroff 3. VR C o o p e r 13. RP R d t e r y - D D L w n i n g 4. DE Davenport 7-494 14. WH R e a s 6. PF Gas t 7. OH Greager 8. OF Hill 9. E F K u r t z 3.0. WH Mobley

5. JE F a u l h e r ~ m c r i i o t b ~ I I 3.5. AE -5th 16. GW Stuart 1-7. WK WDods

21. 300 Files 22. Y e l l o w C o p y

18-20. mrs.

T h i s document consists of T h i s docwent c lass i f ied by B. R. Leonard

11 pages. copy NO. / I I - of 22 copies. -

CRITICAL MASS CALCULATIONS FOR TBE RECUPLEX INSTAIlLATIOR

bY

R. P. RaStery

43 A P R I M E C O N T R A C T O R F O R T H E U.S. A T O M I C E N E R G Y C O M M I S S I O N

- 2- m-31905

A B S T R A C T

The methods of an aml.ysis of the c r i t i c& safety of process tanks

i n the Recuplex instal la t ion ewe discussed and resu l t s of the

analysis are tabnlated i n this report.

f o r a thermal chain reaction

f o r 400 MWD/T Pu f o r each tank i n the instal la t ion which normally

contains, o r c o d & contain, plutonium. All estimates are based on

experimental c r i t i c a l mass data from the P - l l project and from

O a k Ridge crit ical . mass experiments.

A minimum c r i t i c a l condition

is estimated f o r 0-200 MWD/T Pu and

HW- 3 19G5

h extensive exaBnation of t h e prcceas vessels in the Recupiex insfallation and t h e m a neutron ref lectors i n tke vfcizt ty of these vessels has been made. Since m m t y of these vessesP v e x Pculzii to 3e not aQways c r i t i ca l ly sgfe from them& cha2.n reactions, it i s ecessazy to establksh l i m i t s on the m a x i m u m aaouzt of plutonium which can safely be coa%&ned fn an;y one tank at any tiae. Subsequent t o the s 3. Ozeroff" of the chain reacting Units in the Recqlex p r o c e s z ? , a complete set of" pz5n-f~ of the installation was ob- tained and an exmination of each t u azd 2 t s swrounr?ings, as indicated on these primts, vas made with regar6 t o c r f % i c d safe53. examfnation, estfmates 400 MWD/T plutonium exposures of the rniz&mm c r i t i c a l condition f o r each vessel fn the ins ta l la t ion which acmaEy contatzs or9 tbough operational emoss, could contain plutonium in solution o r as a preeiipita-be.

y made 37 W.

A s a result of t M s have been ms2e %o%b on tfie basis of 0-200 MWD/T and

11. KETSODS OF maysrs The ins ta l la t ion f s contained in t h e e large luc i te hoods i n the 234-3 Building, the slag and crucible hood, the solution receptfon and blending hood, and the solvent extraction hood. Each hood i s roughly 4.5' x 269 x 16' high. t t o n t o the actual process o r plutonlm--iearing tanks, each hood contains a supporting framework, process piping and associated valving and f i t t ings, process pmps, and auxiliary tanks. Each of these serves t o some degree as a thennal neutron ref lector for the product-bearing tgsks.

In addi-

Xn the following estimates, therma3. neutron ref lect ion from the supporting framework, process pumps, luc i te hood panels, the concrete floor, auxiliary tanks, pipes and f i t t i ngs , process t a d w a l l s , and operating personnel near product-bearing tanks' has been approximated by an equivalent reflector thick- ness f o r each hmlr. In addition, interactton between nemby product-bearing tanzks was taken in to account. upon the minrfmum c r i t i c a l conditions f o r each individual tank. pipes within one foot of each tank were assumed t o cross-sectional tank area by an axnoun$ equal t o the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the f l u i d i n all. pipes w i t h i z this distance.

These two factors have a very significant e f fec t Product-bearing

increase the effective

The fo1lowing approximations were ma6e t o accomk f o r thermal neutron reflec- t ion from near3y objects:

1) For ref lectors of ma21 cross-sectfond mea, such as small pipes and members of the supportfw framework,

Equivalent refl. tlhic-kmess = Y w - R ,

where R i s the &stance betwee2 the cen%erlines of the tank and reflec- t o r m d C.S,A. is t l e ez-oss-sectfond. area. of the reflector.

-le-

current density out current density i n fl = albedo [refP. coef'f". of' actual r e f l ec to r =

pa )= albedo of an i&ixxi%ely tMck r e f l ec to r surrounaing the process tank. The remaining quantit ies are shown i n the following diagram:

,(is plotted versus re f lec tor thickness i n Figure 1, taken from HW-25374. (2) This relationship between ref lector thickness and extrapolation length is based upon an extrapolation length of 6.1 cm in water.

Estimates of the in%era?%fon between product-bearing vessels were made on the bas is cf experimental. data on the interaction between r ightcircular cyl2nders of several diameters containfng water solu%loss of 0-235 as reported i n K-406. The following empfrfcal equation WBS found 57 trial and error. experimental da ta quite we91 an3 is a good approximation within the given l imits.

(3 1 It f i t s the

I I

. *"

w h e r e

a = inside diameter of tank in inches

_ c - A a - fTactfonal iacrease f n effect ive diameter of one tank due to the e f f ec t of the second. a

d = edge - to-edge tank separation faa fnches = albedo for the combhed waSP thicknesses of t he interacting tanks

o( and f l are indicated %n the fo l lowbg diagram:

I

_.--_ -

Interact ion between product-bearing vessels of less than eight-inch inside diameter i n the Rccuplex in s t a l l a t ion was conside-red t o be that between two eight-inch cylinders. Eight inches i s the smallest diameter to which the experbente l data can be extrapolated. diameter vessels The in te rac t ion between large product-bearing vessels used process negligible. A discussion of this eqdation can be found i n HW- 29396. t'l Figure 2 i s a plot of the fnteract ioa between t w o para l le l eight- fncb r igh t circular cylfnders eQht feet fza lengbh versus the centerline-to- ce25erPfne separation of the vessleu f o r various r e f l ec to r thicknesses of stain- Zess s t e e l bekween the interacting cyltnlders. for the preceding equation i d ) I s 3 . 3 inches f o r eight-inch cylinders.

The interact ion between smaller i s lower and therefore the above assumption is conservative.

i n the Recuplex

The lower l i m i t of separation

f -7-

i: - d- Ed-3 1905

where

V = volume of Pu solu%lo~ in l i ters

r239 = cross sectlon f~ b v m , taken t o be ll5O

W = Pu-240 fke l fraction, %&en as 0.0295 f o r 400 MWD/T and 0 ?OF 0-200 Mw3/T

~ p O i S O E 1 = nacroscop~c cross section, taker as 0.0220 cm-1

These equations were derived on t e b s4 of' expeflaental data obtained from ?-I2 c r i t i c a l mass experbents. d, &,I8 1

The pmduct-beariag ta&s haye bees d:vLaeed physfed inside tmk diameters, about sevea inches i s sZde diameter are reported e r l t i c d . concentration. t ed t o be s&e as l a g as the p2~i--lordm comeatration i n the tank the specffied Iiait. chosen fn repoPtfng mf&m critical concen%ra+,fons f o r these smaller tanks. T h i s w a s dloxie fn d e w of the so3aewha-t Q W t e d p

prediction fomuLa f o r c r f t f ca l mass is based, predfctea by the ecpation exceeded ZgO gram per l i t e r f o r several tanks, but in view of %&e mcep',aicty of validity i z z ?&is range, the l i m i t s are reported as 150 grams per l i ter . L M t s for the Parp;er'.taz&s of about f i f teen inches inside fiameter and greater are r e p o ~ e d P a grams of plutodum, o r m i n i m u m c ~ L t f c a P mass, a =ore signifPfcm-b a d reali3SIc f " igze thm sa estfaated c r i t i ca l concextra- tioE. h the basis of' concez&Pa%iox, the ma5mm safe amount of plutonium fn these larger tanks v07d.3 be qxi%e high if 822. of the pl~~tozxirn in the tanks always reza2zed 5 3 so>snr;iez..

i n to two groups oc. the basis of Mnimi c r i t i c a l conditions for mall tanks of

i n grams per l i ter , o r minimum

5s less than AB^ volume of solution i n one of these tanks i s estima-

h mper cowentratiosa Pftnft of 150 grms per l i t e r was

e of concentrations of plu- tordm s01ut;ions used fn the P-99 expenoisaents bY upon which the semiempirical.

The allowable concentrations

The &aimla81 c,-f$fc& miss of pfutonim i n these larger tanks i s

"%&en, hcwever, %be pcss2biEty of a plutonium

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precipi ta te exists, much higher than normal concentration of plutonium Could be present i n one section of such a tank and critical condftions m2gM be approached. Therefore, such calculations 8se based on the minfmum c r i t i ca l mass i n the tank rather than the m i n i m u m c r i t i c a l concentration, and result from the assumption of a homogeneous l a e of precipitate, water tamped on top and bottom, being formed i n the tank. T?T The following are estimates of the minimum c r i t i c a l conditions f o r product- bearing vessels i n t h e Recuplex in s t a l l a t ion based of approximation. The first table l ists the s m a l l diameter vessels and the second l i s t s those of comparatively large diameter.

on the preceediu methods

TABLE I

Tank Estimated M i n i m u m Cr i t ica l Concentration f o r Number 0-200 MWD/T Pu 400 MWD/T Pu

k/l) ( 8/11 31-31 G-16 G-17 G-28 G-42 G-46 G-47 G-48 G-50 G- 51 G- 54 E-1 ms H-1 COL E-1 BDS H-2 TDS H-2 COL H-2 HDS E-3 TDS H-3 COL H-3 BDS H- 9 H- 10 H-11 J- 1 J- 2 5-3 5-4 5-5 5-6 J-? J- 17 5-25 5-30 5-31

Safe* Safe Safe Safe 90

Safe 110 100

85 135 Safe 100 SsSe 70

100 Safe - 70 100

-Safe 70 105 100 95 150 140 130 Safe Safe Safe 150 80

Safe Safe Safe

Safe* Safe Safe SaSe 135 Safe 150 150 120 150 Saf'e 150 Safe ' 95 150 Safe - 95 150 Safe 95 150 3-50 145 Safe 150 150 Safe Safe Safe Safe 110 S d e Safe S d e

*Safe from thermal chain reaction for MWD/T Pu l is ted

D - l D-2 D-3 D-4 D-5 a- 6 D-Y D- 8 D- 9 D- 10 D-3.3. D- 12

D- 26 D- 27 D- 28 G- 9 G- 10 G-15 a-36 a-44 e- 52 e-j8 K- 1 IC- 2 K- 9 L- 2 L-3 L- 8

D- 23

Tank Dbmeter

28 28 14 14 29 31 31 30 30 16 16 16 22 2c 18 28 32 34 I 34 34 18 34 30 26 26 17 42 42 42

1300 13m 670 650

a3 00 agoo agso 1473 I430 675- 675 7@0 950 550 750

k3@0 1 6 ~ ~ 1800 1800 a800 750 1800 1450 1200 2200

2600

2600

650

2600

1450 1450 7 ~ 1 ~ 9 7501

1400 1700 1700 1600 1600 775/P 775 775 1050 950 850 1450 1750 1950 1950 1950 850

1950 1600 1300 1300 730

2800 2800 2800

Tiaese estimates as"e not v a l i d f o r exposures lower than those upon which they ape base&e For Xgher exposures they are somewhat con- servative. Thus, the es%bat,es in the first column are considered s d e f o r any W/T PU, wuse those i n the second are considered s d e for 400 MWD,~! pt1, or greater.

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REIPEREXCES x

1.

2,

3 .

4.

5-

6 .

Ozerof'f', W, J., Chain Re&ct%ng %fn8%s i n the Reeuplex Process, HW-27491, Mwch 25, 1953.

L m n i n g , D.D., C r f t f c d Mass Study of 231 Process Tanks. August 19, 3.932.

HW-25374,

F a d h e r , J. E., Davenport, D.E, , an6 I)sa.epaA,1, G.E., T e c U c a l Activit ies Report fop September, 1953, Pbysfcs U d t , Applied Research, Technical Section, Engineerfng Department, HW-29596, October 12, 1953.

IIivesi, F. E., E r k m a , J. O . , and L a m i n g , I). D., HW-24514, Cri t ica l Mass Stud ies of Plutonfum Solutions, May 19, 1952.

Lanning, D. D., lled t o Purex and Recuplex Design, Hw-27575, April 1, 1953.

i Technical Section EPTGINEZRII'?G DEPARTMENT I

Physics Unit