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ATOMIC EliEITGYCC:,ii:I.SSICII
Washingron /5, D. C.

B-L4 9
llAzelwood7-7831
'3446
ExE.

(N0TETo EDrroRs & coPs.ESpcNDENTS:
For your i.nforna-

t i o n , E h e f o l l o w i n g a n n o u n c e D e e n. d! a s l s s u e d f o : a . m .
pa p e rs o f S acu rda y, August 29, by AEonlcs Inter n a ti on a l , a D i vi si on o.f Nor th Am er ican Avlacion, r nc.
C a n o g a P a rk, C al i .for nia. )

FUEL Ei-EMENTFAILUBI Al THE scDITJi'l P€ACTORExPERnfiNT
D uri n g l n sp e ctL on of fuel elecnents on "Iuly 26 ax Lhe
s o d i u c r B -ea ctc: E xp e ri n e n f,, ope::ated fo: the Aconic in"= gy
Counission aL Santa Susana, Callfcrnia by Aicnics Inien,eEicnal, a
D i v l s L o n o f N l orth A me ri can Av' ,acion, r nc., a par tei fuel eiecent
tJas obsenred.
T h e fu e L eL e rsen! Canage ls ;r or an indlcation of uns ai e
reactor conditlons'
IIo release of radioaccive naterials to :he
p L a n c or L ts e n vi ro n s occur r ed, and oper acing Der sonnel r ver e nor
e x p o s e ' J to h a r-rnfu Lco n d i Eions.
The o' :cur r ence is j- npor tanL froC I
a E e c h n i c a l s r a n d p o i . n ca n c a c e t a i L e d s E u d y i s u n c e r w a y i o d e E e r u i n e the precl se ca u se of Ehe daaage.
T h e fue l e l erne nt of the SP€ is a cLusier of seve1l s tai nless steel Cubes, each aporoximateLy 3/4 inches in dlarnecer anci s
f e e L 1 o n g . E .:.chi u b e co ntains a coluum of six- inch long ur ani ur n
n e t a l s l u g s . T h e s e t u b e s a r e c a n p e d .a t l h e l w o e n C s . T h e e l e n e : r i s
a r e s u sp e n d e c l n :he co re of the r eaccor by r Deansof hanger r c d,s
fron plugs in Ehe upper shielC.

(nore )

 2
T c d,a te , 34 of the 43 elenents coopr j.sr - ng'Ehe fue l i oai l n g of the cre h a ve b een ei:am lned by oeans of' tir e fuel ha ndi i - ng
cask telev. ;icn sysEen. IE has been noced chat five acidisional
eleoenEs h: e only an upDer half actacheC Eo Ehe hanger rod.
In
each case, :11 seven cubes of Ehe fuel elemenL clusEer we=e parcei
a n d a p o rti o n o f th e l ower half of Ehe fueL elecoenEr enalned i n
the core.

:

PreLioinary
indications
are chac Ehe danage cculd have
been caused, by restricEions
in che coolanE passages resulting
fron
lnadvertent
introduccion
of an or3anic roaEerial incc thc reaccor.
could have come from lealcs in Ehe pricnary coolanE
Thts rnaterlal
pumps where Eef;ralin, an organic compound, is used in seals to
el-ioinate sodi"n lcakage inro the purnp bearings and drive.
Preliminary invesEiga:ion
of Ehe srainless
f
u
e
l
sceel
claiCing of
one element inCicares che elernenE was danageC through fo:naEion of
a uranium-lron
a!-loy in ihe cladding :.n the a:ea of Ehe failure.

t'

The SRE is the firsc expe=inent in the Cominissionts prcgr4m to develog a sodiun graph;te react,or, one of ihe F:-ve ori3j-nel
reactot concepEs in Ehe Cocomissionts 1954 Flve Year C:-.ril!an Po,;e:
Program.
I; cras <iesigned to prcduce 20,000 klLo-wat:s of heag anl
6r500 kilos..'atts of electric!ry.
The purpose of che SRE :-s to develop Ehe t,echnolcgy
associated. wich the soCiurn-graphice type of reacgor and to p:ovide
a flexible
iool to develop che advanced technology necessary to
achleve econonlcall''
compeciti-'.ze poqrer. This concepE holds orccri.se
because of che high texooerature, and. higlr efficiencies,
aE whica
heac cransfe: sysEens using J-rquid neEals can be operaced wj-tnoui
pressurizaEion.
The reaccor has been in operati.on since ApriL L957 and
has d,ernonstrated the feasibil:-ty
oi che socilun g:aphi:e reacEor
concePt.
C n t t t a ' y2 2 . 1 9 5 9 c h e S R E a c h i e . / e d a r n a > ; i n u r ns t e a n E e n p e x a ture of I,C00 d,egrees Fahrenheic.
This sieain Eeciperaf,ure !s believed to be the h:-ghest ever produced'oy a nucLear reaclor.
Tle
fuel loading, nearing the enC of its useful lirer was schedulec ic
be removed in the near future. and replaceC rvich a second core lca,;lng of thorj-un-uraniun
alloy fuel elernencs.

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