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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1968)
■ v_.-/ - • E. E. Department Hosts Conference THE BATTALION Thursday, April 18, 1968 College Station, Texas Page 5 NUCLEAR REACTOR FUEL Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center personnel check in one of 24 new triga fuel elements that will boost reactor power tenfold. Health physicist Phil Sandel (left) gives the stain less steel-jacketed zirconium-uranium alloys rods a once-over with the Geiger counter. NSC director Dr. John D. Randall and Donald E. Feltz, assistant director, hold the four- rod element. The new power source will undergo evhaustive test and measurements be fore the reactor resumes operation, at one megawatt. 24 New Fuel Elements Raise Nuclear Reactor Power Level Texas A&M nuclear scientists rolled out the welcome mat for a “hot” arrival over the weekend. I The truck shipment contained powerful new fuel elements that 1 will increase power of A&M’s Nuclear Science Center reactor ten times. Dr. John Randall, MSC direc tor, and his staff checked in and stored the new triga fuel ele ments in special receptacles in the reactor “swimming pool.” j Conversion to one million watts operation by installation of the 24 stainless steel tubes containing a zirconium-uranium alloy will follow licensing for the new power level by a division of the Atomic Energy Commission. “The AEC is in the final stages [ of granting our license,” Randall commented. “We will be given 15 days notification so experi menters can be informed of the | pending shutdown.” The director said the reactor will be shut down about two to three weeks for the conversion from 100 watts to one megawatt operation. “It will take about a week to tear down and modify the reactor ! for the new elements,” he said. “Another week or so will be re quired to check out the unit, see ing that it conforms to specifi cations and predicted behavior.” He said intermittent operation and testing will follow for several months afterward. At the new power capacity, ex periments that now require 15 hours irradiation can be per formed in an hour, Randall con tinued. “The downtime will provide an ! adequate interval to upgrade ex- 1 periments,” he pointed out. The new elements, manufac tured by Gulf General Atomic j Company, will allow steady oper ation at around one million watts and are capable of being “pulsed” to 1.5 billion watts for short in tervals. “Power will be increased by small increments,” Randall noted. “One megawatt operation will probably be reached by gradual increases over a period of three months.” A large heat exchange system was previously constructed to ac commodate heat generated at the new power level. Accessory equipment is on hand and under construction in the center ma chine shop. A new feature to be incorpor-| ated in the reactor is a dashpot- ! type chamber for quick placement! of fuel elements. Constricted j flow of water will cushion the elements’ gravity drop. Precise measurement of the in dividual fuel rods will precede triga element installation. Spe cial remote equipment and tools : have been installed so center tech nicians can measure the rods through several feet of interven ing water. Water will dampen any stray radiation. “If, during the course of opera- I tion, a rod changes length by one- ten thousandth of an inch, it can’t be used any more,” Randall ! explained. Present fuel elements in the reactor core will be stored in a special container in the pool for a year until arrangements are made for shipping them to Oak Ridge for disposal. Appi'oximately 250 engineers from throughout the United States and several foreign coun tries will attend the annual Con ference for Protective Relay En gineers here April 22-24. The Department of Electrical Engineering of Texas A&M will host the meetings. Dr. W. B. Jones, Department Head, will give the address of welcome. Purpose of the conference is to provide opportunity for discus sion of problems by persons in terested in the design, application and operation of protective relay equipment as applied to electri cal transmission lines and elec trical machinery, Prof. L. M. Haupt, program chairman, said. A. D. Patton, of the host fac ulty, will be chairman of the opening session. Other session leaders are D. P. Inwood, General Electric, Houston; C. C. Ander son, Austin; G. Holman King, West Texas Utilities, Abilene, and John Ragland, lubbock. The list of speakers includes John R. Wilson, General Electiic, Dallas; Wayne B. Hanson, Hous ton Lighting and Power; G. W. Hampe, Chicago; W. C. Kotheim- er, General Electric, Schenectady, N. Y.; G. D. Rockefeller, West- inghouse, Newark, N. J.; Ted L. Hatcher, Texas Power and Light, Dallas; D. G. Zimmerman, Dow Chemical, Plaquemine, La.; V. C. Rydeen, Northern States Power, Minneapolis, Minn.; M. M. Chen and L. E. Goff, General Electric, Philadelphia; Clyde Gilker, Mc- Graw-Edison, Milwaukee; R. D. Chenoweth, Texas A&M; Jake M. Mabe, Central Power and Light, Corpus Christ!; W. K. Sonne- mann, University of Texas; J. M. 'Massara, Allis-Chalmers, Milwau kee, Wis., and J. W. Skooglund, Westinghouse, Pittsburgh, Pa. The Singing Cadets will per form Saturday evening, and Ag gie quarterback PTd Hargett will speak at religious services in All Faiths Chapel Sunday morning. Read Classifieds Daily Prizes Offered Math Students A wrist watch and cash prizes of $10 and $15 will be awarded to freshmen and sophomore stu dents who place in the annual annual Mathematics contest ex aminations Tuesday, April 30. The freshman two-hour exam will include questions pertaining to algebra, trigonometry, analytic geometry and calculus as high as the Math 121 level. The sopho more exam will be comprised of questions to the Math 307 level. All freshman awards and sec ond ($15) and third ($10) sopho more awards are provided by the Robert F. Smith Memorial Fund, established for Smith by the late John W. Mitchell, originator of the contest. First prize (watch! for sopho mores is furnished by the Halper- in Award Fund, established through the estate of the late Prof. H. Halperin. Smith, Mitch ell and Halperin were staff mem bers in the Department of Mathe matics. The freshman exam will be in Room 223 and the sophomore ex am will be in Room 225 of the Academic Building beginning at 7:30 p.m. BUSIEK AGENCY REAL ESTATE • INSURANCE F.H.A.—Veterans and Conventional Loans FARM & HOME SAVINGS ASSOCIATION Home Office: Nevada, Mo. 3523 Texas Ave. (in Ridgecrest) 846-3708 COMPARE RAHWAY'S LOW, LOW PRICES IIlISH Il>/TEIlZfA'TlOWAI> I*I**<»W* 114 M Park N T ;. Steeplechase "^ AV Su/kEPSTAI{ES- thrilling races on TV MO PORCH ASK RSOOIRBO ADULTS ONLY Safeway Special! Cling Peaches 4 s,“ $ 1 ★ Sliced * Halved. Highway. 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