■ 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.
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£) Copyright I960, 5«f«w«y Storoi, Tncorpor«t«4.