Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Herald and news. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1942-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1958)
f AGE 6 D .HERALD AND NEWS, KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON SUNDAY. JULY 13. 1953 -if "burr fr. . a. fit , fn'nl EVEN A COMPARATIVELY SIMPLE repair job on a pump in Hanford's production plants becomes a rather compli cated matter when the equipment is contaminated with radioactive material. Because this pump is radioactively "hot" it must be decontaminated before repairs can be made. Here the eight-foot shaft is being lowered into a tank of solvent, one of the steps in decontamination. Al though the canyon building is not extremely hot, there is always the possibility that radioactive material may drop from contaminated equipment. This is the reason workers must wear protective clothing, including a respirator mask. Super Cleaning Plant Used To Decontaminate Atomic Plant Machinery Foiling chemicals, a 75-ton crane, nnri a 28-foot-doep pool of water inc some of the things General Electric engineers are using in a strange laundry operation to de contaminate and reclaim equip ment worth many thousands of collars. Formerly when such equipment broke down, it was often hauled mil into the desert and buried. It was cheaper to bury and replace it than to clean and repair it by previously known methods. The new cleaning establishment is located at the Atomic Knergy Commission's Hanford pant which the company operates for the gov ernment in eastern Washington slate. It strips radioactive mater ial Irom expensive equipment in need of repair but too "hot" to work on before a thorough clean ing. The equipment pumps,- centrif uges, concentrators, electric mo tors and other chemical process ing machinery is used in the pro cesses that extract plutonium. uran- ium. and highly radioactive waste products from fuel elements that have been irradiated in the fiant Hanford atomic reactors. A team of UK technicians, crafts men, and operators headed by Mor ns L. Short have worked out tech niques and procedures and assem bled the necessary equipment to snub away the radioactive mater ial. Much of this unusual cleaning work is done in one of the first S( parations plant buildings con st i ueted at the 15 year old atom plant. The process it was built for, the best that could he worked out during the war-time race for the atomic bomb, didn't reclaim the unused uranium. It has been superceded by a more efficient piocess developed since World War If and earned ot in newer build ings. Parts of the old windowless concrete building ha e been piessed into service for the new clean-up work. Kquipment in need of repair but contaminated with radioactive ma terial is disconnected, placed into big boxes, and loaded onto a flat car all by remote control inside the Sepai aliens plant in which it is used. A swiUh engine, separat ed iron) Hs radioactive freight by several empty rail cars, hauls it to the king-size Jaundry. Pushed in side the old chemical processing building, the contaminated equip ment is lifted from its box and from one cleaning process to an other by means of the 75-ton remotely-operated crane built into the building. During the first six months of the reclamation program nearly $!rO.O(K) have been saved as the dif ference between the cost of de contamination and repair and the replacement cost of equipment. Tliis volume is expected to swell as continued improvements in tech nique and methods are developed. Some contaminated equipment will continue to be buried. Short says, because decontamination would be more expensive than re placement. Some pieces of equip ment become so radioactively "hot" that a workman would use up his safe exposure time before he could get close enough to begin to work on it. i Frequently the cost of dccontam-i ination. inspection and repair runs! as high as 50 per cent of the price! of the piece of equipment. But the1 avings are large when a $20. 000; piece of equipment can be restored lo service tor a fraction of re placement cost. ! Some types of equipment are. dunked into a special, "swimming pool and repaired while under as much as 2H feet of water: other equipment is inspected underwater tor possible cause or failure. Ihe, water provides shielding from ra-! diation but requires the use of spe cially designed tools for the re-, mote inspection or repair. Other pieces of equipment are; submerged in a big stainless steel! lank for several hours in a caus-j tic solution heated lo the boiling point. This is followed by washing in an acid solution and then by flushing with water. Various other chemicals are currently being test ed as decontaminating agents. This has been efleclive in lowering the radioactivity of pumps from dan gerous to safe working levels. Por instance, with one 1ype of large pump used to move highly radioactive solutions, it has been possible to reduce radiation to less than one one hundredth its original Farm Data Listed July 16-18 Northwest 4-H For estry Camp. Camp Wilkerson, Co lumbia County. July 16-Augiist 2 Tn-County events. Curry, Coos, Douglas. 4-H crops, livestock and for estry tour, July 16-17 in Curry County. 4-H Junior Camp. Camp Myr tlewood. July 22-26. 4-H" Senior Camp. Camp Myr llewood. July 28-August 2. " July 18-20 Oregon Square Dance Festival. Springfield. July 19 - Oregon Broiler fes tival, (serving chicken to square dancers), Willamalanc Park, Springfield. July 20-26 National Farm and Home Safety Week. July 23 Gold Hill Lamb Show, range hall. Gold Hill. July 26-27 Marion County 4-H Saddle Horse Show, slate fair grounds, Salem. July 27-August 2 Lake County 4-H Summer Camp at Cottonwood Meadows. July 28-August 1 Jackson Coun ty 4-H Home Economics Contest and Demonstration Week, court house, Medford. July 31 -August 2 Wallowa Coun- ly 4-H Summer Camp, Knterprise. July 31-Augtist 9 Multnomah County Fair, fairgrounds. Gresh- am. City of Portland exhibits on display in the 4-H building, July 31-August 4. County style revue. Meier and Frank auditorium, 7 p.m., August 1. August 2 Willamette Valley Ram S:le. 10 a.m., Linn County Fairgrounds. August 4-8 Annual Youth Range Camp, sponsored by Amer ican Society of Range Manage ment, Lake County. August 6-8 Marion County 4-H Show, sta'e fairgrounds. Salem. August R-10 Curry County Fair, Gold Beach. August 13-16 Baker County Junior Show. . August 13-16 Tillamook Couth !y Fair. j August 13-16 Umatilla Coun-i ty Fair, fairground. Hermiston. j August 13-17 Malheur County 4H Club Camp, Payette Lakes. Idaho. I August 16 32nd Oregon Ram Sale. 10 a.m., Pendleton. August 15-17 Jefferson County Fair. August 17 Jackson County 4-H Horse Show Finals, Posse Grounds.! Medford. August 17 Annual state picnic of Oregon Farmers Union. Cham-! poeg State Park. Picnic dinner at, noon. Program starls at 1:30 p.m.! August 1)1-20 Linn County tall: 4 II Fair, Albany. I August 1!1-21 Wallowa County 4-H Club Fair, Enterprise. I August lJi-23 Washington Coun-l y Fair, county fairgrounds, Hills-I boro. August lfl-20 Sherman County 4-H pie-fair judging. More August 19-23 Jackson County; 4-H and FFA Fair, fairgrounds. Medford. August 20-23 Clackamas Coun ty Fair, fairgrounds, Canby. August 20-23 Clatsop Countv I H Fair, fairgrounds. Astoria. August 21-22 iut Growers So ciety of Oregon and Washington annual farm tour, Northern Wil lamette Valley. August 21-23 Yamhill County I air. McMinnville. August 21-23 Lincoln County Fair, Newport. August 21-24 Douglas County Fair, fairgrounds, Roseburg. August 21-24 Wasco County Fair, fairgrounds, Tygh Valley. August 21-24 Deschutes Coun ty Fair, fairgrounds, Redmond. August 22 Linn County All Rreed Dairy Show, Linn County Fairgrounds. Albany. August 22-23 Western Lane County Fair, grade school, Florence. August 22-24 Polk County Fair, Rickreall. August 27 30 Malheur County Fair, fairgrounds, Ontario. August 28-September 1 Astoria Regatta, Oregon Fish Festival. Pier No. 3. August 28-September 6 Ore gon State Fair, fairgrounds, Sa iciri. August 30-September 1 Lake County Fall Fair and Roundup, fairgrounds, Lakeview. September 5-6 Southern Ore gon Ram Sale, fairgrounds. Lake view. September 10-14 Southern Ore gon Homemaker's Camp (Coos, Curry, Western Douglas, and West ern Lane counties Camp Easter Seal, Lakeside. j September 11-14 Sherman' County Fair, Moro. j September 11-14 Crook Coun- ly Fair, Prineville. ! August 18-20 Union County Fair. La Grande. September 19 Annual meet-, ing Turkey Improvement Associa tion, Withycombe Hall, 9:30 a.m.. Oregon Stale College. October 3-4 Lake Countv Stockgrowers Range Bull Sale, fairgrounds, Lakeview. October 10-11 Light horse judging short course. Withycombe Hall. Oregon Slate College. October 14-16 Oregon Town ind Countrv Church Conference. Memorial Union, Oregon Slate College. November 10-13 Oregon Farm Bureau Federation annual meet ing. Marion Hotel, Salem. November 12-13 Seventh an nual Weed Conference, Sacajawea Hotel, La Grande. November 12-14 Western Ore gon Livestock Association annual meeting, West Linn Inn, West Linn. November 20-21 Oregon Stale Horticultural Society annual meet ing. Oregon State College campus. December thirty hrst on-i nual convention of Oregon Wheat Growers League, Multnomah Ho-j el. Portland. December 8-10 Seed League meeting, Portland. Spaghetti Sauce Goes With The Sauerkraut A quick, easy and unusual main course substitutes sauerkraut for spahgetti with Italian crab sauce. Combine 1 one-pound can sauer kraut wilh k teaspoon salt, d tea spoon pepper and k teaspoon ore gano. Mix well, heat to serving temperature, and drain. While sauerkraut is heating, combine one 10'2-ounce can meat less spaghetti sauce with one G',4 ounce can crab meat, drained and boned. Heat to serving tempera ture, stirring occasionally. Serve over kraut, and top with 2 table spoons grated Parmesan cheese. Serves 4. There's a CHEVY TRUCK To Help you do YOUR JOB Dugan & Mest CHEVROLET 410 So. 6th TU 4-3101 The limp, ouler leaves o( loltucc an hp shrpflili'ri sinil In mixed salads or sandwiches. Wash and crisp the leaves in cold water before usini. Attention Ronchers Canvas Dams Cooper Treoted, No Mildew. AM Sites in Stock, S'i7' Thru 9'll5' White Roll Canvas 5' ond 6' Widths Lowest Prices! ARMY STORE J 320 So. 6th . Ph. 4-9206 II " mm, t 4,500,000 Motorists Choose State Farm Why? They enjoy top notch protection and rock-bottom rates on ailo insurance. Do you? Call me. ... .. wm. n. ijoen 631 So. 6th Ph. TU 4-3262 Stale Inn Mulul folcmcMt loiiare Ccetuj Home Offrti Bliominglon, Illinois Juniper Baler Twine First Quality Long Fiber Guaranteed level. This means Ihe difference between limiting a man lo Ihrce or four minutes work and allow ing him to spend all day on the equipment. One of the large tasks of the decontamination group is that of team cleaning cask cars used to transport irradiated fuel elements frcm Hanford's production reac tors to the separations plants. This cleaning is necessary because the cars are too contaminated before Ihe steam treatment to permit men to touch them. Huge centrifuges, some of which cost $ti0.000, are used in the sep arations plants, these are some times put out of service by the failure of some minor part. New ly developed techniques using new decontaminants are making it pos sible to approach the equipment for the replacement of defective parts. Short expects this lo make possible The saving of still larger sums of money. Baler Wire imported Bighorn Domestic 5 Jfg,. Guoranteed