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superceded by a more efficient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
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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.
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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