Tuesday, October 10, 2017, 14:11

UO2/C green was prepared Oct 4th, 2017

The cast peeled off the glass nicely Oct 6th, 2017

Initial UO2 powder used = 50.26g (Inventory R-01032A, UO2 + bottle = 676.34g before use)

Graphite powder used = 10.12g

Green cast dried UO2/C + organic mass = 61.30g 

The green was rolled up and wrapped in a piece of graphite sheet.

The Ta-target boat was wrapped with 3-layers of heat shield [reused] and installed in evap1 this morning.

Chamber currently pumping down.

Target boat will be ramped up to 520A.

Vacuum limit stop at 3.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 6.0e-4 Torr.

 Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 09:06

IGP1 = 1.74e-6 Torr

Tapped up to 35A, 0.29V

Waited ~70min, vacuum stable.

IGP1 = 6.9e-6 Torr

Initiating auto-ramp at 0.2A/min

 Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 13:06

IGP1 = 3.1e-4 Torr

TGHT = 61A, 0.49V

Vacuum stable.

Changing vacuum limits.

Vacuum limit stop at 5.0e-4 Torr, backing off at 8.0e-4 Torr.

 Thursday, October 12, 2017, 08:31

IGP1 = 1.06e-5 Torr

TGHT = 275A, 2.55V

Vacuum stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 0.5A/min.

 Thursday, October 12, 2017, 09:03

IGP1 = 1.47e-5 Torr

TGHT = 290A, 2.70V

Vacuum stable.

Increasing ramping rate to 1.0A/ 30sec.

 Friday, October 13, 2017, 08:30

IGP1 = 5.8e-6 Torr

TGHT = 520A, 4.98V

Vacuum stable.

Carbonization process complete!

Evap1 has remained at max setpoints for ~17hrs

Initiating auto-cool at 1.0A/min

 Tuesday, October 17, 2017, 15:01

TGHT had sat at 0A for at least 24hrs.

At ~3:30-4am this morning everything tripped off. The only thing remained on was the roughing pump.

Power bump? Did someone accidentally turn it off? Will follow up on this...

Vacuum was sitting at ~3.5e-2Torr when I noticed today.

Most vacuum had been lost, but there was still a small vacuum - materials should be okay.

Purged and vented in Ar.

Transferred materials to glove box.