IR 05000123/2006002

Letter to Mr. William Bonzer from Johnny Eads Retake Examination Report No. 50-123/06-02, University of Missouri-Rolla

ML061790297
Person / Time
Site:	University of Missouri-Rolla
Issue date:	07/14/2006
From:	Johnny Eads NRC/NRR/ADRA/DPR/PRTB
To:	Bonzer W Univ of Missouri - Rolla
Doyle P, NRC/NRR/DPR/PRT, 415-1058
Shared Package
ML061790280	List: IR 05000123/2006002 ML061790394
References
50-123/OL-06-02
Download: ML061790297 (12)

Text

uly 14, 2006

SUBJECT:

RETAKE EXAMINATION REPORT NO. 50-123/OL-06-02, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ROLLA

Dear Mr. Bonzer:

During the week of May 29, 2006, the NRC administered an operator licensing examination at your University of Missouri-Rolla Reactor. The examination was conducted according to NUREG-1478, "Non-Power Reactor Operator Licensing Examiner Standards," Revision 1.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the Commission's regulations, a copy of this letter and the enclosures will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at (the Public Electronic Reading Room) http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/indesx.html. The NRC is forwarding the individual grades to you in a separate letter which will not be released publicly. Should you have any questions concerning this examination, please contact Paul Doyle at 301-415-1058 or via internet E-mail at pvd@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Johnny Eads, Chief Research and Test Reactors Branch B Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation uly 14, 2006

SUBJECT:

RETAKE EXAMINATION REPORT NO. 50-123/OL-06-02, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ROLLA

Dear Mr. Bonzer:

During the week of May 29, 2006, the NRC administered an operator licensing examination at your University of Missouri-Rolla Reactor. The examination was conducted according to NUREG-1478, "Non-Power Reactor Operator Licensing Examiner Standards," Revision 1.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the Commission's regulations, a copy of this letter and the enclosures will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at (the Public Electronic Reading Room) http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/indesx.html. The NRC is forwarding the individual grades to you in a separate letter which will not be released publicly. Should you have any questions concerning this examination, please contact Paul Doyle at 301-415-1058 or via internet E-mail at pvd@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Johnny Eads, Chief Research and Test Reactors Branch B Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-123 Enclosures: 1. Initial Examination Report No. 50-123/OL-06-02 2. Facility comments with NRC resolution 3. Examination and answer key cc w/encls:

Please see next page DISTRIBUTION w/ encls.:

PUBLIC RNRP R&TR r/f PMadden Facility File (EBarnhill) O-6 F-2 PIsaac ADAMS ACCESSION #: ML061790297 TEMPLATE #:NRR-074 OFFICE PRTB:CE IOLB:LA PRTB:BC NAME PDoyle:tls* Ebarnhill* JEads:tls*

DATE 6/28/2006 7/13/2006 7/14/2006 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

University of Missouri - Rolla Docket No. 50-123 cc:

A-95 Coordinator Division of Planning Office of Administration P.O. Box 809 State Capitol Building Jefferson City, MO 65101 Dr. Mariesa Crow, Dean School of Mines and Metallurgy 305 McNutt Hall University of Missouri-Rolla Rolla, MO 65401 Dr. Akira T. Tokuhiro, Reactor Director University of Missouri-Rolla Department of Nuclear Engineering 226 Fulton Hall 1870 Miner Circle Rolla, MO 65409-0170 William E. Bonzer, Reactor Manager University of Missouri-Rolla Nuclear Reactor Facility 1870 Miner Circle Rolla, MO 65409-0630 Mr. Michael Chapman, Director Office of Homeland Security P.O. Box 749 Jefferson City, MO 65102 Test, Research, and Training Reactor Newsletter University of Florida 202 Nuclear Sciences Center Gainesville, FL 32611

U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OPERATOR LICENSING INITIAL EXAMINATION REPORT REPORT NO.: 50-123/OL-03-02 FACILITY DOCKET NO.: 50-123 FACILITY LICENSE NO.: R-79 FACILITY: University of Missouri-Rolla EXAMINATION DATES: June 1, 2006 SUBMITTED BY: _/RA/______________________________6/28/2006 _____________

Paul V. Doyle Jr., Chief Examiner Date SUMMARY:

The NRC sent the University of Missouri-Rolla reactor facility management a retake examination (Section A only), for administration to one Reactor Operator license candidate.

The facility licensee administered the examination on June 1, 2006. The candidate passed the examination.

REPORT DETAILS 1. Examiners: Paul V. Doyle Jr., Chief Examiner 2. Results:

RO PASS/FAIL SRO PASS/FAIL TOTAL PASS/FAIL Written 1/0 0/0 1/0 Operating Tests 0/0 0/0 0/0 Overall 1/0 0/0 1/0 3. Exit Meeting:

Paul V. Doyle Jr., NRC, Examiner There was no exit meeting held. The facility forwarded their comments to the examiner via e-mail. The comments and their resolutions are included as enclosure 2 to this document.

ENCLOSURE 1

Mr. Paul Doyle, We are presenting our review of the written operator licensing examination (Section A) given at the University of Missouri - Rolla Nuclear Reactor Facility during the afternoon of June 1, 2006. We have reviewed the test and received comments from the trainee after he completed the test that we wish to respond to. The following question has answers we would like you to address.

Question A.6.b. lists beta () as the correct answer for 35Br87 * 35Br86. We believe the correct answer is neutron (n) decay.

Question A.6.c. lists neutron (n) as the correct answer for 35Br87*34Se86. We believe the correct answer is proton (p) decay and is not listed as an answer. We would like the question removed from the exam.

Question A.6.d. lists gamma () as the correct answer for 35Br87 * 36Kr87. We believe the correct answer is beta () decay.

We reference our suggested corrections to Burn, Robert Reed Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Operations ,

1982.

See page 2-33, top of page.

Sincerely, Daniel N. Estel Training Coordinator William Bonzer UMRR Interim Director License Number R-79 Facility Docket Number 50-123 NRC RESOLUTION: All comments accepted as written. Question A.06 will be modified as suggested.

Also question value changed to keep question worth 2 points (b each).

ENCLOSURE 2

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission OPERATOR LICENSING EXAMINATION Section A ONLY With Answer Key UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ROLLA RESEARCH REACTOR June 1, 2006 ENCLOSURE 3

Section A: L Theory, Thermodynamics & Facility Operating Characteristics Page 2 QUESTION A.1 [1.0 point]

The number of neutrons passing through a square centimeter per second is the definition of which ONE of the following?

a. Neutron Population (np)

b. Neutron Impact Potential (nip)

c. Neutron Flux (nv)

d. Neutron Density (nd)

A.1 c REF:

QUESTION A.2 [1.0 point]

Which ONE of the following is the definition of the term Cross-Section?

a. The probability that a neutron will be captured by a nucleus.

b. The most likely energy at which a charge particle will be captured.

c. The length a charged particle travels past the nucleus before being captured.

d. The area of the nucleus including the electron cloud.

A.2 a REF:

QUESTION A.3 [1.0 point]

Shown to the right is a trace of reactor PERIOD as a function of time. Between points A and B reactor POWER is

a. continually increasing.

b. continually decreasing.

c. increasing, the decreasing.

d. constant.

A.3 a REF:

(***** Category A continued on next page *****)

Section A: L Theory, Thermodynamics & Facility Operating Characteristics Page 3 QUESTION A.4 [1.0 point]

The difference between a moderator and a reflector is that a reflector a. increases the fast non-leakage factor and a moderator increases the thermal utilization factor.

b. increases the neutron production factor and a moderator increase the fast fission factor.

c. increases the neutron production factor, and a moderator decreases the thermal utilization factor.

d. decreases the fast non-leakage factor, and a moderator increases the thermal utilization factor.

A.4 a REF:

QUESTION A.5 [1.0 point]

The term reactivity may be described as a. a measure of the cores fuel depletion.

b. negative when Keff is greater than 1.0.

c. a measure of the cores deviation from criticality.

d. equal to $.50 when the reactor is prompt critical.

A.5 c REF:

QUESTION A.6 [2.0 points, 1/2 each] [2.0 points, b each]

Identify each of the listed radio-active decays as either alpha (), beta (), gamma () or neutron (n).

a. 35 Br87 º 33As83 b. 35 Br87 º 35Br86 c. 35 Br87 º 34Se86 This part deleted per facility comment d. 35Br87 º 36Kr87 A.6 a, ; b, n; c, n; d, REF:

QUESTION A.7 [1.0 point]

What is the kinetic energy range of a thermal neutron?

a. > 1 MeV b. 100 KeV - 1 MeV c. 1 eV - 100 KeV d. < 1 eV A.7 d REF:

(***** Category A continued on next page *****)

Section A: L Theory, Thermodynamics & Facility Operating Characteristics Page 4 QUESTION A.8 [1.0 point]

In a reactor at full power, the thermal neutron flux () is 2.5 x 1012 neutrons/cm2/sec. and the macroscopic fission cross-section Gf is 0.1 cm-1. The fission reaction rate is:

a. 2.5 x 1011 fissions/sec.

b. 2.5 x 1013 fissions/sec.

c. 2.5 x 1011 fissions/cm3/sec.

d. 2.5 x 1013 fissions/cm3/sec.

A.8 c REF:

QUESTION A.9 [2.0 points, 1/2 each]

Using the drawing of the Integral Rod Worth Curve provided, identify each of the following reactivity worths.

a. Total Rod Worth 1. B - A b. Actual Shutdown Margin 2. C - A c. Technical Specification Shutdown Margin Limit 3. C - B d. Excess Reactivity 4. D - C 5. E - C 6. E - D 7. E - A A.9 a, 7; b, 5; c, 6; d, 2 REF:

QUESTION A.10 [1.0 point]

The Fast Fission Factor () is defined as The ratio of the number of neutrons produced by a. fast fission to the number produced by thermal fission.

b. thermal fission to the number produced by fast fission.

c. fast and thermal fission to the number produced by thermal fission.

d. fast fission to the number produced by fast and thermal fission A.10 c REF:

(***** Category A continued on next page *****)

Section A: L Theory, Thermodynamics & Facility Operating Characteristics Page 5 QUESTION A.11 [1.0 point]

Given the data in the table to the right, which ONE of the following is the closest to the half-life of the material?

a. 11 minutes TIME ACTIVITY b. 22 minutes 0 minutes 2400 cps c. 44 minutes 10 minutes 1757 cps 20 minutes 1286 cps d. 51 minutes A.11 b 30 minutes 941 cps REF: 60 minutes 369 cps QUESTION A.12 [1.0 point]

Which ONE of the following describes the characteristics of good moderators and reflectors?

a. High scattering cross-section and low absorption cross-section.

b. Low scattering cross-section and high absorption cross-section.

c. Low scattering cross-section and low absorption cross-section.

d. High scattering cross-section and high absorption cross-section.

A.12 a REF:

QUESTION A.13 [1.0 point]

The number of neutrons passing through a square centimeter per second is the definition of which ONE of the following?

a. Neutron Population (np)

b. Neutron Impact Potential (nip)

c. Neutron Flux (nv)

d. Neutron Density (nd)

A.13 c REF:

(***** Category A continued on next page *****)

Section A: L Theory, Thermodynamics & Facility Operating Characteristics Page 6 QUESTION A.14 [1.0 point]

Regulating rod worth for a reactor is 0.001 K/K/inch. Moderator temperature INCREASES by 9EF, and the regulating rod moves 41/2 inches inward to compensate. The moderator temperature coefficient Tmod is a. +5 x 10-4 K/K/EF b. -5 x 10-4 K/K/EF c. +2 x 10-5 K/K/EF d. -2 x 10-5 K/K/EF A.14 b 0.001 K/K/inch x 4.5 inch ÷ 9EF = 0.001 ÷ 2 = 0.0005 = 5 x 10-4 K/K/EF REF: Glasstone, S. and Sesonske, A, Nuclear Reactor Engineering, Kreiger Publishing, Malabar, Florida, 1991,

§ QUESTION A.15 [1.0 point]

When performing rod calibrations, many facilities pull the rod out a given increment, then measure the time for reactor power to double (doubling time), then calculate the reactor period. If the doubling time is 42 seconds, what is the reactor period?

a. 29 sec b. 42 sec c. 61 sec d. 84 sec A.15 c REF: ln (2) = -time/ = time/(ln(2)) = 60.59 . 61 seconds QUESTION A.16 [1.0 point]

A thin foil target of 10% copper and 90% aluminum is in a thermal neutron beam. Given a Cu = 3.79 barns, a Al = 0.23 barns, s Cu = 7.90 barns, and s Al =1.49 barns, which ONE of the following reactions has the highest probability of occurring? A neutron a. scattering reaction with aluminum b. scattering reaction with copper c. absorption in aluminum d. absorption in copper A.16 a REF:

(***** Category A continued on next page *****)

Section A: L Theory, Thermodynamics & Facility Operating Characteristics Page 7 QUESTION A.17 [1.0 point]

Which ONE of the following atoms will cause a neutron to lose the most energy in an elastic collision?

a. Uranium (U238)

b. Carbon (C12)

c. Deuterium (H2)

d. Hydrogen (H1)

A.17 d REF:

QUESTION A.18 [1.0 point]

Which ONE of the following statements concerning reactor poisons is NOT true?

a. Following shutdown, Samarium concentration will increase to some value then stabilize.

b. Following shutdown, Xenon concentration will initially increase to some value then decrease exponentially c. During reactor operation, Samarium concentration is independent of reactor power level.

d. During reactor operation, Xenon concentration is dependent on reactor power level.

A.18 c REF: