IR 05000157/1989001

Insp Rept 50-97/89-01 & 50-157/89-01 on 890425-26.No Violations Noted.Major Areas Inspected:Operation & Records of Triga & Zpr Reactors

ML20246N267
Person / Time
Site:	05000000, 05000157, 05000097
Issue date:	05/11/1989
From:	Banerjee M, Jerrica Johnson, Plasse R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:
Shared Package
ML20246N254	List: IR 05000097/1989001 IR 05000157/1989001
References
50-097-89-01, 50-157-89-01, 50-157-89-1, 50-97-89-1, NUDOCS 8905190393
Download: ML20246N267 (7)

Text

_ _ _ - _ - _ _ _ _ - - _ _ _

A

'

.

.

.

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION 1 Report Nos.: 50-157/89-01; 50-97/89-01 Docket Nos.: 50-157; 50-97 License Nos.: R-80; R-89 Category: G; H Licensee: Cornell University Ithaca, New York 14853 Facility Name: Ward Laboratory of Nuclear Engineering Location: Ithaca, New York Dates: April 25-26, 1989 Inspectors: k n k*

M.' Banerjee, Profect Engineer .date NGt & .kW R. Plasse, Resident Inspector, T/Ilfh9 date Fitzpatrick Approved by: AI*r "'

S/h/&1 J7 Johnson, Thief, Reactor Projects d&te'

Section 2C Inspection Summary: Inspection on April 25-26, 1989 (Report No /89-01; 50-97/89-01)

Areas Inspected: Routine, unannounced safety inspection by a region-based inspector and a resident inspector (23 hours2.662037e-4 days <br />0.00639 hours <br />3.80291e-5 weeks <br />8.7515e-6 months <br />) of the operation and records of the TRIGA and ZPR reactor Results: The inspectors concluded that the reactors were being operated safel Previous open items are addressed in section 3. The inspector will track the following issues in a' subsequent inspection report: 1) documentation of-temporary changes to experiments (section 5); and 2) verification that licensed operators meet minimum time periods for performing operator functions (section 8).

f L

'

8905190393 89051

- PDR ADOCK 05000 7 Q PD '

c____-___-______---_______-_-----_-------------- - --

_- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . - - _ _ _ _ _ _ _

• '

L .

a

.; j I

..

Cornell Universit DETAILS

' Introduction TRIGA. -The Cornell TRIGA reactor operates under NRC Facility License R-80, Docket 50-157. The TRIGA reactor license was renewed and amended on November 9, 1983, to permit operation at an upgraded steady state power of 500 kilowatts. The fuel is stainless steel clad U-Zr. hydride. The TRIGA '

reactor operates approximately 400 hours0.00463 days <br />0.111 hours <br />6.613757e-4 weeks <br />1.522e-4 months <br /> per year at an average power of 100 kilowatts. Between July, 1987 and July, 1988 TRIGA operated for.128 megawatt-hours.

ZpR. - The Cornell Zero Power Reactor (ZPR) operates under NRC Facility -

License R-89, Docket 50-97. The ZPR is licensed'to operate at 100 watts _

steady state power. The fuel is aluminum-clad uranium dioxide. The ZPR .'

operates about 30 hours3.472222e-4 days <br />0.00833 hours <br />4.960317e-5 weeks <br />1.1415e-5 months <br /> per year at an average power of I watt. Between July,1987 'and July,1988 ZPR operated for 50 watt-hrs including 25 startup . Persons Contacted D. Clark Director, Ward Laboratory

• H. Aderhold Reactor Supervisor

• P. Craven Senior Research Technician; Chief Responsible Person, TRIGA

• R. Reposh Research Equipment Technician The inspectors summarized the inspection results with Mr. Aderhold

'following the inspection on April 26, 198 * Denotes attendance at exit meetin . Previous Inspection Items (40750,92702)

(Closed) Violation (157/83-01-01). Annual audit. During Inspection 83-01' Cornell did not meet the requirement to perform an annua'l audit and was issued a violation. During Inspection 85-01 Cornell did not meet the annual audit requirement again, and the inspector noted that the audits were cursory. The inspector had stated that the auditor should be' knowledgeable of reactor operations but independent of Ward Laborator The licensee agreed to implement reciprocating audits with other universitie The inspector reviewed two audit reports, one performed by the Director of Rensselaer Polytechic Institute, Reactor Critical Facility on December, 1987, and the other performed by the Director of the Reactor Facility, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute on November, '1988. These audits of the TRIGA and ZPR facilities were comprehensive and addressed the relevant aspects of reactor operation. The inspector had no further concerns. This item is close _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

'.

.

'

Cornell University 3

!

(Closed) Violation (157/85-01-02). Licensed operator requalification examinations. The licensed operator requalification program requirement for an annual examination was not me The inspector verified that the annual requalification examination is now administered to the required licensed operators. All operators satis-

,

l factorily completed annual examinations in December, 1987 and December, '

1988. This item is close (Closed) Violation (97/87-02-01 and 157/87-02-01). Failure to perform leak tests of plutonium-beryllium (PuBe) sources within the 6-month frequencies required by technical specifications. A Cornell University letter dated February 29, 1988 provided corrective actions including a policy of quarterly inventory and leak testing of the sources by the Office of Environmental Healt .

The inspector reviewed the records of the performed leak tests dated 7/21/88, 11/7/88, 1/26/89. This testing satisfies the testing required by technical specification This item is close . Facility Tour (40750)

The inspectors toured the TRIGA and the ZPR facilities located in the licensee's Ward Laboratory of Nuclear Engineering with a Cornell repre-sentative after the entrance interview. Housekeeping and general material conditions of the facilities were satisfactor The inspector observed the required notices were poste . Facility Operations (40750)

The TRIGA nuclear reactor and the ZPR are used in the Nuclear Science and Engineering Program for graduate research, undergraduate course work for credit in the student's major field of study, experiments for neutron activation analyses, neutron detector testing, and neutron radiograph The reactors are normal'.y operated only on the day shift during the five day work wee On April 25, 1989, the inspector observed the startup and shutdown of the TRIGA reactor under TRIGA Reactor Daily Startup Checklist No. 415 '

The startup was initiated at 1:53 p.m., and the shutdown was completed at 2:23 p.m. The inspector reviewed the checklist and compared the checklist entries to the Technical Specification requirements. The inspector judged the operator to be experienced and very knowledgeable of TRIGA equipment and operation This startup was performed to support experiment #182, Fission Chamber Calibration, dated April 2, 1965. The procedure involved irradiation of a Westinghouse Type UL-23465 fission chamber in the dry central thimble

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ -

_ - _ _ _ _ _ - _ __ _ _ - _ - _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ - _ _

'

.

.

'

r - Cornell University 4

,

access tube for periods of one to two minutes at 25 kw. The experiment was being performed with the fission chamber installed in the dry-tube at the-periphery of the reactor instead of the central thimble. Although this change has been discussed and informally approved by the responsible person.and Reactor Supervisor, this temporary change was not formally documented to ensure subsequent reviews by the Safety Committee. This is an identified weakness and the licensee has committed to having this change reviewed by the Safety Committee and to document temporary changes in the operating log when performed as required by section 6.3 of the technical specifications, to ensure Safety Committee review. The in- a spectcr will review the results of this commitment in a future inspection report (Unresolved 50-157/89-01-01) Logs, Procedures, and Records (40750)

The inspectors reviewed a sample of logs and records associated with the ZPR and TRIGA, The specific items' reviewed are listed in Attachment A, and are associated with operating records, surveillance tests, procedures, maintenance records, and experiments. The inspectors identified no significant problem . Review and Audit (40750)

The inspector reviewed the minutes of the Ward Laboratory Safety Committee meetings for 1988 and 1989, emphasizing committee composition, frequency, and required topics. The three meetings in each year met the Technical Specification requirement. The inspector verified that the licensee included an item in the meeting agenda titled " Status Update on Annual Requirements" since the December 13, 1988 meeting as committed in their December 16, 1987 letter to NRC. Followup on the previous concern for an

. effective annual operations audit is discussed in Section . Requalification Training (40750)

Four individuals hold senior reactor operator (SRO) licenses at the facility. Two individuals hold an SRO license on both the ZPR and the TRIGA reactors, while the two remaining operators hold a single SR0 license, one on TRIGA, the other on ZPR. Twenty years is the minimum that any of the four licensed SR0s have held their licens In addition, a fourth operator license on the TRIGA reactor was issued in November 198 The inspector reviewed the ZPR and TRIGA operating logs to confirm that the licensed individuals periodically perform reactor manipulation However, by review of the logs, the inspector could not determine if the licensed individuals on the ZPR facility performed operator or senior operator functions for a minimum of four hours per calendar quarter as required by 10 CFR Part 55.53.(e). The licensee stated that the 4 hr

_ - _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ -

_ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _

.

4 '

l Cornell University 5 requirement had been met for the ZPR licensed individuals when the time spent performing startup checks and restoration after shutdown were included. However, this cannot be verified because the operating logs only show the total time of criticality. To ensure adequate documentation of ccmpliance with this requirement tSe licensee has committed to formally docum r t the total time the licensed vperators spend in performing the functions of an operator or senior operator. The inspectors will review this in a future inspection report (Unresolved 50-097/89-01-01). Emergency Planning (40750)

The Emergency Plan for Ward Laboratory of Nuclear Engineering, Cornell University was approved by the NRC on August 15, 1984. In the plan the licensee commits to perform an annual emergency drill and to conduct periodic trainin The inspector reviewed the critiques of the emergency drills on October 26, 1987 and December 20, 1988. Based on the critiques, the inspectors concluded that the annual drill commitment had been met. The inspector discussed the general actions prescribed in the plan with the operating personnel and found them to be knowledgeable of their responsibilitie . Event Followup (40500) ,

On April 8, 1988 Region 1 was notified of a possible reportable occurrence (potential fuel leak) on April 7, 1988 at the Cornell TRIGA reactor. A very low concentration of Rb-88, far below 10 CFR 20 maximum permissible concentration (MPC) for occupational exposure, was detected in the reactor ba Subsequent testing of all fuel elements in the core have not de-tected any leaking fuel. The inspectors verified that the commitments made by the licensee to perform gamma spectral analyses of continuous air monitor filter for reactor runs above 400 KW for over 3 hrs. have been met. The licensee is in the process of collecting data and evaluating the results, thus monitoring the release for any possible changes. No concerns were identifie . Exit Interview (30703)

The inspectors met with the licensee representatives indicated in para-graph 2 of this report on April 26, 1989 and summarized the findings of the inspectio At no time during this inspection was written material provided to the license _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ .

_ _ _ _ _

- ,

. .

'

Cornell University 6

'

,

ATTACHMENT A LOGS, PROCEDURES, AND RECORDS REVIEWED ZPR

--

Operating Log #11; 5/9/84 - 3/15/89

--

Startup Checklist #1; 3/15/89, 1/25/89

--

Shutdown Checklist; 3/15/89, 1/25/89

--

Channel calibration for moderator temperature; 11/25/87, 11/4/88

--

Control rod drop measurements; 2/4/88, 9/30/88, 3/15/89

--

Water chemistry and radionuclides; 11/25/87, 11/4/88 TRIGA Procedures and Logs:

--

Calibration of Radiation Monitor Equipment; 8/18/76

--

Reactor Pool Water Cooling System; 8/13/76 l

--

Control Rod Drop Time Measurements; 8/18/76

--

Inspection of Fuel Elements; 8/18/76

--

TRIGA Power Calibration by the Calorimetric Method; 8/13/76

--

Daily Startup Checklist #4155; 4/25/89

--

Shutdown Checklist; 4/25/89

--

Operating Log #34; 10/15/87 - 7/29/88

--

Operating Log #35; 2/29/88 - 4/25/89

--

Strip Chart recording for stack monitor; 4/7/89 - 4/15/89 ,

!

--

Strip Chart recording for continuous air monitor; 4/7/89 - 4/15/89

,

me______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - - - _ - - - - - - _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . _ _ _ _ . -

. _ _ _ - _ - _- _ -

..  ;

..

Cornell University 7 .

Experiments:

No. - 182, Fission Chamber Calibration, 4/2/65 (approved 5/14/71) :

No. 327, Probe of Nuclear Heating Beamport 6Z, 3/7/89 Surveillance Test Records:

--

Inspection of Fuel Elements: 1/19/88, 1/13/89

--

Control Rod Calibration: 5/8/87, 6/21/88

.

--

Calibration of Fuel Element Temperature Measuring Channels: .12/15/87, 5/11/88, 12/6/88 i

--

Calibration of Radiation Monitors: 8/16/88, 8/17/88

--

Daily Startup Checklist No. 4155: 4/25/89 Maintenance Records:

--'

Inspection and Clearnfrg of Transient Control Rod Drive Cylinder:

12/15/87, 5/11/88, 12/6/88

- _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ - - -- ._ ___-