IR 05000326/1979003
| ML19242D586 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | University of California - Irvine |
| Issue date: | 06/29/1979 |
| From: | Faulkenberry B, Johnston G NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION V) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19242D577 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-326-79-03, 50-326-79-3, NUDOCS 7908150443 | |
| Download: ML19242D586 (5) | |
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U. S. NUCLEAR RECULATORY Co;SilSSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEME#r REGICT V
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Report No.
50-326/79-03
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50-326 R-ll6 Pocket No.
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Lice. ee:
University of California Irvine, California 92717 i
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Facility Name:
TRIGA Mark I Inapection at:
Irvine, California Inspection conducted:
May 9-10, 1979 Inspectors:
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ddnnston, Reactor {InsptCt9r Date Signed W.
Date Signed
Date Signed
Approved By:
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O2C/79 B.H.Fauikenberry, Chief, Rea'etor Projects Section 2, pate Sigted Reactor Operations andrifuclear'57pport Branch Suwary:
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Inspection on May 9-10, 197c (Report tio. 50-326/79-03)
Areas Inspected:
Routine, unannounced inspection of organization. logs
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and records; requalification program; review and audit; procedures-surveillance; experiments; c..i follcwup on licensee events and previous inspector identified problems. The inspection involved 14 inspector-hours onsite by one fiRC inspector.
Resul ts:
fio items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
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DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted
- Dr. F. S. Rowland, Reactor Administrator
- Dr. G. Miller, Reactor Supervisor P. Jerabek, Assistant Reactor Supervisor
- Denotes those attending the exit interview.
2.
Licensee Evert Reports Licensee letters of Aucust 24, 1978 and October 23, 1978.
On August 24, 1973, the Region V office of the NRC received notice of an event in which a ballpoint pen fell into a clearance space between the reflector assembly and the bottcm grid plate of the core.
Further, en October 6,1978, the Region V office was notified in a telecon and later in a letter dated October 23, 1978, that an aluminum finger ring dosimeter also fell into the same general location in the core as the ballpoint pen.
Following the second occurrence, the licensee did rot operate the plant until November 8,1978 af ter the removal of the ballpoint pen and the finger ring dosimeter.
Routine operation commenced November 14, 1978.
As part of the August 24, 1978 submittal on the first occurrence, the licensee proposed to construct an auxiliary fuel storage rack to store off-loaded fuel during retrieval operations.
The inspector's review of the safety evaluation and applicable procedures indicated that 10 CFR 50.59 requirements have been satisified and that this does not involve an unreviewed safety question.
The safety evaluation included considerations for criticality safety, fuel cooling, seismic concerns, and fission product release.
The procedures had provisions for records of fuel movement, observation of instrumentation by an operator, radiation safety considerations, and detailed instructions for strip down of the core.
Core reassembly comenced October 31, 1978 with the final core configuration being reached on November 8,1978.
Core excess reactivity at this point was $2.94.
The final configuration of the core has the water holes (positions in core not filled by fuel rods or graphite elements) placed underneath the reactor tank bridge; this was done to reduce the possibility of additional objects falling into the reactor core.
Licensee management stated that the reactor bridge will be posted to warn individuals to secure loose articles while they are on the bridge.
This item is closed.
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3.
Organization, Logs, and Records One change has occurred to the organizational structure for the operation and administration of the reactor facility.
W. Wadman, the campus Radiation Safety Officer (RS0) has resigned his position.
The University administration is now pursuing the recruitment of another individual.
In the interim the post will remain open.
A technician is available to conduct the necessary surveys at the facili ty.
Records of maintenance and operation of the UCI TRIGA reactor for the period June 1978 through flay 1979 were reviewed by the inspector and found to document that these activities vere performed con-sistent with the conditions of the facility license and technical specifications. The records reviewed included the following:
A.
Console Log Books (June 1978 - May 1979)
B.
Scram and Unusual Event Log (June 1978 - May 1979)
C.
l'aintenance Log Book (June 1978 - May 1979)
D.
Fuel Examination Records (!iovember 1978)
No itec.s of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
4.
P,eview and Audi t The minutes and records of the quarterly meetings held by the Reactor Operations Committee were reviewed and found to document the performance of review responsibilities as required by the technical specifications.
flo itcms of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
5.
Requalification Procram A review of facility records and individual training files verified that the approved requalification program for licensed operators had been complied with during the period since the last inspection.
tio items of ncacompliance or deviations were identified.
6.
Procedures Procedures for facility operation, addressing the Technical Specification 6.3, were examined by the, activities in inspector.
These procedures included:
startup, operation and shutdown of the reactor; utilization of experimental facilities; installation and removal of fuel elements; and caintenance of reactor systems.
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The TRIGA Reactor Operations Manual received interim approval by the Reactor Operations Committee (ROC) in July,1977.
Reviews by the inspector of ROC meeting minutes from July, 1977 to the date of this inspection revealed that no further action had been taken on final approval of the manual.
The licensee representative stated that the manual would be cendered for ROC final approval at the next meeting.
No items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
7.
Experiments The experiments program has remained essentially unchanged with no
" untried" experiments since the previous inspection.
The majority of experiments performed have been activation analysis irradictions for research and classroom laboratory assignments.
Each irradiation request reviewed was verified by a reactor operator to be consistent with the approved experiment methods prior to irradiation in the reactor.
No items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
8.
Surveillance Periodic calibration of instruments, reactivity measurements, control rud measurements, and safety system tests have been per-formed by the licensee.
A review of the facility records verified that the required calibrations and tests had been performed con-sistent with the technical specification requirements.
The following calibration / surveillance requirement.s were reviewed in detail to verify technical adequacy and frequency of performance.
A.
Control Rod Worth Measurements B.
Control Rod Drop Time Measurements C.
Power Level Calorimetric D.
Fuel Temperature Measurement E.
Control Rod Visual Inspection F.
Fuel Element Visual Inspection G.
Fuel Element Dimensional Measurements No items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
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Independent Inspection Effort The inspector witnessed the daily startup and system check, normal operations, toured the facility, and discussed experimental acti-vation analysis with an operator.
As was noted in the inspection report of June 8-9, 1978, the reactor has had numerous unanticipated scrams caused by operator errors.
The frequency has been reduced over the previous inspection period, and a continuing effort to reduce the number of scrams by operator errors is still being pursued by the licensee.
No items of noncompliance or deviations were identified.
10.
Exit Interview The inspector met with licensee representatives (denoted in Para-graph 1) on May 10, 1979 to summarize the scope and findings of the inspection. The licensee representatives stated that posting the reactor bridge to warn individuals to secure loose articles would be pursued as soon as possible (see Paragraph 2).
No other com-mitments s;are proffered by the licensee.
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