IR 05000538/1981002
| ML20054D862 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000538 |
| Issue date: | 11/04/1981 |
| From: | Julian C, Robert Lewis NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20054D824 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-538-81-02, 50-538-81-2, NUDOCS 8204230455 | |
| Download: ML20054D862 (6) | |
Text
{{#Wiki_filter:. -. __ . - .. - . .. N %g UNITED STATES '
8 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION i o g a REGION il
o 101 MARIETTA ST., N.W., SUITE 3100 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303 o
l Report flo. 50-538/81-02 i' Licensee: fiemphis State University Center for Fluclear Studies tiemphis, TN 38152 Facility flame: AGri-201 Training Reactor Docket flo. 50-538 License Nos. R-127
Inspector: b_-
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h C. Julian, A. ng Chief, Section IC ' Date Signed Approved by: [[. / 4; //! d[ , j R. C. Lew/G Director, Division of Resident Da te' Signed ~ and Reactor Project Inspection SUlitiARY-Inspection on October 19-21, 1981 Areas Inspected , This routine, unannounced inspection involved 23 inspector-hours on site in the areas of Facility organization and Staffing, Logs Reports and Records, Reactor Safety Committee Activities, Experiments, Procedures, Surveillance, Requal-ification Training, Radiation Control, Followup on previous unresolved items, enforcement matters and reportable occurrences.
Resul ts ! Of the 11 areas inspected, no violations or deviations were identified in 9 areas; 4 violations were found in 2 areas (Failure of Reactor Safety Committee-l _(RSC) to meet quarterly, see paragraph 7, Failure of RSC to conduct audits see paragraph 7, Failure of RSC to review reportable events, see paragraph 7 and , failure to conduct surveillance testing at the required frequency, see paragraph 10).
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o 82042304EI l .. . . .- - - . . .. .. . . .
. . .. . DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted Licensee Employees
- D. W. Jones, Director, Center for Nuclear Studies
- R. L. Dietz, Reactor Supervisor D. W. Cooke, Chairman, Reactor Safety Committee R. E. Horn, Radiation Safety Officer C. V. Holm, Electronics Technician
- Attended exit interview 2.
Exit Interview The inspection scope and findings were summarized on October 21, 1981 with those persons indicated in paragraph 1 above.
Licensee representatives acknowledged their understanding of the inspection findings. The inspector noted that amendment 3 to the license, which is currently in effect, requires certain design features which are to be installed during the modifications for power upgrade.
Since the upgrade has not been performed, these features do not exist. The inspector stated that there must be timely resolution of this discrepancy by either implementing the modification or requesting a change to the operating license.
Licensee representatives committed to promptly resolve this issue.
- 3.
Licensee Action on Previous Inspection Findings 77-01 (Deficiency) Failure to prepare minutes for Reactor Safety Committee meetings.
The inspector observed that minutes are currently being prepared for RSC meetings.
This item is closed.
77-01/I-1 (unresolved) RSC approval conducted by telephone. The inspector observed no evidence of RSC approvals being obtained by telephone.
This item is closed.
79-01 (Deficiency) Failure to conduct RSC audit of security plan and procedures. RSC audits of security are being conducted at the required frequency. This item is closed.
4.
Unresolved items Unresolved items are matters about which more information is required to detennine whether they are acceptable or may involve violations or devia-tions. New unresolved items identified during this inspection are discussed in paragraph 1.... . . . .. _ .- . . .. . .
} 5.
Facility Organization and Staffing
The inspector verified that the current facility staffing meets the requirements of the Technical Specifications and that the organization is functioning as described in the Technical Specifications.
No violations were identified in ti;is area.
6.
Logs, Reports and Records ' i The inspector reviewed the AGN-201 Reactor Operations log for the period January 9,1981 to October 19, 1981 and portions of the log for the period January 5, 1979 to January 9, 1984.
The Ibintenance Remarks log for the
period January 1, 1978 to October 19, 1981 was reviewed.
Various entries were discussed with the Reactor Supervisor for clarification. The Annual Reports for 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980 were reviewed.
The reports appear to meet the requirement of Technical Specification 6.9.1.b.
' The circumstances of the Reportable Occurrences listed below were reviewed by examination of various log and record entries and discussion with the Reactor Supervisor. Licensee reponse to events appeared appropriate and adequate and the reporting requirements of the Technical Specifications were met.
" Report Date Report Number Event 6/20//7 77-1 Shield Tank Level Switch Malfunction . 7/19/77 77-2 Shield Tank Level Switch thlfunction 6/22/78 Information Report on Control Rod Fuel Flaking 1/25/79 79-1 Loss of Facility Electrical Power 3/5/79 79-2 Loss of Facility Electrical Power 11/16/79 79-3 Shield Tank Float Switch Failure
I 6/8/81 81-1 Loss of Facility Electrical Power l No violations were identified in this area.
7.
Reactor Safety Connittee Activities The inspector reviewed the available minutes, audit reports, and other correspondence of the Reactor Safety Committee (RSC) from December 9,1976 - to January 29, 1981.
The following discrepancies were observed.
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-- .=_ . _- _ . -. . .. .. - . Technical Specification 6.4.1 requires that the RSC shall meet at least once each calendar quarter.
Contrary to the above, no meetings were-held during the following intervals.
December 19, 1978 - May 9, 1979 October 23, 1978 - July 15, 1980 July 15, 1980 - January 29, 1981 January 29, 1981 - October 21, 1981 This is a violation (538/81-02-01) Technical Specification 6.4.4 requires the RSC to audit 5 specific areas of reactor operation and any other area of facility operation considered appropriate by the RSC or the Facility Director.
Contrary to the above, the RSC has not conducted audits of 4 of the 5 required areas at the required . frequency and 2 areas have never received audits.
RSC documentation reveals ' the audit performance to be as follows.
Audit Required Dates Audits Area Frequency Conducted ' a.
Technical Specification 12 months 5/25/79,2/13/81 Conformance
b.
Staff Performance, Training 12 months 10/26/79,9/23/81 Qualification -- c.
Corrective Action 6-12 months None d.
Emergency Plan and 24 months None Procedures e.
Security Plan and 24 months 4/17/79,3/12/81 Procedures f.
Other (Radiation 11/17/78 - Safety Procedures) ' i Failure to conduct audits in areas a, b, c, and d at the required frequency is a violation of Technical Specification-6.4.4. (538/81-02-02)
Inspection Report 50-538/79-01 for the period March 6-7, 1979 cited one item of noncompliance for failure to conduct audits of area e. at the required !
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frequency. Subsequent audits in the security area are current and corrective action appears adequate for that area.
Technical Specification 6.4.3 requires the RSC to review events which have been reported in writing within 24 hours to the NRC. Contrary to the above RSC minutes indicate that 24 hour reported events listed below have not been reviewed by the RSC.
79-2 Loss of Facility Electrical Power 3/5/79 79-3 Shield Tank Float Switch Failure 11/16/79 81-1 Loss of Facility Electrical Power 6/8/81 Failure of the RSC to review these events in a timely manner is a violation (538/81-02-03) ! During the exit interview, the inspector noted that the RSC does not ) currently document in its correspondence a list of committee members and officers. Licensee representatives acknowledged that this is a desirable practice.
8.
Experiments The inspector reviewed documentation of the review of experiments conducted in 1977 and 1978.
Since the reactor is used primarily for training, no new experiments have been conducted since 1978.
No violations were identified in this area.
9.
Procedures Selected administrative, operation, and emergency procedures were reviewed to assess their technical adequacy and to confinn proper review and approval ' as required by the Technical Specification. No violations were ideatified in this area.
10.
Surveillance The inspector reviewed the records of surveillance tests required by Technical Specification section 4.0 and conducted between October,1977 and October, 1981.
The only discrepancy noted was as follows.
Technical Specification 4.2.d requires a monthly channel test of the shield water temperature, shield water level and seismic displacement safety channels.
This surveillance test was apparently not performed during the interval of October 13, 1980 to December 5, 1980.
Normal Operation of the reactor continued during this interval until November 24, 1980.
When the test was performed on December 5,1980 the results were satisfactory.
Failure to perfona this surveillance at the required internal is a violation.
(538/81-02-04) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
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11.
Reactor Operator Requalification At the date of this inspection, there are two Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) and one Reactor Operator (RO) licenses held by individuals at this facility.
The inspector examined a sample of the requalification program records for R0 and SRO individuals for the years 1980 and 1981 and found them satis-factory.
fio violations were identified in this area.
12.
Radiation Control The inspector toured the facility with the Reactor Supervisor and discussed with him reactor operation and radiation control measures.
Similar discussions were held with the Radiation Safety Officer.
Radiation monitors and survey instruments were observed to be present, operable and currently calibrated.
A sample of the records of general radiation surveys of the Center for fluclear Studies and the routine radiation surveys of the AGil-201 reactor were reviewed. flo unsatisfactory conditions were observed. The results of personnel TLD radiati?n monitors for the years 1977 through October 21, 1981 were examined.
All values were less than 100 millirem.
fio violations were observed in this area.
13.
Status of Facility Power Upgrade On March 28, 1980, in response to a licensee request, the flRC issued Amendment flo.1 to the operating license R-127 which allows an increase in reactor power to a maximum steady state power of 20 watts with intermittent operation to 1000 watts. Amendment flo.1 significantly revised the Technical Specification to reflect design features to be incorporated prior to increasing power above the previous 100 milliwatt limit.
Due to continued use of the facility for training, the licensee has not yet made the planned modifications or increased the operating power limit.
Consequently, certain design features incorporated in the Technical Specification do not exist currently.
These include the following.
Technical Specification (TS) 3.2.f requires that during operation the core tank shall be pressurized to greater than 1 psig with nitrogen.
TS 3.2.g requires an automatic scram for core tank pressures greater than 5 psig.
TS 3.4.1.c requires a secondary radiation shield for reactor operation and TS 5.1.b requires a gas handling system.
The inspector stated at the exit interview that the licensee must take prompt action to resolve this apparent conflict between Technical Specifi-cations and facility design by either completing the planned modifications or requesting that the flRC restore the old Technical Specifications.
Licensee representatives agreed to take prompt action to resolve the matter.
Pending resolution of this issue, this matter is an unresolved item.
(538/81-02-05) - }}