ML13233A315

Request for Approval of Plans with Respect to Maintaining the License Conditions for the PUR-1 Reactor

ML13233A315
Person / Time
Site:	Purdue University
Issue date:	07/19/2013
From:	Jamieson L Purdue University
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML13233A315 (7)

Text

PURDUE U N I V E R S I T Y COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Leah H. Jamieson The John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering Ransburg DistinguishedProfessor of Electrical& Computer Engineering July 19, 2013 ATTN: Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555-0001 RE: Reactor License #: R-37 and Docket #: 50-132 11 light of the 19 July 2013 departure of Mr. Jere Jenkins, Facility Director for PUR- 1 we are seeking approval for the plans detailed below with respect to maintaining the license conditions for the PUR- 1 reactor. The plans entail three components: (a)our long-term intent to continue to operate PUR-1 as an important educational facility; (b) our short-term proposal for ensuring that there are appropriate surveillances, skeletal staff, and emergency preparedness in order to meet the requirements of the Technical Specifications; and (c) our proposed approach to re-staffing.

(a) Long-term intent: The PUR- 1 reactor serves a valuable educational function. We therefore are committed to taking the steps necessary to receive NRC approval for operation of the reactor.

(b) Short-term proposal - overview:

• Staff: Three staff are currently approved for unrestricted access to the facility: Mr. Jere Jenkins (Director of Radiation Labs in the School of Nuclear Engineering), Dr. James Schweitzer (RSO, Director of Radiological and Environmental Management [REM] at Purdue; Reactor Oversight Committee Chairman), and Mr. Zach Tribbett (Health Physicist, REM). With Mr. Jenkins's departure, Dr. Schweitzer and Mr. Tribbett will continue to have access.

• Surveillances: As detailed in Appendix A, we propose to continue to perform those surveillances that ensure safety and integrity of the reactor. We request approval to postpone those required surveillances related to operations in Chapters 2 and 3 that can be performed only with a senior reactor operator or reactor operator present. We propose to resume those surveillances after we fill the positions of Facility Director and/or Reactor Supervisor, and those candidates become licensed SROs for PUR-1. Those surveillances required prior to operation will be performed in accordance with the.

Technical Specifications. With approval. of the NRC, we propose that REM will perform the surveillances detailed in Appendix A that do not require an SRO or RO.

Office of the Dean Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering n 701 W. Stadium Avenue 0 West Lafayette, IN47907-2045 (765) 494-5346 m Fax: (76i) 494-9321 m lhj@purdue.edu a httpsl/engineering.purdue.edu

• Emergency Plan: We propose that Dr. Schweitzer (RSO, REM Director, CORO chair) and Mr. Zach Tribbett (Health Physicist) be responsible for implementing the emergency plan, including the drills related to emergency preparedness.

• Security Plan: We propose that Dr. Schweitzer and Mr. Tribbett be responsible for implementation and maintenance of the PUR- 1 Security Plan, including all required activities therein. We request approval of Dr. Schweitzer by NRC as the facility SGI/UA approving officer, as he. is already that for other Purdue facilities requiring trustworthiness and reliability determinations.

(c) Future staffing: We fully recognize that, with Mr. Jenkins's departure, we will be out of compliance with our license requirements. We propose to address staffing in two ways.

FacilityDirector andReactor Supervisor: We are conducting a search for a new Facility Director and a Reactor Supervisor. In addition to placing advertisements in the usual publications and websites, we are contacting the directors of research reactors at universities and government laboratories to see whether they have a person who is ready to move into a Facility Director position. In particular, we are in touch with the chair of the National Organization of Test, Research, and Training Reactors (TRTR). We have a position description and will begin the search immediately. We hope to begin interviewing candidates by the beginning of September and select an employee soon after that.

Licensing of operators:Before the departures of our licensed reactor operators (Mr. Ed Merritt and Mr. Jere Jenkins), Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Merritt were in the process of training a staff member (Dr. Nader Satvat) and a faculty member (Prof. Allen Garner) for the NRC licensing exam. We intend to continue to assist Dr. Satvat and Prof. Garner in their training to become licensed on PUR-1 within the next six months.

Both the hiring of the Director and Supervisor and the licensing of the operators will require training on the PUR- 1 reactor. PUR- 1 was built in the early 1960s and still uses the original technology. One safety channel is not currently functioning, so the reactor is currently not operational.

In order to license someone to operate our reactor, we first need to have an operating reactor, which means that we need to repair the safety channel. We plan to have those repairs done in one of two ways:

(1) Hire recent retiree, Mr. Merritt, for a limited time, or (2) Arrange for an employee from another university or research reactor facility with familiarity with 1960s technology to do the repair. For example, the laboratory director at the University of Missouri-Columbia, has already agreed to provide this assistance.

The repairs are expected to be made by the end of September.

Meanwhile, we are also looking into hiring either Mr. Merritt or Mr. Jenkins on a temporary basis to:

(1) Complete the training of Dr. Satvat and Prof. Gamer so that they can be licensed on the reactor by the end of November as originally planned, or (2) Train the new employee so he or she can be licensed on that reactor by the end of November. The new employee can then train at least one of our current faculty or staff members so that they can take the NRC licensing exam by the end of January 2014.

Should the process of hiring the Facility Director and Reactor Supervisor take longer than anticipated; we intend to proceed on schedule with the training and of Dr. Satvat and Prof.

Gamer. Should we not yet have the Facility Director and Reactor Supervisor in place at the time of their licensing, we would submit Dr. Satvat or Prof. Gamer to serve, on an interim basis, as Reactor Director and Reactor Supervisor, subject to appropriate approvals.

In summary, we are committed to safety in all aspects of operating and staffing the PUR- 1 reactor. We welcome your feedback and guidance.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on 19 July, 2013 Leah H Jamieson The John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering Ransburg Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Appendix A: Proposal for Surveillances Following are the principal parts of the technical specifications and our proposal of how we handle the surveillances.

2. SAFETY LIMIIT AND LIMITING SAFETY SYSTEM SETTINGS The specifications of TS Chapter 2 are operational requirements. Purdue University will ensure these conditions are met upon resumption of operations, once appropriate operations staff are available.

3. LIMITING CONDTIONS FOR OPERATION The specifications of TS Chapter 3 are mostly operational requirements, with a few exceptions where the conditions must be met even during periods of shutdown, e.g., Coolant pH and conductivity. Purdue University will ensure the operations related limits are met upon resumption of operations, once appropriate operations staff are available. Those specifications that are required at all times have associated surveillance periodicities, as described in Section 4, below, and will be carried out as described therein.

4. SURVEILLANCE REQUIREMENTS 4.1 Reactivity Limits Specification -

a. The shim-safety rod reactivity worths shall be measured and the shutdown margin calculated annually with no interval to exceed 15 months, and whenever a core configuration is loaded for which shim-safety rod worths have not been measured.

b. The shim-safety rods shall be visually inspected annually with no interval to exceed 15 months. If the rod is found to be deteriorated, it shall be replaced with a rod of equivalent or greater worth.

c. The reactivity worth of experiments placed in the PUR-1 shall be measured during the first startup subsequent to the experiment's insertion and shall be compared with the prior calculated value, and shall be verified if core configuration changes cause increases in experiment reactivity worth which may cause the experiment worth to exceed the values specified in Specification 3.1 Action: All conditions will be met prior to any subsequent at power operations when staff is qualified as senior reactor operator/reactor operator.

4.2 Reactor Safety System Specification -

a. A channel test of each of the reactor safety system channels listed in Table III shall be performed prior to each reactor startup following a shutdown in excess of 8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br /> or if they have been repaired or de-energized.

TABLE III.

SAFETY SYSTEM CHANNELS CHECKED AFTER PROLONGED SHUTDOWN Log Count Rate (startup channel)

Log N-Period Linear Level Safety Channel

b. A channel check of each of the reactor safety system measuring channels in use or on scale shall be performed approximately every four hours when the reactor is in operation.

c. A channel calibration of the reactor safety channels shall be performed at the following average intervals:

1. An electronic calibration will be performed annually, with no interval to exceed 15 months.

2. A power calibration by foil activation will be performed annually, with no interval to exceed 15 months.

d. The operation of the radiation monitoring equipment shall be verified daily during periods when the reactor is in operation. Calibration of these monitors shall be performed semiannually, with no interval to exceed 7 1/2 months.

e. Shim-safety rod drop times will be measured annually, with no interval to exceed 15 months. These drop times shall also be measured prior to operation following maintenance which could affect the drop time or cause movement of the shim-safety rod control assembly.

Action: Items a.-c. and e. will be met prior to any subsequent at power operations when staff is qualified as senior reactor operator/reactor operator. Item d. will be maintained at the prescribed intervals of calibration.

4.3 Primary Coolant System Specification -

a. The pH of the primary coolant shall be recorded weekly.

b. The conductivity of the primary coolant shall be recorded weekly.

c. The reactor pool water will be at or above the height of the skimmer trough whenever the reactor is operated.

d. Monthly samples of the primary coolant shall be taken to be analyzed for gross alpha and beta activity.

Action: Surveillances required by specifications a, b and d will be carried out as required.

Specification c will be met prior to any subsequent operations when staff is qualified as senior reactor operator/reactor operator.

4.4 Containment Specification -

a. The negative pressure of the reactor room will be recorded weekly.

b. Operation of the inlet and outlet dampers shall be checked semiannually, with no interval to exceed 7 1/2 months.

c. Operation of the air conditioner shall be checked semiannually, with no interval to exceed 7 1/2 months.

d. Representative fuel assemblies shall be inspected annually, with no interval to exceed 15 months.

Action: Surveillances required by specifications a, b and c will be carried out as required.

Specification d will be met prior to any subsequent operations when staff is qualified as senior reactor operator/reactor operator.

4.5 Experiments Specification -

a. Calculations shall be made on samples of known composition to assure that the limits of specification 3.5.f and 3.5.g, are not exceeded.

b. The mass of samples of unknown composition shall not exceed 10 grams.

Action: These specifications will be met prior to any subsequent operations when staff is qualified as senior reactor operator/reactor operator.

5. DESIGN FEATURES Chapter 5 of the Technical Specifications are related to the design of the reactor and associated facilities. Design changes would require a license amendment after appropriate safety analyses have been performed. Purdue University will make no design changes without proper safety analyses and application for a license amendment.

6. ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS Due to personnel changes the Level One Licensee (Dean of Engineering) is responsible for license and technical specifications compliance.

The Committee on Reactor Operations (CORO) will continued to meet as specified in the technical specifications and provide oversight to ongoing reactor activity. The CORO will provide a report to the Dean of Engineering after each meeting.

Audits An audit of the technical specifications will be conducted as required on an annual basis.

An audit of the Facility Emergency Plan and implementing procedures will be performed biennially as required.

An audit of the Facility Security Plan and implementing procedures will be performed biennially as required.