ML15302A018
| ML15302A018 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000128 |
| Issue date: | 11/02/2015 |
| From: | Patrick Boyle Research and Test Reactors Licensing Branch |
| To: | Mcdeavitt S Texas A&M Univ |
| References | |
| Download: ML15302A018 (6) | |
Text
November 2, 2015 Dr. Sean McDeavitt, Director Nuclear Science Center Texas A&M University Texas Engineering Experiment Station 1095 Nuclear Science Road, MS 3575 College Station, Texas 77843
SUBJECT:
TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION/TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM - REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST RELATED TO RECEIPT OF SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL FROM THE AGN-201M REACTOR
Dear Dr. McDeavitt:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is reviewing your application to amend Facility Operating License No. R-83, dated October 14, 2015, available on the NRCs public Web site at www.nrc.gov under Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No. ML15287A148, for the Texas Engineering Experiment Station/Texas A&M University System, Nuclear Science Center, Training, Research, and Isotope production, General Atomics reactor. During our review, questions have arisen for which additional information is needed. The enclosed request for additional information (RAI) identifies the information needed to continue our review. We request that you provide responses to the enclosed RAI within 30 days from the date of this letter. A timely and complete response to these questions is required to support the expedited review requested by Dr. Banks, of Texas A&M University, in a letter dated October 26, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15301A242).
In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.30(b), Oath or affirmation, you must execute your response in a signed original document under oath or affirmation. Your response must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 50.4, Written communications. Information included in your response that is considered sensitive or proprietary, that you seek to have withheld from the public, must be marked in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, Public inspections, exemptions, requests for withholding. Any information related to security should be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 73.21, Protection of Safeguards Information: Performance Requirements. Following receipt of the additional information, we will continue our evaluation of your amendment request.
If you have any questions, or need additional time to respond to this request, please contact me at (301) 415-3936, or by electronic mail at Patrick.Boyle@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Patrick G. Boyle, Project Manager Research and Test Reactors Licensing Branch Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-128
Enclosure:
Request for Additional Information cc: See next page
- concurrence via e-mail NRR-106
Texas A&M University Docket No. 50-128 cc:
Mayor, City of College Station P.O. Box Drawer 9960 College Station, TX 77840-3575 Governors Budget and Policy Office PO Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711-2428 Dr. Dimitris C. Lagoudas, Deputy Director Texas A&M University System Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station 241 Zachry Engineering Center College Station, Texas 77843 Mr. Jerry Newhouse, Assistant Director Nuclear Science Center Texas A&M University Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station 1095 Nuclear Science Road, MS 3575 College Station, Texas 77843 Radiation Program Officer Bureau of Radiation Control Dept. Of State Health Services Division for Regulatory Services 1100 West 49th Street, MC 2828 Austin, TX 78756-3189 Technical Advisor Office of Permitting, Remediation
& Registration Texas Commission on Environmental Quality P.O. Box 13087, MS 122 Austin, TX 78711-3087 Test, Research and Training Reactor Newsletter University of Florida 202 Nuclear Sciences Center Gainesville, FL 32611 Mr. Scott Miller, Manager Reactor Operations Texas A&M University Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station 1095 Nuclear Science Road, MS 3575 College Station, Texas 77843 State Energy Conservation Office Comptroller of Public Accounts P.O. Box 13528 Austin, TX 78711-3528
Enclosure OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT REQUEST FOR FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. R-83 THE TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION/TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM NUCLEAR SCIENCE CENTER, TRIGA REACTOR DOCKET NO. 50-128 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has begun its review of your application for the amendment of Facility Operating License No. R-83, dated October 14, 2015, available on the NRCs public Web site at www.nrc.gov under Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML15287A148, for the Texas Engineering Experiment Station/Texas A&M University System, Nuclear Science Center (NSC), Training, Research, and Isotope production, General Atomics (TRIGA) reactor. During our review, the following questions have arisen for which additional information is needed. Provide responses to these questions within 30 days from the date of this letter.
According to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 50.90, Application for amendment of license, construction permit, or early site permit, whenever the holder of a license desires to amend the license the application must fully describe the changes desired, and following as far as applicable, the form prescribed for original applications. NUREG-1537 Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Applications for the Licensing of Non-Power Reactors, provides guidance for license requests for non-power reactors.
- 1. NUREG-1537, Section 9.2, Handling and Storage of Reactor Fuel, provides guidance for the margin to criticality in a fuel storage location. The existing Safety Analysis Report for the NSC TRIGA reactor contains an analysis, for the storage vault, indicating a maximum k-effective (keff) of 0.45526 for the LEU 30/20 fuel in flooded conditions and a keff of 0.12994 in air. In your amendment request Section 4.0, Storage, the following assertion is made regarding the safety analysis of the fuel storage vault:
... these 4 storage tubes were modeled as containing up to 2.39 kilograms of 235U in low-enriched NSC reactor fuel [i.e., a 4-element bundle], or approximately 3.5 times the quantity of AGN-201M fissile material to be stored.
The Uranium-235 (U-235) contained in the AGN fuel is in a different chemical form and physical geometry than the TRIGA fuel as only about 0.7 kilograms (kg) of U-235 is required to obtain criticality for the AGN fuel versus the nearly 8.8 kg of U-235 required for the TRIGA fuel to achieve criticality. The 30/20 TRIGA fuel also contains Erbium, a burnable poison, which is not present in the AGN fuel and further reduces the keff of the fuel in the storage location. Provide an analysis for this storage location specific to the AGN fuel type or provide a justification, considering the differences in material design, that this is not required. The analysis needs to include optimal moderation effects for flooding in the room
and the storage of fuel or other materials near the AGN fuel, as allowed, unless otherwise restricted.
- 2. In your amendment request, Enclosure 1a, Proposed License Change for the NSC Facility, suggests a new Section B.5, to receive and possess, but not use the U-235 contained in the Aerojet General Nucleonics (AGN) fuel and the plutonium-239 (Pu-239) in the form of a Pu-239/Beryllium source. However, since the AGN fuel contains U-238 and has been operated for many years some Pu-239 will be present in the AGN fuel. Propose revised wording for Section B.5, license condition to address the presence of the Pu-239 in the AGN fuel or provide justification for why this is not necessary.
- 3. In your amendment request, Enclosure 2a, Proposed Technical Specification Change, the terms AGN-201M fuel and neutron start-up source are not defined. Propose wording for the definition section of the technical specification (TS), propose wording that adds a material description to Section 5.6 TS, or explain why this is not required.
November 2, 2015 Dr. Sean McDeavitt, Director Nuclear Science Center Texas A&M University Texas Engineering Experiment Station 1095 Nuclear Science Road, MS 3575 College Station, Texas 77843
SUBJECT:
TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION/TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM - REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING LICENSE AMENDMENT REQUEST RELATED TO RECEIPT OF SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL FROM THE AGN-201M REACTOR
Dear Dr. McDeavitt:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is reviewing your application to amend Facility Operating License No. R-83, dated October 14, 2015, available on the NRCs public Web site at www.nrc.gov under Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)
Accession No. ML15287A148, for the Texas Engineering Experiment Station/Texas A&M University System, Nuclear Science Center, Training, Research, and Isotope production, General Atomics reactor. During our review, questions have arisen for which additional information is needed. The enclosed request for additional information (RAI) identifies the information needed to continue our review. We request that you provide responses to the enclosed RAI within 30 days from the date of this letter. A timely and complete response to these questions is required to support the expedited review requested by Dr. Banks, of Texas A&M University, in a letter dated October 26, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15301A242).
In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.30(b), Oath or affirmation, you must execute your response in a signed original document under oath or affirmation. Your response must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 50.4, Written communications. Information included in your response that is considered sensitive or proprietary, that you seek to have withheld from the public, must be marked in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, Public inspections, exemptions, requests for withholding. Any information related to security should be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 73.21, Protection of Safeguards Information: Performance Requirements. Following receipt of the additional information, we will continue our evaluation of your amendment request.
If you have any questions, or need additional time to respond to this request, please contact me at (301) 415-3936, or by electronic mail at Patrick.Boyle@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Patrick G. Boyle, Project Manager Research and Test Reactors Licensing Branch Division of Policy and Rulemaking Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket No. 50-128
Enclosure:
Request for Additional Information cc: See next page
- concurrence via e-mail NRR-106
Texas A&M University Docket No. 50-128 cc:
Mayor, City of College Station P.O. Box Drawer 9960 College Station, TX 77840-3575 Governors Budget and Policy Office PO Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711-2428 Dr. Dimitris C. Lagoudas, Deputy Director Texas A&M University System Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station 241 Zachry Engineering Center College Station, Texas 77843 Mr. Jerry Newhouse, Assistant Director Nuclear Science Center Texas A&M University Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station 1095 Nuclear Science Road, MS 3575 College Station, Texas 77843 Radiation Program Officer Bureau of Radiation Control Dept. Of State Health Services Division for Regulatory Services 1100 West 49th Street, MC 2828 Austin, TX 78756-3189 Technical Advisor Office of Permitting, Remediation
& Registration Texas Commission on Environmental Quality P.O. Box 13087, MS 122 Austin, TX 78711-3087 Test, Research and Training Reactor Newsletter University of Florida 202 Nuclear Sciences Center Gainesville, FL 32611 Mr. Scott Miller, Manager Reactor Operations Texas A&M University Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station 1095 Nuclear Science Road, MS 3575 College Station, Texas 77843 State Energy Conservation Office Comptroller of Public Accounts P.O. Box 13528 Austin, TX 78711-3528
Enclosure OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATED TO AMENDMENT REQUEST FOR FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE NO. R-83 THE TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION/TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM NUCLEAR SCIENCE CENTER, TRIGA REACTOR DOCKET NO. 50-128 The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has begun its review of your application for the amendment of Facility Operating License No. R-83, dated October 14, 2015, available on the NRCs public Web site at www.nrc.gov under Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession No. ML15287A148, for the Texas Engineering Experiment Station/Texas A&M University System, Nuclear Science Center (NSC), Training, Research, and Isotope production, General Atomics (TRIGA) reactor. During our review, the following questions have arisen for which additional information is needed. Provide responses to these questions within 30 days from the date of this letter.
According to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 50.90, Application for amendment of license, construction permit, or early site permit, whenever the holder of a license desires to amend the license the application must fully describe the changes desired, and following as far as applicable, the form prescribed for original applications. NUREG-1537 Guidelines for Preparing and Reviewing Applications for the Licensing of Non-Power Reactors, provides guidance for license requests for non-power reactors.
- 1. NUREG-1537, Section 9.2, Handling and Storage of Reactor Fuel, provides guidance for the margin to criticality in a fuel storage location. The existing Safety Analysis Report for the NSC TRIGA reactor contains an analysis, for the storage vault, indicating a maximum k-effective (keff) of 0.45526 for the LEU 30/20 fuel in flooded conditions and a keff of 0.12994 in air. In your amendment request Section 4.0, Storage, the following assertion is made regarding the safety analysis of the fuel storage vault:
... these 4 storage tubes were modeled as containing up to 2.39 kilograms of 235U in low-enriched NSC reactor fuel [i.e., a 4-element bundle], or approximately 3.5 times the quantity of AGN-201M fissile material to be stored.
The Uranium-235 (U-235) contained in the AGN fuel is in a different chemical form and physical geometry than the TRIGA fuel as only about 0.7 kilograms (kg) of U-235 is required to obtain criticality for the AGN fuel versus the nearly 8.8 kg of U-235 required for the TRIGA fuel to achieve criticality. The 30/20 TRIGA fuel also contains Erbium, a burnable poison, which is not present in the AGN fuel and further reduces the keff of the fuel in the storage location. Provide an analysis for this storage location specific to the AGN fuel type or provide a justification, considering the differences in material design, that this is not required. The analysis needs to include optimal moderation effects for flooding in the room
and the storage of fuel or other materials near the AGN fuel, as allowed, unless otherwise restricted.
- 2. In your amendment request, Enclosure 1a, Proposed License Change for the NSC Facility, suggests a new Section B.5, to receive and possess, but not use the U-235 contained in the Aerojet General Nucleonics (AGN) fuel and the plutonium-239 (Pu-239) in the form of a Pu-239/Beryllium source. However, since the AGN fuel contains U-238 and has been operated for many years some Pu-239 will be present in the AGN fuel. Propose revised wording for Section B.5, license condition to address the presence of the Pu-239 in the AGN fuel or provide justification for why this is not necessary.
- 3. In your amendment request, Enclosure 2a, Proposed Technical Specification Change, the terms AGN-201M fuel and neutron start-up source are not defined. Propose wording for the definition section of the technical specification (TS), propose wording that adds a material description to Section 5.6 TS, or explain why this is not required.