ML19208D456
| ML19208D456 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000356 |
| Issue date: | 09/24/1979 |
| From: | Bohl R ILLINOIS, UNIV. OF, URBANA, IL |
| To: | Reid R Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19208D457 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7909280446 | |
| Download: ML19208D456 (4) | |
Text
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-s University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Nudeor Engineering Program
(( bona.$[o'?,""'/"' ' ' ' '
24 September, 1979 i
o (217) 33L2295 Robert W.
Reid, Chief Operating Reactors Branch #4 Division of Operating Reactors U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C.
20555
Dear Sir:
SUBJECT:
Request for 5-year renewal of License R-ll7 Docket No.
50-356 The University of Illinois requests that the Reactor License R-ll7 for the Low Power Reactor Assembly (LOPRA) be renewed for the time period Noveu,er 1, 1979 to November 1, 1984.
'lhe renewal is primarily desired to utilize the facility for educational and training purposes. The facility is idea'ly suited for this purpose due to a low gamma background and the use of the TRIGA, License R-ll5, as a neutron source for start-up.
The facility would also be available for student projects and research within the provisions of the present license.
Attached to this request is the information as per the License Renewal Review Items that was received from you.
This was included with a letter dated May 30, 1979 from your office.
/Since} ply,Q'/;1 lz ()8 l-q 7
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Robert W. Bohl, Assoc. Chairperson Nuclear Engineering Program Af ter being duly sworn, the person known to me to be Robert ll. Bohl, Assoc. Chairperson, Nuclear Engineering Program, University of Illinois, E
Urbana, signed the above this.:25 day of September 1979 U h). mao Notary Public 7 90928 0 99f j
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t LICENSE RENEWAL REVIEW ITEMS 1.
General In fo rmat ion (10 CFR 50.33)
(c) NRC licenses issued for use on the campus.
R-115:
Utilization License for Advanced TRIGA.
SNM-236: Plutonium
-d Enriched U-235.
SUB-520 6 571:
Natural and depleted uranium.
By-Product Materials:
12-00330-05,06,08,09,10, 6 11.
(Includes broad license and special sources.)
(f)
Financial Considerations There is no annual financial statement that is published for either the TRIGA or LOPRA reactor.
Operating costs are part of the Nuclear Engineering Program budget.
The only direct cos-for the LOPRA is the cost of nuclear insurance (ANI).
This cost is included in the premium for both facilities and the estimated portion for the LOPRA is $1,500.00/ year.
Approximately 5-10 man-days are required each year for maintenance and surveillance items for the facility.
Ilowever, the cost for this service is integrated into the operation of the reactor facility and thus would not be changed if the LOPRA is dismantled.
Costs for shutting down the reactor would depend on the disposal of the fuel elements.
However, these fuel elements would probably be retained as provided in the R-115 license.
The Technical Specifications for the TRIGA, Item 3.9, allows the use of subcritical arrays of fuel elements in the present location of the LOPRA.
The license speci fies that up to 2.6 Kg of U-235 may be used for this purpose.
The other items of cost would not apply since the building housing the fuel elements and other reactor structures would continued to be maintained as per present requirements.
2.
Filing of Applications (f) Environmental Considerations The LOPRA is housed in the existing structure that was built fo r the TRIGA reactor.
A complete description of the site is contained in Section II of the " Safety Analysis Report for the Illinois Advanced TRIGA."
fhere were no environmental effects on the area that resulted from the installation of the LOPRA facility.
The only utility service facilities attached to the building are those required for the operation of a laboratory facility, llea t is dissipated from the building through the use of air conditioners and an exhaust system that passes through normal and absolute filters.
Because of the low power, there is no cooling system other than the evaporation of water from the pool.
Make-up water is supplied by demineralizing city water.
The radioactive effluents and wastes are negligible in comparison with the TRIGA operation.
Above normal dose rates are experienced in the vicinity of the pool and just outside the building when the LOPRA is operated above 1.0 kW.
Ilowever, during the seven years of operation, the average energy has been 11 kN-hours per year.
Thus, the total dose at the outside of the building would be approximately 2 mr in one year.
This area is a service and parking facility and hence normal occupancy is less than 5 minutes per day.
Direct supervisory restrictions are placed Iusv
\\
Page 2 on the movements of individuals in the building when the operation exceeds 1.0 kW in connection with ALARA considerations.
There are negligible effects from any accident that could result in the rupture of thc cladding of the fuel elements.
Reference is made to a May 7, 1975 report in which the cladding on several v.
.he fuel elements was replaced.
A copy of the report is included with this review.
In this case, the elements with perforations in the cladding were heated with the exhaust drawn directly to a CAM filter.
During this tim: there was no change noted in the CAM counting rate.
A cost-benefit analysis indicate that the benefits far exceed the relatively low cost in the financial considerations. The major benefit comes from having a facility in which the parameters during suberitical multiplication and attaining criticality can be shown with high precision to students in the Nuclear Engineering Program and to those in training for an operator license.
3.
Technical Information (10 CFR 10.34)
(a)
The Safety Analysis Report, February 1970, was written in essentially the format that is presently required.
The only change to the facility was the addition of graphite on two sides of the core (In forma t ion Letter, April 13, 1973 attached). This change had no effect on the analysis of accidents or malfunctions that were evaluated in the S. A.R.
A change in the Technical Specifications was received on December 21, 1973 as per a requested by a letter dated August 9, 1973. The only change that could effect the original accident analysis was an increase in the excess reactivity lin.it.
In the original S.A.R. an accident was analyzed in which the safety and control rods would be completely renoved from the core region.
This analysis showed that an individual could remove fuel elements without receiving an excessive dose.
The conductivity of the pool water where the LOPRA is located i~
kept below 3.5 uuhos and typically is about 1.0 umhos.
All structural parts of the system are made of aluminum.
During the seven years of operation, there has been no indication of' corrosion for these parts and no defects have been noted.
Control rods are inspected on a bi-annual basis and fuel elements on an annual basis.
No defects have been noted in the control rods (the last inspection was on,Iuly 31, 1979).
Defects have been noted in the cladding of some of the fuel element as noted in the previous section.
This could again occur in the future although none were noted on the last inspection which was completed on the same date as that for the control rods.
(v)
Emergency Planning A copy of the Emergency Plan is included as a separate item in this review. The present plan has been reviewed by Reg'on III, Office of Inspection and Enforcement and found to be adequate. The plan is reviewed on an annual basis by the Nuclear Reactor Committee and updated at that time.
(vi) Technical Specifications No changes are contemplated at the present time with the Techni cal Specifi cations. The present set is in the same format as that for the TRIGA, and thus it is preferable to keep both in the present fo rma t unless a needed change is required.
After a review of the sample TRIGA TS that was enclosed, it appears that we adequately address those items
'Y a
L Page 3 of Major concern. The draft copy ci ANS 15.18, " Standard for Administrative Controls for Research Reactors" has been reviewed.
The only change that appears to be necessary to Section 6 of the Technical Specifications would be a change in the licensing authority from AEC or USAEC and Region III Compliance Office to NRC or USNRC and Region III Office of Inspection and Enforcement. The other items are essentially in agreement with the draft for the Standard.
Other Items (a) ALARA Considerations As noted previously, essentially no personnel exposure or contamination results from the operation of the LOPRA. Ilowever, pages 4 S 5 from the 19~/3 TRIGA Annual Report is included with this package to indicate the release of radioactive materials, personnel exposures, and contamination surveys for the laboratory during the period from January 1, 1978 to January 1, 1979.
It should be noted that the results given come the operation of the Advanced TRIGA rather than from the LOPRA operation.
(b) Explosive Materials Section 3.6.c. of the Technical Specifications prohibits the use of explosive material in the LOPRA facility.
(c) Physical Security Plan This Plan applies to the laboratory facility and thus includes both of the reactor systems.
Thus, any changes should incorporate the entire system and would depend on changes in regulatory requirements.
The Plan has been reconciled into a single document.
This was c rpleted on January 23, 1978 (Revised Edition No. 1) when several changes were incorporated into the original document.
i ense renewal.
This should complete the items requested for the If additional information is desired, please contact Get
.d P-Beck, Phone 217-333-0866 or 217-333-7755 for this purpose.
!!- Beck has been in charge of compiling this document.
Attachments (1)
Report o f May 7, 1975 - Air leakage of TRIGA fuel elements.
(2)
Information Letter of April 13, 1973 - Change to LOPRA.
(3)
Radiation Emergency Plan - Revision No. 3, May 29, 1979.
(4) Annual Report, Illinois Advanced TRIGA, pages 4-5, 1/1/78-1/1/79.
(5) Annual Report, Illinois LOPRA Reactor, 8/1/78-8/1/79.
.