ML19263E936
| ML19263E936 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | West Valley Demonstration Project |
| Issue date: | 05/14/1979 |
| From: | Rouse L NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | Deuster R NUCLEAR FUEL SERVICES, INC. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19263E937 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7906250485 | |
| Download: ML19263E936 (5) | |
Text
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/>R REcgS UNITED STATES y"
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g /,_ j WASHINGTON, 0. C. 20555
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MAY 14 1979 Docket 50-201 Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc.
ATTN:
Ralph W. Deuster, President 6000 Executive Boulevard, Suite 600 Rockville, Maryland 20852 New York State Energy Research and Development Authority ATIN: James Larocca, Lhaiman Agency Building No. 2, Empire State Plaza Albany, New York 12223 Gentlemen:
We are enclosing for your information a report on the effect of an earthquake on the fuel receiving station pool at West Valley, New York. The analysis was done by the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. We also have enclosed the review comments of Dr. William J. Hall of the Nathan M. Newmark Consulting Engineering Services and a copy of our own comment and evaluation for additional understanding.
If you wish to discuss any of this infomation, we would be pleased to meet with you.
Sincerely, 3.
s2Vc Leland C. Rouse, Acting Chief Fuel Reprocessing and Recycle Branch Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety
Enclosure:
- 1. Structural Analyses of the Fuel Receiving Station Pool at the Nuclear Fuel Service Re::rocessing Plant, West Valley, NY
- 2. Letter from W. J. Hall dtd March 7,1979
- 3. NRC staff commert 2216 299 7 906250 Vf4t
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NATHAN M.
NEWMARK l
CONSULTING ENGINEERING GERVICES 1211 C1vlL CNGlNEERING BUILDING
), URDANA, ILLINo!S 61801 7 March 1979
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- d Dr. A. T. Clark
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Fuel Reproce'.ing and Recycle Branch
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Division of Fuel Cycling and Material Safety
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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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Washington, DC 20555
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Contract f4RC-03-78-150, NMSS 4)?-
N's,g UCRL Report 52575
" Structural Analyses of the Fuel Receiving Station Pool at the Nuclear Fuel Service Reprocessing Plant, West Valley, New York"
Dear Dr. Clark:
As part of our work assignment with your branch, we have been asked to provide review comments.concerning the results of the detailed scismic cvaluation studies of the NFS facility carried out by the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) with regard to the following report:
Dong, R. G. and S. Ma, " Structural Analyses of the Fuel Receiving Station Pool at the Nuclear Fuel Service Reprocessing Plant, West Valley, New York", Report UCRL-52575, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, May 5,1978.
I had occasion to observe the facility generally during a site visit on 20 March 1978 in the company of Nr:0 and LLL staff.
! have participated in a number of meetings during 1977 and 1978 with NRC staff and LLL personnel where various aspects of the fuel receiving station pcol analyses.:ere discussed.
In the intervening periods I had a number of telephone conversat ions wi th NRC sta f # and LLL personnel pertaining to clarification ar.d interpretation of points raised by my studies.
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ENCLOSURE 2
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'It should be appreciated that it is extremely difficult to analyze in detail a complicated, interconnected structure of the type encountered here; at best, analysis of any type, including sophistimated analyses such as those summarized in the notsd reference, can provide only an estimate of the strength and resistance to cracking.
My comments are directed toward attempting to place in perspective the sigr.ificance of the findings, based on the information contained in the report, as well as based on experience in dealing with the seismic resistance of similarly constructed facili ties.
The Fuel Receiving Station Pool consists of an embedded structure consisting of a cask unloading cell, fuel storage cell, and a water treatment cell. The fuel receiving station building covers the pool and work areas.
When in operation, spent fuel arrives in heavy shipping casks. After was.h.
down of the cask and examination for external contamination che fuel elements are transferred from the cask into the storage canisters which provide support for handling but which allow water to circulate around the elements.
The canisters are moved by crane into the fuel storage cell where they are placed in specially designed racks. The fuel elements remain fully submerged in water for radiation shielding and cooling. The LLL group performed the analyses to determine the ef fects of operating loads, seismic excitation, and accidental cask-drop loads on the reinforced concrete pool. The various analytical approaches employed centered around the finite element technique.
With regard to a cask-drop accident, the analyses indicated the design strength of the pool ficor would be exceeded s igni fican tly I concur in that evaluation; whether or not it woule actually ccepletely puncture 6 ;01
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the floor or severely damage and crack the floor i,s a matter of some conjecture, but in any event the floor would be heavily damaged, cracked, and certainly susceptible to leakage.
With regard to the effect of seisdic excitation upon the Fuel Receiving Station Poui, the analyses indicated that there would bc one particular region of structural distress, narrely in the upper cast corner of wall F/M. The investigators report tbst their analyses showed that seismic excitation corresponding to ar. carthquake characterized by 0.16 g zero period horizontal acceleration could result in a leakace in the region above the soil at the upper edge of the Pool into the building area enclosing the FRS Pool. This analysis is based on a rather conservative combination of loadings employing linear elastic analysis, and corresponds to an exceedance of limiting stress at the center of cne of the finite elements in the upper edge wi thout any consideration of reanalysis for stress redistribution due to the cracking.
Redistribution normally, if carried out, would tend to reduce the stresses in the surrounding rer 'ons and thus suggests that cracking would be confined to the area identifled.
The zone in which this high stress occurs is a complex structural joint area possessing considerable constraint, and there is every reason to believe that the analysis has identified the general structural area in which cracking might occur in an earthquake of the intensity considered, in view of the level of conservatism employed in the various leadings that we re.ompounded, I am inclined to believe there is some latitude in the level at which cracking will take place.
I concur that it is likely that some degree of cracking should take place zi:S on earthquake characterized 2216.302
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by about 0.20 g peak horizontal ground acceleration, and very probably
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in the general area ci ted.
If the wall is cracked indeed some leakage may occur.
Respectfully submitted, Gd } -0.cs W. J. Hall P9 Distribution:
Addressee - 2 it. H. iievmra r'n-2 W. J. Hall - 2 W. Burkhardt - 1 er 2216 303