ML19339C948
| ML19339C948 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000398 |
| Issue date: | 01/08/1981 |
| From: | Crow W, Soong A NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19339C947 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8102120530 | |
| Download: ML19339C948 (2) | |
Text
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JAN 8 1981 DOCKET NO:
70-398 APPLICANT:
U. S. Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards
SUBJECT:
REVIEW 0F LICENSE AMENDMENT APPLICATION FOR AUTHORIZATION TO USE ONE MILLIGRAM 0F PLUTONIUM AND ONE GRAM 0F U-235 IN THE MASS SPECTROMETER ROOMS REVIEWER:
A. L. Soong I.
Background
The licensee's existing license authorizes the use of up to 250 gms of U-235 and 10 gms of plutonium in any form for various types of experiments. When the license was renewed in 1979, the licensee requested authorization to use only 10 milligrams of en-riched uranium in the mass spectrometer area and did not request similar authorization for plutonium.
By letter dated November 24, 1980, and its supplement dated December 19, 1980, the licensee requested authorization to use up l
to one mg. of plutonium and up to one gram of U-235 in the mass spectrometer complex rooms. The experiment consists of depositing about two nanograms of Pu or two micrograms of U-235 on a filament and transferring them to the mass spectrometer for analysis.
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II.
Radiological and Nuclear Safety l
The experiment is conducted in a laboratory hood, and the hood is maintained at a face velocity of 100 linear feet per minute. The potential contaminated air inside the hood, therefore, will be blown away from the experimenter. The hood was equipped with double filters and the exhausted air is monitor 6d for radioactivity.
Gloves and lab-l oratory coats are worn during filament loading to minimize the experi-menter's body contamination.
The Health Physicist checks routinely the hood face velocity and conducts a weekly surface survey in the working areas; if the measured level was found above the 20 dpm/100 cm2 action level, the experiment l
will be ceased until the decontamination is completed.
Since the total amount of SNM to be used in the experiment is less than two gms, it is insufficient to achieve accident criticality.
0102120530s
2 JAN 8 1981 III.
IE Coments On December 15, 1980, this amendment application was dis-t cussed with Mr. P. Clemons of Region I, IE. He foresaw no safety-related problems with the licensee's application.
IV. Conclusion Based on the discussion bbove, I believe that the amendment can be granted without undue risk to the experimenters and the public. Therefore, I recommend approval of the application for license amendment.
I Wb A. L. Soong Uranium Process Licensing Section Uranium Fuel Licensing Branch i
Division of Fuel Cycle and g
Material Safety fyt u
4 Approved by:
W. T. Crow, Section Leader i