ML20054C713
| ML20054C713 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000047 |
| Issue date: | 10/17/1961 |
| From: | Sears J US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17298A033 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-81-311, FOIA-Z81-311 NUDOCS 8204210540 | |
| Download: ML20054C713 (4) | |
Text
.
e e
o 1
- J. S. ATCMIC ENERGY CC. MISSICN w
REGICN I, DIVISICS CF CCMPLIANCE t
l Title WATERTCWN ARSZNAI, RZACTCR t
Sy John R. Sears, Reactor Inspector f
Region I, Oivision of Ceepliance I
SUMMARY
A brief visit was r.ade to the watertcwn Arsenal Reactor. The swellen centrol red has been recoved frem the core and replacsd e
with a spare, and the reacter is operating ner= ally and 'rcutinely.
Generation of Argen-41 during 24-hcur operation will exceed Part 20 limits and construction of a stack is under consideratica.
Pre-Pakt centracters will pressure grout the concrete pool valls.
O' Conner asserts that he is a fir:n believer in management responsibility.
IT. Cochran is still empicyed as a censultant.
The reacter has been inspected by a military inspectica team.
Reviewed by:
Robert W.
K. irk =a n, ::1 rector
/
Period of Ceteber 17, 1961 D9uLZyt Distributiens I
/
1 2 cys - EQ.
2 cys - NY j
l
/
1 t
a j
8204210540 811005
' ~ ',
I s
/
~
KADAT-Z8.1-311 PDR
4 t,
?
I.
l DETAILS CF VISIT I.
Scope j
A visit was made to the watertown Arsenal Reactor at Watertown, Massachusetts, by John R. Sears, Reactor Inspector, Divisica of Ct:stpliance, Region I, and Frank solan, Headquarters, t
on Cetober 17, 1961. The visit was brief, unscheduled and un-i announced. The principal person contacted during the visit was Mr. John O'Connor, the Manager of the facility.
l l
II.
Results of visit I
~
The inspectors were ccaducted on a brief tour of the facility by Mr. O'Connor. The reactor us operating at 1 mw, in a routine manner during the visit.
O'Connor stated that he has removed the artificial startup source froin the reactor, since there is such a high gauma-neutron background frca the beryllium refisc.or. He stated trat he has adjusted the compensation en the log-n period chamber so that there is now scue indicatica en the period noter befcre the j
reactor goes critical.
l The 1.nspectors observed tse control rod which had been re-moved from the reactor because of swelling. The rod appeared normal in every respect, and a vianal inspection did not indicate the source of the leak, which resulted in the swelling of thia rod.
O'Connor stated that their present schedule of cperaticn is for the reactor to run at full pcwor,1 =egawatt, 3 hours3.472222e-5 days <br />8.333333e-4 hours <br />4.960317e-6 weeks <br />1.1415e-6 months <br /> per day, and then shutdown for sixteen hours. Health physics results were reviewed by the inapectors which indicate that the average value for Argon-41 in the building, for eight hcurs of reactor operation, is about 4.3
- 1 H ue/m1. The equilibrium concentra-tion is 6.4 :c 10-6 uc/m15 IR order to operate 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> a day, O'Councr stated that they are centemplating the installation of a stack which will be 2-1/2 timwe tha height of any surrounding buildings. He stated that the stack would probably be installed so that it can handle the effluent frem the reactor building, and also the ef fluent from the het laboratories in the adjoining buildigg.
The Health physics records indicate that there have been no overexposures to persennel. "kring the tour of the facility, the inspectors were furniated with a beta-Samana and a neutron film badge.
Mr. Dudy, the Health Physicist of the facility, stated that the liquid waste concertration plant has not been in operation up to the present time. He said that, while they investigated,
\\
~
~,
+
i I
i the problers of leaks through the concrete walls - that water had been drained frem the pool and also from the annulus. This water j
had been discharged frca the reactor to the 40,000 gallen holdup
~
tank. He said that this water had been held in the holdup tanks until the activity decayed to u value censiderably less than the concentrations allowed for discharge as specified in Part 20.
A j
sample was then taken for analysis and approval by the Metropolitan Oistrict commissics, and the water was then discharged to the l
sewer system. Dady also stated that they had calibrated the Tracerlab gaseous acnitor by irrad.iating a sample of air in the l
reactor, placing the sample in a glove hex of known inside dimensions, l
) reeking the vial ccataining the sample in the glove box, and l
monitoring the effluent frcm tha glove box with the Tracerlab scnitor. He said that the calibratica of the monitor =ade in this fashion agreed very closely with the calibration which was furnished j
by the manufacturer.
Mr. O'Connor stated that he has signed a ccatract with the pre-Pakt people to ccrmeencs pressure greuting en the concrete shield.
In order to do the pressure grouting, the core will be unloaded, since most of the locaticas which will require the grouting are cpposite the core. Es said the coring for the pressure greuting l
is done in a step fashion, that is, toward the cutside the core is l
a larger diameter than the inside.
-hus, when the core is refilled I
with heavy cencrete grout, there is a step in the resulting plug to cut down any stray radiatien along any crack between the old and new concrete.
The inspectors held a discussion with Mr. O'Connor on the responsibility of operatica.
Mr. O'Connor stated that, in his opinion, he was the man who was finally respccaibla for the safety, of the reactor. He thercughly disagreed with the philosophy that such responsibility can be delegated either to the shift supervisor or to the operators of the console. He affirm ed that he was the final responsible individual. He also disagreed with the propositica l'
that shift superviscrs shculd be licensed as the individuals respensible for safety, and that they should then delegate authority and respcasi-(
hility to operators. He stated quite strongly that he felt tha t he, as the top representative of management, was the responsible individual.
C'Connor, during the discussion, brcught out an interesting point, I
I that is, that the watertown Arsenal cperates under U. S. Civil Service Rules, and thus it would be perfectly within requistions for a prospective reactor cperator to refuse to take the AEC cperators' examination, on the grounds that this exanination was not an exam approved and administered by the U. 5. Civil Service Ccumissicn.
O'Connor also pointed out that anyone taking such a stan.d wcult be simply hoisting himself on his own petard, since he would not be eligible to operate the reactor without an AEC license.
O'Connor also stated that, during the past summer, this facility had been inspected by a military inspection team consisting of twelve pecple. He said that the inspection team had required his to operate
' t f
l\\
1 l
J '. :.**
p and to shutdown the reactor.
They also requested that he unload and reload the reactor.
He said that he refused to do the latter, since it would interfere considerably with operations.
He said the military inspection team had given him "a clean bill of health" on items with any safety implications, but that they had a few adverse coaznents on some minor items of recordkeeping and storage.
O'Connor stated that Dr. Robert Cochran is still employed as a consultant by the Watertown Arsenal.
He said that Dr. Cochran made a visit to the reactor since the swollen control rod had been removed.
O'Connor said that Cochran did not express concern over this occurrence and thought that the course of action taken by the Watertown operators, after the discovery of bubbles coming from this rod, had been prudent and conservative.
.