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COMPI.I.AECZ DI73L':5 NEW TCBL i
By: John 1. Sears, Compliana, Mvision New Yorz Titim: '4A M.1 A3.'.,DI AI. EA0 TOR I
'datertown Masachasetts 32228.I.
- dater lads frsa the pool through the ecnersta shield all hvs cost acout thne sonths of perath:4 time. Timre has been cr.e instance of control red biadir.g an withdrawal. 52 clear L:Latr2mentni:n appears to be beravi Jt normally.
Reviewed byt looert W. firaan, 01rsctor Isar Tort Compliance Mvision Period of Inquirys 4 7 19. 1941 8204210546 811005 PDR FOIA KABAT-Z81-311 PDR
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Sooes of Ins:ection A visit was unde to *.he Vatertown Arvanal hutor at Natertown, Massachusette, on May 18,1%1, by JcteaL Sears, Wha "P. vision, R.
- he visit included a tour of the reactor, inspection of 2e =W 1:9 where wter leaks from the pool have occurred, eram nation of icg books, sai a
discussions with the reactor ar*aimistrator and the nactor er41neer. *be princi;ml perscus contacted during *ue visit were the follevirg:
Mr. John O'Connor, Ramotor Administrstor Mr. Richard Stanton, Raastor Ir4tneer l
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Results of 71 sit i
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Histere of Onorstiens Mr. O' Comer stated that tu nactor had ace:mlated, so far, only about 4 sogawatt days of operation. Se said *2at a considerable amount of time had been devoted to re:airi g lasts is the ocrz:nte pool.
Se showed the inspector photogrs::he of the outside of the saisld wall, which 1.-disated vbers the water leaks had occurred. O'*annor said Ost 1 prox 1:stely 95 per cent of the 14aks have now been*aken care of. *hese have ':een stocoed by means of fiber glass ami epczy reais en the inside of *.he peol a:xi the annulas.
- M diff1=ul*y now is that a leak will be stop;ed is ene locati:n I
and it vill then show up someplace else. O'Octzsce speculated that era of i
the f*a=ntal diffi.ultise may be is the reths' of *=W( the cencrete j
Cne of the photogrags showed *o the issoooter was of the aca:nte pour.
l shisld near the bottca floor lavel of the sateld. The outside of the sais1A had been chi; ped away to investigate a leak, mai as the grout on the outside i
was removed, it we revealed *. bat- *.he aggregata in the NW of *2e shield was still fairly dry a:xi loose, a:xi not held together by grout. C*0cnner said that the saisld had been built u by the pre-fakt setbod of cenante pla==at and there is the ;cesibility that the grout never got to the area at the bottom of the shield wall is seus places. O'Cors:or said that he has now nferred the whole pnbles to the Army Corps of Engineers, ami he said they are coming is within a week. His thought is that the fisal solution suet be presoun Troating. O'Connor said that at the start,of their i=resti.
sation of the ; col laakage probisa, the water level la the pool had 1:vered about 4' per day. Se said that the pneent rste of lanzage is about 1/;.'
- er day. Se farther stated that samlas of tM 'aahse water had been taken and analynd for radioactivity, ami they registand taczgrotazi.
O' Cons:or stated that a: proximately three meths of opersti.y tism have been lost due to these lasts frem the pool.
The basa tubes on this reactor are double piped. *he pi::e which estands to the core is espped at one end, flanged ami bolted at its other and to an estensi n which is then hvad in the ecocate shimid vall.
i The outer pipe contains as imer capped pi;e, the W"a e mi sf which does not ex*.end farther than the inside of the ccenrets shield wall, ami it too has its outer end he=ar'ad is the eencrete. The purpose of this double pipe constr' action is to ensure against any possibility of losing the pool water through a basa tube extension bei::g broken off by a beary ob,4, ct dropoing dern through the pool on top of the pipe. C'0anner said that they had dis.
4 covered that the flanged scrstootien on the borrt too extension bad ces been properly velded to the ;1pe sai this resulted in pool water laa11r4 inside the tcbe. *his had been discovered by the beam tube vent filli.y a with unter. The pool was drmWA, the beam tube extension removed, sai the hace rowelded.
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Coctnis aM 19stnmentation wri.g- -,tt.sa,,wd- -
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-hanim on the contal red pide tubes us in place.
It was also bas been described in corre =re*nce *.o the Commissica.
observed that the coctrol viring for the control md navnets ad underwter position tMinatir.g devices has been equipped with a= phar:ol ocenectors.
On a shutdown, in order to gain access to the tack row of f:ael elssent
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locations, the red drin support stmeture is swung out of the way.
order to do this, it is necessary to dieccnoct the asq:henol connectors.
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This h=ction of the ocatrol viri =g then ensuno that them is.o j
possibility of mising a coctrol rod. A ccatrol red drin ex*.ensi=n any be -1'v sond, but without the energining of the angmets, it is =ot possible to acve the centrol rod ;cison section.
O'Connor described one difficulty that has been er;erienced with
- be coctrol red drive is of Ourtise.:tright 3eadix design.
the coctrol rods.
Rod seated N9mtics is obtained by a skulder on the red strikim.g a plate, which in turn is connooted by extension rods to an upper plate, whose move.
ment in turm actuates an Jrzienster sicmawi*.ch. "he botten plate, which the shoulder on the rod strikse, is of a riag-design with two ears estemiing To these ears an attWi through slots in the control red raide tube.
the extension rode which extend to *.he upper ring clate, which fir. ally Cae of the extansion rode had boccue disconnected, actuates *.he sw1*.ch.
and this nsulted in a slight cookirg of the lower ring plate, aM a slight O'Ccussar said that *.his was Wing of the control red tzrt=g withdruval.
first noted by the fact that the control rod Ne== detached frem its angnet.
This de'2ht of r:xi fica red drive us noticed by the energising of the red seated writch which lighted the r:xi dno light. The extensica md was repaind ami to ensure agaL.st any reoatitionfof.any siwt M troubla, Vaters town pereennel have also ad*,usted the cring *ension en the slutch oc the rod drive so tint the clutch slipo vbensver it Dicks y mre weight *.han the M'atica of t::a red drive extecaise, remi drin, ami the coctrol rod itself. This ad*nstseat of the cistch we We by swingier the rod drive out of the my aal using the red drive *.o pick up a sten?2ted wight oorrespoedi=g *.o the total weight of *.hsee three==p=ata, the red
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extension, the red drive, and the poison section.
O'Connor said *. hat after the rosetor contrsator. 0:xrtise :Jright, had left, he schoczed all of the :maalear instrumentation them.ghly, ami foumi it ws operati:4 well. Se said tint the period oi.-cuit on the count rate system is extremely errstia, sai is set of unch uso durist the startup.
Howwver, the count rste system itself is very nliabla. It was cheerved that the backyround on the Genersl Coctric nicro-aisro as-ter durir4 shutdown me about 2 210-11 asq;e. *his reactor has a plat mi M rylliam ecuros, which is reemd durtag operation in order act to burn up the i
l O'Coenor said that there is almys an ample tacksm2x1 of plutacium.
osutrone for startup indication boran=a esss with the source resumd, there l
are neutreets due to the photo neutrons from the beryllit= reflecter.
There is a 2 ocunt per second interlock on the count rate systes, but even with the mroe reened, before startup, the comt rate fram the pheto neutroas is abow the 2 ocunt per socorsi levtl. 0*Cors:ar also stated that the ocuct rate rooorder is the principal indication of ap=W eriticality aM that period meters, which are fed by the compensated laa enabers, do not indicate a period until aftsr criticality is achieved.
The level safety is actuated by relays in the==M *iers. "he circuit in the mier%aierv==ter is actuated by a scorder seritch vtLish is set at 1204 The setting of the reage switch on its lomst tarde for af any range.
startup is on the shoosoff list.
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f O'Connor also stated that due to the size of the core and due to the plannad cyiile of operation, the flux recordings probably would not give an accurate irritestion of the power level without constant re-enlibration of the flux recording systems. This results from the varying amounts of control rod insertica as poisons build up and bumout proceeds. To answer this problem, O'Cenner said that they an designing a B!U seter which vill be +. heir principal dev ice for measuring pcwor level.
This aster vill be fed by a signal relative to the delta T across the acre, and a signal correspendig to the flow of coolant threugh the con.
O'Connor stated that there has been no difficulty with the nactor con *29 mant ex=ept dat the gaskets en the perscnnel airlock doors havs lankad and had to be zwpaired. He said that, even with leaks in these infla+2hla gaskets, the seal holds. This system simply uses :::uch more co:: pressed air, but the bi4mq seal is :: min +2inad by the gsskat even while the gasket itself leaks.
I A final difficulty yhteh O' Comer described has been with his own personnel office. He said that he has had quite a problem convinci:g the civil servants in the Army Civil Service Personnel Office that Nuclear l
Enginaars are required to :nanage the operation of a reactor. He said that j
l the 2d=4n4 =trators in the personnel office appear to be of the ccnvictica that there is nothing to 2 snning a reactor, since the reactor has been so safely designed.
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