ML20054C719
| ML20054C719 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000047 |
| Issue date: | 11/03/1960 |
| From: | Kirkman R US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17298A033 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-81-311, FOIA-Z81-311 NUDOCS 8204210555 | |
| Download: ML20054C719 (3) | |
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IEW ICRI CPERATICES CFFI::1 CCMPLIANCI DIESIDE Sys Joha 1. Sears, C e liance Oivision i
5sw Tort Operations Office i
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Title:
THE *sf1TIIN%1 AjtSZ3AL 3310"CE l
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t SN a visit was paid to the Wtartown Arsenal Reactor on 3cromber 3, f,
1960. The icw level test program and i negawatt pratico has been concladed without any trouble, other *2.an normal inst: :;nscta.
I tion difficulties. Thors had beert a ::umimr of laats is the sais
.est of these leaks have now been pool and is tbs acaulas.
repaired.
Revisued by: AccertW. m,> m scr C - i h Division Period of seesuber 3.1963 Inquiry:
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8204210555 011005 PDR FOIA KADAT-Z81-311 PDR s._
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Scoos of Yteit i visit was unde to the Watertown ireena.1 Raactor at Wtertovo, l
Mas =an-tts, by Jcha 1. Sears, ETCO, on November 3,1960. The visit included a tour of ce reactor, asi a discussion vi*.h Mr. *ohn 0"l:o=nor, the Reactor u=N atra*.or, on their progress b repairir4 laaks is the t
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l remator pool.
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Raoulto of visit Mr. O'Connor said ht W low power tests, that is, determinatico of tam =rsture coefficinct, void coefficient, reactivi*y worth of tsaa *.ubes, and rod calibrations, have noir been coupleted. Vorth af tas boa.a tubes was l
gotten vi*.hout the use of sais diving.
This ecerine=t was not as tbs.
consuming as cristmally theacht, since the amslas was used as a reservoir for pool water, ami it was not necessary *.o dump all the water in the 1:ner pool after each run. O'Cormr also said that Mr. nelsea, the Curtis Wrignt maa 1sto was most internetai is investigating the we of skin divi =g as en aid in these experiments, had be.eo called bact to the main office of Oartis.
Vright about one voet af*.ar *2.s initial aporoach to criticality to solve another pressir4 problem. Mr. Villiam Hall stayed until about one week prior to the isspections when he left to take up a job on the *:niversity of 3uffalo William Alder *olt, *.he reactor instrument man, is still at *J.e mactor.
l Watertown Arsenal 14 actor. Mr. O'Cecnor said that he is very pleseed with Mr. Alderbolt's job on i.astrumsat mintenance, ami he vould 1.ike to hire Ir.
Alderholt as a full-time esployee. Iownwr, O'Cecnor said that be was afraid of a conflist of 1sterest difficulty here, sirne he still has eene contractual problama to wort out with Cursts Wrignt. 3e is in ho;ee of signir4 off the Oartis Wrig t coctract shortly, and he said *. hen he would feel free to nahe a job offer to Alderhold.
One of the reasons f ar the diffisulty is loadi:4 the me of fael h=aN the control rods ami ion chambers duri:4 the tattial sn rosca was that the ooatrol rod drive mators and assemblise on top of the reactor l
were in the 1 ray of an operator attempting to manipulate a banfli:q tool.
Mr. O'Connor democattated to the isspector that wirir4 fres *.be control rod marmets has now boca fitted with a diaemmaet coupling jut Micw the location of the rod drive actors. This za.m o it fairly easy to discocoact the wiring and svi.g the roi drives out of the way.
A.
laaks in ?ool Inside of the pool, isside of *.he aan=lus, ami outside af the con.
erets shiaLi, had boea coated with imerocat. Rosever, a maber of lasks shosed op on the outside of the shisid, particularly around locations ubers either a metal insert or a pt;e, or a beam tabe sleeve ;eastrated the con.
erste shield. O'Cormer said that be principal laak has now been discovered and eliminated. Tt.is imak was from an alamin pipe vtich ;enetrated the
!be ;srpose of this pipe was to drain out the annulus shield op to the a:sialas.
ioeording to the sorcifications, the pipe should have boea coated if needed.
with bitaniscus mastic antarial prior to the concrete being poured aM tt.
Homoser, O' Conner said that the contractor's people oculd not remember that this pipe nas so coated, ami it is felt that as WN reaction occurmd between the conersta ami the alm mm pipe, which resul*.ed is a laakage between the amslas down around the outside of the pipe to the octaide of the shield.
O' Canner said he feels that any break in the imeroaat film on the isside L_.
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,. m allows water to make its my through the shield until it finds a break on the outside. Thus, the path of leaking water through the shield may be w ry tortuous. The metal inserts on the outside of the shield cocatitute a break in the outside Amercoating, and so they allow any leaks which may come from almost any place inside the shield to come out. O'Connor said that be is repairing some leaks in the am nlus by maans of fiberglass and permagile flo, which he said is a polysulfide based epoxy resin. He said that experiments have been performed at Battelle that indicated that epoxy resin on the inside surface of the pool would not be suitable, since it has a limited life in a high radiatica field. Pathemore, the sulfar in the resin would becono activated and would present a real radiatien hasard in case the pool ever had to be emptied. Thus, O'Cennor is not putting any of this material in the inside pool, but be is using this material in the annnlus.
O'Connor said that he though.one contributing factor to the laaks in the pool could be the fact that the balconies in the reactor bui1Ai.q; are supported from the concrete reactor shield. He felt that, when the sun beats dcwn on the west face of the containment shell, which is un-insulated on the cutside, this results in some diffenstial erf.ansica of the 30 foot balcony beams, and this possibly results in unequal stresses.
This then could easily lead to scme small cracks in the concrate, with attendant leakage from the pool.
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