ML20070P058

Annual Rept of Operations,1982

ML20070P058
Person / Time
Site:	University of Virginia
Issue date:	01/05/1983
From:	Farrar J VIRGINIA, UNIV. OF, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
To:	Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
NUDOCS 8301260092
Download: ML20070P058 (12)

Text

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o UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE

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CH AR LOTTESVILLE. 22801 L

OIPARTM ENT OF NUCLEAR ENGIN EERING AND ENGINEERING PHYSICS TELEPHON E:

804 924-7136 KEACTOR FACILITY January 5, 1983 Division of Reactor Licensing U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Regulation Washington, D.C.

20545 RE:

Docket No. 50-62, License No. R-66 Docket No. 50-396, License No. R-123 Gentlemen:

We hereby submit, as required by Section 6.6.2 of the Technical Specifi-cations, our annual report of the operaticns of the University of Virginia Reactor (UVAR), License No. R-66, Docket N3. 50-62 and the CAVALIER Reactor, License R-123, Docket No. 50-396 during the period January 1,1982 through December 31, 1982.

A.

UVAR Reactor The UVAR reactor was operated during the year as follows:

Hours Operated IN Hours First Quarter 430.5 778.74 l

Second Quarter 1311.0 2509.46 l

Third Quarter 311.5 347.97 Fourth Quarter 970.5 1870.60 TOTAL 3023.5 5506.77 1.0 Rod Drop Tests and Visual Inspection Rod drop tests were made on the UVAR reactor during the year and the results are as follows:

Magnet Rod Position Magnet Free Total Rod Current (ma)

(inches)

Release (msec)

Drop (sec)

(msec) 1-6-82 1

157 26 30 470 500 2

155 26 24 470 494 l

3 155 26 31 467 498 ow 7

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l Division of Reactor Licensing Page 2 January 5,1983 Magnet Rod Position Magnet Free Total Rod Current (ma)

(inches)

Release (msec)

Drop (msec)

(msec) 3-18-82 1

160 26 21 457 478 2

160 26 33 468 501 3

160 26 21 484 505 7-23-82 1

160 26 7

460 467 2

160 26 30 462 492 3

160 26 37 485 522 10-11-82 1

160 26 8

470 478 2

160 26 17 477 494 3

160 26 24 489 513 10-25-82 1

160 26 33 464 497 2

160 26 44 464 508 3

160 26 32 486 518 The rod drop times continue to be well within the limits required by the Technical Specifications.

The UVAR control rods were visually inspected three times during the year.

The following is abstracted from the reactor log book.

1-5-82 Rod #1 - Inspected under approximately 2 feet of water. Dose rate at surface of water approximately 3 R/hr. 0.95 inch gage passes easily.

Rod #2 - Inspected under approximately 2 feet of water. Dose rate at surface water approximately 2 R/hr. 0.90 inch gage tight in middle of rod. 0.95 inch gage passes easily.

Rod #3 - Inspected under approximately 2 feet of water. Dose rate at surface of water approximately 1 R/hr. 0.95 inch gage passes easily.

Reg. Rod - Inspected under approximately 2 feet of water. 0.95 inch gage tight.

1.00 inch gage passes easily.

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Division of Reactor Licensing Page 3 January 5,1983 3-17-82 Rod #1 - Inspected under approximately 2 feet of water. 0.95 inch gage passes easily.

Rod #2 - Inspected under approximately 2 feet of water. 0.95 inch gage passes easily.

Rod #3 - Inspected under approximately 2 feet of water. 0.95 inch gage passes easily.

10-11-82 Rod #1 - Inspected under approximately 3 feet of water.

Dose rate approximately 5 mr/hr at surface of water. Rub marks approximately 1 inch down side of rod. 0.95 inch gage passes easily.

Rod #2 - Inspected under approximately 3 feet of water. Discoloration approximately 3 inches from top of rod. 0.95 inch gage passes easily.

Rod #3 - Inspected under approximately 3 feet of water.

Rub mark approximately 3 inches down side of rod. 0.95 inch gage passes easily.

Reg. Rod - Inspected under approximately 3 feet of water.

1.00 inch gage passes easily.

2.0 Mair,tenance Operations The following maintenance was performed on the UVAR system during the calendar year 1982.

1-12-82 AT system continued to alarm with no alann condition existing.

Found resistor open in analog alann circuit. Replaced resistor.

System checked out o.k.

1-14-82 While increasing power, power range #1 lagged behind otFer indications and did not provide proper indication.

Found bad insulators on detector and cable connectors.

Replaced detector and cable connectors.

System checked out o.k.

2-10-82 Period indication erratic on Intermediate Range Channel.

Found detector to be bad.

Replaced detector.

System checked out o.k.

4-14-82 Unreliable readings on linear channel Indication remained constant with an actual increase in power.

Found the detector to be bad and a dirty feed-through connector in signal lead between Reactor Bridge and console. Replaced detector, cable connectors and feed-through connector. System checked out o.k.

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Division of Reactor Licensing Page 4 January 5,1983 5-14-82 While operating at 2 MW, could not maintain pool temperature below 100 F.

Found sludge on secondary side of heat exchanger. Cleaned 0

cooling tower and secondary side of heat exchanger. After cleaning, the system was able to maintain a much better heat transfer.

7-7-82 Installed new annunciator system in scram logic system and incorporated header doW9 - pump on scram.

Split all auxiliary scrams to primary scrams, feeding into both mixer drivers.

7-11-82 Chart drive motor failed on linear recorder and red channel indicator was unreliable. Replaced with new Honeywell model 112 2 channel recorder.

9-15-82 The outlet pipe on the S.W. tank of the emergency cooling system cracked during attempts to couple spray system.

Installed approximately 12 inches of 1 1/4 inch I.D. stainless steel flex hose on both tanks to replace old rigid piping.

9-28-82 While at constant power, power range #2 indication would spike approximately 10-20%.

Found excessively dirty connectors at detector.

Replaced connectors and detector.

Sy: tem checked out o.k.

10-15-82 Starter unit on primary pump overload circuit trips during operation.

Found starter mit to be too small for new 30 H.P. motor that was installed last year. Replaced starter unit with proper size. No further problems.

11-12-82 While operating at constant oower, power range #2 indication continued to rise. Detector was found to be bad. Replaced detector and cable from detector to reactor bridge. System checked out o.k.

3.0 Operating Procedures The Standard Operating Procedures for the UVAR reactor were upgraded during the months of March, May, July and September 1982.

These changes involved modifying and upgrading sections on check lists, surveillance procedures, and abnormal conditions.

These changes were reviewed and approved by the Reactor Safety Committee.

4.0 Experiments A broad program of activation analysis work was carried out during the year. Activations were done for the Departments of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics, Chemistry, Radiology, and Clinical Chemistry Laboratory of the U.Va. Hospital.

Division of Reactor Licensing Page 5 January 5,1983 A continuing program of activation analysis was performed for the Philip Morris Company.

A series of experiments were performed during the year for the Electric Power Research Institute involving radiation damage studies of pressure vessel samples. Ten different capsules were run during the year.

The following Academic Institutions utilized the facility for activation analysis experiments.

1) James Madison University

5) Piedmont Community College

2) Longwood College

6) Sweet Briar College

3) Lynchburg College

7) Virginia Military Institute

4) Marshall University

8) William and Mary 5.0 Surveillance Requirements a) The following tests were conducted on a monthly basis as required by Technical Specifications.

1) Operational checks of the ventilation duct, personnel door, truck door and emergency exit cover.

b) The following tests were performed at intervals not exceeding 6 months.

1) Visual inspection of gaskets on personnel door, ventilation duct, and truck door.

2) Calibration of Source Range, Intennediate Range, Power Range, Linear Power, core ganna monitor, bridge monitor, reactor face monitor argon monitor, air monitor, pool level monitors, pool temperature monitors, core differential pool temperature, and primary flow.

c)

The daily check list, which is completed when the reactor is to be operated, provida for checks on all of the required scram systems associated with the

reactor, d) The emergency spray system was tes ocd during the month of January 1982.

New flexible stainless steel hose was installed in each system in September 1982 to facilitate the coupling and un-coupling of the quick disconnect valves. The system was tested again after this installation.

The results are as follows:

Division of Reactor Licensing Page 6 January 5,1983 S.E. Tank S.W. Tank 11.0 11.5 Required flow, gal / min 1-25-82 actual flow 12.8 12.6 9-16-82 actual flow 12.5 13.1 The flow continues to be above that required by the Technical Specifications.

All of these tests and calibrations were well within limits set forth by the Technical Specifications. Data on all of these tests and calibrations is on file at the facility.

e) Pool Make-up During the calendar year 1982 make-up water to the pool averaged 84.2 gal / day.

6.0 Unplanned Shutdowns Following is a list of unplanned shutdowns on the UVAR reactor during the calendar year 1982.

1-7-82 Scram - noise in period circuit 1-14-82 Scram - loss of building power 2-26-82 Scram - pressure transient in air to header system 4-6-82 4 Scrams - loss of building power 4-13-82 Manual scram by operator when linear detector malfunctioned 5-21-82 Scram - personnel stepped on cable 5-24-82 Scram - high power scram on power range #2 at 122%, actual power was 100%.

5-26-82 Scram - blown fuse in secondary console 5-29-82 Scram - turned off primary pump 5-30-82 Scram - building power failure 6-3-82 2 Scrams - building power failure 6-9-82 Scram - building power failure 6-16-82 Scram - noise in reactor face monitor 6-16-82 Scram - noise in power range channel 6-23-82 Scram - operator error - forgot to move range switch at 250 kw.

6-24-82 Scram - range switch 6-25-82 Scram - noise while moving rods 6-28-82 Scram - building power failure 6-29-82 Scram - range switch 6-30-82 Scram - range switch 7-7-82 Scram - range switch 7-8-82 Scram - high power trip 7-15-82 Scram - range switch

Division of Reactor Licensing Page 7 January 5,1983 7-19-82 Scram - noise in console 7-21-82 Scram - range switch 7-23-82 Scram - primary pump tripped 7-26-82 Scram - operator error - hit key switch 7-30-82 2 Scrams - loss of building power 8-3-82 Scram - operator forgot to turn range switch 8-11-82 Scram - operator forgot to turn range switch 8-17-82 Scram - noise in bridge monitor test circuit 8-19-82 Scram - operator forgot to turn range switch 8-24-82 Scram - manual scram for NRC exam 8-24-82 Scram - high test signal on bridge monitor for NRC exam 9-28-82 Scram - noise in power range #2 10-7-82 Scram - noise in period circuit - rods 910 inches, loading core 11-22-82 Scram - turned off primary pump 7.0 Licensing The UVAR operating license (R-66) was renewed for twenty years effective September 30, 1982.

A new Emergency Plan was submitted during the month of August,1982 and is apparently still under review by your office.

B.

CAVALIER Reactor During the calendar year 1982 the CAVALIER reactor was operated as follows:

Hours Operated Watt-hours First Quarter 11.5 124.93 Second Quarter 143.5 481.20 Third Quarter 10 19.29 Fourth Quarter 15.5 16.96 TOTAL 180.5 642.38 1.0 Rod Drop Tests Rod drop tests perfonned on the CAVALIER reactor during the year are listed below.

Position Magnet Total Drop' Date Rod (Inches)

Vol ts Release (msec)

Free Drop (msec)

(msec) 2-19-82 1

26 35 69 458 527 2

26 35 47 436 483 3

26 35 98 489 587 4

26 35 52 601 653

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t Division of Reactor Licensing Page 8 January 5,1983 Position Magnet Total Drop Date Rod (Inches)

Vol ts Releate (msec)

Free Drop (msec)

(msec) 6-1-82 1

26 35 87 462 549 2

26 35 42 450 492 3

26 35 84 464 548 4

26 35 55 492 547 10-27-82 1

26 35 86 448 534 2

26 35 38 435 473 3

26 35 96 482 578 4

26 35 39 442 481 The rod drop times continue to be within the limits set by the Tec'hnical Specifications.

2.0 Operating Procedures No changes were made in the CAVALIER Standard Operating Procedures during the calendar year 1982.

3.0 Maintenance The following maintenance was performed on the CAVALIER system during the year.

7-16-82 Observed low flow rate in demineralizer system. Rerroved top of demineralizer and found resin compacted. Mechanicaily agitated resin bed, disassembled pump and inspected and installed Ylow meter.

Put system back in service and checked out a.k.

4.0 Unplanned Shutdowns The following unplanned shutdowns occurred on the CAVALIER reactor during the calendar year 1982.

3-24-82 Scram due to noise in source range period caused by welder in shop 4-7-82 Scram - noise in intermediate channel 4-12-82 Scram - noise in rod motion circuit 6-3-82 Scram - loss of building power 6-7-82 Scram - rod motion noise 6-8-82 Scram - high power trip during training session 6-8-82 Scram - trainee stepped on cable tray 6-9-82 Scram - high power triD durin-] training session 6-16-82 Scram - trainee stepped on cable tray 6-17-82 Scram - high power trip during training session 6-17-82 Scram - noise in source range period circuit 8-12-82 Scram - noise spike on source range period circuit 10-14-82 Scram - high power trip during training

El Division of Reactor Licensing Page 9 January 5, 1983 5.0 Surveillance Requirements The following tests and calibrations were performed on the CAVALIER system during the calendar year 1982 as required by the Technical Specifi-cations.

a) Rod drop measurements were made at intervals not exceeding four months.

b) The following tests were conducted at intervals not exceeding six months.

1)

Calibration of source range channels Log N channel, Log G channel, Linear power channel, pool level monitor, radiation monitoring system, and boron concentration in ARIS system.

c) The following tests were conducted at intervals not exceeding twelve months.

1) Measurement of control rod worth 2)

Flow test of ARIS system d) The daily check list, which is completed when the reactor is to be operated, provides for checks on all of the required scram systems associated With the reactor.

Data on all of these tests and calibrations is on file at the facility.

C.

Health Physics a) Atmospheric Release The following effluent was released to the atmosphere during the calendar year 1982.

(Ar4I) 7.93 curies from operation of the UVAR reactor.

b)

Solid Waste During the calendar year 1982 approximately 30 cubic feet of solid waste was shipped from the reactor facility by Teledyne Inc. The activity of the waste was as follows:

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Division of Reactor Licensing Page 10 January 5,1983 1

l Isotope Activity (millicuries) 7 Cs 4.3 C

4.3 59 Fe 3.0 46 Sc 3.0 j4)

Ce 2.0 58 C

2.0 65 Zn 1.5 54 Mn 1.3 TOTAL 2T T c) Liquid Waste Liquid waste from the regeneration of the demineralizer system was released during the year and diluted with water from the hold-up pond.

Activity (microcuries)

Volume (gallons)

First Quarter 233.5 1,380,300 Second Quarter 41.0 1,421,700 Third Quarter 103.7 864,506 Fourth Quarter 125.65 961,796 Total 503.85 4,628,302

-0 The average specific activity released was 2.88 x 10 pci/ml 2.0 Environmental Monitoring During the year the Health Physicist took air and water samples both at the facility and outside the site boundary. The following table lists these locations and the specific activities obtained from these samples.

Location Sample Specific Activity (average of all samples)

-9 Reactor Facility water 4.68 x 10 2 pci/ml air 4.1 x 10 9 pci/cc Filter Plant water 3.82 x 1012 pci/ml air 1.9 x 10-ci/cc

-9 8arracks Road water 6.18 x 10 4.87 x 10- 2 pci/ml air pci/cc i

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WW Division of Reactor Licensing Page 11 January 5, 1983 3.0 Personnel Monitoring During the calendar.,aar 1982,appro::imately 115 personnel, including faculty, staff and students were mcaitered by film badges supplied by R.S. Landauer Co.

The highest exposuris were by three staff members directly involved with the operation of the facility and the handling of samples used in activation analysis.

Whole Body Dose (as of 11-30-82)

Individual A 420 mrem Individual B 320 mrem Individual C 310 rarem During the year the facility had 2242 visitors.

These visitors were monitored with direct reading dosimeters and received no significant exposure.

D.

Miscellaneous i) Formal meetings of the Reactor Safety Comittee were held on the following dates:

March 4, 1982 September 7,1982 June 25, 1982 December 14, 1982 July 22, 1982 A sub-comittee of the Reactor Safety Comittee performed audits of the facility operations during the months of April,1982 and July 1982.

2) a) An inspection of the facility was made by an ANI insurance inspector on June 10, 1982.

b) A general inspection of the facility was made by NRC compliance inspectors during the period November 15, 1982 to November 17, 1982.

Three apparent areas of non-compliance were identified during this inspection. These items were of severity level V.

A formal response to the inspection was mailed to the NRC Region II office on December 21, 1982

3) An Emergency Drill was held at the facility on September 15, 1982.

The drill involved the University Police, the local Rescue Squad and the University Hospital. The reactor staff postulated an accident involving two seriously injured individuals that were also contaminated.

$$k[ib Division of Reactor Licensing Page 12 January 5,1983 The police were called to cordon off the area and assist with traffi c.

The Rescue Squad was called to administer to the patients and transport them to the hospital. The hospital was informed of the drill and they initiated their Radiation Emergency Plan. When the Rescue Squad arrived they put on protective clothing and were issued dosimeters before entering the area where the patients were 1ccated.

They administered to the patients wounds and cut off their outer clothing to reduce the contamination before transporting them to the hospital. The drill lasted approximately one hour and went very smoothly.

4) A new fire alann system was installed at the facility during the mrnth of March 1982. Heat sensors are located in the UVAR centrol room, the CAVALIER control room, the Heat Exchanger room and the demineralizer room. Manual switches for activating the system are located throughout the facility. The system will act!

'n intermittent evacuation alarm and dutomatically sce reactors.

During the month of November,1982 the rs m was hooked up to the dispatchers office of the University e

Police where it is monitored around the clock.

E.

Personnel

1) The facility Director, Dr. B.L. Shriver, resigned during the month of June 1982 and Dr. J.S. Brenizer was appointed Director effective July 1,1982.

2) Reactor operator examinations were given by the NRC during the month of August,1982 and resulted in the licensing of 20 reactor operators for the UVAR reactor.

This report has been reviewed and approved by the Reactor Safety Comittee.

Sincerely, q P. B n J.P. Farrar, Reactor Supervisor UVA Reactor Facility JPF:vs cc: Office of Inspection and Enforcement Atlanta, Georgia

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