ML20085H229
| ML20085H229 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Saxton File:GPU Nuclear icon.png |
| Issue date: | 04/30/1966 |
| From: | SAXTON NUCLEAR EXPERIMENTAL CORP. |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20083L048 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-91-17 NUDOCS 9110280179 | |
| Download: ML20085H229 (8) | |
Text
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Pg/J;To! UU:"M E' R EHI!ZTAL C0101)~10?;
Operation Rerort for A_nd 3 19t6
- 1. GDWRAL At the beginning of this report period the main coolant system was being cooled down to ecmmence a plant outage for the purpose of changing test fuel subassemblies in the reactor core.
A previously irradiated test fuel subassembly, #503-4-25, containing seven (7) ues rods was returned to the site in the spent fuel shipping cask from the West. rgb ase Post Irradiation Facility and was placed in the fuel storage rack. A new 9-rod test fuel subassembly d503-4-27 and two removable test fuel rods, nos. 711 and 712, were also received at the site. The new fuel rode, nos. 711 and 712 were inserted in subussembly 503 4-25.
On April 6th the plutonium . test fuel subassembly #503-4-26 and fuel subassembly #503-4-2 were removed from the reactor core and were stored in the fuel storage rack. The 2x2 test fuel subassembly #503-9-1 was transferred from core position N-3 to the center core position H-1. Test fuel subassembly #503-4-25 and
- 503-4-27 were inserted in core positions U-3 and U-5 respectively.
Tne filling and venting procedure for the main coolant system was commenced on April 7th. A successful cold leak test of the main coolant loop was conducted on April 8th.
The period April 8th thru April 13th was utilized in restoring the reactor vessel head fittings to normal operating conditions and in perfoming minor maintenance on the main coolant and auxiliary systems.
Heat-up of the main coolant system was initiated on April 14th. On April 16th with the main coolant system at near normal operating condition of temperature and pressure the pressurizer safety valves began to leak. The next several days were devoted primarily to reworking and retesting these valves. A successful hot leak test was conducted on the main coolant system on April 24th.
- 2. REACTOR OPERATIONS The reactor was used to supply heat for heat-up of the main coolant system on April 19th and on April 20th. Shortly after nuclear heat conditions were established on April 19th, at a power level of 2-3% of full power, a reactor scram occurred. It was detemined that the scram was caused by a malfunction of the "High Power Iow Main Coolant Pressure" ecram circuit.
, The reactor was made critical at 2123 PM on April 25th. The secondary system was started up and loaded to produce a reactor power level of 20 MWt.
On April 26th the power level was increased to 23 5 MWt. operation at 23.5 MWt continued for the remainder of the month.
i 9110280179 910424 I PDR FOIA DEKOK91-17 PDR ,
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S!EC Operation heport fer April }W . . . . . . #2
- 3. EXPERIMENTAL Pn03RA!!
The plutonium test fuel subassembly #503 4-26 and fuel subassembly
- 503-4-2 were removed from the reactor vessel and placed in storage.
The 2x2 test fuel subassembly #503-9-1 was transferred from core position N-3 to the esnter core position N-1 where it will operate at higher specific power.
One rod in the subassembly contains vibratory compacted loose oxide fuel and a burnable poison in the fonn of boron carbide.
A previously irradiated test fuel subassembly #503-4-25 containing resovable fuel rods nos. 1, 123, 711 and 712 was inserted in core position N-3.
Rod No. 1 has a previous irradiat$on exposure of 8900 )WDAITU. It is a " thin clad",
9.7 ull 304 SS wall, rod being returned to the reactor to continue the exposure ;
on a rod representing plastic deformation. Fuel rod No.123 has a previous irradiation egosure of 7403 IND/hTV. It has a }" long and 1/32" wide slot nachined through its 23.5 mil Zr-2 (Hi free) cladding. This rod is being returned to the ,
core to continue the in-pile defect test experiment. Fuel rod Nos. 711 and 712 are new. They have 3r-t cladding having a wall thickness of 23.5. mils and contain pelletired 002 fuel enriched to 17.4%. These two rods are internally pressurdzed to produce a maxinum in-pile clad OD tensile stress of 21,700 psi. The irradiation of these rods will provide performance data on Zr-4 clad fuel rods that are subjected to large tensile stresses.
A completely new 3x3 test fuel subassembly #503-4-27 was installed in core position H-5. All of the rods in this eubassembly are clad with 304 SS having a wall thickness of 15 mils and they contain pelletized UO2 havin6 an enrichment of 5 7%. Tne five non-removable rods have sub-standard end closure welds. The four removable rod Nos. 781, 782, 783 and 784 are internally pressurized to produce -
maxinum in-pile clad OD tensile stresses of 23,100 psi in rod nos. 781 and 782 and 36,140 psi in rod nos. 783 and 784. The object of this experiment is to provide infornation on the in-pile performance of sub-standard end closure welds and of 30L SS clad fuel rods that are subjected to large tensile stresses.
On April 26th with the reactor operating at 23 MWt and with a control rod configuration of rods 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 at 40" and rod 2 at 29.14 inches, a core flux map was made using the miniature detectors. It was detensined from an analysis of the flux map that the 2x2 operated at no more than a maximum specific power of 24.2 ----
kw/ft at a reactor power level of 23 5 MWt.
- 4. OPERATIONAL TESTL The radiation monitoring system circuits were tested on April 15th.
The #2 turbine everspeed trip was tested on April 18th. The trip j functioned at 1920 RPM. i i
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) St.T.C Operation Repart for i Arr! 3 194 . . . . ,
,_. #3 OPT 1tATIO!!AL TmTS (Continued)
Control rod drop time from .',0" to rod bottoming was measured for each I control rod on April 20th. The exinum drop time for any rod was detemined to be ,
0.920 seconds.
On April 27th a nomal test of the safety injection system was conducted.
t The set prennures for the pressurizer safety valves were detemined during i the month. Safety valve V-372 lifted at 2505 peig and valve V-373 lifted at 2530 psig, t
- 5. MAIt!TE!Ug 3 The principal items of mechanical maintenance for the menth included #
i preparing the reactor vessel head for subassembly changes; removing fuel subassemblies 503-h-26 and 503-L-2 fron the reacter vessel and storing them in the storage rack; transferring test fuel subassembly 103-9-1 from a peripheral core position to the center core position; receiving, unloading and preparing the spent fuel shipping cask for shipnent; inserting teet fuel subassemblies Nos. 503-l.-25 and 503-4-27 in peripheral core positions; restoring the reactor vnesel head to nomal operating ,
i conditions; repairing and testing the pressurizer safety valves; replacing the r.cchanical real on the No. 2 plunger of the No. 2 charging ;m.p; replacing the fan belt on the switchgear rocca exhaust-fan; replacing the filter cartridges in the l storage wel3 e,vetem pre-filter; replacing the belts on the containment vessel exhaunt i fan; removing the toils of stainless steel wire nesh from the RWDF evaporator -
damister; tightening the bolts on the steam generator outlet manway; installing new
- carbon vanes in the air pump for the charging room alpha monitor; install.ing a new stuffing box in !!c. 2 position on No.1 charging pump; repacking plungers No.1 knd i No. 2 on No. I charging put:p; installing a new roller assembly on one of the scram breakers; installing new caskete on the outer dow of the contai.nment vessel personnel air lock and on the equipment access door; installing new pre-filters on the containment vessel air handlers; installs.ng a new mechanical seal and a new bearing on No. 2 shutdown cooling pump; back flushing the control rod drive room air handler cooling coil; steam cleaning the purification system post filter cartridge; installing a new battery in the fork lift truck; installing two rings of ;
packing on a pressuri::er level column shut-off valve; cleaning the containment vessel ,
intake air handler; replacing the filter cartridges in the purification system pre-post filters, machining new threads on five charging pump stuffing boxes; and machining new packing nuts for the charging pump stuffing boxes.
Tne najor items of electrical- and instrument maintenance included replacing the chart crive motor in the main steam and feedwater flow recorder; repairing and calibrating a pressure gage on the auxiliary steam header; replacing the G-!! tube on the radiation monitor in the IMDF control room; replacing the - :
uncompensated ionization chav.ber in nuclear instrumentation power range channel A; repairing the paging system in the steam plant control room; cleaning the air ,
filter and the air regulator on the storacc well syston temperature controller;
- cleaning connectert and installing new seals on the cables for nuclear instrumentation intemediate range channel 3 detector; repairing the mecnanical counter on the count roon spe:traneter; installing a new timer on the liquid scintillation counter;
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SEC Operation Report for ArrO 1%6 . . . . . d4 MAI!!!mA'!CT (Cantinued) testing the contairr.ent vessel vacuum breakers; fteggering the nuclear instrumentati u detectore and cables installing a new air regulator on shutdown cooling isolation valve HIC-29; remiring the air regulator on the main steam pressure transmitter and on turbine stean pressure tranmittern checking the vibration on all pumps and motors in the containment vessel repairing the undervoltage relay on scram breaker A; and replacing the neter on the computer-indicator for radiation monitoring channel RIC-8.
- 6. P'JJ:T CHA!DrS A Packard Model 314X Tri-Carb 14 quid Scintillation Counting System has been installed in the count room. This equipaent provides the on-site espbility for analyzing liquid sampics for tritium.
- 7. CamisTrq l
The main coolant system was in h cold shutdown condition at the beginning '
of the month. Hydrazine was added on April 14th in preparation for cystem heat-up.
Fecause of simering pressuriter safety valves it was necessary to go through the systen heat-up procedure three times. On April 24th the main coolant system was successfully leak tested and hydrogen was added in preparation for power operation.
Power operation was comenced on April 25th with the main coolant boron concentration at 11.12 ppm. The boron concentration was reduced to 1300 ppm on April 26th and to 1222 ppm on April 27th to compensate for xenon build-in. Lithium hydroxide was added to the main coolant to increase the lithium ceneentration to 1.2 pps in preparation for a pH test.
Tne nain coolant 15 minute decaseed beta-gama activity increased from 1.64 ue/cc at 11:00 AM on April 28th to 4.7 ue/cc at 3:05 PM on April 29th and rcraained above 4.0 uc/cc for the remainder of the month. There was no demineralization during this period.
A sumary of the analyses made on main coolant samples taken during the month is contained in the following tables !
Main Coolant Sanp3os Minimum Maximum nh at 25"C 5 31* 6.49 Conductivity, unhos 8.67* 20.4 Baron. ppm 1210 1964*
Lithium, p}n 0.10 1.30 Potassium, ppu 4 0.001 (.0.001 Chlorides, pga (0.005 (0.005 Oxygen, ppn (,0.005 ( 0.005 Hydrogen. ee/Kg Hp0 0.89s 39.8 Tritium, ue/cc x 10-3 0.295* 21.9 Groen Bota Gama (15 Min. Degassed) ue/cc 0.159* 4.94
- Cold Shutdown 1
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E!IEC Operation Report for Arr$1 19% . . . . . . #5 CH1EISTilY (Cut.tinued) 4 i Except for a short period after system nigrt-up on April 25th the '
chlorides in the stean generator were r.aintained below 0.05 ppm. The average activity of the steam generator blowdown continued to be less than 1 x 10-8 ue/cc.
- 8. RADI ATIO:1 A';D 1/A5fE DISPOSAL ,
Ihdiation curveying consinted of routine plant surveys, C.V. during chutdwn and tatoriale shiphents. The following maximum radiation readings were taken; Location RadiatigJtendinn C&A Nildint'
- l. t Waste Drum (bnling mhchine) 13 0 mrem /hr beta-gera Charging Pump (contact with chamber) 55 0 mrem /hr beta-gama Sanple Rcom (door of sampit. panel) 12.5 mrem /hrbeta-cama Chenical lab Hot Sink (l" from drain) 1.7 mren/hr beta-gama ICDF Evaporator (under bottam) 180 mrom/hr beta-ctena Evaporator (contact outside upper level) 90 mren/hr beta-gama Drum Storace Area (At HRA Fence) 3 5 mrem /hr beta-cron :
31 Drums for Shipnent (maxirum for any one drum) 160 mrum/hr beta-gama Miscellaneous Weetinghouse Fuel Cask was monitored prior to shipnent from the SHEC Site. Maximum 1 mram/hr beta-gamma Contamination surveying consisted of routint plant site surveyo, surveys of materials shipped, tools, equipment and C.V. during shutdown. The clean areas were within the " Clean Area" limite. The et.ntrolled areas were generally within the "Cican Area" limits. The controlled 8:rea vas cleaned frequently to keep and/or to return it to the " Clean Area" limite. The exclusion areas were cleaned periodically to minimite the amount of enearable euntamination. The following contamination levels were observedt Inentton .Contanination Headinn ChA Buildinn Charging Pump Chamber 610000 d/m/ smear . beta-gaxa
. Charging Roaa Floor 2290 d/m/ smear beta-gama Sample Room Sink 2350 d/m/ smear beta gamma Sample Room Floor 258 d/m/emear beta-grana Chenical Iab Hot Sink 11050 d/m/ smear beta-gama 3
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0120 Operation hepert for l Ayril W 6 , , , , , #6 RADI ATIO'l A!;D WASTE DISPOSAL (Continued)
_loenti on Contamination Read.ine.
!E@,f Pump Roc a T1oor 264 d/m/ smear beta-gter.a 31 D.w s for Shipment, all 4100 d/m/ smear beta-gamma Miscellaneous l
Fuel Snear Survey Prior to pttting it 4100 d/m/omear beta-gama ;
, into Sterene Well 410 d/m/a.or.r alpha Liquid and gasecuo effluents from the S!EC site for the month of April 1966 were as followo:
(Curie) (C+:rie) (Curie)
Effluent Activity Activity Activity ,
Tvra This Month Year to Date yet.TwelveMonthe_
H3 0.047000 1.256000 5 030000 ;
Liquid 0.030792 0.006431 0.011110 Air, Xe 12.952421 20.131749 45.612976 ,
1 Air, I-131 0.000995 0.005363 0.006893 :
Air, H.F.P. 0.129524 0.201319 0.456132 :
No barrels of warite were drummed for tenporary storage. Thirty one (31) drutas were shipped from the site.
Radiation exposure for all S!EC personnel as measured by film badges for the month of March 1966 were a maximum of 170 mrem with an averaSe of 16.0 mrem.
Radiation exposure for all visiting personnel as measured by film badges for the month of March 1966 were a maximum of 100 mrem with an average of 5.9 mrem.
The average radiation exposure for all personnel as measured by film l badges for the month of March 1966 was 12.5 mrem.
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SAXT0ff NUC!Elt!( EXPEllIMENTAL CORPORATION OPERATING _ STATISTICS I
HONTH April YEAR 196{
NUC! TAR Uf{IT go!Ilj J YFAR TO DATE NO. 3 12 467 Ti!E CRITICAL HRS. 131.27 2,185 99 15,067.12 HOURS CRITICAL NO. 1 11 273 TIMES SCR/JMED (MANUAL)
NO. 1 1 30
- TIMIS SCRA!MED (INADVERTANT)
THERHAL IfdER gel (ERATION INH 2,882.08 ' 44,642.70 254,092 53 WD/HTU 235 26 3,660.38 3,722.09 AVEHAGE IURNUP (1% Region)
CONTROL ROD PCEITIONS AT DiD OF HONTH AT IT2UILIPJtIUM PORER OF 23 27 Wt MAIN COJIANT BORON 1222 Pty RODS OUT - INCHES Ho. 1 40 No. 2 26.2 NO. 3 40 40 NO. 5 40 No. 6 40 NO. 4 EIECTRICAL pNIT - MONTH YEAR TO DATE OROSS GENERATION mg 519.00 , 7,889.00 42,171.00 WH 177 00 848.'86 9,05.1.15 STATION SERVICE
%* 34.18 10.80 21.48 STATION SERVICE ,
- 18.00 " 17.5,9 16.69 AVO. PIANT EFFICIENCY - WH(e)/MWH(t)
AVO. GENERATION RUNNING (124.8 IIRS) Kw 4,158.65 3,830.70 , '3,132.50 PIANT IDAD FACTOR -
% 16.96 63.26 27.02 (AVO. OEN. FOR HONTH/ MAX. LOAD) ,
AUXILIARY STFJJ! SUPPLY - NUCLEAR i
STEAM DUPPLIED Bf REACTOR HRS . 126.50 2,103.36 11,802.33 iMDF EVAPORATOR OPERATION llRS. 78.00 834.00 2,8?S.25 L
- R! HARKS: April 19, 1966, 11:23 IH: Nuclear heat-up of the main coolant system was in prorress (0.I. 405). A constant heat-up rate and reactor power level had been established with the power channels indicating 2-3% of full power. A scram alam was not initiated when the automatic scram occured. It was later determined that a malfunction of PIC-5 ":'.ich Power Iou Pressure" actupted the scram.
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