ML20095L000
| ML20095L000 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000142 |
| Issue date: | 12/31/1983 |
| From: | Ostrander N CALIFORNIA, UNIV. OF, LOS ANGELES, CA |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8408300109 | |
| Download: ML20095L000 (16) | |
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ANNUAL REPORT l
1983 I
Nuclear Energy Laboratory
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l SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE UNIVERSITY 3F CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES R DOC o!hohfj2 f\
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a Section 1 %
a REACTOR OPERATING EXPERIENCE Reactor operations in 1983 provided 298 hours0.00345 days <br />0.0828 hours <br />4.927249e-4 weeks <br />1.13389e-4 months <br /> of services in 62 reactor j runs. The operational intensity can also be sumarized as 111 --
equivalent full (100 kWh) power hours or 11.1 megawatt hours, a decline -
of about 40% from 1982. Table I illustrates the reactor usage over the a
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last five years in four broad categories. ]
The bulk of the research work category derives from the U.C.L.A.
academic users. Since several irradiation ports can be occupied in a single reactor run, the intensity of user demand is appropriately ?
summarized by port-hours of activity. One port, used for one hour, ,
provides one port-hour. Table II displays a five year history of j reactor usage in four broad categories. Staff usage appears highest =
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, for 1982 since an experimental nitrogen sweep of the core is done under y the NEL user category in the " PAR VAR" experiment whenever the reactor ,
is run at full power for an extended length of time.
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Tabla I
. Reactor ~ Usage-(Operating Hours)~
CATEGORY 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 CLASSROOH INSTRUCTION 31 46 61 67 50 DEMONSTRATIONS 5 2 3 8 0 RESEARCH 335 295 284 203 226 MAINTINANCE 1 38 16 19 22 TOTAL OPERATING HOURS 372 381 364 297 298 EQUIVALENT FULL 294 289 239 185 111 POWER HOURS NEGAWATT HOURS 29.4 28.9 23.9 18.5 11.1
' Classroom Instruction Comprises use of the reactor in support of UCLA undergraduate and graduate laboratory work involving basic counting, activation analysis, reactor parameter determinations, and operator training. Operator requalification is included
. in this category. Hours 'are reactor operating hours in support of class instruction.
Demonstrations are of various kinds; they are perfonned for educational groups and other tour groups.
Research is a broad category dominated by service irradiations in which the reactor is used as a tool without reference to reactor theory or operational properties (seeTable11).
Maintenance represents the hours for which the reactor is operated for calibration purposes, and does not imply total maintenance hours.
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w TABLE II ResearchUsage*(PortHours) 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 USER CATEGORY 91 101 67 146 127 UCLA ACADEHIC USERS OTHER UNIVERSITIES
& COLLEGES ~ 53 20 38 6 16 OTHER EXTRAMURAL USERS 264 360 211 100 16 NEL STAFF 1 27 113 130.5 140 TOTAL PORT HOURS 409 508 429 382.5 298
- Research usage of the reactor is dominated by sample irradiations. Certain NEL
- ' staff research does not involve sample irradiations, i
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Section 2 -
UNSCHEDULED SHUTDOWNS & REPORTABLE (ABNORMAL) OCCURRENCES
- , Unscheduled Shutdowns
?0f ~ the four unscheduled shutdowns experienced in 1983, two were attributed to noise in the CIC power supply which caused the period circuit of the Log-n and Period Amplifier to effect a short period scram at low power (less than 100 watts). A third short period scram which occured at 0.6 watts appears to have been caused by an unknown transient when the low level trip alarm of the rabbit room monitor was being reset.
This transient could not be duplicated. The 1ast unscheduled shutdown, a high flux scram, is attributed to the inattention of the senior ooerator during a training session of a ccoup of potential licensees, in wn'ca the student operator pushed the rod up button instead of the rod down button as he passed 100 KW.
2 Reportable Incidents / Abnormal Occurrences
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There were no reportable incidents or abnormal occurrences during the year of 1983.
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Section 3 PREVENTIVE AND CORRECTIVE MAINTENANCE The annual maintenance calibration and tests on the reactor were delayed in their completion due to the failure of the rod 2 position potentiometer which had to be back-ordered and took over a month to arrive. The completion date of the annual calibration and tests was-March 4th at which time the reactor was declared operational.
The unscheduled maintenance performed on various reactor subsystems or components is sunnarized in the following paragraphs.
CIC Power Supply There were three instances of noise prevalent in the CIC power supply that.cuald be corrected by cleaning the voltage divider network that controls the voltage regulator. Since a back-up power supply was available in the latter part of the year, a simple swap was effected when the problem arose for the third time, allowing a systematic repair.
s Console Logic Two instances of console logic failure occured during 1983. The transistor that controlled an area radiation monitor indicator deteriorated to a point where the indicator lamp was very dim. The problem was corrected by replacing the transistor.
The second instance of lonic failure occurred in the start-up channel BF-3 protection circuit, when a diode in the protection logic failed thereby causing the BF-3 high voltage to remain on when the reactor exceeded 0.02 watts. Replacing the diode corrected the problem.
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Reactor Exhaust Ventilation System There were two occurrences of failure to the ventilation system,
}\ - both occurring during non-operations. The first resulted from a blown main circuit breaker which probably occurred during the ~ repair of the reactor air-conditioning system which is also powered by that same breaker. The second occurrence resulted in a less than normal flow of exhaust air due to worn fan belts driving the blower.
Flashing-Light Circuit The flashing light solid state relay failed during a reactor operation and was replaced between runs with a higher rated solid state f
relay.
Log-N Recorder i
Inactivity of the system while ' awaiting the arrival of the rod position potentiometer probably caused an oxide coatirg on the slide
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wire of the Log-N recorder. Cleaning the slide wire restored it to its s proper operating condition.
Primary Control Valve The primary flow control valve was found to be leaking when the annual maintenance was being performed. New packing was installed which corrected the problem.
- Rod Drive Position Potentiometer During the pre-start check of the scheduled final heat balance l calibration run, rod 2 exhibited a malfunction. The trouble was traced to a defective rod position potentiometer. The unit was replaced after
. a month's delay since it was not a standard stock item.
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Secondary Effluent Channel
+ There were three instances of failure to the secondary effluent
' channel, all directly attributed to vacuum tube failure.
Shield Tank Level Indicator There was one instance of electrical-integrity failure due to the
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use of. a wire nut splice in an area of high moisture which caused the shield tank indicator to be intermittant. Soldering the splice corrected the _ problem.
Temperature Recorder Because of the sluggish action of the temperature recorder during a reactor run, the temperature recorder's servo mechanism was inspected, adjusted, and cleaned which corrected the problem.
During a pre-start check,' the temperature recorder was found to be -
malfunctioning.- The trouble was traced to a broken drive cord which was replaced.
- .- Primary / Secondary Flow Meter Indicator While conducting the pre-start check for the scheduled final calibration of the reactor, the flow meter indicator was found to be irratic. Oxide build-up on the function switch caused the problem as cleaning the switch corrected it.
f Reactor Automatic 3-Mode Controller The 3-mode controller was found to be malfunctioning when it failed l i
to take control at the operators request. Upon shutting down, the 3 i
mode controller was found to have a control vacuum tube with a bent pin
. seated improperly in its socket. The cause was attributed to a faulty maintenance procedure.
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Section 4 FACILITY AND PROCEDURE CHANGES o- There was only one facility change made in 1983. The change consisted of removing all.of the bmergency horns from the NEL facility except the horn in the reactor high bay. This was done to comply with the newly accepted Dnergency Response Plan.
A number of procedures were reviewed by the Radiation Use Committee (RUC)andimplementedin1983. The categories of procedures reviewed and implemented include operating procedures, calibration of radiation detection instruments, fuel handling procedures, the audit procedure, safety evaluation of experiments, and the emergency procedures.
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Section 5 RADI0 ACTIVE MATERIAL RELEASES TO THE ENVIRONMENT l Total Releases The total releases of radioactive material to the envlronnent for 1983 were as follows:
A. Gaseous: Ar-41,.9.75 Ci B. Liquid: None C. Solid: None Gaseous Effluents The principal radioactive gaseous effluent as monitored in the building exhaust stack is Argon-41. The actual concentration is determined by a 4.3 liter ion chamber which is calibrated in microcuries per milliliter versus ion current. This data is recorded on a strip chart recorder whenever the reactor is running. The data are periodically integrated using a compensating polar planimeter to obtain the total release. The permissible release, based upon an effluent rate of 14,000 cfm, a permissible concentration of 460 x 4 x 10-8 micro.
Ci/ml, and 438 full power (equivalent) hours of reactor operation is about 192 Ci. The actual release for calendar 1983 was 9.75 Ci or about 5% of the maximum permissible amount. Since the actual energy expended for 1983 was approximately 25% of the maximum permissible, the extra reduction of radioactive gaseous effluents is attributed to the nitrogen sweep over the core during full power operations, and controlled venting of the core to the exhaust stack.
Airborne radioactive particulate monitoring at the Nuclear Energy
- Laboratory is done by the filtration method for air sampling analysis.
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l The system uses whatman 41 filter paper that samples both the supply and
.. exhaust air from the reactor room at the reactor roof (3000 level) of Boelter Hall.
Particulate air samples were analyzed in a 2.pi windowless gas flow proportional counter for long-lived Beta activity at the Radiation
- Safety Office laboratory. Results of 45 simultaneous intake and exhaust samples in 1983 did not exceed the minimum detectable activity of approximately 7.2 disintegrations per minute for a calculated minimum sensitivity of 1.7 x 10-13' microcuries per milliliter.
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'Section 6 ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEYS ~
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Periodic radiation surveys of controlled and uncontrolled areas are made l by the reactor health physicist or a technologist _ or technician from the Radiation Safety 0ffice. Such surveys are performed routinely to indicate levels of contamination and general radiation exposure levels.
-Complete results of current surveys are posted on the bulletin board in the reactor control room.
4 Contamination Surveys Monitoring of the reactor' room and environs for contamination are performed routinely. No discernible fixed or removable radioactive material was identified .
t-Radiation Surve.ys
The annual area radiation survey was performed on June 20, 1983 by
'- the reactor health physicist and the radiation safety officer, assisted by the reactor supervisor. The reactor was operated at its maximum licensed power level of 100 kw thermal with all biological radiation shielding in place during the survey. Radiation exposure rates were i' measured with a GM survey instrument, an ionization chamber instrument and a portable' neutron REM counter. Significant findings are summarized l in the following paragraphs.
1 The potential for a high radiation area exists inside the process i
pit and inside the pipe rail barriers installed around the reactor top and around the thermal column area.
, Radiation exposure levels at all accessible exterior surfaces of 1
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the reactor room and control room, including the. ceiling of the third
-. flooit outside the equipment room, did not exceed prescribed protection
-limits of 10 CFR part 20.
Additionally, routine area surveys are performed to assess the general radiation levels from various reactor components and in various reactor areas during inactive reactor periods in order to inform the operating and maintenance personnel of the ambient radiation levels present.
Area Monitoring Program Radiation monitoring badges have been posted in specific areas of Boelter Hall and the Math Sciences Addition. These devices contain a photographic emulsion with varying degrees of sensitivity to beta particles, gamma rays, and x-rays.
Calibration, processing and evaluation is performed by the Radiation Safety Office at UCLA. The current locations of these badges
, and their frequency of change are shown in Table 3. No measurable exposure above base fog density was detected on any of these film badges.
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1ABLE 3 FILM BADGC AREA POSTED ISSUE PERIOD lENBER LOCATION 2372 MSA Rs. 833 Inside Airshaft S-11 3 mo.
2357 MSA Rs. 7331 Inside Airshaft 5-10 3 mo.
-2367 MSA Rs. 6331 Inside Airshaft S-9 3 mo.
2349 MSA Rs. 5329 Inside Airshaft 5-8 -
3 mo.
3202 MSA Rs. 5907 W. Kehl's Office 3 mo.
2312 MSA Rm. 5308 W. Drain's Office 3 mo.
2298 MSA Rm. 43028 B. Aten's Office 3 me.
2287 MSA Rm. 4328C Operations Air Supply Shaft 3 mo.
2374 MSA Rm. 4328D Inside Airshaft S-6 3 mo.
2395 MSA Rm. 3940 Inside Airshaft 5-4 3 mo.
2268 MSA Rm. 3901 D. Archer's Office 3 mo.
2378 MSA Rm. 2334 Terminal Room Window 3 mo.
083( MSA Rs. 2334 Terminal Room Air Intake Vent 3 mo.
, 0203 BH 8000 Level Inside Reactor Exhaust Chamber 1 mo.
0265 BH 6000 Level Reactor Exhaust Stack Exit Grill 1 mo.
0302 BH 9000 Level Ma'h Science Air Intake Grill 1 mo.
0820 BH 8000 Level South End of Cooling Towers 1 mo.
0218 BH Rm. 2001 Reactor Control Room 3 mo.
0219 BH Rm. 1005 Electronics Shop 3 mo.
0220 BH Rm. 2567 NEL Business Office 3 mo.
0230 BH Rm. 1561 Outside Wall, South of 3 mo.
Reactor High Bay 2048 BH Rm. 10008 Outside Wall. North of 3 mo.
Reactor High Bay 1914 BH Rm. 2000 NEL Classroom 3 mo.
1581 BH Rm. 2000A HP Office 1 mo.
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E i Section 7 PERSONNEL DOSIMETRY The personnel dosimetry program is administered by the UCLA Radiation Safety Office. Film badges for beta-gamma exposure and thermoluminescent dosimeters for fast neutrons were issued to personnel who were potentially occupationally expos 2d to ionizing radiation. Ten f
faculty and staff members in the Nuclear Energy Laboratory and two individuals having a part-time association with reactor operations were included in the personnel dosimetry program. A review of the supporting record for the dosimetry program indicated that whole body occupational exposures were in conformance with the applicable limits of 10 CFR 20.
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. UNIVERSITY OF. CALIFORNIA, L.OS ANGELES l g UCLA g, ,
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SCIIOOLOF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE IDS ANGELES, CAIJFORNIA 9fX)24 21 August 1984 Director Division of Operating Reactors USNRC Washington, D.C. 20555 Docket 50-142
Dear Sir:
License R-71 Enclosed are two copies of the UCLA Nuclear Energy Laboratory Annual Report for-1983, covering the periori from January 1,1983 through December 31, 1983.
Sincerely.
Wca e. Os%A Neill C. Ostrander, Manager Nuclear Energy Laboratory NC0/m.c enc 1, DS$
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Nt' CLEAR ENERCY LABOR ATORY IVAN CATTON, DIRECTOA u.