ML20100A933
| ML20100A933 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Berkeley Research Reactor |
| Issue date: | 12/31/1984 |
| From: | Lim T, Pigford T CALIFORNIA, UNIV. OF, BERKELEY, CA |
| To: | Thomas C Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8503260319 | |
| Download: ML20100A933 (11) | |
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AUCLEAR ENGINEERING REACTOR IABORNIORY TRIG \ MARK 111 1%CilJIY UNIVERSI'lY OF CALilUINIA
' BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
' BERKELEY RESEAROI REACTOR
- ANNUAL REPORT OF OPERATIONS
-January 1,-1984 through December 31, 1984 (BRR Technical Specifications 6.7.2) 3.
s Tek II. Lim Reactor Supervisor-I i-r 8993260319 841231 "
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BERKElliY RESEARGI REAC10R OPERATIONS,1984 Reactor Use The Berkeley Research Reactor (BRR) is a TRIGA blark III facility capable of producing 1 W steady state and of pulsing to 1300 W peak po-
-wer. The Berkeley Research Reactor is a _research and educatioral tool of
-the University of California, is located on the Berkeley Campus and is operated by the Department of Nuc1 car Engineering.
Besides_ being used by the Department of Nuclear Engineering, it is used by.other departments and campuses of the University, by the lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and is availabic to Universities and Colleges in the area. The Lawrence Berkeley laboratory is operated by the University of California under contract _ from the Department of Energy.
In addition, the Berkeley Research Reactor is used as an irradiation source .for service to industry-contracts and provides a stimulant to touring and interested high school and college students.
Experiments Perfonned Table I lists the experiments which were performed in the Berkeley Research Reactor during the year 1984. A total of 27 different experiments were performed. Five new experiments were approved between . January I and December 31, 1984. The last column in Table I illustrates the number of times each experiment was perfonned s
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-e Table I. Experiments Perfomed at the Berkeley Research Reactor in-1984 Experiment Title- .
pactlity Principal Investigator, Dept / No.1 o f '
- Class Objective- Experimenter Companv 1 Runs.
13 A Staff operation of reactor, calibrations, any, all Lim NE 69.
demonstrations, etc.
188 B Detemination of fission yield Lazy Susan Prussin NE' 2 190 A A short term activation analysis study on Central n imble Asaro, Michel DOE 115
archaeological artifacts 199 A Study of the characteristics of compensated Pool Lim NE 3' Ion-chamber 210 C Neutron Radiography facility development Lazy Susan Kaplan, Lim NE 25 221 A Determination of nickel impurity in Fe2O3 Central Thimble Prussin, Cann NE 2 by activation analysis 273 A Origin of pottery Central Thimble Asaro, Michel DOE 10 274 A Irradiation of ethylene dibromide Lazy Susan Somorjai, Angeles Chemistry 2 275 B Electronic components test Exposure Room Young, et al DISC 30 283 A Irradiation of household aluminum foil Lazy Susan Prussin, Cann NE 9 284 A Reactor power calibration and Xenon buildup Pool Lim NE 10 293 A Production of 8 source Lazy Susan Kaplan, Lim. NE 7 303 A Magnitude and shape of Central Thimble flux Central Thimble Lim NE 5 304 A Reactor checkout, approach to critical and Pool Ruby, Lim NE 9 pulsing
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Table.I. Experiments Performed at'the Berkeley Research' Reactor'in 1984~
Experiment Titic . Principal Investigator, Dept /f No..ofj
~ Facility -. Experimenter Companyl / Runs s Class Objective 4
305 -A Reactivity worth of control: rods. All Lim- NE 2l 306 B Graphite prism and themal column. experiment %ermal .Coltan Ruby, Lim .NE 2.
327 A Determination of Calcium in biological-matter . Rabbit' Cann NASA /AttES 1.
352 A Deuteritan-tritium micro balloons irradiation Central Rimble . lanc, Lim .. DOE 2' 353 A lbping of Gennanium Central Thimble !!ansen ' DOE -4 354 A Irradiation of environmental sampics . Central Thimble lieft, Lim DOE 10 -
u 301 B Irradiation of Natural or depleted uranium lazy Susan Prussin NE 4 in ceramic fann 305 B Irradiation of Copper containing phanton ' All Lim, Derenzo NE/DCE 3 367 A Irradiation of Tungsten foil La:y Susan Lim NE 2 368 A Analysis of glass and quart: Lazy Susan Prussin NE 7 369 A Activation analysis of geologic materials Central Thimble Denton/ Lim NE 5 370 A Production of 2"Na Central Thimble Lim ChesTon 2 371 A Production of activity tracers 2 5 'Er, 1 "Tm,
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Central Thimble Lim, Seaborg NE/ DOE 1 169*175g Chemistry: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley Chevron: Chevron Research Company DOE: Department of Energy, U. S. A.
DISCF Inckheed Missiles G Space Company, Inc.
c NE: Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
y..: e Reactor Maintenance Routine maintenance, minor repair and modification, testing and inspec-tion as required by the Tech Specs were performed during 1984.
10 CFR S0.59 Changes Lines 28, 29, and 31 of page 60a of the Emergency Plan, rewritten July 25, 1977 and revised August 15, 1977, were changed on April 25, 1981. The changes were reviewed by the Reactor llazards Corinittee, ElifS, i Reactor Super-visor, Reactor Administrator, and the Reactor Staff.
Alministrative Changes In April 1984, Gordon 1.ittle, Reactor IIcalth Physicist, resigned to take a position at Oregon State University. Ile was replaced in August of 1984 by Peter Vernig.
Routine Tests and Calibrations i -Thermal power calibrations were performed in April 1984. The constant
- Air Monitor was calibrated during the month of November 1984.
'lhe Reactor Pool Water Radiation Monitor was calthrated in April 1984,
! and the Stack Gas Argon-41 Monitor was calibrated in September 1984.
Operating Schedule i.
The lerkeley Research Reactor normally operates on a single 8 hour9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br /> shift between 8 N4 and 5 IN, Monday through Friday. One day every two weeks is set aside for routine monthly checks and maintenance. Extended reactor runs and overtime operation are allowed if required by the experi-mental program.
Fuel Addition and Fuel Inventory There were no fuel additions in 1984. The annual fuel element inven-tory was perfonned in . hine 1984.
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r-Energy Production and Fuel Ikirn-up The Berkeley Research Reactor produced 138,521 kW-haurs or 5.77 hM-days of energy during 1984. As there were 101 operating days in 1984, this cor-responds to an average daily energy production of 860 kW-hours per operating day. -In 1984, the Berkeley Research Reactor was critical approximately 205
- hours and was operated at full power (1 MW) for approximately 126 hours0.00146 days <br />0.035 hours <br />2.083333e-4 weeks <br />4.7943e-5 months <br />.
The total burn-up in 1984 was 0.2 grams elemental and 7.2 grams of isotope U-235.
The total cumulative energy production since initial criticality is approximately 272.1 MW-days.
Maclear Regulatory Connission Inspection Inspections of the Berkeley Research' Reactor operations and safety were performed by the Nuc1 car Regulatory Connission Region V office in Decem-ber of 1984. No items of noncompliance to the Technical Specifications and Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations were found during the inspections.
Emergency plan The revised upgraded Berkeley Research Reactor Dnergency kesponse Plan was approved by the NRC on November 17, 1984.
Faergency Shutdowns and Inadvertent Scrams Ibte Scram Circuit Reason 5-14-84 Period Scram Operator Error 9-16-84 Linear Power Scram Operator lirror Operator's Training In August 1984, one senior operator passed the Micicar Regulatory Com-mission Reactor Operator's lixaminat ion.
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Requalification Training Program In accordance with regulations, a successful requalification written examination was given to licensed operators and senior operators in Septem-ber and November 1984.
Exercise Routine security and emergency evacuation exercises were performed during the taonths of June and 1)ecember 1984. Ibth the reactor staff and campus,' police participated in the drillk Radioactive Effluent Released or Shipped Liquid Waste No liquid waste from the reactor facility was picked up by Campus Envi-ronmental llealth and Safety personnel.
No liquid waste was discharged to the sewer, storm drain or other loca-tion in the environment from this facility in 1984.
Gaseous Waste All gaseous waste discharged was calculated as Ar-41, since studies in the past have shown no other 'significant radionuclides.
Total curies released was 4.04 Ci as Ar-41 of a maximum pennitted re-lease of 2,785 Ci or 0.14% of the allowabic release. Maximum concentration at stack discharge was 1.50 x 10-8 pCi/ml. This concentration is 50% of the a11cw-able maxinum concentration for this facility of 3.12 x 10 ' pCi/ml. That max-imum concentration is believed due to erroneus data. The actual maximum con-centration is believed to have been 1.31 x 10-' pCi/ml or 42% of allowabic maximum concentration. No average concentration was calculated due to fre-quent periods of time where the reactor wa; idle more than 50'. of nonnat oper-ational time (8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br /> per day, 5 days per week excluding legal and university holidays).
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Filter paper air samples showed no particulate radioactivity was re-aleased via exhaust stream - No particulate radioactivity concentrations above naturally. occurring values were detected.
Solid (Dry) Waste All solid (dry) waste was picked up by Campus Environmental IIcalth and Safety. pe_rsonnel for disposal in accordance with their regulations. Mater-
'ial shipped included:
. July 1984 - 16 cubic-feet and .15 mci miscellaneous activation products.
Nol solid' waste was released to.the environment..
Personnel Radiation Exposure JRecorded radiation expesures to personnel included:
a.- Facility personnel (routine users of dosimeters) -
Maximum total exposure to an individual - 125 mrem
-Minimin total exposure to an individual - O mrem Note: at year end 38-individuals were assigned dosimeters and only i
one showed an exposure.
- b. Visitors (non-routine. dosimeter users) -
Approximately one-thousand eighty entries were made by visitors.
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-less than five percent had any reading. None were significant, the highest being 3 mrem. No' average exposure was calculated.
- c. There were no exposures in excess of 10 CFR 20 limits.
Radiation and Contamination Levels:
- a. Routine monthly meter surveys generated individual radiation readings.
4 Maximum reading observed was 110 mrem /hr (gamma).
Minimta: reading observed was-0 mrem /hr.
Average of readings is not meaningful due to abnonnal influence of a few high dose rate areas out of 26 locat ions routinely surveyed.
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_[ b. Routine area quarterly film dosimeters at 24 locations generated 96
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readings, routine area monthly dosimeters at 3 locations generated 36 '
p
- readings.
. Maxima readings observed: -
Monthly location - .450 mrem (120y + 330 neutron)
- Quarterly location - 900 mrem Minimum readings observed:
Monthly location - O mrem
,, _ Quarterly location'- O mrem.
-$ Maxima annual acctshlated:
- Monthly location - 1150 mrem (all gama exposure) y.
cQuarterly location - 2770 mrem- '
Average dose is meaningless due to excessive influence of a few posi-
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tions.
fc. . , Routine quarterly area TI.D dosimeter readings totalled 14.
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. YMaximte total dose at any location for the year was 442 mrem.
Min,tmum total dose at rany location for the year was O mrem.
- v. -Note that the period reported for film and TLD is 2-1-84 through
'l-31-85.
g d. Routine" weekly swipe program generated 2040 swipes, of which 24 showed contamination above normally expected level.
m Maximum swipe activities recorded was 5.5 x 10-2 pCi/100 cm 2 from nor-5JWima11y contaminated surfaces,1.4 x 10"' pCi/100 cm8 from not-normally
- c'ontaminated surfaces. This was due to tritita not associated with 4
reactor operations.
Minian activities for both categories was zero. i
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Averages were not detennined due to excessive influence of a few swipes.
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A Environmental surveys Environmental TID measurements at 7 locations outside the facility generated 28 radiation readings.
4 Maximum total recorded exposure at any location for the year was 442 mrem..
Minimum total recorded exposurc~at any location for the year was o mrem.
Averages were not detemined because the majority of locations had very low or no exposure and only a few locations had significant readings.
Note that the period reported was 2-1-84 through 1-31-85.
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. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY BEREELEY
- DAVIS
- IRVINE
- IDS ANCELES
- RIVERSIDE
- SAN DIEGO e SAN FRANCISCO SANTA BARBARA
- SANTA CRUZ COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING BFBKELEY, CALIFORNIA 94720 DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING blarch 14, 1985 Docket'No. 50-224 License No. R-101 h!r;; Cecil O. Thomas, Chief Standardization and Special Project Branch Division' of Licensing U. S. hbclear Regulatory Comission "
Washington, District of Columbia 20555
Dear Mr. Thomas:
Enclosed is a copy of the Berkeley Research Reactor Annual Report for the calendar year 1984.
The Report is 1repared for the Nuclear Regulatory Comission as
>- required by our Tecinical Specifications.
Sincerely,_ ,
(D G /v.,,,L.n'.a .p- rp Thomas 11. Pigford Reactor Administrator
'llIP:sf Enc.
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