ML20148P583
| ML20148P583 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07001068 |
| Issue date: | 04/05/1988 |
| From: | Mccaughey D, Swift J NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20148P573 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8804110314 | |
| Download: ML20148P583 (4) | |
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b APR 5W IMUF: DAM DOCKET NO: 70-1068 l
LICENSEE: University of Florida (UF)
SUBJECT:
SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT, LICENSE AMENDMENT APPLICATION DATED FEBRUARY 2, 1988, AS SUPPLEMENTED FEBRUARY 26, 1988, RE NONDESTRUCTIVE EXAMINATION OF SPERT FUEL RODS AND CHANGE IN STORAGE LOCATION
- 1. Background On February 2, 1988, UF submitted an amendment application requesting authorization for the movement of SPERT fuel rods for nondestructive testing purposes and for a chance in the storage location of the fuel. The license currently authorizes the storage only of 190 kilograms of U-235 contained in SPERT fuel rods in Room 3 of the Nuclear Research Field Building.
II. Discussion A. Nondestructive Testing In response to 10 CFR 50.64, UF intends to convert the Training Reactor Core from high-enriched to low-enriched fuel. UF has received a grant from the Department of Energy that will allow the qualification of some of the SPERT fuel for this conversion. This qualification will involve X-ray analysis of SPERT fuel rods to assure the integrity of the welds. '
B. Proposed Storage l
l The SPERT fuel is currently stored in Room 3 of the Nuclear Research l Field Building. The licensee is requesting authorization to relocate the storage of the fuel to an adjacent location (Room 5) in the Nuclear Research Field Building. Room 5 originally housed the SPERT pulsing experiments. The licensee has stated that the ner.' storage configura-tion will be identical to the one currently used.
C. Radiation Safety
- 1. Nondestructive Testing i
In the supplement, UF states that the SPERT fuel rods will be !
under direct surveillance when not secured in the currently l authorized storage location. Contamination and personnel l
monitoring programs will also be implemented for the movement and examination of the SPERT fuel rods. A Radiation Work Permit (RWP) will be utilized to outline radiation protection i requirements and document personnel exposures. However, the licensee has not addressed the review and approval process for the RWP.
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. .APR 5 1988 Therefore, staff recommends the fol. lowing condition to ensure that RWPs are reviewed and approved by administrative and safety personnel:
Prior to implementation, all Radiation Work Permits shall l have been reviewed and approved by the University of Florida Safety Review Subcommittee for the UFSA Facility and by the Director of Nuclear Facilities.
Staff believes that the licensee's radiation safety controls along with the above ccndition should be adequate for the safe handling of the rods during the proposed testing.
- 2. Release of SPERT Assembly Equipment and Room 3 l
In the application, the licensee states that instrumentation and equipment, previously utilized for the operation of the l SPERT assembly in Room 5, will be monitored and released for l unrestricted use. The supplement adds that upon completion of '
the SPERT fuel transfer to Room 5, the current storage location (Room 3) will be surveyed and returned to unrestricted use.
However, the licensee has not committed to contamination release limits for the equipment in Roon 5 or for Room 3.
Therefore, staff recommends the following condition to provide the licensee with acceptable guidance for the release of potentially contaminated items and areas to unrestricted use:
Upon termination of use or prior to release of equipment for unrestricted use, the facility location (s) and equipment shall be decontaminated in accordance with the "Guidel.ines for Decontaminatior, of Facilities and Equipment Prior to Release for Unrestricted Use or Termination of Licenses for Byproduct, Source, or Special Nuclear Material,"
August 1987.
D. Criticality Safety
- 1. General Each SPERT fuel rod consists of 4.81.1 0.15 w/o U-235 uranium dioxide pellets contained in Stainless Steel tubing. The fuel pellets are right circular cylinders with a nominal diameter of 0.42 inches. The active fuel length of the rod is 36 inches.
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- 2. Room 5 Storage Facility The overall storage arrangement will consist of three arrays 14 ,
feet long and 40 inches apart edge to edge.. Each array is a '
vertical slab of steel-framed storage containers that accommodate rows of seven fuel rods. The vertical length of a storage container is 28 inches. The staff calculated this array assuming a maximum enrichment of 5.0 w/o U-235 and utilizing the Hansen-Roach 16 group cross-section set which is found in the SCALE program, along with KEN 0 V.a., a Monte Carlo code. Staff has for the storage array to be about 0.84. No determinedthek*Nrtheabsorptionqualitiesofthestainlesssteel credit was taken clad or the steel containers, and t..e k is independent of the degreeofwatermoderationwithinandb8Neenthearraysorthedegree of concrete reflection surrounding the array.
- 3. Handling of Fuel To ensure that toe SPERT rods will remain safely subcritical when moved to and from the nondestructive testing area, the licensee has committed to having no more than 20 rods removed from the storage room at any one time. The 20 rods correspond to no more than 787 grams of U-235. The staff has independently confirmed that this mass is below 45 percent of the critical mass for 0.4-inch and 0.6-inch diameter rods with U0 2
- water lattices as specified in DP-1014.
To ensure that the SPERT fuel will remain safety subcritical when moved to the new storage location, the licensee has committed to handling no more than one storage container at any one time. Based on the calculations above for the 3.8 inch slabs, subcriticality is assured.
- 4. Criticality Monitors The licensee has committed to maintaining a criticality monitoring system in accordance with Condition 10 of the license.
E. Environmental Protection This licensing action'is in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(v),
and therefore, neither an Environmental Assessment nor an Environmental Impact Statement is warranted for this action.
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III. Finding / Recommendation Staff finds that the proposed changes to the license will have no adverse effect on the health and safety of UF personnel and the public or on the environment. Based on this finding and the discussion above, it is '
recommended that the license be amended in accordance with the application as supplemented and subject to the conditions developed by the staff.
The NRC Region II Inspector has no objectica to this Licensing Action.
W David A. McCaughey Uranium Fuel Section Fuel Cycle Safety Branch Division of Industrial and Approved by:
MMD Medical Nuclear Safety, NMSS Jerry J. Swift, Section Leader e
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GUIDELINES FOR DECONTAMINATION OF FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT PRIOR TO RELEASE FOR UNRESTRICTED USE OR TERMINATION OF LICENSES FOR 2YPRODUCT, SOURCE, OR SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comissicn Division of Industrial and e Medical Nuclear Safety Washington, DC 20555 August 1987 l
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- The instructions in this guide, in conjunction with Table 1, specify the radionuelides and radiatfor, exposure rate limits which should be used in decontamination and survey of surfaces or premices and equipment prior to abandonnent or release for unrestricted use. The' limits in Table 1 do not apply to premises, equipment, or scrap containing induced radioactivity for which the radiological considerations pertinent to their use may be different.
The release of such facilities or items from regulatory control is considered on a case-by-case basis.
- 1. The licensee shall make a reasonable effort to eliminate residual contamination.
- 2. Radioactivity on equipment or surfaces shall not be covered by peint, plating, or other covering material unless contamination levels, as deterinined by a survey and documented, are below the limits specified in Table 1 prior to the application of the covering. A reasonable effort must be made to minimize the contamination prior to use of any covering.
- 3. The radioactivity on tne interior surfaces of pipes, drain lines, or ductwor k shall be detemined by making measurements at all traps, and other appropriate access points, provided that contamination at these locttions is likely to be representative of contamination on the interior of the pipes, drain lines, or ductwork. Surfaces of premises, equipment, or scrap which are likely to be contaminated but are of such size, construction, or location as to make the surface inaccessible for purposes of measurement shall be presumed to be contaminated in excess of the limits.
- 4. Upon request, the Consnission may authorize a licensee to relinquish possession or control of premises, equipment, or scrap having surfaces contaminated with materials in excess of the limits specified. This may include, but would not be limited to, special circumstances such as razing of buildings, transfer of premises to another organization continuing work with radioactive materials, or conversion of facilities to a long-term storage or standby status. Such requests must:
- a. Provide detailed, specific infomation describing the premises, equipment or scrap, radioactive contaminants, and the nature, extent, and degree of residual surface contamination.
- b. Provide a detailed health and safety analysis which reflects that the residual amounts of materials on surface areas, together with other l considerations such as prospective use of the premises, equipment, or scrap, are unlikely to result in an unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the public.
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- 5. - Prior to release of premises for unrestricted use, the licensee shall make a comprehensive radiation survey which establishes that contamination is within the limits specified in Table 1. A copy of the survey report shall be file" with the Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and also the Administrator of the NRC Regional Office having jurisdiction. The report should be filed at least 30 days prior to the planned date of abandonment.
The survey report shall:
- a. Identify the premises,
- b. Show that reasonable effort has been made to eliminate residual contamination.
- c. Describe the scope of the survey and general procedures followed.
- d. State the findings of the survey in units specified in the ,
instruction.
Following review of the report, the NRC will consider visiting the facilities to confirm the survey.
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TABLE 1 f( .
ACCEPTABLE SURFACE CONTAMINATION LEVELS f'.
NUCLIDESa AVERAGEbcf MAy.IMUMbdf REMOVABLEbef U-nat, U-235, U-238, and associated decay products 5,000 dpm a/100 cm 2 15,000 dpm a/100 cm 2 1,000 dpm a/100 cm2 _
Transuranics, Ra-226 Ra-228 Th-230. Th-228, Pa-231, 100 dp=/100 cm2 300 dpm/100 cm2 20 dpm/100 cm2 Ac-227, 1-125, I-129 ,
Th-nat. Th-232. Sr-90, Ra-223, Ra-224 U-232, I-126, 1000 dpm/100 cm2 3000 dpm/100 cm2 200 dpm/100 cm2 1-131. I-133 Beta-gama emitters (nuclides with decay modes other than alpha caission or spontaneous 5000 dpm sy/100 cm2 15,000 dpm By/100 cm2 1000 dpm sy/100 cm2 fission) except Sr-90 and -
others noted above.
aWhere surface contamination by both upha- and beta-gamma-emitting nuclides exists, the limits established for alpha- and beta-gansna-emitting nuclides should apply independently.
bas used in this table, dpm (disintegrations per minute) means the rate of emission by radioactive material as determined by correcting the counts per ninute observed by an appropriate detector for background, efficiency, and geometric factors associated with the instrumentation.
CMeasurements of average contaminant should not be averaged over more than 1 square meter. For objects of less surface area, the average should be derived for each such object. .
dThe r3ximum contamination level applies to an area of not more than 100 cm2,
'The amount of removable radioactive material per 100 cm 2 of surface area should be determined by wiping that area with dry filter or sof t absorbent paper, applying moderate pressure, and assessing the amount of radioactive material on the wipe with an appropriate instrument of knawn efficiency. When removable contamination on objects of less surface area is determined, the pertinent levels should be reduced proportionally and the entire surface should be wiped.
i f The average and maximum radiation levels associated with surface contamination resulting from beta-gamma emitters should not exceed 0.2 mrad /hr at I cm and 1.0 mrad /hr at I cm, respectively, measured through not more than 7 milligrams per square centimeter of total absorber. .
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