ML20148Q684

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Berkeley Research Reactor Annual Rept of Operations for 1987
ML20148Q684
Person / Time
Site: Berkeley Research Reactor
Issue date: 12/31/1987
From: Lim T, Pigford T
CALIFORNIA, UNIV. OF, BERKELEY, CA
To: Thomas C
NRC
References
NUDOCS 8804130227
Download: ML20148Q684 (11)
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Text

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NUCLEAR ENGINEERING REACTOR LABORATORY TRIGA MARK III FACILITY i

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA i BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA l 1

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BERKELEY RESEARCH REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT OF OPERATIONS January 1,1987 through Deceraber 31, 1987 (BRR Technical Specifications 6.7.2)

I Tek H. Lim Reactor Supervisor 8804130227 871231 I d 8 PDR I ADOCK 05000224 ,

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BERKELEY RESEARCH REACTOR OPERATIONS, 1987 Reactor Use The Berkeley Research Reactor (BRR) is a TRIGA Mark III facility capable of producing 1 MW steady state and of pulsing to 1300 MW peak power.

The Berkeley Research Reactor is a research and educational tool of the I

University of California. It is located on the Berkeley Campus and operated by the Department of Nuclear Engineering.

Besides being used by the Department of Nucicar Engineering, the  ;

reactor is also used by other departments and campuses within the University, the Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore laboratories, and is availabic to other universities and colleges in the area. I 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. l Experiments Performed )

l Table 1 lists the experiments which were performed at the Berkeley Research Reactor during the year 1987. A total of 22 different experiments were performed. Two new experiments were approved between January 1 and December 31, 1987. The last column in Table 1 illustrates the number of times each experiment was performed.

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Table 1. Experiments Performed at the Berkeley Research Reactor in 1987 ,

Experiment Title Eacility Experimenter in Charge Dept./ No.'of i Class Objective Company Runs 13 A Staff operation of reactor, calibrations, Any, rll Lim NE 76' demonstrations, etc.

I 188 B Determination of fission yield of Br Central Thimble Prussin, Hoffman NE/ Chemistry 1 196 A A short term activation analysis study on Central Thimble Asaro, Michel DOE 52 archaeological artifacts and geologic materials 210 C Neutron Radiography facility development Beamport S-2 Lim NE 29 221 A Determination of nickel impurity in Fe2 03 Central Thimble Prussin, Cann NE 3 by activation analysis 273 A Origin of pottery and geologic materials Central Thimble Asaro, Michel DOE 6 analysis 275 B Electronic components test Exposure Room Lim LMSC 26 280 A Production of 60mCo and 60Co F1 Rabbit Prussin NE/ Chemistry 2 281 A Production of 198Au F1 Rabbit Prussin, Lim NE/C.iemistry 1 282 A Production of 32p Lazy Susan and Prussin, Lim NE/ Chemistry 2 Central Thimble 283 A Irradiation of household aluminum foil Lazy Susan Prussin, Cann .NE 2 284 A Reactor power calibration and Xenon buildup Pool Lim NE 1 304 A Reactor checkout, approach to critical and Pool Lim NE 12 pulsing 305 A Reactivity worth of control rods All Lim NE 13 315 A Activation analysis of geological Lazy Susan Lim NE/Sonoma State 9 materials 352 A Deuterium-tritium micro balloons Central Thimble Lim, Lane DOE 7 l

Table 1. Experiments Performcd at the Berkeley Research Reactor in 1987 Experiment Title Facility Experimenter in Charge Dept./ No. of .-

Company Runs

  1. Class Objective Central Thimble Lim, Hansen DOE 6 353 A Doping of Germanium Irradiation of natural or depieted Lazy Susan Prussin NE 5 361 B uranium 369 A Activation analysis of geological Central Thimble Denton, Lim NE/ Plant 10 materials Pathology Radiation Effect on electronic components Exposure Room Lim TRW 111 372 B Ford ROLM I

Lazy Susan Lim, Erwin NE/ Physics 7 379 A Neutron irradiation of terrestrial rocks Radiation of amorphous silicon Exposure Room Lim, Kaplan NE 4 381 A Central Thimble Lim, Goosman NE/ DOE 5 382 A Irradiation of Iridium Wire Irradiation of UO in the Exposure Roem Exposure Room Lim, Prussin NE 1 383 B 1

Chemistry: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley.

DOE: Department of Energy (Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore Laboratories).

LMSC: Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.

NE: Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley.

TRW: TRW, Inc.

Ford: Ford Aerospace & Communications, Inc.

ROLM: ROLM Sonoma State: Department of Physics, Sonoma State University.

Physics: Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley.

Plant Pathology: Department of Plant Pathology, University of Califernia, Berkeley.

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Reactor Maintenance Routine maintenance, minor repair and modification, testing and inspection as required by the Tech Specs were performed during 1987. No major maintenance was conducted. l 10CFR 50.59 Changes There were no changes in 1987 that required review under paragraph 10CFR 50.59.

l Routine Tests and Calibrations l 1

Thermal power calibrations were performed in August, and the constant l

Air Monitor was calibrated in December 1987. l The Reactor Pool Water Radiation Monitor was calibrated in April, and the Stack Gas Argon-41 Monitor was calibrated in October 1987. l Operating Schedule The Berkeley Research Reactor normally operates on a single 8-hour shift, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. One day  :

every two weeks is set aside for routine checks and maintenance. Extended reactor runs and overtime operation are allowed if required by the i experimental program.

Fuel Addition and Fuel Inventory The annual fuel inventory was performed in Jur.e. There were no fuel additions in 1987.

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4 Energy Production and Fuel Burn-Up The Berkeley Research Reactor produced 143,000 kW-hours or 5.95 MW-days of energy during 1987. As there verg 171 operating days in 1987, this corresponds to an average daily energy production of 836 kW-hours per operating day. In 1987 the Berkeley Research Reactor was critical approxi-mately 233 hours0.0027 days <br />0.0647 hours <br />3.852513e-4 weeks <br />8.86565e-5 months <br /> and operated at full power (1 MW) for approximately 132 hours0.00153 days <br />0.0367 hours <br />2.18254e-4 weeks <br />5.0226e-5 months <br />.

The total burn-up was 6.5 grams elemental and 7.5 grams of the isotope ,

U-235. ,

The total cumulative energy production since initial criticality is i approximately 290 MW-days.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspection The Berkeley Research Reactor was inspected on July 13-16, 1987. Two l items of non-c.ompliance to the Berkeley Research Reactor Technical 4 Specifications were identified:

1. Failure of the Reactor Hazards Committee to perform audits on a  ;

J quarterly basis.

2. Failure of the Reactor staff to report to the NRC that such audit was I not performed on time.

Corrective measures to avoid repeat of such violation was undertaken.

Emergency Shutdowns and Inadvertent Scrams Date Scram Circuit Reason 9-23-87 Linear Power Scram Operator Error a

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1 Requalification Training Program In accordance with regulations, a requalification written examination was given to licensed operators and senior operators in July and December 1987.

Exercise A routine emergency and security evacuation exercise involving the Reactor staff, and the Campus Police D partment was conducted in January and July 1987.

Termination of Reactor Operations On December 20, 1986 the Chancellor of the University of Califorrfa at Berkeley announced his decision to decommission the 20 year old Berkeley Research Reactor, citing a history of declining use and the need to erect a new computer science building over the reactor site as the main reason.

The Reactor was permanently shutdown on December 23, 1987.

Radioactive Effluent Released or Shipped Liquid Waste:

No liquid radioactive vaste generated by the reactor facility was picked up by Camnus Environmental Health and Safety Personnel in 1987.

No liquid t.,dioactive vaste was discharged to the sewer, storm drain or

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l other location in the enviror. ment from this f acility in 1987.

Gaseous Waste:

All gaseous radioactive waste discharged was calculated as Ar-41, since l

studies in the past have shown no other significant radionuclides occur from normal operations. The total released was 3.48 Ci as Ar-41, which was 0.12%

i of the maximum annual allowable release of 2,785 Ci. Maximum concentration l

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at one particular period at stack discharge was 2.02 x 10-6 pCi/ml. This concentration is 65% of the allowable continuous concentration for this facility of 3.12 x 10-6 pCi/ml. No average concentration was calculated due to intermittent periods when the reactor was not operating.

Filter paper air samples showed that no particulate radioactivity above naturally occurring levels could be detected in the exnaust stream.

Solid (Dry) Waste:

Twelve cubic feet of dry radioactive waste was released for disposal with an estimated 1 millicurie of activity.

Personnel Radiation Exposure Recorded radiation exposure for the year to personnel included:

a. Facility personnel (routine users of dosimeters):

- maximum total whole body exposure to an individual - 30 mrem

- maximum total extremity exposure to an individual - 230 mrem

- minimum total whole body exposure to an individual - O mrem

- minimum total extremity exposure to an individual - O mrem Note: At year end, 48 individuals were assigned whole body dosimeters, and six were assigned extremity dosimeters. Four individuals showed r..

exposure. Exposures were both whole body and extremity.

b. Visitors (non-routine dosimeter users):

Approximately seven hundred and sixty-nine entries were made by visitors.

Less than 2% had any reading. None was significant. The highes was 5 mrem. No average exposure was calculated.

c. There were no exposures in excess of 10CFR 20 limits, l i

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i Radiation and Contamination Levels ,

a. Routine monthly meter surveys generated 296 individual radiation  !

readings.

- maximum reading observed - 250 mrem /hr (gamma)

- minimum reading observed -

O mrem /hr Average of readings was not meaningful due to abnormal influence of a few high dose rate areas out of 26 locations routinely surveyed.

b. Routine area quarterly film dosimeters at 22 1ccations generated 88 i

readings; routine monthly dosimeters at 5 locations generated 60 readings.

Maximum readings observed:

- monthly location - 460 mrem (gamma)

- quarterly location - 650 mrem (gamma)  ;

Minimum readin8s observed - (0) l Maximum annual accumulated: l l

- monthly location - 1270 mrem (gamma)

- quarterly location - 1840 mrem (gamma)

Average dose is meaningless due to excessive influence of a few positions,

c. Routine quarterly area TLD dosimeter readings totalled 52 at 13 locations.

- maximum total dose at any location for the year - 400 mrem

- minimum total dose at any location for the year - O mrem Average dose is meaningless due to excessive influence of a fev positions.

1 Note that the period reported for quarterly film and TLD is 2/1/85 through  !

1/31/87.

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d. Routine weekly swipe program generated 1780 swipes of which 43 showed contaminatica above normally expected 1cvel.

- maximum swipe activities recorded was 3.8 x 10-4 pC1/100 cm2 from normally contaminated surfaces. This was due to uranium not associated with reactor operations.

- minimum activities for both categories was zero.

Averages were not determiacd due to excessive infinence of a few swipes.

Environmental Surveys Environmental TLD measurements at 9 locations outside the facility w

8enerated 36 radiation readings. Two dosimeters were not recovered due to appsrent theft.

- maximum tcLal recorded exposure at any outside location for the year was 400 mrem.

- minimum total recorded exposure at any location for the year was 0 mrem.

Averages wert not dntermined occause tne majority of locations had very low or no exposure, und only a few locations had sign.4'icant readings. Note that the period reparted was 2/1/85 th ough 1/31/87.

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O UNIVERSI Y OF CALIFORNIA. BERKELEY BERKELEY

  • DAY 18
  • IRVINE
  • LOS ANCELES
  • RIYDSIDE
  • 1AN DIECO
  • SAN FRANC 15CO < SANTA BARBARA
  • SANTA CRL'E COLLECE OF ENGINEERING DERELLEY, CALIFORNIA 94720 DEPARTMENT OF Nt' CLEAR ENGINEERING l

l March 21, 1988 i

Docket No. 50-224 License No. R-101 Mr. Cecil 0. Thomas, Chief Standardization and Special Projects Branch i Division of Licensing U.S._ Nuclear Regulatory Commission k'ashington, D.C. 20555

Dear Mr. Thomas:

For your information, enclosed is a copy cf the Berkeley Research Reactor's Annual Report for the year 1987.

The report is prepared for the Nuclear Regulatorv rommirsion, as required by Technical Specifications.

Sincerely, n

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, /r ,,.mm e-.

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' j Thomas 11. Pigford  !

Reactor AdminiLtrator l THP/jeh Enclosure foY ' (

P'R?. I38'515 1

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