ML20199E311
| ML20199E311 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Berkeley Research Reactor |
| Issue date: | 12/31/1985 |
| From: | Lim T CALIFORNIA, UNIV. OF, BERKELEY, CA |
| To: | Thomas C NRC |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8603260040 | |
| Download: ML20199E311 (12) | |
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MJCLEAR ENGINEERING REACIOR LABORATORY TRIGA MARK III FACILITY UNIVERISTY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA BERKELEY RESEARCH REACIOR ANNUAL REPORT OF OPERATIONS January 1, 1985 through December 31, 1985 (BRR Technical Specifications 6.7.2.)
i Tek H. Lim Reactor Supervisor 8603260040 851231 PDR ADOCK 05000224 R
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1 BERKELEY RESEAROI REACIDR OPERATIONS,1985 '
Reactor Use i
The Berkeley Research Reactor (BRR) is a TRIGA Mark III facility capable l
of producing 1 MW steady state and of pulsing to 1300MW peak power. The Berkeley Research Reactor is a research and educational tool of the University of California.
It is located on the Berkeley Campus and operated by the l
Department of Nuclear Engineering.
j Besides being used by the Department of Nuclear Engineering, the reactor is also used by other departments and campuses within the University, the lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore laboratories, and is available to other universities and colleges in the area.
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In addition, the Berkeley Research Reactor is used as an irradiation l
Source for service to industry contracts and provides a stimulant to l
touring and interested high. school and college students.
1 Experiments Performed Table 1 lists the experiments which were perfomed at the Berkeley Research Reactor during the year 1985. A total of 29 different experiments
.were perfor.aed. Four new experiments were approved between January 1 and l
December 31, 1985. The last column in Table 1 illustrates the ntsnber of times each experiment was perfomed.
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2 Table 1.
Experiments Performed at the Berkeley Research Reactor in 1985
-Ixperiment Title Facility Principal Investigator Dept /
No. of ~
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Class Objective Experimenter Company Runs 13 A
Staff operation of reactor, calibrations, Any, all Lim NE 69 demonstrations, etc.
196 A
A short term activation analysis study on Central Thimble Asaro, Michel DOE 29 archaeological artifacts
'210 C
Neutron Radiography facility development Lazy Susan Lim NE 20 l
.221 A
Determination of nickel impurity'in Fe2 3 Central Thimble Prussin, Cann NE 5
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by activation analysis 273 A
Origin of pottery Central' Thimble Asaro, Michel DOE' 6
l 274 A
Irradiation of ethylene dibromide Lazy Susan Somorjai, Abgeles Chemistry 1
i 275 B.
Electronic components test Exposure Room Young et al
. IliSC 58 l
l 280 A
Production of 60mCo and 60Co F1 Rabbit Prussin Chemistry' 8
g 281 A
Production of 198Au F1 Rabbit Prussin, Lim Chemistry 2
282 A
Production of 32P Lazy Susan and.
Prussin, Lim Chemistry 1
Central Thimble l
283 Irradiation-of household aluminum foil
. Lazy Susan Prussin, Cann NE 8
303 A
Magnitude and shape of Central Thimble flux Central Thimble Lim NE 4
304 A
Reactor checkout, approach to critica1'and Pool Ruby, Lim NE 10 l
pulsing l
305 A
Reactivity worth of c'ontrol rods All Lim NE 10 306 B
Graphite prism and thermal column experiment Thermal column Ruby, Lim NE 3
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3 Table 1.
Experiments Permormed at the Berkeley Research Reactor in 1985 Experiment Title Facility Principal Investigator Dept./
No. of f
Class Obj ective Experimenter Coinpany Runs 315 A
Activation analysis of geological Lazy Susan Lim Sonoma' State 1
materials University 351 B
Neutron Tracks Studies in LEXAN Hohlraum Wo11enberg
. DOE 2
352 A
Deuterium-tritium mir o balloons Central Thimble Lane, Lim DOE 10 irradiation 353 A
Doping of Germanium Central Thimble Hansen DOE 4
354 A
Irradiation of environmental samples Central Thimble Helft, Lim DOE 3
361 B
Irradiation of natural or depleted Lazy Susan Prussin
.NE-16 uranium in ceramic form 362 A.
Production of Lutecium Central Thimble Lim, Seaborg Chemistry 1
369 A
Activation analysis of geological Central Thimble Denton, Lim NE 17 materials 370 A
Production of 24Na Central Thimble Lim Chevron 1
371 A
Production of activity tracers 169 Er, 169 175Yb Central Thimble Lim, Seaborg NE/ DOE 3
- 170Tm, 372 B
Radiation Effect on electronic Exposure Room Lim et al TRW 135 components-Hughes Motorola Ford 373 B
Radiation effect on electronic Exposure Room Lim et al NE 6
components 374 A
_ Production of 56 fin and 198Au sources Lazy Susan Lim, Norman NE/ DOE 12 375 B
Genetic hazard of n irradiation in mice Exposure Room Lim, Goldstein UCSF 5
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Chemistry:
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley.
Chevron:
Chevron Research Company t
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.
Hughes:
Hughes Aircraft, Inc.
.Motorola:
Motorola, Inc.
Ford:
Ford Aerospace & Consnunications, Inc.
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5 Reactor Maintenance Routine maintenance, minor repair and modification, testing and inspection as required by the Tech Specs were perfonned during 1985. Major maintenance included the replacement of the reactor ion-exchange resins, replacement of the reactor linear chamber, replacement of the ventilation system absolute filters, and refurbishing of the fission chamber.
10 CFR 50.59 Changes here were no changes in 1985 that required review under paragraph 10 CFR 50.59.
l Routine Tests and C4ibrations Hermal power calibrations were performed in April and September, and the constant Air Monitor was calibrated in November 1985.
The Reactor Pool Water Radiation Monitor was calibrated in April, and the e
Stack Gas Argon-41 Monitor was calibrated in September 1985.
i Operating Schedule ne Berkeley Research Reactor normally operates on a single 8-hour shift, between 8AM and SPM, 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 experimental program.
Fuel Addition and Fuel Inventory A ree new fuel > elements were loaded to the reactor core in October 1985 to replace three suspected leaking instrumented fuel elements. Here were no fuel additions.
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Energy Production and Fuel Burn-Up 1
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The Berkeley Research Reactor produced 134,000 kW-hours or 5.58 MW-days I
of energy during 1985. As there were 202 operating days in 1985, this-a corresponds to an average daily energy production of 660 kW-hours per operating day.
In 1985 the Berkeley Research Reactor was critical approximately 239 hours0.00277 days <br />0.0664 hours <br />3.95172e-4 weeks <br />9.09395e-5 months <br /> and was operated at full power (1 MW) for approximately 125 hours0.00145 days <br />0.0347 hours <br />2.066799e-4 weeks <br />4.75625e-5 months <br />.
De total burn-up was 6.0 grams elemental and 7.0 grams of the isotope 1
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i ne total cumulative energy production since initial criticality is approximately 277.68 MW-days.
Nuclear Regulatory Comission ' Inspection An NRC inspection was conducted in May 1985. His inspection referred j
to a follow-up inspection to ensure that NRC recomendations made during a routine inspection in December 1984 had been carried out. - H is inspection concluded that all recomendations had been resolved. No items of non-1 l
compliance with NRC requirements were identified within the scope of this t
inspection.-
i Emergency Shutdowns and Inadvertent Scrams i
Date Scram Circuit Reasons 1
5-30-85 Period Scram Operator Error i
l 8-9-85 Linear Power Scram Operator Error 9-30-85 Linear Power Scram Operator Error 10-18-85 External Scram Operator Error 11-13-85 Linear Power Scram Operator. Error I
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., Operator's Training In December 1985, one reactor operator passed the Nuclear Regulatory Canunission Reactor Operator's Examination.
1 Requalification Training Program 4
In accordance with regulations, a successful requalification written examination was given to licensed operators and senior operators in August and November 1985.
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I Exercise An emergency and security evacuation exercise involving the Reactor staff, the officer of Environmental Health and Safety and the Campus Police Department was conducted on July 2,1985 between 07:00 and 10:00 hours ~.
The scenario included evacuation of the Etcheverry Hall Patio by the Campus police during a hypothetical loss of pool water accident.
4 This exercise was part of a requirement specified in the Berkeley Research Reactor Emergency and Security Plans.
i Radioactive Effluent Released or Shipped Liquid Waste No liquid radioactive waste generated by the reactor facility was picked up by Campus. Environmental Health and Safety Personnel.
No liquid radioactive waste was discharged to the sewer, storm' drain or.
other location in the environment from this facility in 1985.
1 Gaseous Waste All gaseous radioactive waste discharged was calculated as Ar-41, since studies in the past have shown no other significant radionuclides occur'from 4
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nomal operations.
The total released was 6.13 Ci as Ar-41 of a maximum pemitted release of 2,785 Ci which corresponded.to 0.22% of the allowable release.
Maximum concentration at one particular period at stack discharge was 5
2.54 x 10 pCi/ml. This concentration is 81% of the allowable maximum 5
concentration for this facility of 3.12 x 10 pCi/ml. No average concentration was calculated due to frequent periods of time when the reactor was idle more than 50% of normal operational 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 a week, excluding legal and university holidays).
Filter paper air sampics showed that no particulate radioactivity above naturally ocurring levels could be detected in the exhaust stream.
Trace amounts of fission products from a leaking instrumented fuel element were detected during the months of September and October 1985.
IAtring this incident, the estimated average concentration of detectable fission gasses (Kr-85m, KR-87, KR-88) in the reactor room were found to be lower than the allowable maximum concentration in unrestricted areas averaged over a year,
.s stated in 10 CFR 20, Appendix B.
Most of the fission products were confined to the reactor room and disappeared by decay.
The leaking fuel. element has been isolated and removed from the core.
This incident was reported to the NRC Region V Office.
Solid (Dry) Waste No solid (dry) waste was released for disposal during the year.
Personnel Radiation Exposure Recorded radiation exposures for the year.to personnel included:
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- a. Facility personnel (routine users of dosimeters):
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- maximum total whole body exposure to an individual - 300 mrem
- maximum total extremity exposure to an individual - 980 mrem
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.- minimm total whole i;ody exposure to an individual -
O mrem s
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- minimm total extremity exposure to an individual O mrem Note: At year end,.35 individuals were assigned whole body dosimeters, and seven were assigned extremity dosimeters. nree individuals showed i
i an exposure. Exposures were both whole body and extremity.
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- b. Visitors (non-routine dosimeter users):
Approximately six hundred and ninety entries were made by visitors, less than 7% had any reading. None were significant. He highest was 10 mrem. No average exposure was calculated.
- c. There were no exposures' in excess of 10 CFR 20 limits.
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Radiation and Contamination Imvels a) Routine monthly meter surveys generated 329 individual radiation readings.
- maximum reading observed - - 100 mrem /hr. (gama) 2
. minimum reading observed -
O mrem /hr.
i Average of readings was not meaningful due to abnomal influence of a few' j
high dose rate. areas out of 26 locations routinely surveyed.
b) Routine areaquarterly film dosimeters at 23 locations generated 92 readings; routine monthly dosimeters at 5. locations generated 60 readings.
j Maximum readings observed:
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- monthly location - 460 mrm (gama)
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quarterly location - 900 mrem (gama) s Minim a readings observed - (0) 1 Maxim m annual accumulated:
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- monthly location - 1345 mrem (all gama) j
- quarterlylocation - 2370 mrem (all-gama)
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i Average dose is meaningless due to excessive influence of a few positions.
i c). Routine quarterly area TLD dosimete readings totalled 52 at 13 locations.
- maxinum total dose at any loct tion for the year - 299 mrem i
- minimum total dose at any location for the year -
O mrem 1
Average dose is' meaningless due to excessive' influence of a few positions.
i Note that the period reported for quarterlyfilm and TLD is 2/1/85 through to 1/31/86.
d) Routine weekley swipe program generated 2040 swipes of which 63 showed contamination above nonnally expected level.
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- maxistsu swipe activities recorded was 8.4 x 16 pCi/100 cnf from nonna11y contaminated surfaces.. This was due to tritium not i
f associated with reactor operations.
- rainimtzn activities for both categories was zero.
Averages were not determined due to excessive influence of a few swipes.
f Environmental Surveys 1
Environmental TLD measurements at 9 locations outside the facility I
generated 36 radiation readings.
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- maxistan total recorded exposure at any outside location for the year was 200 mrem.
- mininum total recorded exposure at any location for the year i
was 0 mrem.
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~ Averages were not detennined because the majority of locations had very low or no exposure, and only a few locations had~significant readings.
I Note that the period reported was 2/1/85 through to' 1/31/86.
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. BERKELEY BERKELEY
- DAVIS
- IRVINE
- LOS ANCELES
- RIVERSIDE
- SAN DIECO
- SAN FRANCISCO SANTA BARBARA
- SANTA CRtlZ j ~
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING BEREELEY, CALIFORNIA 94720 DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING hfarch 18, 1986 Docket No. 50-224 e
License No. R-101
't Cecil 0. Thomas, Chief Standardization and Special Project Branch Division of Licensing U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.
20555
Dear hfr. Thomas:
For your information, enclosed is a copy of the Berkeley Research Reactor's Annual Report for 1985. The report is prepared for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as required by our Technical Specificaticas.
Sincerely yours, 4
Af T-V-
Tek II. Lim Reactor Supervisor lill/1p Enclosure.
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