ML20203P351
| ML20203P351 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Berkeley Research Reactor |
| Issue date: | 12/31/1985 |
| From: | Lim T, Pigford T CALIFORNIA, UNIV. OF, BERKELEY, CA |
| To: | NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION V) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8605070029 | |
| Download: ML20203P351 (12) | |
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5-MICLEAR ENGINEERING REACIOR IABORA10RY 1RIGA MARK III FACILITY
'UNIVERISTY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA BFA'(ELEY RESEARQi REACIDR ANMJAL REPORT OF OPERATIONS January 1, 1985 through December 31, 1985 (BRR Technical Specifications 6.7.2.)
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1 BERKELEY RESEARQi REACIOR OPERATIONS,1985 Reactor Use
'Ihe Berkeley Research Reactor (BRR) is a TRIGA Mark III facility capable of producing 1 bM steady state and of pulsing to 13005M peak power. 'Ihe 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 Department of Nuclear Engineering.
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 Livennore laboratories, and is available to other universities and colleges in the area.
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 1 lists the experiments which were perfonned at the Berkeley Research Reactor during the year 1985. A total of 29 different experiments were performed. Four new experiments were approved between January 1 and December 31, 1985. The last column in Tabic 1 illustrates the number of times each experiment was perfonned.
2 Table 1.
Experiments Performed at the Berkeley Research Reactor in 1985 Experiment Title Facility Principal Investigator, Dept /
No. of f
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 20 221 A
Determination of nickel impurity in Fe2 3 Central Thimble Prussin, Cann NE 5
0 by activation analysis 273 A
Origin of pottery Central Thimble Asaro, Michel DOE 6
274 A
Irradiation of ethylene dibromide Lazy Susan Somorjai, Abgeles Chemistry 1
275 B
Electronic components test Exposure Room Young et al LMSC 58 280 A
Production of 60mCo and 60Co F1 Rabbit Prussin Chemistry 8
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 283 A
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 critical and Pool Ruby, Lim NE 10 pulsing 305 A
Reactivity worth of control rods All Lim NE 10 306 B
Craphite prism and thermal column experiment Thermal column Ruby, Lim NE 3
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3 Table 1.
Experiments Permorned at the Berkeley Research Reactor in 1985 Experiment Title Facility Principal Investigator Dept./
No. of f
Class Objective Experimenter Company Runs 315 A
Activation analysis of geological Lazy Susan Lim Sonoma State 1
materials University 351 B
Neutron Tracks Studies in LEXAN Hohlraum Wollenberg 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
169 371 A
Production of activity tracers Er, 170 169 175Yb Central Thimble Lim, Seaborg NE/ DOE 3
Tm, 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 tin 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
.../...
1 4
Chemistry:
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley.
Chevron:
Chevron Research Company 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 & Communications, Inc.
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5 Reactor Maintenance Routine maintenance, minor repair and modification, testing and inspecti.on as required by the Tech Specs were performed 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 H ere were no changes in 1985 that required review under paragraph 10 CFR 50.59.
Routine Tests and Calibrations hermal power calibrations were perfomed in April and September, and the constant Air Monitor was calibrated in November 1985.
He Reactor Pool Water Radiation Monitor was calibrated in April, and the Stack Gas Argon-41 Monitor was calibrated in September 1985.
Operating Schedule The Berkeley Research Reactor nomally operates on a singic 8-hour shift, between 8AM and 5B1, Monday through Friday. One day every two weeks is set aside for routine checks and maintenance.
Extended reactor mns and overtime operation are allowed if required by the experimental program.
Fuel Addition and Fuel Inventory E rce new fuel $ elements were loaded to the reactor core in October 1985 to replace three suspected leaking instmmented fuel elements. Here were no fuel additions.
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1 Energy Production and Fuel Burn-Up The Berkeley Research Reactor produced 134,000 kW-hours or 5.58 W-days of energy during 1985. As there were 202 operating days in 1985, this 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 W) for approximately 125 hours0.00145 days <br />0.0347 hours <br />2.066799e-4 weeks <br />4.75625e-5 months <br />.
O Re total burn-up was 6.0 grams elemental and 7.0 grams of the isotope U-235.
He total cunulative energy production since initial criticality is approximately 277.68 W-days.
Nuclear Regulatory' Commission' Inspection An NRC inspection was conducted in May 1985. His inspection referred to a follow-up inspection to ensure that NRC recommendations made during a routine inspection in December 1984 had been carried out. This inspection concluded that all recommendations had been resolved. No items of non-compliance with NRC requirements were identified within the scope of this inspection.
Emergency Shutdowns and Inadvertent Scrams Date Scram Circuit Reasons 5-30-85 Period Scram Operator Error 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
7 Operator's Training In December 1985, one reactor operator passed the hbclear Regulatory Comission Reactor Operator's Examination.
Requalification Training Program In accordance with regulations, a successful requalification written examination was given to licensed operators and senior operators in August and November 1985.
Exercise An emergency and security evacuation exercise im'olving the Reactor staff, the officer of Environmental llealth and Safety and the Campus Police Department was conducted on July 2, 1985 between 07:00 and 10:00 hours.
He scenario included evacuation of the Etcheverry lis11 Patio by the Campus police during a hypothetical loss of pool water accident.
His exercise was part of a requirement specified in the Berkeley Research Reactor Emergency and Security Plans.
Radioactive Effluent Released or Shipped Liquid Waste No liquid radioactive waste generated by the reactor facility was picked up by Campus Environmental IIcalth 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.
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
8 normal operations.
%e ~ total released was 6.13 Ci as Ar-41 of a maximum permitted release of 2,785 Ci which corresponded to 0.22% of the allowable release.
bhrinnun concentration at one particular period at stack discharge was 2.54x168 pCi/ml. This concentration is 81% of the allowabic maximum 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 Icgal and university holidays).
y Filter paper air samples showed that no particulate radioactivity 4
above naturally ocurring levels could be detected in the exhaust stream.
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Trace amounts of fission products from a Icaking instnamented fuel element were detected during the months of September and October 1985.
l During this incident, the estimated average concentration of detectabic
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fission gasses (Kr-85m, KR-87, KR-88) in the reactor room were found to be lower than the allowabic maximum concentration in unrestricted areas averaged over a year, as stated in 10 CFR 20, Appendix B.
Most of the I
fission products were confined to the reactor room and disappeared by decay.
He Icaking 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):
- maxinum total whole body exposure to an individual - 300 mrem
- maxinum total extremity exposure to an individual - 980 mrem
- mininum total whole body exposure to an individual -
O mrem
- minimtun 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. n ree individuals showed an exposure. Exposures were both whole body and extremity.
- 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. H e highest was 10 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 329 individual radiation readings.
- maximum reading observed - 100 mrcm/hr. (ganma)
- mininum 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 areaquarterly film dosimeters at 23 locations generated 92 readings; routine monthly dosimeters at 5 locations generated 60 readings.
Maximum readings observed:
- monthly location - 460 mran (gamma) quarterly location - 900 mran (gamma)
Minimum readings observed - (0)
Maximum annual accumulated:
- monthly location - 1345 mrem (all ganma)
- quarterlylocation - 2370 mrem (all gamma)
10 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 - 299 mrem
- minimum total dose at any location for the year -
O mrem Average dose is meaningless due to excessive influence of a few positions.
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 nomally expected level.
q 2
- maximum swipe activities recorded was 8.4 x 10 pCi/100 cd from normally contaminated surfaces. 'Ihis was due to tritium not associated with reactor operations.
- minimum activities for both categories was zero.
Averages were not detemined due to excessive influence of a few swipes.
Environmental Surveys Environmental TLD measurements at 9 locations outside the facility generated 36 radiation readings.
- maximum total recorded exposure at any outside location for the year was 200 mrem.
- minimum total recorded exposure at any location for the year was 0 mrem.
Averages were not determined 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 2/1/85 through to 1/31/86.
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKE,GY fpf#.fft BEREELEY
- DAVIS
- IRVINE
- LOS ANGELES
- RIVERSIDE
- SAN DIEGO
- SAN FRANCISCO SANTA DARBARA
- SANI'A CRUE g,N
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COLLEGE OF ENCINEER*NG BEHKELEY, CALIFORNIA 94720 DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
'.: 4. 4.4 p '!.
March 14, 1986 Docket No. 50-224 License No. R-101 Director U.S. Nuc1 car Engineering Comission, Ibgion V Office of Inspection G Enforcement 1450 Maria Lane, Suite 210 Walnut Creek, California 94596 Sir:
For your infonnation, enclosed is a copy of the Ierkeley Research Reactor's Annual Report for the year 1985.
The report is prepared for the Nuclear Regulatory Comission, as required by our Technical Specifications.
Sincerely,
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Y h,, $,., d.AAh s.sf Thomas II. Pigford Chainnan 111P/1p Enclosure, k
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