ML20211G170
| ML20211G170 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000124 |
| Issue date: | 10/29/1986 |
| From: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20211G139 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8611030233 | |
| Download: ML20211G170 (6) | |
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j WASHINGTON, D. C. 20656
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SAFETY EVALUATION BY THE OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION l
DISMANTLING OF FACILITY AND DISPOSITION OF COMPONENT PARTS
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VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY ARGONAUT REACTOR FACILITY FACILITY OPERATING LICENSE N0. R-62 DOCKET N0. 50-124
1.0 INTRODUCTION
By application dated July 17, 1986, as supplemented, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI) requested authorization to decontaminate and dismantle the 100kW Argonaut Research Reactor, to dispose of its component parts in accordance with the proposed plan, 1
and to terminate the Facility Operating License R-62.
The reactor was shut down in July 1983, and has not been operated since then. At that time, the fuel was removed from the core tank and placed in storage.
Following receipt of a possession only license amendment in 1985, all fuel was shipped offsite to a Department of Energy facility.
2.0 FACILITY DESCRIPTION The VPI reactor facility is located at the VPI campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. The reactor is an Argonaut reactor that was licensed to operate at a maximum power level of 100kW. During operation, the reactor utilized standard MTR fuel elements with U-235 enrichment of approximately 93%. The core is located approximately 17 feet below the surface of the reactor pool. A schematic of the reactor area is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 2 shows a general layout of the experimental ~
facilities around the reactor.
3.0 DISCUSSION L
The reactor began operation in June 1959 at a power level of 10kW.
MR Power was increased in 1966 to 100kW. Total accumulated power from 1959-1983 was 1,276 MW-Hrs.
N The selected decommissioning option is decontamination (DECON) with subsequent release of the facility for unrestricted use. The licensee ng N8 has agreed that the radiation levels for unrestricted use will be Su/hr at one meter from the surface (see Section 4.4 below).' The oo collective dose equivalert to the staff and public for the L
decommissioning operation is estimated to be less than 2 person-rem.
There was one reported uncontrolled release of radioactivity within the reactor complex in 1971. This was subsequently decontaminated and AEC approval was granted for continued operation. There has been no fracture of, or leakage of fission products from, the fuel rods.
4.0 EVALUATION VPI proposes to dismantle the facility in accordance with ti;eir dismantling plan. They intend to decontaminate the facility below the radiation and contamination levels of Regulatory Guide 1.86 and staff positions, as addressed in Section 4.4 of this safety evaluation, for unrestricted access and use. The non-radioactive components may be utilized in other projects within the VPI complex or disposed of as i
scrap. Contaminated reactor components and rubble will be disposed of at a licensed burial facility, transferred to the Department of Energy, or retained for use under the Commonwealth of Virginia license.
The staff has reviewed the VPI plan to dismantle the Argonaut facility, dispose of its component parts and radioactive material and decontaminate the facility. The review considered the management responsibilities and commitments; the relevant regulatory guides, the health physics program including procedures, equipment, instrumentation, survey techniques, training, and personnel dosimetry; the waste disposal; and the final survey. These functions and activities, except for the final survey, were ongoing during operation of the reactor and will be maintained in appropriate scope during its dismantlement. They are described in the following sections.
4.1 Sources With the reactor having been shut down since 1983, sources removed from the reactor building and the fuel shipped off site, the only residual activity in the core components is from activation products.
Radioactive material from the reactor structure, components, filters, ggncrete,6gubble, etc, will consist of less than 10 curies, primarily Co and Zn. All radioactive material will be monitored, packaged, and shipped to an approved storage or disposal facility in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements.
The reactor pool water, which had a low activation product inventory, has been drained and has been discharged into the public sewer system.
The staff finds that the licensee's plans for disposition of sources of radioactivity associated with this operation are acceptable.
4.2 "ealth and Safety Management The radiation protection program for the dismantling and decontamination operations is an extension of the existing radiation protection program at VPI which is under the supervision of the Health and Safety Department. Decomissioning activities are reviewed and approved by this office. The organization for the dismantling and j
decontaminating the reactor facility has a health physicist, with BS i
degree in physics and many years of health physics and reactor
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. experience, who will recommend and enforce radiological safety policy. He will be responsible for assigning health physics technicians to specific tasks, implementing the environmental survey program, maintaining radiation e.<posure records and overseeing subcontractor health physics operations associated with the dismantling and decomissioning operations.
A University Reactor Safety Committee is responsible for monitoring and assuring safe operations, and a mdmber of the Comittee will be assigned to inform the full Comittee of the overall planning and dismantling activities, progress, and adherence to health and safety standards and procedures.
It is VPI policy that all operations will be planned and executed to conform to Commission regulations and appropriate Regulatory Guides and to maintain personnel exposure to as low as reasonable achievable (ALARA) levels.
4.3 Dose Commitment The licensee has estimated that the collective dose equivalent expected for the entire dismantling and decontamination operation will be less than 2 person-rem. The collective dose to the population in the VPI campus and the adjacent industrial and residential areas should be much less. This estimate is based on the expected levels of radio-activity and related radiation levels from all sources; the manner in which experienced and well-trained workers will be performing their tasks in the expected radiation fields; reviet: of all procedures by the Radiation Safety Committee and use of enclosures, controlled atmosphere and filtration systems to control movement of radioactive dust. These items, among others described by the licensee, wil.1 assure that collective exposures will be ALARA, and are acceptable to the staff..
4.4 Unrestricted Use Release Criteria The staff position for release for unrestricted use or unrestricted access is found in Regulatory Guide 1.86, Table I, or may be satisfied by meeting an exposure rate limit of less than SpR/hr above natural background at I meter from any measured surface.
Alternatively, if it can be shown that the maximum radiation exposure to an individual would be less than the staff's recomended annual exposure limit of 10 mR/yr, considering potential occupancy in the vicinity of the radiation, then levels greater than SpR/hr would be acceptable. The licensee has comitted to these criteria.
4-4.5 Health Physics Instrumentation Continuing evaluation of the radiological status of the facility will be carried out by health physics personnel during dismantling and clean-up procedures. Levels of radiation will therefore be known at all times in areas where personnel are working. Portable monitoring equipment will include alpha, beta and gamma survey meters, and gas and particulate airborne radioactivity monitors and samplers. All these monitors are calibrated with sources traceable to NBS.
Staff review indicates that the instruments to be used by the licensee during the dismantling and decontamination operation and the licensee's plan for sample analysis are acceptable for use in a final termination survey to characterize the status of the reactor facility with respect to its unrestricted use.
5.0 CONCLUSION
Based on the foregoing considerations, the staff concludes that the dismantling and decontamination operations can be conducted without undue risk to the health and safety of the public or workers, and without any significant impact on the public or the environment.
Principal Contributors:
H. Bernard J. Minns Dated: October 29, 1986 J
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