ML20247E693
| ML20247E693 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | University of Virginia |
| Issue date: | 03/23/1989 |
| From: | Mulder R VIRGINIA, UNIV. OF, CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA |
| To: | Murley T Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8904030214 | |
| Download: ML20247E693 (7) | |
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UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA r,A 1 DEPART 3fENT OF NUCLEAR ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING PIIYSICS NUCLEAR REACTOR FACILITY
(
J SCIIOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE CliARLOTTESVII.LE, VA 22901 7
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Telephone: 801-92M136
~ March 23, 1989 Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington D.C.
20555 Attn: Mr. Thomas E. Murley Re:
LEU Fuel Conversion Schedule Proposal for the University of Virginia's 2 MW UVAR reactor, Facility License R-66, th Docket No. 50-62
Dear Sir,
Please find enclosed the Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) Fuel Conversion Schedule Proposal for the University of Virginia's 2 MW UVAR research reactor, submitted to the NRC to meet the requirements of 10 CFR 50.64 (c) (2),
and implement the HEU-LEU conversion rule.
DOE funded the first year of a conversion study for the 100 W CAVALIER reactor (the low-power version of the UVAR), beginning in September, 1986 (Grant No. DE-FG05-86 ER 75273).
However, the licensee decided to forego conversion of the CAVALIER reactor on February 27, 1987 and consequently submitted a dismantlement plan for the CAVALIER reactor to the NRC.
This plan was not acceptable to the NRC, therefore Virginia will next submit a decommissioning plan.
The licensee applied the remaining grant funding for the CAVALIER reactor to the conversion study for the UVAR, with DOE agreement.
The second and third years of the conversion study for the 4
UVAR have been funded under Grant No. DE-FG05-88 ER 75388.
i The present DOE schedule for availability of LEU fuel elements for the UVAR reactor is January 1990. The tentative U.
Virginia conversion schedule provided in this plan could be affected if this date slips. The licensee's j
schedule is also dependent on the date of NRC's order to convert and the HEU spent fuel shipment dates.
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U.Va. Nuclear Reactor Facility cc: Mr. Al Adams, NRC Project Manager for U.Va., Wash.
D.C.
Regional Administrator, USNRC Region II, Atlanta, Georgia Mr. Paul E.
Fredrickson, Div. Reactor Proj., Atlanta, Ga.
kpo Mr. Keith Brown, Div. University Programs, DOE 1
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PROPOSAL FOR CONVERSION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA NON-POWER 2 MWth UVAR RESEARCH REACTOR FROM HEU TO LEU FUEL Submitted to:
Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington D.C.
20555 Attn: Mr. Thomas E. Murley Submitted by:
Robert U. Mulder Director U. Va. Reactor Facility Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics University of Virginia 22901 l
March 1989 i
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1 UVAR LEU CONVERSION SCHEDULE Milestones Dates
- Availability of DOE conversion funds September 86 Notification of UVAR LEU core availability January 90 Submittal to the NRC of a SAR by Virginia July 89 Receipt of NRC's " Order to Convert" A
January 90 ?
Completion of shipping plans and scheduling A
Completion of all HEU fuel shipments from site A+1 February 90?
Expected UVAR reactor downtime
< 1 mo.
Receipt of LEU fuel for a complete UVAR core A+1 February 90?
Loading of LEU fuel in UVAR core A+2 Completion of initial LEU fuel operating A+3 parameter tests March 90?
Report to NRC containing summary of new UVAR reactor operational conditions, comparisons with SAR predictions, A+12 and license / tech spec conditions December 90?
A Date of NRC order to convert, expected at beginning of 90
=
If the milestones indicated in this schedule can't be met, despite best efforts, the conversion of the UVAR will be delayed accordingly.
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2 CONVERSION IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS A.
Application by Virginia for NRC Authorization to Convert According to the schedule presented in this updated conversion plan, the University of Virginia Reactor Facility intends to submit to the NRC a Safety Analysis Report (SAR) for the conversion of the UVAR to Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) 22 Plate Fuel Elements in July of 1989.
The majority of the calculations have been performed, the inputs and results are receiving final scrutiny and the drafting of the revised SAR is currently in progress.
The July date for sending the SAR to the NRC appears reasonable.
It must be pointed out that the schedule dates indicated can not be made firm, for many reasons.
One reason is that Virginia is opting to increase the number of fuel plates in its elements from 18 curved to 22 flat, which requires NRC concurrence.
The conversion study neutronics and thermo-hydraulic calculations have shown that this change, initially proposed by the RERTR personnel at ANL, will not carry safety penalties.
Moreover, the calculations predict that this slight change in fuel element design will be beneficial from an economical standpoint, providing for longer-lived and smaller cores.
Thus, UVAR performance should be enhanced and also lead to more efficient operations with less frequent core pattern changes.
EG&G/ Idaho has been developing the new fuel element specifications and plan drawings.
Based on these specifications, dummy fuel elements of each type are still to be built by B&W for trial fitting into the UVAR grid plate, prior to the contracting for the fabrication of fuel elements by B&W.
To date, Virginia has not received the drawings from EG&G/ Idaho for review and approval.
However, a full LEU core for the UVAR has been tentatively promised for January of 1990.
Virginia wishes to ship all its HEU fuel from the Reactor Facility just prior to receiving the new LEU fuel.
So that fuel may be shipped in January of 1989, notifications and preparations have begun.
Experience has shown that it is not always possible to guarantee spent-fuel shipment dates, which depend on cask availability and concurrence from the shipper and NRC.
DOE is expected to provide the funding for spent fuel shipments in separate from the funding provided for the conversion study.
Virginia wishes to receive NRC's order to convert uhortly before or after the scheduled date of its spent HEU fuel shipments.
The NRC has not indicated the time needed for its study and evaluation j
of the licensee's conversion documentation.
However, not more than several months is expected.
As previously stated, the present I
schedule may be subject to change, despite best efforts by all
{
parties concerned.
A revised schedule will be sent to the NRC at yearly intervals, as required by the federal regulations.
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B.
Description and Analysis of Safety Factors The licensee will include in its conversion documentation sent to the NRC a description of those reactor safety factors significantly affected by the change from HEU to LEU fuel. These considerations are the subject of the conversion study being financed by DOE.. The results obtained to date indicate that significant safety effects will not be associated with the fuel i
conversion.
Necessary facility changes will also be described in the documentation.
The licensee will seek DOE concurrence with the increase in the number of fuel plates in the Virginia fuel elements, from 18 to 22.
This change will result in a more useful UVAR core, without significantly affecting safety margins.
The benefits would be smaller and longer running coros, requiring fewer fuel changes and shipments.
C.
Necessary Changes in Reactor License, Tech. Specs. and Plans Based on the results of the conversion study carried out by the licensee, proposed necessary changes in the facility license and the technical specifications will be indicated to the NRC at the moment of the conversion request.
Changes to other facility documents made necessary by the fuel conversion will also be described. The documents to be reviewed include the Physical Security Plan and the Emergency Plan.
Reactor operators will be active in the various aspects of the conversion study and document reviews.
They will also participate in the loading of the new core and development and performance of the initial tests.
It is expected that the SOP's will not suffer changes, since the information presently available indicates imperceptible variance in operating performance and characteristics between the two fuel types.
Changes in procedures will be reviewed during regularly scheduled staff meetings and requalification meetings, as currently done.
4 D.
Quantity of HEU to be Shipped Off-site The Reactor Facility presently maintains a total of 42 curved plate HEU elements.
Thirty-six flat plate HEU elements, which were only used in the UVAR, were shipped off-site in September and October of 1987.
These shipments were considered an initial step of the conversion process.
The curved plate elements and extra individual plates contain 6468.2 gm of U-235.
The license limits are 3.6 kg U-235 for the CAVALIER and 14.0 Kg U-235 for the UVAR.
Of the 42 curved plate elements, 16 elements were in the CAVALIER reactor (" irradiated fuel") and stored in the Facility's fuel storage room.
The CAVALIER core was unloaded in 1988, in preparation for its eventual decommissioning.
The lightly irradiated CAVALIER elements will be maintained in dry storage by the Facility for possible use in the UVAR reactor.
The UVAR license limit for U-235 will not be exceeded if CAVALIER HEU fuel is transferred to the UVAR license.
A delay in the conversion schedule might result in CAVALIER fuel being needed for the UVAR.
Since the CAVALIER was unloaded, 3 elements have been transferred to and used in the UVAR.
It is noted that the HEU fuel elements for the CAVALIER and UVAR are identical.
The other 25 curved plate < elements are in the UVAR core.
At the present time there a.re 4 elements in the UVAR pool's spent fuel racks.
No spare fresh HEU fuel is kept in fuel storage and there is no Virginia fuel held by B&W.
The licensee expects to continue UVAR reactor operation with the HEU curved plate fuel until the LEU fuel becomes available and arrangements for the complete removal of the HEU are finalized.
E.
Interim Period for Possession of both LEU and HEU Although the management of the University of Virginia Reactor Facility does not wish to simultaneously possess both LEU and HEU fuel during an interim period, and believes that with the proper coordination of the spent and fresh fuel shipments such a period is not needed, flexibility in this regard may be advisable.
Since it appears that Virginia has little control over this aspect of the conversion, Virginia will accept reasonable proposals from the DOE and the NRC on this issue.
F.
Compliance with Physical Security Regulations All of the UVAR fuel is in-core and consequently is "self-protecting".
Therefore, no further methods, beyond those already in the Facility's NRC approved security plan, need to be proposed to maintain compliance with the relevant regulations, in particular those contained in 10 CFR 73.
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5 G.
Operator Requalification for Converted Reactor L
It is anticipated that the operating characteristics of the converted UVAR reactor will not differ significantly from that of the present reactor.
Therefore, the SOP's may not change at all, and if they change, the change will not be appreciable. The operators will be made aware of any changes to SOP's during scheduled reactor operator requalification meetings, and receive training as warranted.
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H.
Certification of Federal Government Funding Federal Government funding for the conversion study of the UVAR reactor has been secured from DOE by the University of Virginia.
In addition, DOE has paid for four HEU spent-fuel shipments made in September and October of 1987.
We have been in direct contact with EG&G regarding fuel plate and fuel element specifications and have been told that B&W has initiated manufacture of the standard LEU fuel plate.
Conversion of the UVAR appears well on track.
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