ML14087A010

Operations Report for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Reactor Critical Facility

ML14087A010
Person / Time
Site:	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Issue date:	03/14/2014
From:	Caracappa P F Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
RCF 14-01
Download: ML14087A010 (4)

Text

TDEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AEROSPACE, AND NUCLEAR ENGINEERING RCF 14-01 March 14, 2014 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555 Re: Operations Report for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Reactor Critical Facility, NRC License CX-22, Docket Number 50-225.To Whom It May Concern: This document constitutes the calendar year 2013 (CY2013) Operation Report of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Reactor Critical Facility (RCF) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the RPI management.

The RCF operated successfully during CY20 13. The RCF was used for one laboratory course and supported an introductory course in the Nuclear Engineering curriculum.

Also facility tours were provided to officer candidates from the West Point Military academy, operators in training at the Fitzgerald nuclear power plant and members of the local American Nuclear Society. The work during the year essentially supported the laboratory course and training of students.Work proceeded on critical experiments with the 0.640" pitch lattice plates. Critical meastii&hie'ts were performed with:.tta 32e6pincohfigfration",'ith'zrrS4 ieflectbt-s installed on twvo of the uie odded.external.

faces of the fuel array.': Sore ~subcritical eepifmei.

wdx@,e also conduicted The: SPERT.. (F 1) fuel;. used is 4 81 -w/o .enriched high densityUO 2 pellet fuel clad in.stainless steel; so it is similar to power plant reactor fuel. These expenirnents have been designed to be similar.to power reactor startup measurements.'

The 2013 NRC annual'inspe'ction was rescheduled to January,2014 and has been reported in separate correspondence-

'Training and proficiency requirements for all licensed operators have been reviewed and are current. Total staffing on December 31, 2013 is five licensed Senior Reactor Operators with one individual scheduled for a licensing examination in January 2014 concurrent with the NRC annual inspection.

The Technical Specifications, App. A to the USNRC License CX-22 requires reporting the following operational items: 1. Changes to the facility design: None.2. Significant Maintenance, repairs, or other work performed on RCF systems: New wiring for the reactor neutron detectors was installed, and will be. connected to the detectors as time permits. Two new lineiir picoariimeters were procured and one has been installed.

A new air compressor and filter-pump were installed.

One videographic recorder was replaced with anew-unit.....;" ." 'C. " 3. Changes inoperating procedures whicl relate tO the-safety 6fRCF operations:

N6ie .4. Surveillance checks, tests, andtcalibratfins Werecbnductedandlogged asrqfed...

15. Changes,.

tests, or experiments.

requiring-authorizat.

n-.froni the USNRC under 1OCFR5.0.59 (a) or.(b.): None.:.R6nsselaer PoI/t hclnic h{ititu{ '-110 8th Street I Troy, NYI12180-3590 USA 00

6. Staff Changes during CY 2013: The Operations Supervisor, Dr. Jason Thompson was replaced in February with Mr. Glenn Winters. Dr. Thompson remains on the RCF operations staff. The Facility Director, Dr. Sastry Sreepada was replaced with Dr. Peter Caracappa as of January 1, 2014. At that time, Ms. Annette Chism, Director of Environmental Health and Safety, took over supervision of Health Physics until a new Radiation Safety Officer, Mr. Anthony DeAngelo, was hired in February 2014.7. Changes to Nuclear Safety Review Board during 2013: Dr Joseph Chow was appointed Administrative Dean of Engineering and replaced Dr. David V. Rosowsky on the NSRB.7. Attachment 1 shows the current members of NSRB as of January 1, 2014.8. Calculated Thermal Power: Approximately 0.03 kwhr for all CY2013, far less than the 2 kwhr/yr limitation in the Technical Specifications.

The April -June quarter recorded the highest usage at 0.024 kwhr.9. Maintenance operations were carried out and logged with satisfactory results.10. No discharges occurred in CY 2013 11. Environnmental monitor dosimetry is performed at the exclusion area fence (EMI through EM4), and at the site boundary fence (EM5 and EM6). The environmental monitoring results are reported without background subtraction, and the accumulated dose to an off-site control monitor is reported separately.

The sum of the quarterly control readings from 2013 was 118 mrem. The suns of the gross readings and net dose results for 2013 are: Gross Net EMI: 114 mrem 0 mrem EM2: 114 mrem 0 mrem EM3: 116 mrem 0 mrem EM4: 103 mrem 0 mrem EM5: 114 mrem 0 mrem EM6: 115 mrem 0 mrem 12. No quarterly personnel monitoring badges reported an accumulated dose above the minimum detectable dose of 10 mrem per quarter during 2013.Sincerely, Dr. Peter Caracappa, Director RPI Reactor Critical Facility 2 Cc: Dr. Joseph Chow Administrative Dean of Engineering Dr. Peter Caracappa RCF Facility Director Mr. Anthony DeAngelo Radiation Safety Officer Dr. Suvranu De, Head, Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering Department Mr. Glenn Winters, RCF Operations Supervisor Dr. Yaron Danon Chairman, NSRB and Head, Nuclear Engineering Program Ms. Annette Chism, Director Environmental Health and Safety 3

Attachment:

1 Members of NSRB as of January 1, 2014: I. Dr. Yaron Danon, Head NSRB 2. Dr. Peter Caracappa, RCF Facility Director 3. Dr. Mark Embrechts 4. Dr. Tarek Abdoun ( Associate Dean for Research)5. Ms. Annette Chism, Director Environmental Health and Safety and Radiation Safety Officer 6. Sergeant.

Marcie DelVechhio (Public Safety)7. Dr. Wei Ji 8. Dr. Bimal Malaviya 9. Dr. George Xu 10. Dr. Mike Podowski 11. Mr. Glenn Winters, RCF Operations Supervisor

12. Ms. Leslie Norton (Public Safety)13. Dr. Timothy Trumbull (RCF)4