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 14-01March 14, 2014U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATTN: Document Control DeskWashington, DC 20555Re: Operations Report for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Reactor Critical

Facility, NRCLicense 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 courseand supported an introductory course in the Nuclear Engineering curriculum.

Also facility tourswere provided to officer candidates from the West Point Military

academy, operators in trainingat the Fitzgerald nuclear power plant and members of the local American Nuclear Society.

Thework during the year essentially supported the laboratory course and training of students.

Work proceeded on critical experiments with the 0.640" pitch lattice plates. Criticalmeastii&hie'ts were performed with:.tta 32e6pincohfigfration",'ith'zrrS4 ieflectbt-s installed ontwvo of the uie odded.external.

faces of the fuel array.':

Sore ~subcritical eepifmei.

wdx@,e alsoconduicted The: SPERT.. (F 1) fuel;. used is 4 81 -w/o .enriched high densityUO 2pellet 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 inseparate correspondence-

'Training and proficiency requirements for all licensed operators have been reviewed and arecurrent.

Total staffing on December 31, 2013 is five licensed Senior Reactor Operators with oneindividual scheduled for a licensing examination in January 2014 concurrent with the NRCannual inspection.

The Technical Specifications, App. A to the USNRC License CX-22 requires reporting thefollowing 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 thedetectors as time permits.

Two new lineiir picoariimeters were procured and one has beeninstalled.

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 under1OCFR5.0.59 (a) or.(b.):

None.:.R6nsselaer PoI/t hclnic h{ititu{

'-110 8th Street I Troy, NYI12180-3590 USA00

6. Staff Changes during CY 2013: The Operations Supervisor, Dr. Jason Thompson wasreplaced in February with Mr. Glenn Winters.

Dr. Thompson remains on the RCFoperations staff. The Facility

Director, Dr. Sastry Sreepada was replaced with Dr. PeterCaracappa as of January 1, 2014. At that time, Ms. Annette Chism, Director ofEnvironmental Health and Safety, took over supervision of Health Physics until a newRadiation 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 theTechnical Specifications.

The April -June quarter recorded the highest usage at 0.024kwhr.9. Maintenance operations were carried out and logged with satisfactory results.10. No discharges occurred in CY 201311. Environnmental monitor dosimetry is performed at the exclusion area fence (EMI throughEM4), 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 from2013 was 118 mrem. The suns of the gross readings and net dose results for 2013 are:Gross NetEMI: 114 mrem 0 mremEM2: 114 mrem 0 mremEM3: 116 mrem 0 mremEM4: 103 mrem 0 mremEM5: 114 mrem 0 mremEM6: 115 mrem 0 mrem12. No quarterly personnel monitoring badges reported an accumulated dose above the minimumdetectable dose of 10 mrem per quarter during 2013.Sincerely, Dr. Peter Caracappa, DirectorRPI Reactor Critical Facility2 Cc:Dr. Joseph ChowAdministrative Dean ofEngineering Dr. Peter Caracappa RCF Facility DirectorMr. Anthony DeAngeloRadiation Safety OfficerDr. Suvranu De, Head,Mechanical, Aerospace, andNuclear Engineering Department Mr. Glenn Winters, RCFOperations Supervisor Dr. Yaron DanonChairman, NSRB and Head,Nuclear Engineering ProgramMs. Annette Chism, DirectorEnvironmental Health andSafety3

Attachment:

1Members of NSRB as of January 1, 2014:I. Dr. Yaron Danon, Head NSRB2. Dr. Peter Caracappa, RCF Facility Director3. Dr. Mark Embrechts

4. Dr. Tarek Abdoun ( Associate Dean for Research)

5. Ms. Annette Chism, Director Environmental Health and Safety and Radiation SafetyOfficer6. Sergeant.

Marcie DelVechhio (Public Safety)7. Dr. Wei Ji8. Dr. Bimal Malaviya9. Dr. George Xu10. Dr. Mike Podowski11. Mr. Glenn Winters, RCF Operations Supervisor

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