ML20052A836
| ML20052A836 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000754 |
| Issue date: | 12/12/1977 |
| From: | Burkhardt W NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | Starostecki R NRC |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20052A734 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-81-483 NUDOCS 8204290250 | |
| Download: ML20052A836 (12) | |
Text
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F}A/(J/j Distribution:
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'I Docket File LPDR PDR DEC 121977 JBMartin RWBurkhardt Docket 70-754 JAyer RTKratzke JShafer ASchwencer HE!!0RANDVt1 FOR:
R. W. 'Starostecki JDonohew b chandler.
FROM:
W. Burkhardt JWard, Dpt. of Health Fuel Reprocessing and Recycle Branch HBook, IE, Reg. V WCooley, IE, Reg. V
SUBJECT:
TRIP REPORT - G.E. VALLECITOS tlUCLEAR CEilTER (VliC) NMSS:R/F OCTOBER 25 AND 26, 1977 FCRR:R/F On October 25 and 26, 1977 NRC staff visited VNC site to obtain first-hand information and data relative to ongoing activities associated i
with SilM-960.
These activities include processing and handling radio-active material regulated by the State of California.
W. Burkhardt, H. Book and W. Cooley conducted a visit of licensed facilities other than the General Electric Test Reactor (GETR).
Persons Visited:
R. W. Darmitzel T. Tillinghast E. F. Kurtz W. Sable M. L. Thompson D. Zimerman R. Gebhardt R. Butler L. Hanson Site Visitors:
W. Burkhardt,ilRC, FCRR J.' Ward, Dept. of llealth, A. Schwencer, NRC,ilRR State of California J. Donohew, ilRC,?!RR H. Book,f4RC, IE, Reg. V L. Chandler, NRC, ELD W. Cooley, NRC IE, Reg. V Description of Visit:
On late October 25, 1977 the NRC staff me t with GE Management to explain the purpose of the visit and to establish an agenda for October 26, 1977 discussion and facility inspection.
On October 26 the GE staff initially presented a briefing that discussed the location of various facilities that may have radioactive material.
under existing licenses. Based on this presentation, which also included a description of types, physical form and quantities of material, specific facilities (buildings) were selected to visit.
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7 NRC FORM 318 p 76) NRCM 0240 W v. e. oovsamment eniarine orrecen s ore - ese4a4 8204290 1CJD
R. W. Starostecki For purposes of orientation General Electric plot plans are enclosed.
The facilities selected for inspection by W. Burkhardt were:
Radioactive Materials Building 102, Advanced Nuclear Applications Building 105, Waste Treatment Plant, and the Hillside Storage Area.
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For purposes of comparison with information pres,ented later in this report, the SNM license authorizes GE to possess and use the following quantities of special nuclear materials:
o Uranium-235 1,000 kg.
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o Uranium-233 500 g.
o Plutonium 150 kg.
The by-product quantities authorized by the State of California are listed in Table 1.
I have annotated information provided by GE on the table to show the normal working levels and identified those isotopes no longer processed by GE.
Radioactive Materials Puildina 102 Essentially three types of activities are conducted in this building hot cell operations, analytical laboratories which are located on the first floor, and the advanced fuel process development laboratory located in the basement of the building.
Additionally, there is a small storage pool and dry storage pit with access from the first floor.
I Hot Cell Activities _ - The following part of the trip report i
discusses the type of operations GE has or is conducting in I
the hot cells. When the information was available I have indicated the maximum and normal working inventories as provided by GE. GE stated that it is highly unlikely that all the activities described would be conducted at the same time because of staffing levels and scheduling of activities.
Cell 1 Tis used to encapsulate Co-60, Ir-192, prepare nuclear power. reactor start-up sources (Sb-Be for GE, Am-Be-Cu for B&W).
I Sealed sources of Sb-124 are given non-destructive examination in this cell. A maximum and nonnal working inventory in the cell is:
Co-60,100,000/20,000 Ci; Ir-192, 50,000/10,000 Ci; Sb-124, 20,000/5,000 C1.
Cell 2 - is not used'for by-product material.'
It is dedicated to destructive and non-destructive examination of irradiated i
fuel elements and structural materials.
Fixed contamination in this cell would be primarily actinides.
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s Cell 3 - has a stainless stN1 liner and internal HE.Pf and charcoal filters.
i It.is used for fission product separation of GETR reactor produced Mo-99 and Xe-133. The fuel has been i
exposed to less than 100 kw for 7. days and has approximately a 10 hour1.157407e-4 days <br />0.00278 hours <br />1.653439e-5 weeks <br />3.805e-6 months <br /> cool. The maximum radioactivity inventory;.is estimated by GE to be:
i Noble gases 13,500 Ci Halogen 17,900 l
Particulates 54,000,000 Actinides 72 The normal working inventory would be'about one-half the above.
t With the Gent reactor shut down on dctober ?7, it was estimated that there will be about one week's;more operation in this cell.
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GE advised that a new procedure has-read tion to minimize a I /Xe offgas' problem;y for use and installa-2 further details were not obtained.-
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_ Cell 4 - also has a high integrity stainless steel liner.
The other portion of the cell is used' portion of the cell is used A
source preparation.
for miscellaneous alpha type alpha.
Fixed and loose contamination is primarily Cell 5 - is a small cell dedicated to sample preparation and metalographic examination of irradiated fuels and structural l
components - usually those from Cell 2.
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_ Cell 6 - is used to handle, package and at times, store miscel laneous 8/y emitters (Se, Sr. Sn) present to a maximum 60 Ci and normally 10 Cf.
i Cells 7 & 8 - do not exist.
l Cell 9 - is used to handle and package Beta emitters (C-14. P-132 and Ni-63).
The packaged isotopes are stored in a glovebox located nearby.
Inventory at these locations vary from 1-100 C1.
A_nalytical Laboratories A radiochemical laboratory and a plutonium analytical laboratory are located on the first floor.
are analyzed in the radiochemical laboratory.Only small quantities of iso i
and ceramics are analyzed in the plutonium laboratory. Solutions, powders inventory of 200 g Pu is allowed with a normal working level at A maximum one-half this amount.
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l R. W. Starostecki Storage Pcol and Dry Storage Pit A storage pool and pit are located with access from the first floor.
These receive GETR fuel rods and irradiated Co-60 for storage until they are processed. Additionally, the pcol is used to store encapsu-lated filters containing fission products remaining from the molybdenum processing. All materials are encapsulated.
Co-60 inventory ranges from 200,000 to 1,000,000 C1. The fission product cartridges are stored until shipped for disposal.
Advanced Fuels Laboratory Three types of operations are conducted in the basement area of j
Building 102:
(1) ceramic line - proccssing of powder to ceramic shapes and rod loading.
(2) scrap recovery - dissolution of plutonium / uranium scrap materials to provide metal nitrate solution.
(3) nitrate conversion - conversion of metal nitrate solution to metal oxide powder.
Attached is Table 2 provided by G.E. personnel at my request. This identifies locations, material fom, container type used within the glovebox, the maximum working level of Pu at the location, and the process conducted.
It does not give duty cycle.. Not all operations are being conducted at the same time.
Separately, in a letter dated September 28, 1977, G. E. Cunningham to C. V. Smith, Jr., the fissile limits for criticality control for each glovebox was given.
Advanced Nuclear Applications Building 105 1
Several activities under NRC licenses are identified in this building.
These are:
a vault, a CEF cell vault, clad laboratory and Nuclear l
Test Reactor (NTR). The vault is used for storage of plutonium as l
compounds or in scrap. The current inventory is owned by the Japanese.
In all cases it is encapsulated or sealed in containers.
The CEF vault is used.for storage of GETR reactor unirradiated fuel rods. The cladding laboratory is usod on infrequent occasions for non-destructive inspection of fuel elements.
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Waste Treatment Plant This facility is located in the 300 Area and is used to concentrate and process slightly contaminated water generated An evaporator is resulting distillate is 3x10~pn containing 10-gn site.
used to proc 2ss a feed soluti pc/ml radioactivity.
The uc/ml or less.
It is disposed of through an irrigation sprinkler system. The bottom product is solidifed and shipped offsite for disposition. The predominant source of feed is from the GETR operation.
Co-60 is the predominent isotope.
During regular operation the total radioactivity inventory is considered by G.E. to be
.< 1 C1.
Without GETR operation it is essentially nonexistent.
Hillside Storage Facility The hillside waste storage facility is located approximately midway between the GETR site and 300 area.
It provides interim storage of radioactive wastes prior to their shipment offsite.
Low-level waste, i.e., primarily i
solidified bottoms from the liquid waste treatment plant, are stored in vertical covered holes. A normal total inventory has been about 15 Ci.
I High level waste, i.e., doubly encapsulated fuel pins and structural
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components, are stored in horizontal chambers located in a bunker. The inventory in the bunker is about 850 Ci.
Other Facilities The above described facilities were visually examined.
For completeness, the following describes other facilities which were determined from the l
initial G.E. briefing to have relatively either small quantities, or significantly less hazard radioactive material relatively either small quantities, or significantly less hazardous radioactive material.
Metallurgy and Chemistry Building 103 Specialized analytical equipment is located in this building.
Samples' j
containing plutonium up to a maximum of 300 mg are occasionally i
located in the building until they are analyzed.
(Per telecon E.Kurtz and G.E. Cunningham to W. Burkhardt 11/3/77.)
Cobalt Pit - 103A l
i This facility is designed to store encapsulated Co-60 with a maximum inventory of 40,000 C1.
i Shop Operations - Building 106 This is a site support facility which does not normally have any l
radioactive material. On occasion fuel pir.s are examined for quality control purposes.
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TABLE 1 BYPRODUCT MATERIAL LICENSED BY STATE ISOTOPE LICENSE LIMIT - Ci NORMAL WOR Any radionuclide except source INVENTORY, material, special nuclear 100 Ci per isotope 10 Ea. 8 material and H-3 H-3 11200*
j Activated control rod material cladding, and reactor materials 360,000 36,000 Sb-122 200,000 )
Sb-124
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70,000 3 20,000 Co-60 1,650,000 )
2 Ir-192 150,000 P-32 10,000 300 CE-144 150 110,000*
i Au-198 100,000*
Au-199 100,000*
Ce-141 50,000*
Pm-147 i
2,000*
Am-241 i
200 Cm-242 50 5,000*
Mo-99 10,000 Cr-51 3,000 5,000 S-35 30 200 100 Mixed fission products 1,000,000 Filters only batch in
- No longer processed at VNC process i
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R. W. Starostecki Metallurgy and Chemistry Building 300 This building formerly a support facility for the VBWR operation is now used as a training center. Small radioactive sources are used for demonstration purposes.
Metallurgy Development - Building 400 This building houses the Chemical Process Enoineering Laboratcry which conducts uranium scrap recovery development work. A portion of the building is used to package and store Xe medical ampules prior to shipment.
Irradiated Fuel Storage Facility This is located near the VBWR site and is licensed to hold irradiated fuel elements prior to examination in Building 102.
This facility has no fuel elements in storage at the present and has not for a number of years.
Water Storage Although not a licensed facility it was' noted that it can contain 2.500,000 gal. water and is located at an elevation above the GE complex as noted in the pilot layout.
Site Lake A small lake is located on the site as shown on the plot plan.
It was stated that the lake level was lowered and new and enlarged drainage ditches were constructed in the late 1960's or early 1970 to minimize the possibility of flooding 100 area buildings.
Conclusion Based on this site visit no operation or activity was identified that in my judgment would warrant immediate corrective action.
In all cases the quantities being handled were less than those identified in Tables 1 and 2.
-Cristnalsa r.g u.,
c L Buri.h3rdL W. Burkhardt Fuel Reprocessing and Recycle Branch
Enclosures:
Division of Fuel Cycle Plot pisns
'3r.d :Sterial Safety h
arric JaMe_1 FCRR
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RR aMe2 WBurkhardt:af 1Rkarosteck i 12/07/77 12/[f77 NRC FORM 333 (p.76) NRCM C240 W un s. oov.nmase nd enswn=e' oarse.s i.re-esus2 F
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TABLE 2 NORMAL MAXIMUM INVEllTORY, AFL (Potential Material at Risk)
Box Process Container Form M.
Condition Ceramic Line 37 Equilibration Pan Pu0 2,500* Powder 2
37 Blending Cans or M0 2,500* Powder 2
Blender 37 Hamermill Cans or M0 2,500* Powder 2
Hammermill 38 Prepress and Cans, Press or M0 2,500 Slugs or 2
granulate granulator Coarse Powder Scrap Recovery 50 Prepare for Can M0 1,200 Power or Pellets 2
dissolution 50 Dissolution Dissolver M0 1,200 Solid / Liquid 2
50 Concentration Concentrator MN 1,200 Liquid 50 Product Glass Tank MN 1,200 Liquid Loadout Nitrate Conversion 51 Holding Glass Tank MN 2,400 Liquid 51 Blending Glass Tank MN 2,400 Liquid 51 Holding Can M0 1,200 Powder 2
51 Reduction Reduction M0 1,200 Powder 2
Vessel 51 Storage can M0 1,200 Powder 2
- 0nly one quantity in box at a time.
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