Testing of the Y-12 Plant Criticality Accident Alarm System Detectors at the Sandia Pulsed Reactor Facility

Conference · Thu Jan 06 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:10142824

Baker, J. S. ^[1]; Smith, J. A. ^[1]; Berry, D. T. ^[2]

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1. Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant (Y-12), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
2. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

The Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant operates its Criticality Accident Alarm System (CAAS) according to the guidance of Standard ANSI/ANS-8.3-1986. This standard requires that the detector shall not fail to initiate an alarm when subjected to a radiation field of at least 0.1 Gy/s (10 rad/s). It also requires that the system shall be designed to immediately detect the minimum accident of concern and shall produce an alarm within one half second of activation. Sixty-three new detectors that use plastic scintillators have been obtained to upgrade the current Y-12 Plant CAAS. To ensure that these detectors can support the above criteria, testing was done using the SPR III reactor at the Sandia Pulsed Reactor Facility.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant (Y-12), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OS21400; AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 10142824
• Report Number(s): Y/DD--626; CONF-940602--6; ON: DE94010037; BR: GB0103012
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900
42 ENGINEERING
420203
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ALARM SYSTEMS
CRITICALITY
Criticality Accident Alarm System (CAAS)
HANDLING EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PLASTIC SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
REACTOR SAFETY
SAFETY
SPR III Reactor
SPR-3 REACTOR
Y-12 PLANT