Elk River Reactor Twenty-Third Monthly Operating Report (September 1964)
The reactor was operated 74.3% of the month. September 8 the reactor was brought critical after being shut down for 23 days for the installation of the #3 air conditioning unit and testing of the fuel element storage well liner. On September 8 primary pressure was maintained by nuclear heat during leak checking of the primary system and on September 9 the turbine was transferred from #3 boiler to the nuclear plant. The peak load during the month was 24 Mwe. The nuclear plant operated as a load following unit satisfactorily. There were two 4-rod scrams during the month: One September 18, caused by a superheater trip; and one September 30, caused by a spurious trip on the reactor water low temperature interlock. In both cases the circuits were cleared of the problem and the nuclear plant returned to service in a minimum of time. The off-gas system was operated during the month to check the efficiency of the recombiner. The system was in service during extended periods. Hydrogen and oxygen samples were taken and the data is being evaluated by the contractor. Preparations are being made for the control rod inspection program. Preparations include acquiring the necessary parts, handling equipment, and writing procedures for each step of the inspection. Additional work to be done requires that the reactor head be removed, the steam baffle removed and the fuel moved to the fuel element storage well. The control rod drive mechanisms must be disconnected from the rod, and three drive units completely disassembled. The control rod drive inspection is primarily designed to confirm the integrity of the nine parts in each drive which are fabricated from 17-4 PH material. The control rods will be inspected with a borescope. All areas will be examined with particular attention to the transition joint rivets, spot welds, center angle and outside edges. Control rod specimens and reactor pressure vessel samples will be removed at this outage and metallurgically tested. Additional pressure vessel samples will be installed in the reactor and some of the exist ing samples will be relocated. The fuel element storage well liner was repaired and was filled with water. There were no further indications of leakage throughout the month. The superheater desuperheater controls were calibrated and placed in the automatic mode of operation. The superheater and associated equip ment performance was satisfactory during the month except that the efficiency appears lower than the design by approximately five percent.
- Research Organization:
- Rural Cooperative Power Association, Elk River, MN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP); US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AT(11-1)-651
- NSA Number:
- NSA-19-008629
- OSTI ID:
- 4681233
- Report Number(s):
- COO-651-4
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-65
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
42 ENGINEERING
CONTROL ELEMENTS
CONTROL SYSTEMS
COOLANT LOOPS
CRITICALITY
DETECTION
EFFICIENCY
ERR
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUEL ELEMENTS
GASES
INSPECTION
LEAKS
MAINTENANCE
OPERATION
PERFORMANCE
POWER
POWER PLANTS
PRESSURE
PRESSURE VESSELS
REACTORS
RODS
SHUTDOWN
STANDARDS
STORAGE
SUPERHEATING
TESTING
TURBINES
VESSELS
WASTE DISPOSAL
WATER COOLANT
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Criticality
Coolant Loops
Welding
Operation
Rods
Fuel Elements
Fission Products
Efficiency
Hydrogen
Oxygen
Samples
Transition Joint Rivets
Superheater
Desuperheater
Storage