Operational experiences with a remote core-boring device

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6992955

Kreider, K A; McGarry, J J

The 1979 accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) dispersed fission products throughout the plant. Radiological surveys taken in the reactor building in 1982 indicated that a substantial portion of that contamination was embedded in the nuclear-grade coatings used to paint structural surfaces. The loss-of-coolant accident resulted in the discharge of highly radioactive water from the reactor coolant system into the reactor building basement (elevation 282 ft, 6 in.). The water in the basement reached a height of approx.8 ft, exposing all submerged surfaces to soluble contaminants. This water remained for approx.18 months until most of it was removed and processed via the submerged demineralizer system. As decontamination efforts progressed it was deemed necessary to obtain wall core samples from the basement to determine the depth of contaminant penetration into the concrete. These data would in turn aid in planning and selecting various decontamination methods for the 282-ft, 6-in, elevation walls. This paper describes the use of a teleoperator to obtain core-bore samples from the walls of the TMI-2 reactor building's 282-ft, 6-in. elevation. The teleoperator extracted core-bores from a hostile environment with general area radiation levels of approx.66 R/h, hot spots of 1130 R/h, and high levels of surface contamination.

• Research Organization: Bectel, Middletown, PA
• OSTI ID: 6992955
• Report Number(s): CONF-861102-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 53
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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