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ORNL-TM-3524.txt
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CBECEWED BY TIE g7 ggmyy S
o
iyw_
,;,_-;;-OAK Rl_DGE' NATIONAL LABORATORY
. operated by [
- umon CARBIDE conpoamon . NUCLEAR mwsuon Bt
| for the, k e T
u s ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
| ORNI. m 3524
OPERAT!ON OF THE SAMPLER-ENRICHER
. INTHE
MOLTEN SALT REACTOR EXPERIMENT o
el Hfl"‘:['fins documen! “contains lnformuhon of a prehmmury nurure__
" and was pfepured primarily for intemal use ot the Oak Ridge National ="
Loboratory. It is-subject to revmon ‘or correcnon ond therefore does' :
- not represem o f:nal ‘teport.” : : _
BISTRIBUTION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS UNLUATED
[E——
g S BRI 100, 4 R e £ e e A
‘? Lh g
This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United
States Government. Neither the United States nor the United States Atomic
Energy Commission, nor sny of their employees, nor any of their contractors,
subcontractors, or their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or
assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or
usefulness of any information, apparatus, product or process disclosed, or
represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights,
&)
“gh
13
)
'
ORNL-TM-3524
Contract No. W-7405-eng-26
Reactor Division
OPERATION OF THE SAMPLER-ENRICHER
| in the
MOLTEN SALT REACTOR EXPERIMENT
"R. B. Gallaher
{ This :eport was prepared as an account of work:
-{ sponsored by the United States Government, Neither
.| the United States nor the United States Atomic Energy
‘| Commission, nor any of their employees, nor any of
their contractors, subcontractors, or their employees,
makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any
legal Tiability . or responsibility for the accuracy, com- | .
pleteness or usefulness of any information, apparatus, |
product or process disclosed, or represents that its use
would not infringe privately owned rights, :
~ OCTOBER 1971
OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY
Oak Ridge, Tennessee
- operated by
'UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION : )
for the .
U.S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION
PISTRIBUTION OF THIS DOCUNEKT IS uau&a% |
=
——— . L
)
Az
Abstract . . . « . . .
Introduction . . . . .
Design Criteria . . . .
Description . . . . . .
Equipment . .-. .
Capsules e e & ob
Instrumentation . -
Operating Procedures .
| Sampling . . . .
Enriching . . . .
‘Operating Experience .
Sample Capsules .
Manipulator R P -." . ..‘- . o . .
*
-
.
iii
Contents
Operational and Maintenance Valves
Access Port . . .
Removal Valve. . . . .
Removal Seal . . .
Lighting and Viewing .
Vacuum Pumps . . .
. Electric Penetrations and Wiring
Instrumentation, ..
SUMMAry . 4 . o4 . . s
»
*
"References. + + o o s o o o o o 0 0 .
&
\oooc\wwml-l—-m
Ww W W W W W W WD DN 2
~N Yy W W W = Y oYy WY
AP
C
o
0"
n
c
Operation of the Sampler-Enricher
~ 1in the
Molten Salt Reactor Experiment
R. B. Gallaher
Abstract
The sampler-enricher for the Molten-Salt Reactor experi-
ment was designed to remove 10-g samples and to add 90-g in-
crements of uranium to the pump bowl. During the five-year
service life the equipment was used to isolate 593 samples
and. to make 152 fuel additions. It was still operable when
the reactor was shut down. The major maintenance jobs in-
volved the manipulator boots and the capsule drive unit, -
. The boots were changed 17 times. The drive unit was replaced
once and repaired four other times. There were some minor re-
"pairs. No excessive release of gaseous or particulate matter
occurred during operation or maintenance of the equipment.
Keywords: MSRE, fluid-fueled reactors, fused salts,
- fuels, sampling, loading, refueling, on-line, equipment,
instrumentation, remote maintenance, containment, closures,
manipulator.
Introduction
' The Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment was conducted to demonstrate the
engineering and technical feasibility'of high-temperature, cireulating
-~ fuel reactors. The*expetimentiserved,as a test of (1) the compatibility
of the fluoride salt withfthe stfnctural material and the'graphite mod-
erator and (2) the stability of the salt during extended operation in a
high-radiation field, Results were inferred in part from analysis of
samples of the circulating salt obtained while the reactor was operating
at power,
“The method selected for sampling was to lower a small capsule into
"the salt reservoir in the fuel-pump bowl., Two streams of fuel salt,
. having a combinedrflow_rate;of,about 65 gpm;'flowed from the circulating
loop through this-region;":Saltivolume in this‘reSérvoir, which served
as the expansion volume for the fuel loop, was about 30 gallons. Thus, a
sample from this region should be representative of the salt in the main
circulating stream. The sample was removed from the reactor and sent to
a high-radiation level analytical laboratory for chemical and isotopic
analysis.
Since the sampling system provided a ready access to the fuel stream,
it was also used to add uranium to replace the material that was consumed
by fissioning and to overcome the decrease in reactivity resulting from
the buildup of fission-product poisons in the system. Poison material’
also could be added, if needed, for reactivity control, using the equip-
ment even in the event of a complete loss of electric power.
| Removing samples of highly radioactive salt from the: circulating
stream of an operating reactor_presenced some difficult design problems.
Operators had to be protected from excessive exposure to radiaticn and
from gaseofis fission products, The sample and the reactor System'had to
be protected at all times from contsminscion by air and water. This re-
port presents a brief description of the?mechanical design and operating
procedures and a discussion of the majorgmaintenance problems encountered
for each of the various components duriné the fivc years thac.the sampler-
enricher was operated.
Design Criteria
The following criteria were used ingdesigning the sampler-enricher.?
1. Failure of any one component must not result in a massive leak
of radioactivity to the atmosphere, Two barriers were required between
any source of radioactivity greater than 1000 curies and the atmosphere.
2. An inert atmosphere was required at all times in the sampling
.equipment and around the sample until it was delivered to the analytical
laboratory. '
3. The release of contamination to the atmosphere, both gaseous
and particulate matter, must be less than the limits imposed by laboratory
radiation safety standards. .
4. The equipment must be capable of isolating three samples per
day (one per shift).
5. Anticipated operating life was one year or about 1,000 sampling
cycles.
L)
H
4
C
6, The design pressure was 50 psig for primary containment areas
and 40 psig for secondary containment areas. Design temperature was 100°F,
7. Replacement of each individual component must be possible, if
.replacement were desired or needed.
8. Each enriching capsnle must add about 90 g of ?®?U to the sys-
tem, the amount needed for about one week of full power operation.
' 'Description
Equipment
The MSRE Design and Operations Report® covers the design specifi-
cations for the sampler-enricher system and describes each component in
detail. How the various.compOnents fulfilled the containment and the me-
chanical requirements for'sampling and for adding enriching salt to the
reactor is discussed in the following paragraphs.
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of thevsampler—enriCher. Note that
both primary and secondary containment barriers of the reactor had to be
penetrated to reach 1nto the fuel salt from the operating area. In order
to assure that there were always at least two barriers between the fuel
system and atmosphere and between the sample and atmosphere, the equip-
ment was compartmentalized; Adjacent compartments or areas were sepa-
rated by buffered, double-sealed barriers. The pressure of the buffer
-gas was used to define when a barrier was closed.
For ease of identification, containment areas were'classified as
follows. Portions that were part of, or opened directly to, the primary
system were designed as 1A lB and 1C. Secondary containment areas,
~such as the valve box, ‘were designated as 2A and 2B The outer compart-
-ment which was secondary containment during certain phases of the operating
. procedure was designated as 3A
The system consisted of a transfer tube which connected the two-
_compartment dry box (see Fig 1) to the gas space ‘of the pump bowl. The
capsule, which was connected to the drive unit cable by a special latch,
was lowered through the transfer ‘tube into a guide cage beneath the salt
surface in the pump bowl. It was then pulled up through the tube and two
&~
CAPSULE DRIVE UNIT—
LATCH-_|
ACCESS PORT~—
AREA {C
(PRIMARY CONTAINMENT) —
1
SAMPLE CAPSULE
DR
B
OPERATIONAL AND
MAINTENANCE VALVES 4 |
' B
SPRING CLAMP
DISCONNECT —
f —EXPANSION SECTION
TRANSFER TUBE
{PRIMARY CONTAINMENT
LATCH STOP
PUMP
i
— 7 MIST SHIELD
=t CAPSULE GUIDE
Ii
Fig. 1. Sampler-Enricher Schematic.
ORNL-DWG €3-5848R
REMOVAL VALVE AND
SHAFT SEAL
PERISCOPE
LIGHT
CASTLE JOINT (SHIELDED
WITH DEPLETED URANIUM)
MANIPULATOR .
AREA 3A {SECONDARY
CONTAINMENT )
SAMPLE TRANSPORT
CONTAINER
LEAD SHIELDING
AREA 2B (SECONDARY
CONTAINMENT)
852" ELEVATION
S
Ry
CRITICAL CLOSURES
REQUIRING A BUFFERED
SEAL _
1
a
&
Y
gate valves into the inner compartment (1C) of the shielded dry box.
Using a simple one-handed manipulator,and a periscope, the capsule was
disconnected from the latch and moved throngh an access port to a trans-
port -container located in the outer compartment (3A). After purging the
dry box, a removal tool was inserted through a ball valve and the trans-
port container was pulled up.into.a lead-shielded transfer cask. The
transfer cask was placed in a sealed_container-boited to the frame of a
truck and was moved to the high-radiation level analytical chemistry fa-
-cility located in the X-10 area of ORNL,
There were three barriers in the sampler-enricher. A system of
interlocks permitted only one to be opened at a time, The barriers were
(l) the operational valve and the maintenance valve which separated 1C
from the pump bowl (1A); (2) the access port which separated 1C from 3A;
~and (3) the removal valve which provided access to 3A from the operating
area.
At the time the capsule'was in the transport cask at the sampler
awaiting shipment to the analytical laboratory, the two barriers for the
B sample wererthe sealed'transport container and the high-bay area of the ;
building which was classified as a containment area. The truck used to
deliver the sample was brought into the building through an.air lock.
The transport container and the sealed container on the truck provided
the required. doublercontainnent.when the sample left.the reactor building.
An exhaust hood, connected to the building ventilation system, was
located above the sampler-enricher next to the transport cask to provide
controlled venting of any gaseous activity that might escape from the dry
box as the sample was being withdrawn. Also, the top of the sampler
shield was classified as a contaminated zone, "C Zone,“ to prevent spread-
._ing any particulate matter that might be released during samp11ng to other
1ocations. _
A vacuum pump connected to 1C and 3A was used to remove gaseous fis-
Sion products and atmospheric contamination from the dry,box. The pump
discharge was connected to the auxiliary charcoal bed. _AreaS'where lit-
tle or no radioactive. gases were anticipated were connected to another
vacuum pump for purging atmospheric contamination. These areas were
(1) the volume between the two manipulator boots, (2) the cover over the
operator end of the manipulator arm, and (3) the volume between the re-
moval valve and the removal seal.
Capsules
Ten-Gram Sample Capsule — About 10 grams of salt was required for
routine chemical analysis. A copper capsule used to isolate this size of
sample is shown in Fig. 2._»The capsule was 3/4 in., in diameter by 1.6 in.
long with.hemispherical top and bottom. Salt entered through two windows
whose location determined the quantity that was trapped. The solid metal
top provided sufficiefit“weight—to assure that the capsule would be sub-
merged in the salt. A key'was attached to the top of the capsule by a
loop of 1/32-in.-diam stranded-steel rope, which provided the flexibility
necéssary for the sample assembly to pass through the two 15-in.-radius
bends in the transfer tube. The key locked the assembly to the latch on
the drive unit cable.
Before use copper capsules were hydrogen fired at 1200°F for two
hours to remove surface contaminants and the oxide film, since oxide |
interfered with the uranium analysis. After firing, the capsules were
stored and assembled in an inert atmosphere.
Enriching Capsules — Figure 2 also shows an enrichifig capsule assem-
bly. The capsule was fabricated from 3/4=in. by 0.035~in.-wall nickell
tubing. .The béttom was spun shut on a 3/8-in. radius. A solid top was
welded in place. The capsule was 6-3/8 in. long and contained about
120 g of enriéhing salt (90 g of 2°°U). The holes, shown in the photo-
grapfi, were drilled after the capsule was filled and just prior to use.
Only the interior of the capsules was cleaned by hydrogen firihg{befdre
the salt was 1oadéd. The exférior was cleaned of dirt and gréase just |
before use.
Miscellaneous Capsule Types — During the 0pe:atinglife of the reac-
tor, the sampler-enricher was used for many other purposes besides taking
10-gram samples and adding enriching salt. In all cases, except one, the
dimensions of capsules for spe¢1a1 tests were equal to or less than those
of the enriching capsules. The one exception was used prior to power
—
-
PHO 871hk
operation and could be handled with very little shielding. Maximum cap-
sule dimensions were limited by the inside dimensions of the transfer con-
tainer and by the radius of curvature of the transfer tube. Special de-
signs included capsules for exposing graphite to the salt and to the gas
in the pump bowl, dlssolv1ng various types of metal in the salt, trapplng
gas samples, taking 25 and 50 g salt samples, measuring salt surface ten-
sion, etc.
. Instrumentation
A complete descrlptlon of and specifications for the instrumentation
for the sampler-enrlcher is given in the MSRE Design and Operations Re-
port. »3
A brief discu531on_is given below for a few major components.
The gas pressure in the buffer zones between the two sealing sur-
faces of the barrier that separated the various compartments was used as
the indication that a barrier was sufficiently tight to provide contain-
ment. This gas pressure was monitored by a transducer located in the gas.
supply line as near the buffer zone as geometric restraints would permit.
The signal from the transducer wés used in the interlock circuit and was
monitored by a recorder. When a barfier.was open, the flow of gas from
the buffer zone resulted in a pressure drop across a flow restriction lo-
cated in therline upstream of the transducer resulting in a low buffer
pressure. The pressure drop was about 0.8 psi per cc/min of gas flow.
When a barrier was closed and sealed, the pressure was essentially the
same as the buffer gas supply or 40 psig. Before a barrier could be
opened the buffer gas in each of the other two barriers had to be at
least a specified minimum pressure, thus assuring that the leak rate from
the buffer zone through the seals was less than a predetermined amount,
The drive unit cable was driven by a gear so that one revolution of
the drive unit shaft produced a positive 8-in. movement of the cable.
Two torque transmitters connected mechanically to the shaft of the drive
unit and electricaliy to matching torque transmitters on a position indi-
cator mounted on the control board monitored the amount of cable that was
extended into the transfer tube. One pair of transmitters was calibrated
»
@
”
»n
to indicate the number of feet and the other pair to indicate the number
of inches of cable that had been inserted.' One revolution of the inch
indicator hand was equal to a movement of one foot of cable. B
Two sets of radiation detectors were installed,_EOne”set on the ex-
haust iine from 1C and 3A monitored the radiation level in the gas being
exhausted from these areas. They were also used to follow the effect of
purging the area with.clean gas. The other set was used to detect a re-
lease of gaseous activity to the'building ventilation system or back dif-
fusion of activity'through,the-buffer'gas lines-from the sampler toward
the panel board. In case of a high-actiwity indication, these detectors
caused several solenoid valves to close, blocking all lines that might
contain contaminated gas."
All penetrations into 3A and IC vere ‘either seal-welded or were
double-sealed with a leak-detector line attached between the seals. The
leak-detector system pressure'was"maintained above the equipment maximum
pressure so that any leakagerwould be_fron the buffer zone, thus guarding
against the release of activity to the operating’area androf'the dif-
fusion of oxygen and water into ‘the dry box.
‘Figure 3 shows part of the instrument cabinet and the dry box prior
to the installation of the shielding.
' Operating Procedures
'Ewery.engineer and"technician on the operating crew.at'the reactor
was trained in the use of the samplerwenricher. ‘A special sampling crew
was not used. Check 1ists were provided the operators, giving in detail
dall actions necessary for each step. Except for checking ‘the initial con-
dition of the equipment and for placing the unit on standby, which re-
quired only one man, a two-man crew was used One operated ‘the equipment
while the other read. the check 1ist and observed that the proper action
was taken. The timeweach,step was taken_was_recorded on the check list
along with the operator's,initials and.any pertinent comments on the
operation. Duringrthe-withdfawal of the sample from 3A, three operators
and an HP man were required. The third operator used damp cloths to
PHOTO 69L0%
10
ding.
icher Before Installation of Shiel
Sampler-Enr
3.
Fig.
i’
e
»
&
¥
c
11
clean the surface of the removal tool as it was being withdrawn. - A
sampling sequence is outlined in the following discussion.
" Sampling
A-capsule assemhly was:aSSembled in a glove'hox and.put in the trans-
port container. The transport container was lowered through the removal
seal and removal valve onto the fixture 1ocated on the floor of 3A that
held the bottom section in place. The top of the transport container was
disengaged from the bottom and withdrawn so that the removal valve could
be closed, o | ' _ :
Next, the access port was opened-so that the capsule could be attached
to the latch on the drive unit cable. The manipulator was used for lifting
the capsule from the bottom of the transport container and for inserting
-the key into the latch. The access port was then closed 1C was evacu-
ated to remove air that might have been introduced with the capsule.
After the pressure of 1C was adjusted with helium to match that of the
pump bowl, the operational and maintenance valves were opened and the cap-
-sule was lowered 17 ft 5 in. to reach the pump bowl level. The capsule
remained in the salt for one minute to allow it to heat and £i11, It was
then withdrawn 18 in. into a vertical section of the transfer tube and
held 10 minutes to allow the salt to solidify to preventuspilling'while
moving through the sloping section of the tube., After the'sample was
withdrawn into 1C, the operational and maintenance valves were closed
At this point the atmosphere in area 1C contained a high concentra-
tion of radioactive gas that had come from the pump bowl and from the
sample. The area was purged with helium for 30 minutes, then evacuated
and refilled with clean helium.' -
The access port was opened 80 that the capsule could be detached from
;the latch by lifting the key slightly and rotating it forward and upward
with the manipulator. The capsule was placed in the bottom section of
- the transport container.r During handling, the operator ‘could see whether
'the-capsule contained. salt. _The¢access port was then closed,
After"opening the removalhvalve. the top of'the transport'container
was lowered over the bottom piece which held the sample, and the two
pieces were sealed together. - The removal seal prevented air from reaching
12
the sample and gaseous activity from being released to atmosohere during
this operation. The sample was withdrawn from 3A into the transfer cask.
During the withdrawal, the tee~handle extension of the transport container
was wiped with damp cloths to remove particulate contamination from its |
surface. Also, the removal valve was closed before the transport con-
tainer was moved past the removal seal. After disconnecting the tee-
handle, the transport container was locked into the transfer cesk; The
cask wss placed in two olastic bags and then clamped and sealed inside
the can on the sample truck. It was delivered to the high—radiation
level analytical laboratory for analysis.
Enriching
Using this same equipment, enriching salt (UF,-LiF) was added to the
reactor. Enrichmentsrcould be made with the reactor opersting at full
power, |
For the initial fueling of the reactor with ?3*°
U the capsules were
stored in a vault at the reactor site until they vere needed. Just prior
to use, ‘holes were drilled through the metal siderwalls ‘and into_the bot-
tom so that the melted enriching salt could flow from the capsule into
the pump bowl.
The procedure for adding enriching salt to the reactor was similar
to that for 1solating a sample, except for a few variations. During en-
riching a fnll capsule was inserred and an empty capsule was withdrawn.
The radiation level of the enriching salt was sufficiently low to allow
direct handling of the capsule with care exercised to prevent spreading
uranium contamination. This required that the necessary drilling and
‘weighings of the capsule be done in a glove box located near the sampler-
enricher. Empty capsules were sent to the high radiation 1eve1 labora-
tory for final weighing since the activity level was much too high
(>1,000 R/hr at 3 in.) to allow handling in the glove box.
When *°3%U and Pu were added to the reactor, the same tyne of cap—
sules were used. However, the preparation procedure prior to moving the
oapsule into the sampler-enricher had to be modified. The 2°°U capsules
~ had to be handled in a shielded facility, cell G of the Thorium Uranium .
o
-
)
13
Recycle Facility, because of -the 222 ppm of *??U in the feed and its as-
sociated radiation.é The capsules were filled, drilled, and loaded into
shielded carriers remotely and then transported to the reactor site. The
radiation level was about 1 R/hr at 3 inches for these capsules.
- For the Pu additions the capsules were .drilled before lbading.7 Then
_the holes were sealed with Zr foil. Pu in poWder form was packed into the
capsule. In the pump bowl the fuel salt dissolved the 2r allowing the Pu
to be released to the flowing stream. Handling of the Pu required extra
care to prevent the spread of alpha contamination.
Ofiérating Experience
During the five-year period that the reactor-waS*opefated, 593 sam-
pling cycles and 152 fueilenrichfiEnts were made. The equipment was still
in operéting condition whén‘therrééctor system was shut down. Important
operating experieficesrfor each of the major\components‘are recorded in the
following sections.
Sample Capsules
‘-_;Normal operating-proceduresucalled for the operator to test the