TITLE:
Management System Activities of the Operation and Utilization of GHARR-1
AUTHORS:
Edward Shitsi, Henry Cecil Odoi, Kwame Gyamfi, Philip Dordoh-Gasu, Isaac Kwasi Baidoo, Edward Oscar Amponsah-Abu, Emmanuel Kwesi Boafo, Samuel Yao Ganyaglo, Samuel Boakye Dampare, Henry Kwame Obeng, William Osei-Mensah, Wilfred Sedofia Massiasta, Robert Ekow Quagraine
KEYWORDS:
Management Systems, Quality Assurance and Quality Control, Research Re-actor Operation and Utilization, Monitoring Forms, Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1)
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Engineering and Technology,
Vol.11 No.4,
November
20,
2023
ABSTRACT: The Ghana Research Reactor-1 (GHARR-1) is a 34 kW
low enriched uranium (LEU) Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR),
tank-in-pool type and cooled by natural circulation under atmospheric pressure
operating conditions. GHARR-1 is owned by Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) and operated by National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI), one of the institutes
of GAEC. GHARR-1 is housed by Nuclear Reactors Research Centre (NRRC), one of the Centres of NNRI.
Management/Administration, Radiation protection,
Reactor operation and maintenance, Reactor utilization and Physical protection are the various systems/units that integrate to manage the
activities of operation and utilization of GHARR-1 in addition to the quality
assurance and quality control management system of the research reactor
facility. The GHARR-1 which is currently in operation follows a robust
maintenance culture adopted by the management system and this has made it possible to keep the reactor in operation with
minimal interruption. The management system activities adopted at the
Centre to ensure safety of the workers, public and the research reactor
facility include authorization of the operation of the reactor for any
experiments/modifications; providing material and financial resources for
maintaining the research reactor facility; following standard procedures while
carrying out Neutron Activation Analysis; participation in IAEA proficiency
test; irradiation sites/positions characterization; following standard
procedures while carrying out reactor operation and maintenance including
reactor and pool water purification and other related activities; monitoring
radiation levels in the controlled, supervised and uncontrolled areas of the
research reactor facility as well as during reactor operation and maintenance;
controlling the physical entry of the workers and public into the research reactor
facility; and ensuring that the security structures
provided to protect the reactor facility are functioning properly. The thorough
knowledge on the functions of the various components that make up the
electrical/electronic and control systems of the reactor has been observed to
be important for continuous successful maintenance of the research reactor to
keep the reactor in operation. This work provides some management system
activities adopted to monitor the activities of the research reactor operation
and utilization to guarantee safety of workers, public and the environment as
well as to safeguard a continuous operation of the research reactor. These
management system activities adopted among others, are in the form of
Monitoring Forms provided for monitoring the activities of the research reactor
operation and utilization in order to ensure standard procedures and
specifications are followed and quality services are rendered to the public.