The spent target UC#38 was packed into pail #274 and placed in spot 1A of the vault. It was 33.3mSv/hr when removed from the north hot cell. See attached PDF for more vault details.

 Spent target move done. The SiC#44 was moved from the north hot cell to the spent target vault. It was placed in pail#275 and placed in spot#4A. It was 42.6mSv/hr when removed from the north hot cell. See attached PDF for further details about the vault.

Please note we will only have two free spots in the vault at the start of the running period after the winter shutdown 2023.

 The spent UC#39 target (pail #276) was removed from the north hot cell and place in the spent target vault (spot 4B) it was 14.4 mSv/hr when removed from the north hot cell. See attached PDF for further details. 

C#4 spent target was moved to the storage vault, in pail 277. Dose rate at approximately 1 m when leaving the hot cell was 164 mSv/h. The pail has been placed in vault location 4C. See updated vault layout attached.

The following five pails were moved to the mini-storage vault today under work permit I2022-12-16-1:

• #239 (formerly vault location 7A): 1.38 mSv/h @ 1m
• #245 (formerly vault location 6B): 1.56 mSv/h @ 1m
• #264 (formerly vault location 6A): 748 uSv/h @ 1 m
• #267 (formerly vault location 1C): 708 uSv/h @ 1 m
• #268 (vault location 7C): 809 uSv/h @ 1 m

The mini-storage vault is now full and ready for transfer to F-308 flasks.

The following measurements were made on other pails:

• #211 (vault location 3C): 4.21 mSv @ 1 m
• #217 (vault location 3A): 1.05 mSv/h @ 1 m
• #246 (vault location 6C): 1.98 mSv/h @ 1m
• #274 (vault location 1A): 4.78 mSv/h @ 1 m
• #228 (vault location 1B): 3.86 mSv/h @ 1 m
• #256 (vault location formerly 7A, now 7B): 3.60 mSv/h @ 1 m
• #260 (vault location 5B): 1.46 mSv/h @ 1 m

The target index spreadsheet has been updated to reflect these changes. See attached PDF print.

The following three pails were moved from the main storage vault to the mini-storage vault:

1. #211, Ta#58 (formerly vault location 3C)
2. #217, ZrC#8 (formerly vault location 3A)
3. #228, UC#37 (formerly vault location 1B)

The target index spreadsheet has been updated.

 UC#40 was moved from the north hot cell to the spent target vault. It was placed in pail #278 put in spot 1B and was 15.6 mSv/hr when removed from the north hot cell.

Also Ta#62 in pail #256 was moved from spot 7B back to 7A where it was originally located. This pail in the future will have to be repacked due to the fact it lacks a reinforcing disc in the bottom of the pail.

attached is vault details.

 The spent UC#41 was moved from the south hot cell to the spent target vault, placed in spot 1C, in pail #231. See attached PDF for details. 

 The emergency close mechanism for the Storage Vault door was tested by Travis Cave, Nadia Jorgenson, Adam Newsome, and Jason Zhang. The door was opened to its fully open limit, then closed with the emergency system. 

The test was successful.

The annual inspection of the mini-storage vault and main storage vault was completed June 23, 2023. The following items were checked:

• Cabling and cable management
• Connectors
• Controls box - internal wiring and components, functionality
• Limit switches - functionality, wiring, mounting
• Motor
• Bearings
• Set screws
• Miscellaneous fasteners

The inspection was generally successful. A couple of minor findings were:

• Bearings for both the main and mini storage vaults must be greased. This is planned for a different day as it involves removing the mini vault's door.
• There was a small piece of metal on the track for the mini storage vault which was causing the door to "bump" over it as it passed over. This piece was removed and the door behaved normally.
• The wheel track for the main storage vault was dirty - it was cleaned
• It was suggested that the 120 VAC power cable for the mini storage vault controls box should be connectorized - this will be added to the "to-do list" for the future

 TiC#5 moved to the spent target vault from the north hot cell. Placed in pail#279 in spot 3A, 40mSv/h when removed from NHC. See attached PDF for further details.

Bearings for the main storage vault door were lubricated on 2023-07-28. It is unknown when this was last done. It is suggested that this be a recurring maintenance task every two years.

The bearings on the mini storage vault were lubricated. It is suspected that this has never been done. It is suggested that this be performed every two years.

A draft procedure will be created for this job, but at a high level, this process involves:

• Opening the door fully
• Disconnection of the motor, limit switches, and cable management system
• Attachment of a lifting magnet to the door itself
• Raising the door
• Lubricating bearings
• Reversing the process to re-assemble

The entire job took less than 1 hour to complete.

 TiC #6 moved from north hot cell to spent target vault placed in pail #232 put in spot 6A and the field was 151mSv/hr when removed from the north hot cell. See attached PDF for details about spent target vault.

UCx #42 moved from North Hot Cell to Storage Vault in Pail #282. Placed in slot 6B. Tray 6 is now full. Pail measured at 34.9 mSv/h at ~1 m upon removal from the hot cell. See attached updated spreadsheet. 

Upon attempting to lower Pail 211 into their tile hole, CNL encountered issues with the pail getting stuck. They shipped the pail back to TRIUMF and requested we perform an investigation. The investigation report is attached.

The pail contents must be re-packaged into a new pail.

Note: the F-308 is currently sitting in the Meson Hall warm cell at approximately 250 uSv/h at 0.5 m.

Dose for primary worker (Chad Fisher) who inspected the cable, unbolted the flask lid, and handled the pail briefly: approx. 104 uSv

Dose for secondary worker (Danka Krsmanovic) who swiped the pail and flask to check for contamination: approx. 70 uSv

More photos available upon request from Adam Newsome.

 The spent Nb#11 target was removed from the south hot cell and place in the spent target vault. It was placed in pail #283 and place in spot 7B is was 65.7mSv/hr upon removal. see pdf for further vault details.

 All 20 targets in the vault were measured. The target spread sheet updated. See attached PDF for details.

The following four pails were moved from the main storage vault to the mini storage vault, to stage for shipping in Jan. 2024:

1. Pail 260 (SiC#41), Tray 5B
2. Pail 271 (SiC#42), Tray 2B
3. Pail 246 (Nb#10), Tray 6C
4. Pail 265 (UCx#36), Tray 2A

There is current one open slot in the mini storage vault which is planned for the Ta#58 target (formerly in Pail 211, to be repacked in Dec. 2023).

Target Index spreadsheet updated.

See attached printout with mini storage status.

During operation today, it was observed that the main vault door had issues opening.. typically when the door was around 80-90% opened, it would stop motion. Note that this issue has allegedly been present since early 2023. It appeared that the motor was still spinning but the clutch was slipping. This issue was consistent and observed multiple times when trays 2, 5, and 6 were engaged (note these are all on the same side of the vault). It was overcome by backing the door up slightly then trying again. The door close function worked with no issue.

It is suspected that there is a problem with the clutch or potentially a piece of debris on the track. [no longer true after 2023-11-17 inspection]

Edit [2023-11-17]: Maico Dalla Valle and Adam Newsome inspected the vault on 2023-11-17. It was very clear that the door, when opening, is rubbing up against the rails. Specifically, the side rollers located on each side of the vault (red housing). There are clear wear marks on each side. The skew is obvious because on one side, the wear marks begin immediately and stop halfway through travel, whereas the other side shows the reverse wear pattern. It is therefore suspected that the skew has become so significant that the friction is too high towards the end of travel which causes the clutch to slip. The travel rails were cleaned (significant grime buildup) and the offending side was filed down slightly (a sharp burr was present from the wear). It is not advised to adjust the clutch. Next steps: open and close the vault with no trays engaged to see if the issue persists (perhaps weight distribution was the issue), and then try different combinations of weight distribution to try to replicate the issue. After this, measure separation distance between guide rails at different points and try to identify the source of the skew issue and rectify it.
 

Edit [2023-11-20]: Maico and Adam performed further investigation by opening and closing the vault door under 3 different configurations: no trays engaged, 2 trays engaged on West side, 2 trays engaged on East side. The previously observed stopping issue was not observed this time under multiple cycles with each configuration. It is noted that the door appears to slow down slightly and experience a bit of a "chugging along" motion towards the end of travel when opening. Based on these observations, it is concluded that the cleaning and filing helped enough to allow the door to fully travel open/close without getting stuck. The root cause of the issue still remains to be fixed, but for now there is no major concern. Before end of 2023, measurements and planning will be performed to develop a proper repair for the root cause. It is expected that either late 2023 or early 2024, the repair will be attempted.

Edit [2023-11-22]: during a routine spent target exchange, the issue was not observed when opening tray number 2. 

Edit [2023-11-24]: a dial indicator was set up on the vault on the right side (looking down from above), mounted on the traveling part with the tip touching the black structural member where the wear is observed. The purpose is to determine how much out of alignment the door is with respect to the structural assembly. The following was observed: approximately halfway through the travel, the indicator read approximately 185 thou of travel. This corresponds to when the wear marks start to occur and where the small red enclosure around the roller wheel interferes with the structural member (causing the wear strip). At this point, as expected, the indicator no longer changes because the roller wheel has bumped up against the structural member. This implies the gap between the structural member and the roller wheel, when the door is closed, is approx. 185 thou on the right side (and 0 on the left side). These values reverse around the midpoint of travel. It is suspected that because of this, and because there is a small observable gap between the door and the vault when it is fully close, the right and left side of the door are not parallel with respect to each other. In other words, adjusting the angle so that the starting gap is roughly 92.5 thou on each side should resolve the issue. Measurements to confirm parallel-ness between each side will be performed, and then an adjustment will be made to create even gaps between each side at the starting point. After this, a dial indicator will be set up again to confirm that, when opening the door, the gap is maintained throughout the duration of travel. Small deviations are acceptable, but in general what should be observed is a roughly constant gap, and no interference (i.e. if the gap begins at 92.5 thou, it should not drop to 0 or not exceed 185 thou, but should hover somewhere on the order of 20 to 140 thou, for example).

 

Edit [2023-11-24, 2]: a dial indicator was set up on the left side of the vault in a similar manner as described above. In this case, the indicator's reading remained roughly constant during the start of travel (starting with the door closed and opening it up), with only up to around 10-20 thou variation at first slowly, followed by a slow increase to up to approximately 135 thou. This is similar to the 185 thou observed on the other side. One suggested means of resolving the issue is: raise the entire door slightly with overhead crane, translate it sideways approximately half of door's lateral travel distance (i.e. around 90 thou) and then lowering it back down. This should, in theory, be acceptable. It may not resolve the issue of whether the door is rotated, but should give enough clearance on both sides throughout the entire range of motion to be deemed an acceptable fix. Other opinions will be gathered on the subject to determine if this could work.