Friday June 24 2011

The target module has been moved to the Conditioning Station (CS)

Pumping overnight

Saturday June 25 2011

Pressure Service Cap (SC) 3E-6 T

Pressure Containment Box (CB) 6.6E-6 T

High voltage test to 40 kV, unfortunately, the pressure is not great so we stop at 40 kV

Pressure at the end of the day: 1650H was, P SC 2.6E-6T

P CB 6.6E-6 T

Sunday June 26 2011

Pressure P SC 1.6E-6T

P CB 6.6E-6 T

It seems we have a leak. The pressure does not drop in the CB over one day.

Today June 27 2011

 Pressure P SC 1.2E-6T

P CB 6.6E-6 T

We leak check the target module and found two leaks, one on the ground electrode and one on the mounting plate cooling circuit.

This is a new one. We had test this line three times before and it was ok.

Action for tomorrow.

After CS vent, 

Move TM1 to SHC

Survey 

Connect LD to Mounting plate cooling circuit

Open Side panel and leak check.

Meeting at 0830H

Over the period of July 20-21st TM1 had several repairs completed and tested. The easiest of the repairs was the installation of a gasket and a blank off. The next repair was to replace the 2 oring on the side panels that were removed for inspection and repair. The instrument panel oring was replaced again and the previous one measured. Both were found to have the correct diameter of 0.131 inches for the seal groove. When attempting to cut the thermocouple line back to an acceptable distance it detached from the stainless tube running down the high voltage chase. It was discovered that it was only being held in place with heat shrink and that the bend consisted of a hand made copper tube that was flared slightly, a truly poor electrical and mechanical connection. Also discovered was the thermocouple wire was left in the tube, this too was removed. The stainless steel tube was then secured to the tube heater (C) lines with a PEEK tie wrap. The port where the thermocouple line was then blanked off. The extraction electrode and mounting plate feed through stem repair went as practiced and no unexpected events occurred. One thing of note is that because the lines are twisted and some of the tube was removed the quick connects are no longer facing the same direction they were before. During these repairs the Ion gauge screen contacted a filament and caused a fault, this was repaired by edi who rotated the gauge. Roughing was started at ~10 am on July 21st and the turbo pumps turned on at 10:45.  At 13:20 all of the lines and external seals were tested and no leaks were found. The module was at a pressure of 2.9 x 10^-5 Torr (IMG) and 1.4 x 10^-5 Torr (ION). The leak test cart was at a pressure of ~2.7 x 10^-2 Torr and a leak rate of 1.1 x 10^-2 atm cc/sec for the external leak test and the repaired lines. A small response was found in the Tube heater (D) where the leak increased to 2.1 x 10^-8 atm cc/sec. The leak test cart would then no longer drop below 1.9 x 10^-8 atm cc/sec and there was no response measured for lines C, B, and A. Over all very positive results! After 6 hours of pumping down the pressures were 2.0 X 10^-5 Torr (IMG) and 9.7 x 10^-6 Torr (Ion).  

Bevan Moss wrote:

Over the period of July 20-21st TM1 had several repairs completed and tested. The easiest of the repairs was the installation of a gasket and a blank off. The next repair was to replace the 2 oring on the side panels that were removed for inspection and repair. The instrument panel oring was replaced again and the previous one measured. Both were found to have the correct diameter of 0.131 inches for the seal groove. When attempting to cut the thermocouple line back to an acceptable distance it detached from the stainless tube running down the high voltage chase. It was discovered that it was only being held in place with heat shrink and that the bend consisted of a hand made copper tube that was flared slightly, a truly poor electrical and mechanical connection. Also discovered was the thermocouple wire was left in the tube, this too was removed. The stainless steel tube was then secured to the tube heater (C) lines with a PEEK tie wrap. The port where the thermocouple line was then blanked off. The extraction electrode and mounting plate feed through stem repair went as practiced and no unexpected events occurred. One thing of note is that because the lines are twisted and some of the tube was removed the quick connects are no longer facing the same direction they were before. During these repairs the Ion gauge screen contacted a filament and caused a fault, this was repaired by edi who rotated the gauge. Roughing was started at ~10 am on July 21st and the turbo pumps turned on at 10:45.  At 13:20 all of the lines and external seals were tested and no leaks were found. The module was at a pressure of 2.9 x 10^-5 Torr (IMG) and 1.4 x 10^-5 Torr (ION). The leak test cart was at a pressure of ~2.7 x 10^-2 Torr and a leak rate of 1.1 x 10^-2 atm cc/sec for the external leak test and the repaired lines. A small response was found in the Tube heater (D) where the leak increased to 2.1 x 10^-8 atm cc/sec. The leak test cart would then no longer drop below 1.9 x 10^-8 atm cc/sec and there was no response measured for lines C, B, and A. Over all very positive results! After 6 hours of pumping down the pressures were 2.0 X 10^-5 Torr (IMG) and 9.7 x 10^-6 Torr (Ion).

 I again checked the TM this morning (July 22) at 10:00 am (24 hours of pumping), There is no external leaks carts pressure was 0.0x10^-4 Torr and leak rate was 0.0X10^-9 atm cc/sec. The IMG gauge was reading 6.8 x 10^-6 Torr and ION gauge was reading 3.1 x 10^-6 Torr. The lowest we have yet to record on the IMG gauge was 6.6 x10^-6 Torr and that was when the ION gauge was reading 1.2 x 10^-6 Torr and there were several leaks. This is a very good sign. I will continue to check the vacuum throughout the day. 

One more thing of note is that the copper feed thru stems have a design flaw, the holes for the locating pins are too large. As such a custom step pin had to be made. It work functionally the same but is not as intended.

TM#1 has been moved from the Conditioning Station to the South Hot Cell for the installation of Ta#37.

Roughing on TM1 started at ~15:00 today by ~16:30 the module had reached a pressure of ~200 mTorr and the turbo pumps were turned on. TP1 failed to achieve normal operation and we running at approximately 4KRPM and 50W with 6.1 A of current draw. TP2 was able to achieve normal operation. The controller for TP1 was then powered off and back on but that failed to resolve the issue. The controllers for TP1 & 2 were then switched at which point TP1 again failed normal operation and TP2 achieved it, thus eliminating the controller as the issue. The turbo pumps have been turned off and the roughing pump left on for overnight in case Vacuum group wishes to do any additional diagnosis. 

Base Pressure: 0.0x10-4

Stable Leak Rate: 0.0x10-9

Leak check of tube heater circuit, containment box side was performed.

Initail check at tube heater block on source tray yeilded a response 60 sec after the 2 second spray of helium. The response was very small and recovered immediately.

This area was checked twice more but the reponse could not be recreated.

Joint at the waterblocks was tested with an intial 2 sec spray. No response after 60 sec.

Waterblock joint was tested again with a 4 second spray. No response after 60 sec.

A leak check was performed on the module on October 27/10/2011 by David Wang and was reported to Bevan Moss but it never made it into the Elog system. This entry is to summarize the results of that testing. All circuits were pressurized to 80 psi with helium and every line except the tube heater (+) showed no or small responses as experienced before. The tube heater line had a slightly larger response under the conditions summarized below:

Varian 959

Base Pressure                   7.0 x 10^-3 Torr

Base Leak Rate                  7.5 x 10^-9 atm cc/sec

Gauges

IG1                                         2.0 x 10^-6 Torr

PNG5                                    9.6 x 10^-6 Torr

PNG4 (C.S.)                        2.4 x 10^-5 Torr

Convectron (Back line) 20mTorr

 The leak rate quickly climbed to 3.0 x 10^-8 atm cc/sec then constantly climbed to 1.4 x 10^-7 atm cc/sec for 2 minutes. David repeated this test again at the end of the leak test and found the same results. In the past we have called this a leak and attempted to find its location and repair it. David believes that this isn’t a real leak as we have been able to achieve very good vacuum on TM4 all year and that we do not normally touch the feed through stem on this circuit. This result makes me nervous as the total differential is roughly the same as that we found on the UCx#2 run(which was at a higher vacuum).

The result of this test caused the module to move back to the hot cell for further more localized leak checking.

 After Chad and Davids leak check results from the containment box it was decided to perform a leak check on the feed through stem in the service cap. This is a known point of failure on TM1 and the same design flaw is likely in TM4. Once the service cap was open a visual inspection was performed and some oxidization of the copper line on the tube heater (+) circuit was observed (see attached pictures). The leak check was performed with the cart at a base pressure of 0.0 x 10^-4 Torr and base leak rate of 0.0 10 x 10^-9 atm cc/sec. A total of 4 joints were checked and no response was found. The service cap was then flooded with helium and once again no response was found. It was decided to give the module a clean bill of health, make note of the baseline test from the conditioning station, and continue to monitor the circuit.  

 I did a leak check again on TM4 today. This time, the leak detector pump to the bottom on both base pressure(0.0xE-4 torr) and base leak rate(0.0xE-9 atm.cc/sec). All high vacuum gauges on TM4 and conditioning station at -6torr range.IG1 is 3.3-6torr,PNG5(top of service cap)is 6.5-6 torr, and the PNG4(bottom of the vessel )is 8.7-6torr. For air to vacuum leak checking, I checked the panel we moved last week on service cap by spraying helium around the panel. There is no any response on leak detector. The panel is leak tight. Also I sprayed helium around the tube heater (+) water cap and blue nylon stand. They are also leak tight. Then, I put 80 psi pressure air to the “D” circuit first. With 80 psi pressure air for 5 minutes, the leak detector has no any response on it. Also all high vacuum gauges stayed at same level .Then I checked it with 80 psi pressure helium for 3 minutes. The leak detector has a response on leak rate with pressure helium same as last time. It climbed from the 0.0xE-9 atm. cc/sec quickly to high -8 range then slow down. The leak rate finally climbed to 2.0 X E-7 atm.cc/sec this time. There is no base pressure change on leak detector. All high vacuum gauge readings no change during the test time. There is a small helium leak at 80 psi pressure test on “D” circuit. But we can not locate it at this stage. Also I don’t want to disturb this circuit any more before the febiad run since this time I saw a little bit increase on leak rate comparing to last time when I checked it. If we really like to find this small helium leak, I would suggest we do it after the febiad run.    Thank you.

For the week of November 7th 2011, four of a possible ten targets that are in storage were assayed. Targets are as follows:

Target             General average field @ 1 metre from edge of pail

SiC#24           1.99 mSv/hr

Nb#4               3.89 mSv/hr

Ta#25              4.57 mSv/hr

Ta#37              0.47 mSv/hr

These four are all viable spent targets to be shipped. We still need another couple of days of "UNINTERRUPTED" time to assay the remaining six targets, for us to have enough to make a ship of five to Chalk River.

TM#1 has been moved from the south hot cell to the conditioning station. Move went well.

TM1 full leak check in conditioning station has been fulfilled this morning.Both air to vacuum leak check and waterlines helium 80psi pressure test are fine.The result:

Air to vacuum helium spray:base leak rate on leak detector 1.6x E-9 atm .cc/sec.base pressure0.0xE-4 torr. sprayed helium around all flanges, turbo pumps,panels,bellow,insulation stands, gauges. No Response on leak detector. Air to vacuum seals on TM1 is leak tight.

Helium pressure test on all water lines.with 80 psi helium 3minutes test:

        PNG1 :2.4XE-7torr .PNG4 :2.6x E-6torr . IG1 :5.1xE-7torr.

A :target oven(+)  BL:2.0xE-9 atm.cc/sec .First minute no response,then climbed to1.9xE-8 atm.cc/sec. Stabled at 1.9xE-8 atm.cc/sec to 3 minutes.

B:target oven(-)    BL:5.5x E-9 atm.cc/sec.First 80 seconds no response, then climbed to 1.8xE-8atm.cc/sec. Stabled at 1.8xE-8atm.cc/sec to 3 minutes.

C:tube heater(-)   BL:8.0xE-9 atm.cc/sec .First minute no response ,then climbed to 2.7xE-8 atm.cc/sec. Stabled at 2.7x E-8 atm.cc /sec to 3 minutes.

D: tube heater(+) BL: 1.0xE-8 atm.cc/sec. First minute no response , then climbed to 1.8xE-8 atm.cc/sec. Stabled at 1.8x E-8 atm.cc/sec to 3minutes.

G:EE  BL:1.0xE-8 atm.cc/sec .First 1.5 minutes no response , then climbed to 1.7x E-8 atm.cc/sec. Stabled at 1.7x E-8atm.cc/sec to 3minutes.

F:heat shield   BL:1.2x E-8 atm.cc/sec. First  1.5 minutes no response , then climbed to 1.9 xE-8 atm.cc/sec. Stabled at 1.9 xE-8 atm.cc/sec to 4 minutes. Total test time 4 minutes.

I: mounting plate    BL:1.2 x E-8 atm.cc/sec.     NO RESPONSE on leak detector  in 3minutes.

M: window   BL:1.2x E-8 atm.cc/sec First 1.5 minutes  no response,then climbed to 2.0xE-8 atm.cc/sec . Stabled at 2.0xE-8 atm.cc/sec to 3minutes.

The base pressure on leak detector stayed at 0.0x E-9 torr through all the test, and no pressure response on high vacuum gauges.

Spent target assay completed. A total of 16 target were looked at, 13 were low enough to be assayed and those 13 are at shippable levels, the other 3 of the 16 looked at were too hot to ship and assay. See attached pdf for complete details.

Well the first of this year's lucky winners to win a fabulous one way trip to Chalk River are as follows. UC#1, UC#2, Ta#25, Ta#26, and Ta#37. First these lucky winners will get to stay several days and night in the lovely all inclusive mini vault before being loaded in to their very own private F-308 flasks to be whisked away off to fabulous Chalk River.

Looks like the UC target s #1 and #2 were found invalidprize winners for their all inclusive trip to Chalk River and have thus been placed back in to storage for the next draw. In their place a pair of lucky Ta targets won, seems to be Ta lucky draw this year, Ta#28 and #29 have been placed in the mini storage for several fabulous day and wondrous nights, before being whisked away on their all inclusive one way trip to Chalk River. See attachments for the status of both vaults.

I did a vacuum leak check on all ITE primary vacuum vessel and secondary vessel.I also did a helium pressure test(80psi ) on all TM4 water lines. There is no leak has been found.ITE and TM4 are both leak tight now.

ITE primary vacuum vessel and TM4 waterlines:

Hooked leak detector after TP1 between BV1. leak detector base pressure :0.0xe-4 torr. base leak rate:1.8x e-8 atm.cc/sec.sprayed helium around all TM4 and exit 1 ,2 module primary vessel including all flanges,  gauges, bellows,turbos,blank offs,etcThere is no  any response  on leak detector. All water lines  had been pressurized with 80 psi helium  for 5 minutes. The leak rate always stayed at 1.8xe-8 atm.cc/sec which is the base leak rate  on ITE this time, and no vacuum pressure change also.The TM4  water lines and ITE primary vacuum vessel are leak tight.

ITE secondary vacuum vessel:

Hooked leak detector after TP1S between BV1S. Leak detector base pressure :0.0xe-4 torr.Base leak rate:0.0xe-9 atm.cc/sec. Sprayed helium around all TM4,EXIt 1,2  module secondary vessel including alll flanges,gauges, air cylinders , valves, and blank-offs.There is no any response on leak detector . tThe late rate  kept at 0.0XE-9 ATM.CC/SEC, and no pressure change either.The ITE secondary vacuum vessel is leak tight.

Hi Remote Handling,

The guage on the IMC circuit in the Target Hall is reading atmosphere, and the bellows is currently relaxed (i.e. expanded), whereas it should be reading about -20inHg and the bellows should be contracted (i.e. compressed).

I've attached a photo of what the guage and fittings should look like when pumped down to -30inHg.

Either the IMC circuit has been vented, disturbed, or it has some kind of leak.  When I was in the Target Hall this morning, I saw the gauge bent around the railing at an awkward angle with a pretty severe bend in the copper line, it appeared to have been disturbed by the temporary glove box sitting at that level used by Rob Walker for nuclear ventilation work.

I will co-ordinate pump-down and leak check of the circuit, but the Conditioning Station cannot be used until this is repaired.

Cheers,

Grant

All targets in the mini storage have been moved to F-308s and those flasks have been moved over to rad waste. The transfer of target occurred on January 10th and the flasks were moved to rad waste on January 11th.  Contamination was found on the bottoms of some of the pails and was removed, some of the contamination was difficult but not impossible to remove from the pail bottoms.

TP2 on TM4 has been replaced with a new turbo pump , I didnt  reset the controller in electrical room.So this new pump start to run at 8083 hours on ITE TP2 controller. The new TP2 pump properly  started. It works fine now.

I had changed all old induction coils for flow sensors in ITE .I checked all ITE water signals on control boards in electrical room.They are all very stable and constant.All ITE inductions coils work fine now.