United Nuclear Corporation (UNC)
Staff Administrator
E. Ivar Husa

I was initially hired to develope a computer assisted process for integrating surveillance activities on N-Reactor. Different organizations would schedule surveillances to be done during an outage, only to find out later that work could have been coordinated better. Coordination was vitally important, as each day of an outage cost roughly a million dollars in lost productivity. N-Reactor produced both plutonium and electric power.

I helped perform some of the inspections, such as:

• Eddy current and ultrasonic inspection of reactor pressure tubes (certifying as SNT TC1-A inspector in both)
• Video inspections of graphite core (ball channels, control rods)
• Measurement of graphite core distortion

This work required training to work in radiation zones. I made many entries around the reactor core, to some of the areas with the highest radiation doses to employees, and the highest potential for personal contamination. Work was performed in wet areas, requiring plastic outer wear and double "whites" (coveralls) beneath, as depicted in the picture below.

A health physics technician (HPT) is shown supervising inspection work on the front face. The cart holds eddy-current probe and decontamination materials. The probes were often highly radioactive as they came out of the core, as they had scraped along inside of the tube for measurements.

I worked in Reactor Core Surveillance. Our mission was to provide the measurements necessary to assure the reactor could continue to be operated safely. I created this image to show the distribution of eddy current inspections throughout the core. Each number on the map represents a zirconium "pressure tube" that passes through the core. Each tube contained clad fuel elements, so their integrity was paramount.

Eventually, N-Reactor was shut down and I moved to work in the Tank Farms. By this time, a new company took the helm as site contractor, and we had become Westinghouse employees.

Contents: Main Resume | Software Projects and Assignments| Education | Employment History | Honors | Community Service