ML032760554

Annual Report for the Ohio State University Research Reactor

ML032760554
Person / Time
Site:	Ohio State University
Issue date:	09/25/2003
From:	Williams J Ohio State University
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
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Download: ML032760554 (9)

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T H E College of Engineering 142 Hitchcock Hall 2070 Neil Avenue SrAU UNrVERSrrY Columbus, OH 43210 Phone: 614 -292-2836 Email: vwlliams.1726@osu.edu Been0f EIneering and lon a roielssor September 25,2002 Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission One White Flint North 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852-2738

Dear Sir:

Please find enclosed the annual report for The Ohio State University Research Reactor, Docket No. 50-150. This report is being submitted as required by our Technical Specifications, Section 6.6.1. If you have questions on the content of this report, please contact Mr. Andrew Kauffman, Associate Director of the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory.

Sincerely, Jim Williams A. Fentiman, OSUNE D. Hughes USNRC A. Kauffman, OSURR 0;)C)

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT FOR FY 2002/2003 SEPTEMBER 2003

Introduction As stated in The Ohio State University Research Reactor Technical Specifications, Section 6.6.1 Operating Reports, an annual report shall be made to the NRC by September 30 of each year. This report is to include the following seven sections.

1. A narrative summary ofoperating experience (including experimlents performed) and of changes in facility design, performance characteristics, and operating procedures related to reactor safety occurring during the reporting period.

2. A tabulation showing the energy generated by the reactor (in kilowatt hours) and the number of hours the reactor was in use.

3. The results of safety-related maintenance and inspection. The reasons for corrective maintenance of safety-related items shall be included.

4. A table of unscheduled shutdowns and inadvertent scramns, including their reasons and the corrective actions taken.

5. A summary of changes to the facility or procedures, which affect reactor safety and performance of tests or experiments carried out under the conditions of sections 50.59 of 10CRF50.

6. A summary of the nature and amount of radioactive gaseous, liquids, and solid effluents released or discharged to the environs beyond the effective control of the licensee as measured or calculated at or prior to the point of such release or discharge.

7. A summary of radiation exposures received by facility personnel and visitors, including the dates and times of significant exposures.

These seven sections are discussed below. These are all for the period July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003, except as noted for exposure records.

1A. Experiments Performed The staff of The OSU Research Reactor is generally involved in four types ofexperiments at the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. Included are introductions to nuclear research, neutron activation analysis, material irradiations, and classes that measure various reactor parameters. Typically when we introduce students, faculty or other experimenters to nuclear research, we do the following:

a. Discuss nuclear reactions and radiological safety.

b. Operate the reactor at lOkW-lOOkW

c. Have the individuals observe control room operations.

d. Complete a tour and demonstrate irradiation techniques.

Neutron activation analysis experiments are routinely completed for students ranging from high school to graduate school. The facilities normally utilized are the "rabbit" (pneumatic tube) and the "CIF" (Central Irradiation Facility). Much of the NAA work is geological samples.

OSURR Annual Report Page I of 5 9/03

Material irradiations, other than for NAA, are in four basic areas: isotope production; detector, electronic component and fiber optic testing-, boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT); and irradiation of biological samples. Isotope production has been done often for medical research. Detector and electronic component testing is done routinely. This testing is usually completed in the thermal column, or one of the beam ports, while fission chamber testing is in the Central Irradiation Facility. The reactor thermal column is also utilized for other BNCT studies. Typically it is the location for cell samples to determine their boron content Various nuclear engineering or physics classes throughout Ohio utilize the reactor for the following basic experiments:

a. Approach to critical (using banked control rods rather than fuel loading).

b. Control rod calibration by rod drop, positive period, and subcritical multiplication.

c. Measurement of the reactor transfer function by noise analysis.

d. Temperature coefficient measurements.

e. Radiological surveys.

The reactor utilization for July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003 is summarized in the following reports.

Funding for colleges and universities that utilize the OSU Research Reactor is provided in part by the DOE-funded Reactor Sharing Program.

The Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Lab Reactor Utilization Report:

July 1 - December 31, 2002 User / Activity Hours Fission Chamber Testing for GE Reuter Stokes 64.5 Tours 29.0 OSU Nuclear Engineering 505 Classes 18.0 Maintenance and Requalification 17.0 Cell Irradiations for OSU BNCT 12.5 Irradiation of Electronic Components for AFIT 11.0 NAA for Teays Valley High School 10.0 Irradiation of CTPS Sensor Components 3.5 NAA of Plastics for Styrochem 3.0 Hf and Na Production for Miami University 3.0 Tuskegee University Introduction to Reactor Dynamics 2.5 Re Production for Cleveland Clinic 0.5 174.5 OSURR Annual Report Page 2 of 5 9/03

The Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Lab Reactor Utilization Report:

January 1 - June 30, 2003 User Hours Fission Chamber Testing for GE Reuter Stokes 36.9 Tours 29.1 OSU Nuclear Engineering 505, 742, 744 Classes 51.8 Cell Irradiations for OSU BNCT 9.7 NAA for U.C. Berkeley 4.4 NAA for Teays Valley High School 8.2 NAA for Proctor and Gamble 2.5 NAA of Plastics for Styrochem 1.4 NAA for University of Maine 4.8 Hf Production for Miami University 5.8 Carbon Powder Irradiations 3.0 Flux Mapping of 3" Dry Tube 1.0 Prototype Boron-Carbide Sensor Test for U. of Cincinnati 1.5 160.1 1.B. Changes in Facility Design There were no facility design changes that required a change to the Technical Specifications. 10CFR50.59 changes are described in Section 5A of this report 1.C. Changes In Performance Characteristics There have been no changes in performance characteristics related to reactor safety in the last year.

ID. Changes In Operating Procedures There were no changes in operating procedures related to reactor safety in the last year. 10CFR50.59 changes are described in Section 5.B of this report 2.A. Kilowatt-Hours of Operation - 18,604 2.B. Hours of Utilization - 335

3. Safety Related Maintenance None

4. Unscheduled Shutdowns From July 1, 2002 to June 30,2003 there were 11 unplanned shutdowns. These are summarized below.

Reason Corrective Action Period Safety Amplifier noise (4) Attempting to eliminate sources of noise Rod Drive Area Manual Scram Switch (2) Adjusted Switch Plate Magnet Current Amplifier Noise (1) Adjusted Amplifier Loss of Building Power (1) None Trip on Linear Level Recorder (3) Discussed with Operators OSURR Annual Report Page 3 of 5 9/03

S. Changes in Facility Procedures and Performance of Tests or Experiments In Accordance with 10CFR5O.59 A. During the period July 1,2002 to June 30,2003, two OSURR Modification Requests were completed by the reactor staff:

a. Primary Pump Replacement

b. Level Safety Amplifier Replacement B. The following is a list of procedure changes made under IOCFR50.59 from July 1,2002 to June 30, 2003 in accordance with Administrative Procedure AP-OS, entitled Format for Writing, Revising, and Approving Procedures.

Procedure Procedure Revision Number Title Date AP-07 Review of Procedures 2/11/03 EP-01 Emegency Procedures 2/6/03 EP-02 Precautions for Non-Radioactive Hazardous Materials 2/6/03 IM-O1 Scram Checks 2/11/03 IM-03 Pre-Start Checkout 2/11/03 IM-12 Reactor Instrumentation Calibration 10/31/02 OM-O1 Reactor Power Changes 2/6/03 OM-16 Power Calibration 11/4/02 RS-08 NRL Smear Survey 4/2/03 SP-01 Authorized Access to the NRL 4/28/03 SP-02 Security Call List 2/5/03 SP-05 Monthly Security Alarm Test 5/22/03 SP-06 Operation of Security System 5 O2/03

6. Radioactive Effluents A. Gaseous Effluent - The only effluent we measure is the release of Ar-41. For the period July I - Dec.

31, 2002, Ar-41 releases measured 0.54 % of the annual average concentration limit. From Jan. I -

June 30, 2003, releases measured 0.48 % of the annual average concentration limit.

In accordance with the requirements of 10CFR20.1 101(d), the COMPLY code was run using the total Ar-41 release for the period Julyl, 2002 - June 30, 2003 of 75.45 mCi. Using level 2 in the code, the effective dose equivalent rate at the facility fence was computed to be 0.052 mremlyr. This is well below the 10 mrem/yr constraint specified in the regulation.

B. Liquid Releases - Hot sink releases are recorded and reported through the OSU Office of Radiation Safety. No releases were made to the sanitary sewer system from the reactor pool. Hot sink releases consisted of 12 pCi Co-60, 23 pCi Mn-54, and 17 gpCi Zn-65.

C. No releases of solid radioactive material were made to the uncontrolled environment.

7. Radiation Exposures Since the firm that maintains records for The Ohio State University keeps a year to date record, it is easier to report this by the nearest completed calendar year. Therefore film badge exposures in this report are for the period January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002. Seven individuals were monitored as radiation workers for the entire year or a major part of it. These are tabulated below. They are consistent with the ALARA policy for The Ohio State University and represent a fraction of allowed limits. All doses are in rem.

OSURR Annual Report Page 4 of 5 9/03

Individual DDE IDE SDE, WB SDE, ME TEDE Visitors 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 1 0.069 0.070 0.072 0.130 0.069 2 ND ND ND ND ND 3 ND ND ND 0.040 ND 4 0.027 0.026 0.027 ND 0.027 5 0.127 0.131 0.134 0.150 0.127 6 0.129 0.142 0.172 0.240 0.129 7 0.041 0.041 0.042 0.030 0.041 OSURR Annual Report Page 5 of 5 9/03

COMPLY: V1.5d. 9/22/ 3 1: 51 40 CFR Part 61 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLEAN AIR ACT LIMITS FOR RADIONUCLIDE EMISSIONS FROM THE COMPLY CODE, VERSION 1.5d Prepared by:

The Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Lab Columbus, OH 43212 Andrew Kauffman 614-688-8220 Prepared for:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Radiation Programs Washington, D.C. 20460

COMPLY: V1.5d. 9/22/ 3 1:51 NRL02-03 SCREENING LEVEL 2 DATA ENTERED:

Release Rate Nuclide (curies/YEAR)

AR-41 7.545E-02 Release height 10 meters.

Building height 11 meters.

The source and receptor are not on the same building.

Distance from the source to the receptor is 15 meters.

Building width 25 meters.

Default mean wind speed used (2.0 m/sec).

NOTES:

Input parameters outside the normal, range:

None.

RESULTS:

Effective dose equivalent: 5.2E-02 mrem/yr.

• • • Comply at level 2.

This facility is in COMPLIANCE.

It may or may not be EXEMPT from reporting to the EPA.

You may contact your regional EPA office for more information.

END OF COMPLIANCE REPORT *