ML050630293

2002/2003 Annual Report (NRC Facility License R-83) Correction

ML050630293
Person / Time
Site:	05000128
Issue date:	02/22/2005
From:	Reece W Texas A&M Univ
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
2005-0016
Download: ML050630293 (4)

Text

TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY 3575 TAMU COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 77843-3575 NUCLEAR SCIENCE CENTER 979/845-7551 FAX 979/862-2667 February 22, 2005 2005-0016 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Attn: Document Control Desk Washington, D.C 20555

Subject:

2002/2003 Annual Report (NRC Facility License R-83) correction To Whom It may Concern:

Enclosed please find the corrections to the 2002/2003 Annual Report that were previously submitted to the NRC. Following are the changes that were noted and corrected. All the corrections were noted as bold.

1. Page 6 on the report 2003 shows the annual reactor utilization graph. The original report shows the steady state hrs as the MW-hrs of operation. It was corrected to indicate the actual MW-hrs of operation calculated from the integrated power (MW-days).

2. Page 10 of the 2003 report inadvertently left out the two reactor shutdowns that happened after September which is now corrected and added.

3. Page 11 of the 2002 report reactor shutdown date was incorrect which is now corrected and added.

We apologize for the incorrect numbers on the report. If you have any questions regarding this, please feel fre eto call me at (979) 845-7551.

Sincerely, W. D. Reece, Director Enclosure LV/jlg Xc: 211/Central File  :

Annual Report File Craig Bassett, NRC P ae~o RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FOR MANKIND httpi/nsc.tamu.edu ProC

Texas A&M University System Nuclear Science Center Annual Report 2003 Department (EHSD) provide assistance when it is required for emergencies and for special operations as agreed.

2. Reactor Utilization for 2003 The Nuclear Science Center (NSC) reactor has been in operation since 1962. The reactor is a I-MW, MTR-converted TRIGA reactor. The reactor uses highly enriched uranium fuel (70%), but will use a 20% enriched fuel core when DOE funds become available. Core VIII-A is the current core configuration and has been in use since March 1986. The NSC reactor is pulse operational and is pulsed up to powers of approximately 1,100 MW for nuclear engineering laboratories, staff training, and public tours.

The NSC reactor operated for 1947.2 hours2.314815e-5 days <br />5.555556e-4 hours <br />3.306878e-6 weeks <br />7.61e-7 months <br /> in 2003 with a total integrated power of 79.8MW-days. There were 526 irradiations and services performed at the NSC during the reporting period. The NSC provided services to TAMU departments, other universities, research centers and secondary schools in and outside the state of Texas. Many departments at TAMU and other universities used the reactor regularly in the past year. The NSC reactor had about 97%

availability in 2003.

Table 2-1. Reactor Utilization Summary in 2003 Days of Reactor Operation 241 Integrated Power (MW-days) 79.8 Number of Hours at Steady-State 1947.2 Number of Pulses 55 Number of Reactor Irradiations (RFS) 526 Beam Port/Thermal Column Experiment Hours 535.1 Hours Irradiation Cell Use 2.8 Number of Visitors 1164 Unscheduled Shutdowns 6

°2 2,200 z2,120 2,155 2.143 2,138 2,1001 r-2,000 .1,944 1,924 1,963

'1911,915 1,946 1,951 0

q.1,900 1,800 1,700-

• 1,600 -

1,500 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Year Figure 2-1. Annual Reactor Utilization 6

Texas A&M University System Nuclear Science Center Annual Report 2003 Table 4-2: Unscheduled Shutdowns 1/14/03 Reactor Scrammed due to anticipatory circuitry in Safety Channel #2 during startup next to the Thermal Column.

4/15/03 Reactor Scrammed due to loss of power from offsite.

6/11/03 Reactor Scrammed due to high power circuitry in

- - -_ - Safety Channel from hih fneutron reflection while operating next to the Thermal Column.

6/13/03 Reactor Scrammed due to loss of power from offsite.

6/24/03 Reactor Scrammed due to loss of power from offsite.

9/03/03 Reactor Scrammed due to high power circuitry in Safety Channel from slight sample position fluctuations and high neutron reflection while operating next to the Thermal Column.

10/15/03 Reactor Scrammed due to cell door opening while bridge interlock was malfunctioning.

12/11/03 Reactor Scrammed due to inadvertent spike on channel 2 from operating against Thermal Column.

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Texas A&M University System Nuclear Science Center Annual Report 4.4. Unscheduled Shutdowns There were three unscheduled reactor shutdowns during 2002. The causes are detailed below:

Table 4-2: Unscheduled Shutdowns 8/7 Reactor Scrammed during startup due to spurious signal from Wide Range Monitor (Log Drawer). NSC Staff verified the instrument was operational and continued with the startup.

8/13 Reactor Scrammed due to loss of power from offsite.

10/14 Reactor Scram. Supply breaker to the Reactor Console tripped. NSC staff verified the breaker was operational.

5. Health Physics Surveillance The purpose of Health Physics surveillance is to ensure safe use of radioactive materials in Nuclear Science Center's (NSC) research and service activities and to fulfill the regulatory requirements of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and State agencies. A dedicated Health Physics group is an integral part of the NSC organization. They are responsible for chemical and physical safety concerns as well as radiological. The TAMU Environmental Health and Safety Department provides additional support to the NSC Health Physics group upon request.

5.1. Radioactive Shipments The Health Physics 2002 monitoring and technical support assured minimal exposure during sample handling, shipment of radioactive material, and normal reactor operation. The radiation exposures were ALARA. During 2002, NSC staff handled about 340 radioactive samples and shipped 255 to various research facilities including Texas A&M University campus. The NSC refained the remainder onsite.The staff handled a total of 255 ci-ries-in-2002.

~-

5.2. Personnel Monitoring The Personnel Monitoring program covered approximately 59 individuals. All measured doses to personnel were below the limits set forth in 10 CFR 20. Two individuals received whole body dose greater than 10% of the annual limit inlO CFR 20. Those doses were 739 mrem and 927 mrem deep dose equivalent for the year. Airborne monitoring during sample handling continued to show no significant airborne activity. Therefore, total effective dose equivalent will equal deep dose equivalent for 2002. The NSC recorded 7.73 manrem for all of 2002. When total manrem/curie was determined for 2002, the dose per curie equaled 0.03.

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