ML072350098

Annual Operating Report for the Washington State University Triga Reactor for July 1, 2006 Through June 30, 2007

ML072350098
Person / Time
Site:	Washington State University
Issue date:	08/13/2007
From:	Wall D Washington State Univ
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML072350098 (8)

Text

WASHINGTON STATE tUNIVERSITY Nuclear Radiation Center August 13t1h 2007 Document Control Desk U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Re: Docket No. 50-27; Facility License R-76 In accordance with Technical Specifications for Facility License R-76 and the provisions of 10 CFR 5 0.5 9, paragraph (6), the attached Annual Report prepared by Eric Corwin, Reactor Supervisor of the WSU Facility, is hereby submitted. The report covers the period July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007.

Sincerely, alal Dr. Donald Wall, Facility Director PO Box 641 300, Pullman, WA 991 64-1 300 Ao2D 509-335-8641 e Fax: 509-335-4433 e www.wsu.edu/-nrc W4Z

ANNUAL REPORT ON TIHE OPERATION OF TILE WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY TRIGA REACTOR Facility License R-76 for the Reporting Period of July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 A. Narrative Summary of the Year's Operation

1. Operating Experience The Washington State University Reactor has accumulated 1272.53 Megawatt hours on core 34-A during the reporting period. A total of 542 samples were irradiated, for a total of 11,521.45 user-hours. In addition, 18 pulses greater than $1.00 of reactivity addition were performed during this reporting period. The quarterly operations summaries are shown in Table I Section B.

HI. Changes In Facility Design, Performance Characteristics, and Operating Procedures Related to Reactor Safety.

Only one major upgrade to the facility was performed during the reporting period. The Fuel Temperature Indication System was replaced under a IlOCFR50.59 change as approved by the WSU R'eactor Safeguards Committee. All changes were performed according to appropriate procedures.

III. All surveillance tests and requirements were performed and completed within the prescribed time period.

B. Energy and Cumulative Output The quarterly operations summaries are given in Table 1.

TABLE I Fiscal Year Summary of Reactor Operations J-A-S O-N-D J-F-M A-M-J TOTALS Hours of Operation 286.63 366.77 412.38 355.33 1,421.11 Megawatt Hours 277.27 329.54 356.97 308.75 1272.53 No of Sample Irradiations' 35 28 15 33 111 No. of Samples 192 96 110 144 542 No. of Iridium Cans 21 18 30 21 90 Irradiated No. of Silicon Containers 12 4 0 6 22 Irradiated User Hours 2,807.03 2,374.38 3,612.70 2,727.34 11,521.45 No. Pulses >$1.00 0 1 7 5 6 18

'This table has been modified for clarity. Numbers of Samples and Sample Irradiations do not include Iridium and Silicon data. Those data are listed in individual format. User hours denotes the total user hours, including Iridium. and Silicon.

2)

The cumulative energy output since criticality of the TRIGA core (1967) is 1173 Megawatt Days, The mixed core of FLIP and Standard fuels installed in 1976 has accumulated 907 Megawatt Days.

C. Emergency Shutdowns and Inadvertent Scrams There were no emergency shutdowns that occurred during the reporting period. The dates and causes of the 15 inadvertent SCRAMS are listed in Table II. No SCRAMS were due to a violation of the Limiting Safety Systems Set points.

TABLE II Inadvertent SCRAMS 9/25/06 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcing scram.

9/28/06 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcmig scram.

9/28/06 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcing

_________scram.

9/28/06 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcing scram.

9/28/06 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcing scram.

10/2/06 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcing scram.

10/2/06 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcing scram.

10/16/06 Operator placed mode switch into "test" instead of "rundown".

1/26/07 Fuel Temperature scram due to maintenance. No limits exceeded.

2/15/07 Manual air scram due to low air pressure.

4/12/07 Linear Power SCRAM due to Iridium handling.

5/8/07 Loss of building power.

5/8/07 Loss of building power.

5/8/0 7 Loss of building power.

5/8/0 7 Loss of building power.

3 D. Major Maintenance All routine planned maintenance items were completed within the reporting period. A single major upgrade was completed during this reporting period; the replacement of the fuel temperature indication system.

E. Changes, Tests and Experiments performed Under 10 CFR 50.59 Criteria The Fuel Temperature Indication System was replaced in September 2006 under a 50.59 change. Approval for this change was granted by the WSU Reactor Safeguards Committee in December of 2005. The notice of change was submitted to the Commission in January of 2007.

All upgrades were made in accordance with applicable procedures and no major complications resulted.

F. Radioactive Effluent Discharges

1. Radioactive Liquid Releases A total of 0.0 microcuries was released in 11,470.3 1 gallons of liquid during the reporting period. As determined by calibrated LJPGe detectors and associated software, there was no detectable activity in the waste water that was greater than background. A breakdown of the liquid releases is shown in Table III.

TABLE III Radioactive Liquid Releases Date [Volume Released Volume Released Activity (jiCi)

(cu. feet) (gallons) 8/25/06 972.37 7,273.80 0.0 6/18/06 560.99 4,196.51 0.0

4

2. Radioactive Gaseous Release During the reporting period, no significant quantity of any gaseous or particulate material with a half-life greater that eight days was released.

During the reporting period, at no time did the Argon-41 release exceed 20% of the Effluent Release Limit.

A total of 11.988 Curies of Argon-41 was released, with an average concentration of Argon-41 of 1.82 x 10-7 uCi/cc before dilution. The monthly releases are summarized in Table IV on Page 4.

TABLEI-V Monthly Argon-41 Releases Conc. Before  % Release Limit  % DAC Limit Quantity mCi Month Dilution, uCi/ml Before Dilution' Before Dilution 2 July 2006 1.17 1E-07 4.68 0.0156 644 August 1.210E-07 4.84 0.0161 665 September 1.147E-07 4.59 0.0153 631 October 7.509E-08 3.00 0.0100 413 November 1.594E-07 6.37 0.0213 877 December 4.343E-07 17.37 0.0579 2389 January 2007 3.234E-07 12.94 0.0431 1779 Ferury1.837E-07 7.35 0.0245 1010 March 2.596E-07 10.38 0.0346 1428 April6.612E-08 2.64 0.0088 364 May 1.738E-07 6.95 0.0232 956 June 1.5 14E-07 6.06 0.0202 832 1'Based on 10 CFR 20 effluent release limit of l.0xIO08 uCi/ml for 4lAr (Table 2, Col.l1), and a dilution factor of 4.0xl 0- 3 (S.A.R. 6.4.2) for a before dilution limit of 2.5x10-6 uCi/cc. (20% of limit is 5.0x 0-7 uCi/MI).

2Bsdon 10 CFR 20 DAC limit of 3. Oxl10- uCi/ml for Ar-41 (Table 1, Col. 3) and a dilution factor of 4.0x 10-3 for a before dilution DAC limit of 7.5x 10- uCi/mI.

3. Radioactive Solid Waste Disposal During the reporting period, the following solid waste was transferred to the WSU Radiation Safety Office for packaging and disposal:

0 61.823 millicuries in 33.352 cubic feet of non-compacted solid waste.

5 G. Personnel and Visitor Radiation Exposures The quarterly exposures of selected Nuclear Radiation Center reactor staff and experimenters who routinely utilize the W.S.U. reactor are given in Table V on Page 5. The maximum quarterly exposure of a reactor staff member was 47 millirem, whole body.

A total of 1772 individual persons visited the Nuclear Radiation Center during the reporting period, of which 1204 entered a Restricted Area. All exposures as determined by digital pocket dosimeter were less than I millirem.

A total of 44 group tours, consisting of 335 individuals, visited the~nter during the reporting period. As determined by digital pocket dosimeter, all exposures were less than 1 millirem.

TABLE V Quarterly Reactor and Experimenter Staff Exposure (in millirem)

Badge No. Jul-Aug-Sep Oct-Nov-Dec Jan-Feb-Mar Apr-May 20072

___________ 2006 2006 2007 ________

6296 5 10 11 32 4045 -16 -17 3504 ______1____1 22 7108 22 22 14 26 5718 9 47 25 39 1035 __ _ __ _ __ _ 2 __ _ __ _ __ _ 15

'The "-" denotes a dosimeter reading that is less than or equal to the background radiation level for that quarter.

2 Data for the Month of June and the 2nd Quarter 2007 totals was not received at the time of submittal.

H. Reactor Facility Radiation and Contamination Levels The routine area radiation surveys of the building in non-reactor vital areas' had an average dose level of 0. 170 mR/Hr., while routinely accessible reactor vital areas had an average dose level of 0.659 mR/Hr. The highest average dose level in a routinely accessible reactor vital area was 4.186 mR/H4r., which occurred in Room 201 East, behind a shielded storage area. The lowest average dose in a routinely accessible reactor vital area was 0.040 mR/H4r., which occurred in Room 201 B, the Reactor Shop area. The average dose in the radiochemistry sample hoods was 1.462 mR!H~r. The highest average on site dose level was 8.904 mRIHr., which occurred in Room 2 East. This area is accessible only through a locked room, and is not accessible to the public.

6 Routine building surveys for removable contamination in non-reactor vital areas' had an average level of 1.26 x 1O06 jiCil100 cm2 , while the average level in the reactor vital areas was 1.55 X 10-16 p.Ci/ 100 cm 2 . The highest average value in the reactor vital areas was 4.56 x 10-06 jiCi/100 cm 2which was found on the Thermal Column in Room 2. The lowest average value in the reactor vital areas was 1.04 X101 6 [LCi/100 cm2 -which was in Room 106, the Ion Exchanger Room. The average level of removable contamination in the radiochemistry hoods was 1.72 X10-6 jiCi/lO10cm2 .

SA non-reactor vital area is an area in the building where radioactive materials are used or stored but which is not a part of the licensed reactor facility.

1. Environmental Monitoring Program The environmental monitoring program uses thermoluminecent dosimeters (TLD's) at locations both near and at distances around the reactor facility building. The quarterly exposures in the vicinity of the Nuclear Radiation Center are listed in Table VI. The average ambient gamma radiation levels for this area (80 mile radius) is 243 ptRem/day as reported in the 30th Annual Report of the Environmental Radiation Program, Washington State Department of Health, Environmental Health Program, Table A- 12, Page 13 1.

In comparison to a large decorative granite structure located in the center of the WSU campus, a structure freely accessible to the public, the values observed indicate there is no significant effect on the environmental radiation levels due to reactor operation.

TABLE VI Environmental Radiation Levels in the Vicinity of the Nuclear Radiation Center' (Exposure in jýiRemlday)

Jul-Aug-Sep Oct-Nov-Dec Jan-Feb-Mar Apr-May-Jun Average 2006 2006 2007 2007 465.53 448.79 498.38 408.14 455.21 489.802 483.52' 486.492 352.94 2453. 192 For sampling stations located 25 meters or greater from the Nuclear Radiation Center.

2TLD attached to "decorative" granite display on Compton Union Building Mall approximately 1300 meters from the Nuclear Radiation Center.

7 Quarterly exposures at locations adjacent to the reactor facility are listed in Table VI11. No significant effect on the environmental radiation levels by reactor operation was noted.

TABLE VII Environmental Radiation Levels Adjacent to the Nuclear Radiation Center' (Exposure in pRemlday)

Location Jul-Aug-Sep Oct-Nov-Dec Jan-Feb-Mar Apr-May-Jun Average

_____________ 04 04 05' 05 E. Loading Dock 418.37 450.55 486.49 400 438.85 Rad. Storage Shed 704.08 703.3 783.78 '635.29 706.61 Rx RmE. Secr. Gate 459.18 461.54 500 423.53 461.06 Cooling Tower Fence 581.63 461.54 594.59 ý7 517.65 538.85 Liquid Waste Tank 510.2 428.57 527.03 400 466.45 Building Roof West 1112.24 670.33 1054.05 835.29 917.98 Building W. Side 479.59 472.53 513.51 388.24 463.47 Rx. Room Exh. Vent 500 483.52 500 411.76 473.82 Rx. Room W. Vent 2 540.82 648.35 554.05 470.59 553.45 Pool Room E. Vent 459.18 868.13 513.51 400 560.21 Building Roof East 459.18 450.55 459.46 388.24 439.36 S. Bldg. Entrance 469.39 494.51 472.97 411.76 462.16 SFor sampling stations located less than 25 meters from the Nuclear Radiation Center.

2 pool Room West Vent. TLD on roof, directly above reactor core.

BOLD print locations indicate areas that are readily accessible by the public.

Technical Specifications ALARA effluent releases in 3.12(2) specify annual radiation exposures at the closest off-site extended occupancy shall not, on an annual basis, exceed the average local off-site background radiation level by more than 20%. For the reporting period, the average total background radiation level for sampling points 25 meters or greater firom the facility was 455.21 p.R/day, while the average total radiation level at the closest extended occupied area 930 meters away was 448.34 [tR/day, indicating no significant exposure level above natural background.