ML091950580

Annual Operating Report for the University of Utah Triga Nuclear Reactor for the Period of July 2008 Through June 2009

ML091950580
Person / Time
Site:	University of Utah
Issue date:	07/07/2009
From:	Choe D Univ of Utah
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML091950580 (8)

Text

Center for Excellence in Nuclear Technology, Engineering, and Research 07 July, 2009 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington, D.C. 20555 To whom it may concern:

Enclosed is the annual operating report for the University of Utah TRIGA Nuclear Reactor, License No. R-126, Docket number 50-407, for the period of 1 July 2008 through 30 June 2009.

This report fulfills the requirements of the TRIGA technical specifications (TTS) 6.10(5).

If there are any further questions or concerns regarding this report, please contact me at (801) 587-3066 Respectfully, Reactor Administrator 402O

The University of Utah TRIGA Reactor Annual Operating Report for the period 1 July 2008 through 30 June 2009 A. NARRATIVE

1. Operating Experience The University of Utah Center for Excellence in Nuclear Technology, Engineering, and Research (CENTER) TRIGA Reactor, License No. R-126, Docket No. 50-407, was critical 28.400 hours0.00463 days <br />0.111 hours <br />6.613757e-4 weeks <br />1.522e-4 months <br /> and generated 927.072 kilowatt-hours of thermal energy during this reporting year. The reactor was used for educational demonstrations, laboratory experiments, systems tests, power measurements and sample irradiations.

2. Changes in Facility Design The documents supporting a forthcoming upgrade in licensed power from 100 kW to 250 kW are being reviewed by the NRC. Fume hood system for ventilation and radio-chemistry laboratory was upgraded during the period of Oct. 2008 -Dec. 2008.

3. Surveillance Tests Documentation of all surveillance activities is retained and stored by the facility.

a. Control Rod Worth Table 1.

Summary of control rod worth, SDM, and ER Core Configuration #24-B #24-B Date 8/27/08 2/24/09 S~Worth ($) Worth M$

Safety Rod 2.290 2.170 Shim Rod 1.563 1.553 Regulating Rod 0.293 0.323 Excess Reactivity 0.865 0.856 Shutdown Margin 0.991 1.020

b. Control Rod Inspection The Biennial Control Rod Inspection was performed during December 2007.

The control rods were sequentially removed from the reactor core for visual inspection. Each control rod was found to be in good condition with no noticeable deterioration or corrosion having occurred since the last inspection.

Rod drop times were measured on 8/27/08, and 2/24/09. All rod drop times were less than 1.0 seconds.

c. Reactor Power Level Instrumentation Calorimetric power calibrations were performed on 8/28/08, and 2/26/09 with the following results:

Date Measured % Power Calculated Power Level 8/28/08 91.6 89.61 2/26/09 92.0 90.45

d. Fuel Inspection The Biennial Fuel Inspection was performed during December 2007. Each fuel element was visually inspected while keeping it submerged for shielding.

No deterioration or excessive corrosion of in-core fuel elements was observed since the previous inspection. Pool water is sampled and analyzed periodically for evidence of fission product activity indicative of defective or deteriorating fuel. Analyses of pool water following full-power reactor operations lasting several hours have not shown any indication of fission product leakage.

e. Fuel Temperature Calibration Fuel temperature circuits were calibrated on 8/26/08 and 2/26/09. The circuits were calibrated to less than a 2°C error over the range 20'C to 400'C.

f. Reactor Safety Committee Audits Four Audits were completed during this period.

Table 2.

Audit Summary Audit Period auditor Operation and 1 Jan. 2008 to 30 Jun. 2008 Rian B. Smith Maintenance Radiation Safety and 1 Jan. 2008 to 30 Jun. 2008 Rian B. Smith ALARA Operation and 1 Jul. 2008 to 31 Dec. 2008 Rian B. Smith Maintenance Radiation Safety and 1 Jul. 2008 to 31 Dec. 2008 Rian B. Smith ALARA No significant deviations from normal operating practices were identified by these audits.

g. Environmental Surveys Six environmental monitors are located in areas surrounding the CENTER.

Rian B. Smith reported to the RSC a maximum exposure of 50 millirem per quarter to an environmental dosimeter located at building #80 and ERG.

Table 3 contains the average dose recorded for four prior years.

.Table 3.

Summary of environmental monitoring Year Average quarterly readings for the 6 environmental monitors (mrem) 2008 39.26 2007 37.94 2006 36.74 2005 37.53 2004 35.58 2003 36.00 B. ENERGY OUTPUT The reactor was critical for 28.400 hours0.00463 days <br />0.111 hours <br />6.613757e-4 weeks <br />1.522e-4 months <br /> and produced 0.0386 megawatt-days (927.072 kilowatt-hours) of energy during this reporting period. Since initial criticality, the reactor has been operated for a total of 3379.396 hours0.00458 days <br />0.11 hours <br />6.547619e-4 weeks <br />1.50678e-4 months <br /> with an accumulated total energy output of 8.549 megawatt-days (205166.346 kilowatt.hours).

C. EMERGENCY SHUTDOWNS AND INADVERTENT SCRAMS:

Table 4.

Summary of Inadvertent SCRAMS Date Run Type Cause Action Number 3/16/09 1621 Linear Power switch connection- N/A Power Feedback from the reactor power switch 4/08/09 1623 Linear High voltage interrupt from second N/A I_____ IPower floor I There was 2 inadvertent SCRAMs occurred during this period. There were no emergency shutdowns. Summary of the inadvertent scrams are in Table 4.

D. MAJOR MAINTENANCE

1) New computer monitoring system for reactor control panel was installed.

2) Computer based Thermal power calibration, control rod drops measurements, and flow meter reading systems are completed.

3) New fume hood system was installed (Oct. 2008 - Dec. 2008).

E. CHANGES, TESTS AND EXPERIMENTS PURSUANT TO 10 CFR 50.59 As of the end of the reporting period, the current membership of the Reactor Safety Committee (RSC) as designated by the Licensee is as follows:

James M. Byrne, Chair David M. Slaughter, (Resigned from RSC member as of Apr 30, 2009)

Karen Langely, RSO of University of Utah Melinda P. Krahenbuhl Dongok Choe, Reactor Administrator/ Reactor Supervisor Gary M. Sandquist Robert J. Huber James Thompson Rian B. Smith The CENTER staff continues to review and update facility documentation to assure compliance with all applicable regulations.

F. RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS

1. Liquid Waste - Total Activity Released: none

2. Gaseous Waste - Total Estimated Activity Released: 11.475[tCi The TRIGA Reactor was operated for 28.40 hours4.62963e-4 days <br />0.0111 hours <br />6.613757e-5 weeks <br />1.522e-5 months <br /> at power levels up to approximately 90 kW. At this power level argon-41 production is substantially below MPC values for unrestricted areas. The minimum detectable concentration of Ar-41 for the stack monitor has been found to be less than two-third of 10 CFR 20 appendix B limits for release to unrestricted areas. The average annual calculated concentration of Ar-41 generated during operations is estimated at 5.106E-11 tCi/ml approximately 0.002 % of the DAC for this radionuclide. The total amount of Ar-41 released was estimated at 11.475 ýtCi. No phosphorus-32 was released from CENTER during this period. The total amount of all gaseous radioactivity released was estimated at 11.475 tiCi. A monthly summary of gaseous releases is given in Table 5.

Table 5.

Summary of Monthly Gaseous Radioactive Effluent Month Ar-41 (itCi) Estimated Release Total (ptCi)

P-32 and all others July,08 0.0 0 0.0 August,08 2.508 0 2.508 September,08 0.0 0 0.0 October,08 0.0 0 0.0 November,08 0.0 0 0.0 December,08 0.045 0 0.045 January,09 0.076 0 0.076 February,09 2.496 0 2.496 March,09 0.762 0 0.762 April,09 4.165 0 4.165 May,09 1.212 0 1.212 June,09 0.210 0 0.210 Total Activity of gaseous effluent: 11.475 ýtCi

3. Solid Waste - Total Activity: None No solid waste material was sent to the Radiological Health Department for disposal during the period of 1 July 2008 through 30 June 2009.

G. RADIATION EXPOSURES Personnel with duties in the reactor laboratory on either a regular or occasional basis have been issued an OSL dosimeter by the University of Utah Radiological Health Department. The duty category and monitoring period of personnel are summarized in Table 6.

Table 6.

Summary of Monitored Personnel Name Monitoring Period Duty Category Dong-ok Choe 7/01/07-6/30/08 Regular Brian A. Harper 7/01/07-6/30/08 Regular Douglas Crawford 7/01/07-6/30/08 Regular Jorge Navarro 7/01/07-6/30/08 Regular Brandalyn Bassett 7/01/07-6/30/08 Regular Margaret Fitch 7/01/07-6/30/08 Regular Randall W Morrill 7/01/07-6/30/08 Regular/Terminated David M Slaughter 7/01/07-6/30/08 Regular Craig L. Seth 10/01/07-6/30/08 Regular/Terminated Read A. Edward 7/01/07-6/30/08 Regular/Terminated Ward L. Steven 10/01/07-6/30/08 Regular Chazell E. Russell 2/01/08-6/30/08 Regular/Terminated Kingston J. Micha 2/01/08-6/30/08 Regular Minjeong Cho 4/01/09-6/30/09 Regular Jonathan Gebel 3/01/09-6/30/09 Regular Measured Doses 7/1/06-6/30/07 Doses: <5 mrem average; 5 mrem highest measured Dose Equivalent Limit Maximum Permissible Dose Equivalent = 5000 mrem/year (1250/quarter).

Minimum Detectable Dose per Monthly Badge = 10 mrem.

Four hundred and thirty five (435) individuals visited the reactor facility during the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009. None of the visitors received a measurable dose. A summary of whole body exposures to CENTER personnel is presented in Table 7.

Table 7.

Summary of Whole Body Exposures Estimated whole body exposure range Number of individuals in each range:

(rem):

No Measurable Dose 1 (Less than 0. 10) 1 0.10 to 0.25 0 0.25 to 0.50 0 0.50 to 0.75 0 0.75 to 1.00 0 1.00 to 2.00 0 2.00 to 3.00 0 3.00 to 4.00 0 4.00 to 5.00 0 Greater than 5rem 0 H. LABORATORY SURVEYS Monthly surveys of the facility were conducted by the University of Utah Radiological Health Department during the reporting period. The surveys have not indicated any unusual radiation levels over previous years. Records of surveys are retained by the facility.

I. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES Environmental monitoring conducted by the University of Utah Radiological Health Department indicated no unusual dose rates in the areas surrounding the Merrill Engineering Building, which houses the reactor facility.

Prepared by: Date: 7~

Submitted by: Date: f/ý"P; Reactor Supervisor Approved by: Date: 36-Reactor Administrator