ML15043A032

Us Dept of Interior, Geological Survey - Submittal of 2014 Annual Report

ML15043A032
Person / Time
Site:	U.S. Geological Survey
Issue date:	02/03/2015
From:	Timothy Debey US Dept of Interior, Geological Survey (USGS)
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML15043A032 (7)

Text

.USGS science for a changingworld Department of the Interior US Geological Survey Box 25046 MS-974 Denver CO,. 80.225 February 3,2015 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington DC 20555

Dear NRC staff,

The 2014 annual report is herein submitted for the U.S. Geological Survey TRIGA non-power reactor facility. This report is generated in compliance with our license conditions.

The facility docket number is 50-274.

Sincerely, Timothy M. DeBe Reactor Supervisor Enclosure Copy to:

Geoffrey Wertz OWFN 12 D20

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TRIGA REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT JANUARY 1, 2014 - DECEMBER 31, 2014 NRC LICENSE No. R-113 DOCKET NO. 50-274 I. Personnel Changes:

Michael Feller terminated his student employment on 8/14/2014.

I1. Operating Experience

'The Geological Survey TRIGA Reactor (GSTR),was in normal operation for the year 2014. No major facility changes were made during the year.

A synopsis of irradiations'performed during the year is given below, listed by the organization submitting the samples to the reactor staff:

Organization Number of Samples USGS -INAA 1349 USGS - Geochronology 626 USGS - other 46 Non-USGS 3575 Total 5596 A. Thermal power calibrations were performed in March, July, and September, with minor adjustments made to the instrumentation.

B. During the report period, 200 daily checklists and 12 monthly checklists were completed in compliance with technical specifications requirements for surveillance of the reactor facility.

C. Tours were provided to individuals and groups during the year for a total visitor count of approximately 535. ..

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III. Tabulation of Energy Generated '

MWh operated Critical hours Pulses Jan 47.895 51h 3m 0 Feb 12.021 14h 16m 0 Mar 52.129 54h 49m 0 60.067 62h 35m 0 May 49.585 52h 15m 0 June 42.333 44h 28m 0 July 20.636 24h 55m 0 Aug 67.567 70h 12m 0 Sept 22.724 25h 28m 0 Oct 95.055 104h 24m 1 Nov 28.322 36h 37m 4 Dec 51.583 53h 44m 0 Totals 549.917 594h 46m 5 IV. Unscheduled Shutdowns Number Date Cause 1.118 2/28/14 NPP high power; cause could not be identified 1119 5/7/14 NPP high power due to a nearby lightning strike and associated electrical noise.

1120 12/23/14 Loss of control system communication due to UIT computer power supply failure.

V. Significant Maintenance Operations 2/14 Replaced ion exchange resin and prefilter cartridges 4/14 Replaced purification prefilter with activated carbon filters 4/14 Replaced "rod down" and "drive up" limit switches on Shim 2 4/14 Replaced water temperature and fuel temperature Action Pak modules with universal signal conditioners, as approved by Reactor Committee 5/14 Replaced lower pulley on cooling tower fan drive 5/14 Replaced west sleeve bearing on cooling tower fan drive with a ball bearing

.7/14 Replaced all neoprene diaphragms in associated primary water system valves (one in purification system and two in primary piping of heat exchanger outlet) 7/14 Replaced output, transistor on "failure" signal. line for RAM 10 7/14 Replaced ion exchange resin, 2

9/14. Removed CT from tank, cleaned and reinstalled 9/14 Moved control console to west wall-of.control room 10/14 Replaced main exhaust-motor 10/14 Replaced west bearing on cooling tower fan drive 11/14 Replaced piping on purification system from outlet of flow meter to tank discharge 12/14 Replaced UIT (control console) computer VI. Summary of 10 CFR 50.59 changes No 50.59 changes were made to the facility in CY 2014. Two activities were screened for 50.59 applicability and both were evaluated to not require a full 50.59 evaluation or NRC approval.

VII. Radioactivity Releases A. Listed below are the total amounts of radioactive gaseous effluents released to the environment beyond the effective control of the reactor facility.

Table 1. Gaseous Effluents Released to the Environment Month Argon-41 R-113 License Tritium -HTO IOCFR20 Allowable (mCi)

• Allowable P) (Ci) (mCi)

January 0.494 5.833 0.00 124 February 0.370 5.833 0.10 124 March 0.599 5.833 0.00 124 April 1.184 5.833 0.13 124 May 2.175 5.833 0.17 124 June 2.359 5.833 0.00 124 July 1.227 5.833 0.03 __ 124 August 1.558 5.833 0.26 124 September 0.750 5.833 0.13 124 October 0.323 5.833 0.00 124 November 0.963 5.833 0.16 124 December 1.015 5.833 0.10 124 Total 13.017 70.00 1.08 1488

% of Allowable .18.60% 0.073%

Note:. The tritium concentrations 'are estimates based on the amount of water lost by evaporation from the reactor multiplied by the concentration of tritium as HTO.

Tritium sample analyses were performed by Test America Laboratories.

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B. No liquid releases were made during calendar year, 2014. One 55-gallon drum of solid waste was shipped to Clive, Utah during the calendar year, 2014. Part of the waste in this drum was from the reactor facility.

C. Throughout the year Na-24, Cr-51, Co-60, Ce-139, Ce-141, Au-198, Mn-56, Zn-65, Br-82, Br-82m, Br-80, and Br-80m were observed on the CAM filter analyses.

The conservative estimated releases for these isotopes are in Table 2.

Table 2. Releases of Other Isotopes in 2014.

Isotope pCi pCi/ml 10 CFR 20 limits (uCiiml)  % of limit Na-24 3.39E-02 2.28E-15 7.00E-09 3.26E-05 Cr-51 7.03E-04 4.72E-17 3.OOE-08 1.57E-07 Co-60 9.64E-05 6.48E-18 2.OOE-10 3.24E-06 Ce-139 4.01E-06 2.69E-19 9.00E-10 2.99E-08 Ce-141 1.64E-05 1.10E-18 8.0OE-10 1.37E-07 Au-198 4.16E-06 2.80E-19 2.OOE-09 1.40E-08 Mn-56 1.63E+00 1.09E-13 2.OOE-08 5.46E-04 Zn-65 4.96E-05 3.34E-18' 4.OOE-10 8.34E-07 Br-82 6.63E+01 4.45E-12 5.OOE-09 8.90E-02 Br-82m 8.18E+01 5.50E-12 1.OOE-09 5.50E-01 Br-80 9.91E+01 6.66E-12 3.OOE-07 2.22E-03 Br-80m 6.83E+01 4.59E-12 2.00E-08 2.29E-02 VIII. Radiation Monitoring Our program to monitor and control radiation exposures included the four major elements below during the operating year.

1. Nineteen gamma-sensitive area monitors are located throughout the Nuclear Science Buildipj-.A remote readout panel is located in the reactor health physics office. High alarm set points range from 2 mR/hr to 50 mR/hr. High level alarms are very infrequent and due to sample movements.

2. One Continuous Air Monitor (CAM) does sampling of the air in the reactor bay.

An equilibrium concentration of about 1.5 x 10-8 ýtCi/ml present for two minutes will result in an increase of about 500 cpm above background. The alarm setpoints are a low-level alarm set at 3000 cpm (changed to 5000 cpm in October) and the high level alarm set at 10000 cpm. Reactorbay.air is sampled during all reactor operations.

The fixed particulate air filter is changed each week and counted on a HPGE gamma spectrometer counting system. The charcoal filter, fitted behind the. particulate air filter, is also changed and counted weekly. In all instances, sample data were less than airborne concentration values in 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table 2 for all particulate radioisotopes produced by the reactor.

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3. Contamination wipe surveys and radiation surveys with portable survey instruments are performed at least once a month. All portable instruments are.

calibrated with a 3-Curie (initial activity) Cs-1 37 source traceable to NBS, and wipes are counted on a Gamma Products G5000w low-level counting system. The highest removable contamination found was equal to 940.1 pCi/100 cm 2 beta-gamma, located in the reactor bay on the floor near the north wall, just east of the lead storage cave.

This area was successfully decontaminated below MDA. The next highest removable contamination found was equal to 238.8 pCi/1 00 cm 2 beta-gamma, located in the reactor bay on the floor just south of the white table. No areas were greater than 4.4 pCi/1 00 cm 2 alpha contamination. This area did not require decontamination.

The roof area over the reactor tank is roped off and posted as a radiation area (averaging 2.5 mR/hr) during 1 MW operations.

4. LiF TLD dosimeters were used at seven outdoor environmental stations.

Reactor facility visitors are issued self-reading dosimeters. Reactor staff personnel are issued beta, gamma, albedo neutron badges.

Table 3. Personnel Monitoring Results (1211/12 - 11/30/13)

Whole Body (Rem) Whole Body (Rem)

Employee code Deep Dose Equiv. Shallow Dose Equiv. Extremity (Rem)

E0888 0.438 0.499 0.897 E0607 0.224 0.235 .0.925 E0707 0.511 0.635 1.147 E0908 0.170 0.568 0.760 E0712 0.033 0.033 0.070 E0614 0.000 0.000 0.000 Reactor visitors and occasional experimenters wore pocket dosimeters that resulted in no individual's reading that was greater than 1.0 mrem per a visit and no cumulative total greater than 4.5 mrem.

Table 4. Environmental Dose Results Dose Dose Dose Dose Total Location Jan-Mar Apr-June July-Sept. Oct.- Dec.

(RAD) (RAD) (RAD) (RAD) (RAD)

Exhaust Stack 0.093 0.053 0.041 0.055 0.242 Cooling Tower 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Fence West Vehicle 0.036 0.017 0.000 0.000 0.053 Gate 5

West 11Gt RoomI 0.086 .. 0.071 .0.076 0.223 151 Gate .,0.066 Southwest 0.000 0.000 0.000 .. 0.000 0.000 Light Pole.

Control badge 0.052 0.051 0.052 0.054 0.209 (background)

Southeast Souht 0.000 0.000, 0.000 0.000 0.000 Light Pole___ ____

Rx Fence Loadinck 0.101 0.055 0.053 0.086 0.209 Loading Dock Note: Above totals have the background subtracted (see control badge). All TLDs were supplied and analyzed by Mirion Technologies.

X. Environmental Monitoring There were several isotopes detected on the CAM filters throughout the year resulting in very small releases of Na-24, Cr-51, Co-60, Ce-139, Ce-141, Au-198, Mn-56, Zn-65, Br-82, Br-82m, Br-80, and Br-80m through the normal air exhaust on the roof. The amounts released are shown in Table 2. Routine biennial environmental soil and water samples were taken in the summer of 2014. The soil samples were analyzed on high-purity germanium detectors. The water samples were analyzed on a low background alpha/beta counter. No reactor produced-isotopes were found in the soil samples and all sample results are consistent with historical data.

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