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U.S. Geological Survey - Transmittal of 2015 Annual Report
	ML16032A166
Person / Time
Site:	U.S. Geological Survey
Issue date:	01/12/2016
From:	Timothy Debey; US Dept of Interior, Geological Survey (USGS)
To:	; Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
	Download: ML16032A166 (7)
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science for a changing world Department of the Interior US Geological Survey Box 25046 MS-974 Denver GO, 80225 January 12, 2016 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington DC 20555

Dear NRC staff,

Enclosed is the 2015 annual report for the U.S. Geological Survey TRIGA non-power reactor facility.

The facility docket number is 50-274.

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

Geoffrey Wertz OWFN 12 D20

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TRIGA REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT JANUARY 1, 2015- DECEMBER 31, 2015 NRC LICENSE No. R-113 DOCKET NO. 50-274 I. Personnel Changes:

Alex Buehrle terminated his employment at the reactor facility on 2/20/2015.

Clayton Manning was hired as a full-time employee at the reactor facility on 7/13/2015.

I1. Operating Experience The Geological Survey TRIGA Reactor (GSTR) was in normal operation for the year 2015. 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:

Orqianization Number of Samples USGS - INAA 537 USGS - Geochronology 1423 USGS - other 60 Non-USGS ... .... 3025 Total 5045 A.

withThermal power calibrations minor adjustments made to were the performed in March, May, and September, instrumentation.

B. During the report period, 197 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 550.

IlI. Tabulation of Energy Generated MWh operated Critical hours Pulses 73.644 77h 33m 0 Jan Feb 75.597 77h 30m 0 Ma_.r 51 .947 54h 35m 0 39.933 41h 47m 0 May 55.963 65h 33m 0 June 27.498 30h 34m 0 July 61.758 66h 04m 0 59.480 63h 53m 0 11.583 16h 56m 0 Octt 79.479 86h 04m 4 Nov 63.520 70h 00m 0 Dec 92.533 97h 44m 0 Totals 692.935 748h 13m 4 IV. Unscheduled Shutdowns No unscheduled shutdowns occurred in 2015.

V. Significant Maintenance Operations 1/15 Vacuumed bottom of tank and other horizontal surfaces in tank 1/15 Replaced CAM detector with new LND detector 2/15 Replaced west belt on normal exhaust fan for reactor bay 2/15 CSC computer power supply failed; replaced unit with Thermaltake 650W 3/15 Replaced Action Pak modules with Universal Signal Conditioners for: power bar graphs #1 and #2, temp test, time delay, magnet voltage and magnet ground 3/15 Replaced Magnehelic air flow gauge on CAM with Photohelic 3008MR gauge 4/15 Moved CAM DC power supply, signal conditioners, and Ludlum 375 from standard wall socket to AC power from large UPS in reactor bay 5/15 Replaced prefilter in emergency exhaust duct 5/15 Replaced batteries in RAMs 4, 7, and 14 5/15 Replaced battery in UPS for Panther unit 5/15 Replaced all batteries in large UPS in reactor bay 5/15 Replaced window on swipe counter proportional detector 5/15 Replaced hard drive on Ar-41 monitor computer; installed Genie 2000 5/15 Replaced battery in Ludlum 375 that is part of the CAM 5/15 Replaced "drive down" limit switch on Reg Rod drive 2

6/15 Replaced ion exchange resin and replaced gasket at top of ion exchange tank 6/15 Cleaned -8 nozzles and replaced 2 cracked nozzles on cooling tower 6/15 Replaced "T" connectors on HV & input for NPP1000 with "inline" connectors 7/15 Replaced Shim 1 "drive down" limit switch 7/15 Replaced sump pump in secondary system sump. New pump is Flotec Professional Model E75VLT with motor: 3/4 HP, 115SV, 80 GPM flow with 25 ft immersion height 8/15 Replaced ion exchange resin in Rm 151 DI water system 8/15 Added low pressure switch and LED indicator to secondary makeup water line 9/15 Replaced PB4 circuit board for OP3 with spare PB4 board from 0P4 position in DAC; reused all solid state relay modules 11/15 Added blowdown line to clear debris in cooling tower header drain line 12/15 Replaced in-tank light on west side of reactor tank VI. Summary of 10 CFR 50.59 changes No 50.59 changes were made to the facility in CY 2014. Four activities were screened for 50.59 applicability and all 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 in CY 2015 Month Argon-41 R-113 License Tritiumu -HTO I0CFR20 Allowable (mCi)

Allowable

{~(Ci)

(Ci)____ (mCi)

January 1.282 5.833 0.12 124 February 1.277 5.833 0.11 124 March 1.166 5.833 0.0 124 April 0.775 5.833 0.13 124 May 0.966 5.833 0.0 124 June 0.408 5.833 0.10 124 July 0.705 . . .. 5.833 . .. 0.00 . ... 124 August 0.901 5.833 0.10 124 September 0.051 5.833 0.0 124 October 0.914 5.833 0.0 124 November 0.898 5.833 0.13 124 December 0.989 5.833 0.14 124 Total 10.332 70.00 0.83 1488

% of Allowable 14.760%----------0.056%

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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 ALS Laboratories.

B. No liquid releases were made during the 2015 calendar year. One 55-gallon drum of solid waste from the reactor facility was shipped to a waste broker in California for ultimate burial in Clive, Utah.

C. Throughout the year Na-24, Mn-54, Co-60, Cu-64, Br-82, 1-133, Cs-I137, and Re-186 were observed on the CAM filter analyses. Conservative estimated releases for these isotopes are in Table 2.

Table 2. Releases of Other Isotopes in CY 2015.

Isotope pCi pCi/ml 10 CFR 20 limit (uCi/ml) % of limit Na-24 1.78E-03 1.20E-16 7.00E-09 1.71E-06 Mn-54 1.11E-05 7.46E-19 1.00E-09 7.46E-08 Co-60 1.56E-05 1.05E-18 5.00E-11 2.I0E-06 Cu-64 6.23E-03 4.16E-16 3.00E-08 1'.39E-06 Br-82 7.05E-03 4.74E-16 5.00E-09 9.48E-06 I-133* 3.83E-05 2.57E- 18 1.00E-09 2.57E-07 Cs-137* 6.29E-05 4.23E- 18 2.00E- 10 2.12E-06 Re-186 6.13E-03 4.12E-16 2.O0E-09 2.06E-05

Note that these two isotopes are fission products. However, during the time period that these were detected (mid-August, 2015), the Denver, CO area was experiencing significant smoke in the atmosphere from large wildfires both in the Pacific Northwest part of the U.S. and the northwest part of Colorado. Smoke advisories were in effect in Denver and the GSTR CAM filters were accumulating significant smoke particles along with material that was made airborne through the fires. There were none of the "traditional" fission products seen that would have indicated a fuel element leak at the GSTR. After the smoke cleared, these fission products were no longer detected.

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 Building. 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.

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An 2.equilibrium One Continuous Air Monitor concentration (CAM) of about 1.5 xdoes 10-8 sampling of the for

tCi/ml present air two in theminutes reactor bay.

will result in an increase of about 500 cpm above background. The alarm setpoints are a low-level alarm set at 5000 cpm and the high level alarm set at 10000 cpm. Reactor bay 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 allowable airborne concentrations given in 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table 2 for all particulate radioisotopes produced by the reactor.

3. Contamination wipe surveys and portable instrument radiation surveys are performed at least once a month. The portable instruments are calibrated with a 3-Curie (initial activity) Cs-I137 source traceable to NBS, and wipes are counted on a Gamma Products G5000W low-level counting system. The highest removable contamination found was 582.3 p0i/100 cm 2 beta-gamma, located in the reactor bay on the floor between the demineralizer pump and the west table. This area was successfully decontaminated below MDA. The next highest removable contamination found was 350.7 pCi/I100 cm 2 beta-gamma in the reactor bay on the center of~the westernmost table; this did not require decontamination. No areas were greater than 11.7 pCi/I100 cm 2 alpha contamination, which does 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. TLD dosimeters were used at seven outdoor environmental stations. Reactor facility visitors are issued self-reading electronic dosimeters. Reactor staff personnel are issued beta, gamma, albedo neutron badges.

Table 3. Personnel Monitoring Results (12/1/14- 11/30/15)

Employee code Whole Body Equiv.

(Rem) Whole Body Exrmt(R)

Deep Dose Shallow Dose (Rem)

Equiv. Eteiy(en E0888 0.276 0.280 0.475 E0607 0.038 0.038 0.126 E0707 0.255 0,256 0.637

...E0908 0.084 .... ... 0.086 ... 0.31;4 E0615 0.000 0.000 0.000 E0715 0.025 0.025 0.000 Reactor visitors and occasional experimenters wore electronic pocket dosimeters that resulted in no individual's reading greater than 1.3 mrem per a visit and no cumulative total annual dose greater than 4.6 mrem.

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Table 4. Environmental Dose Results (Oct 2014 through Sept 2015 Dose Dose Dose Dose Total Location Oct.- Dec. Jan-Mar Apr-June July-Sept, (RAD) (RAD) (RAD) (RAD) (RAD)

Exhaust Stack 0.055 0.044 0.000 0.043 0.142 Coolngcoer 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 WestVhe 0.000 0.033 0.022 0.013 0.068 West Room 0.076 0.070 0.059 0.054 0.259 SouthwetPl 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Control badge 0,054 0.048 0.063 0.057 0.222

(b ackg ro u nd ) _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Suhat0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Light Pole Rx Fence Lodnok 0.086 0.102 0.065 0.050 0.303 the background subtracted (see control badge). All TLDs Note:

were supplied and have Above totals 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 non-gaseous isotopes throughout the year. The isotopes of Na-24, Mn-54, Co-60, Cu-64, Br-82, 1,133, Cs-I137, and Re-I186 were discharged through the normal air exhaust above the roof of the reactor bay. The amounts released are shown in Table 2. Routine biennial environmental soil and water samples were taken in the summer of 2014 and will be taken again in 2016.

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