ML18361A571
| ML18361A571 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Pennsylvania State University |
| Issue date: | 12/21/2018 |
| From: | Geuther J Penn State College of Engineering |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML18361A571 (6) | |
Text
PennState College of Engineering RADIATION SCIENCE & The Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-865-6351 Breazeale Nuclear Reactor Fax: 814-863-4840 ENGINEERING CENTER University Park, PA 16802-230 I Email: lon12@psu .ed u December 21, 2018 Attention Document Control Desk US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 To Whom It May Concern:
Enclosed please find the Annual Operating Report for the Penn State Breazeale Reactor (PSBR) located at the Radiation Science and Engineering Center. This report covers the period from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, as required by our Facility Operating License R-2, Appendix A, Section 6.6.1.
Please contact me with any questions you have regarding this report.
Sincerely,
,b~~
Acting Director Associate Director for Operations Radiation Science and Engineering Center 104 Breazeale Nuclear Reactor University Park, PA 16802
Enclosures:
Annual Operating Report, FY 17-18 cc: N. Sharkey J. Schwartz A. Atchley T. Litzinger Y.Guo X. Yin-NRC W. Schuster - NRC D. Morrell - DOE College of Engineering An Equal Opportunity University
Penn State Breazeale Reactor Annual Operating Report, FY 2017 - 2018 License R~2, Docket 50-005 Reactor Utilization The Radiation Science and Engineering Center (RSEC) houses the Penn State Breazeale Reactor (PSBR}, a TRIGA Mark Ill reactor capable of 1 MW steady state operation and pulses of up to 2000 MW peak power. Utilization of the reactor and its associated facilities falls into three major categories:
Education The RSEC's several radiation laboratories allow for an interactive learning environment and supply the equipment necessary for several Nuclear Engineering courses. The RSEC hosts about 3000 visitors each year for public outreach and educational support. These visits vary from graduate level classes to middle school field trips. Our facility also strives to education members of the public about the many benefits of nuclear power as well as the diverse applications of radiation across several fields of study. Some of the major topics covered in public outreach sessions are radiation basics, nuclear security, and reactor physics.
Research The research performed at the RSEC is associated with several different colleges as the Untversity. RSECstaff, professors, and graduate students all play a key role in maintaining a constant flow of research projects through the facility. The RSEC maintains flexibility with radiation laboratories and equipment fo support research such as thermo-acoustic testing, reactor instrumentation testing, neutron and gamma ray detection, radiation signatures from used fuel elements, neutron activation analysis, and neutron imaging applications.
Service The resources available at the RSEC, paired with the .diverse capabilities of the PSBR, allow us to serve the nuclear industry and satisfy the unique needs of several domestic and international companies. The RSEC is frequently involved in neutron radiography fo_r composition uniformity te~ting as well as providing fast neutron irradiation fluxes to support the nation's defense infrastructure. Also, the RSEC remail')s at the forefront of neutron transmission testing for spent fuel storage and equipment to be used at nuclear utilities.
The PSBR facility operates on an 8 AM - 5 PM shift, five days per week, with early morning, evening, and weekend shifts as necessary to accommodate laboratory courses, public education, university research, or industrial service projects.
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Technical Specification 6.6.1.a - Summary of Reactor Operating Experience Between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, the PSBR was utilized as follows:
TOTAL 2362.0 8.1 The reactor was pulsed a total of 94 times with the following reactivities:
Reactivity Number of Pulses TOTAL 94 The square wave mode was used a total of 32 times to operate the reactor with power levels between approximately 100 and 500 kilowatts.
Total energy produced during this reporting period was 487.2 MWh, corresponding to the consumption of approximately 25 g of 23su.
Technical Specification 6.6.1.b - Unscheduled Shutdowns There were zero unscheduled shutdowns due to unintentional scrams during the reporting period. The Operations Team, as well as all RSEC staff, work to maintain a safe and efficient operating environment. They work to maintain a high level of facility knowledge by reviewing previous events and holding routine training sessions that allow them to operate successfully and without incident.
Technical Specification 6.6.1.c - Major. Corrective or Preventative Maintenance with Safety Significance TS-required maintenance and surveillances were completed within required time frames. Other safety-related maintenance during the reporting period was as follows.
10/19/17 APB-2017-14 Replaced A4-K36 relay in pulse timer circuit- console would not reset following pulse timer check portion of daily checkout procedure.
2/23/18 APB-2018-02 Diesel generator transfer switch control panel-replaced due to failing display.
4/17/18 APB-2018-03 Diesel generator tn;msfer switch control panel replaced due to failure of the replacement display.installed on 2/23/18.
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Technical Specification 6.6.1.d - Major Changes Reportable Under 10 CFR 50.59 The following changes were completed during the reporting period per 10CFRS0.59:
Change ID Date Approved Description
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AP12-2018-06 , 5/22/2018 The cylindrical heavy water moderator tank was replaced with a crescent-shaped moderator tank in order to better utilize the reactor core for neutron beam experiments.
The above changes took place during a maintenance outage which lasted from 18 May 2018 (core unload commenced) to 10 August 2018 (core reload complete). Additional work, not reportable under 10CFRS0.59, included the re-plumbing of the reactor water transfer piping and the removal of the radiography beam cave, which will ultimately be re-installed in a different location in the beam laboratory.
Procedures Procedures are normally reviewed biennially, and on an as-needed bases. Numerous minor changes and updates are made during the year and do not require a report under 10CFRS0.59.
New Tests and Experiments AP12-2017-03 8/23/2017 An experiment was approved involving the irradiation of vacuum micro-electronic (VME)-
based detectors and the wireless transmission of the detector signal.
Technical Specification 6.6.1.e - Radiological Effluents Released Liquid There were no planned or unplanned liquid effluent releases under the reactor license for the reporting period. Some contaminated water produced during the construction outage was evaporated to dispose of low levels of tritium (see "Tritium 3
( H)," below).
Liquid radioactive waste from the radioisotope laboratories at the PSBR is under the University byproduct materials license
- and is transferred to the Radiation Protection Office for disposal yvith the waste from other campus laboratories. Liquid waste disposal techniques include storage for decay, release to sanitary sewer per 10CFR20, and solidification for shipment to licensed disposal sites.
Gaseous All gaseous releases were less than 10% of the allowed concentrations and do not require a specific report.
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Argon-41 (41Ar) 41 Gaseous effluent Ar is generated from dissolved air in the reactor pool water, air in dry irradiation tubes, air in neutron b,eam ports, and air leakage to and from the COi-operated pneumatic sample transfer system (i.e., "rabbit"). The amount of 41 Ar released from the reactor pool is dependent on the operating power level and the length of time at power. The release per MWh is highest for extended high power runs and lowest for intermittent low power runs. The concentration of 41Ar in
- the reactor bay and. bay exhaust were measured by the Radiation Protection staff during the summer of 1986. Measurements were made for conditions of low and high power runs simulating typical operating cycles.
For a conservative calculation of 41Ar release, all power operations were assumed to take place at the Fast Neutron lrradiator (FNI) Tube, the location of the greatest 41Ar production and release. The calculation method includes direct release from the pool in addition to release from the FNI fixture and estimates a quantity of 1890 mCi of 41Ar released for the 487.2 MWh of 41 41 operations which took place during FY2017-2018. A portion of the Ar will decay in place, however, if all of the Ar were released, it represents 3% of the annual limit.
Parameter Value Units Tritium (3H)
Normally tritium is only released from the reactor facility due to the evaporation of reactor pool water. The total makeup to the reactor pool for FY2017-2018 was 11789 gallons, or 1.35 gal / hr. The evaporative loss rate is dependent on air movement, relative humidity, temperature of air and water, etc. Based on the measured average pool tritium concentration of 31708 pCi / L (averaged between July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018), the total tritium activity released through ventilation would be ~1416 µCi.
In addition to the normal tritium release due to evaporation of pool water, tritium was also released in the form of waste water from the maintenance outage that took place from 5/18/18 to 8/10/18. This project involved "wet" work (including concrete chiseling) in the reactor pool, creating liquid waste that was assayed and then discharged to the evaporator tank.
The concentration of tritium in the waste was measured to be 4.2 x 10-5 µCi/ ml. The evaporator used to evaporate the liquid waste can process approximately 0.233 gallons/ minute of waste water. Assuming that the evaporator was running for three weeks, 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> per day, the total tritium released due to construction waste water is approximately 1120 µCi.
Including both construction wastewater and evaporation, the total tritium loss from the PSBR for the current reporting period was therefore ~2soo µCi.
I A dilution of factor of 2.0 x 108 ml/ sec was used to calculate that unrestricted area concentration. This is from 200 m 2 (cross sectional area of the building) times an assumed wind speed of 1 m / sec. These are the same values used on the reactor Safety Analysis Report.
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Parameter Value
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Average concentration, unrestricted area I
Technical Specification 6.6.1.f- Environmental Surveys The only environmental surveys performed were the routine environmental dosimeter measurements at the facility fence line and at two off-site control points. The Child Care point is approximately 100 yards from the facility; the Bellefonte point is approximately 10 miles away. The Bellefonte dosimetry results may have been affected by the proximity of the dosimeter to some radiological artifacts. The following fable summarizes the net measurements, in millirems, for the current reporting period.
Quarter Bellefonte North Fence South Fence East Fence West Fence Child Care
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