ML19087A127
| ML19087A127 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute |
| Issue date: | 03/18/2019 |
| From: | Tomlinson W US Dept of Defense, Uniformed Services Univ of the Health Sciences |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML19087A127 (13) | |
Text
UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF THE HEALTH SCIENCES ARMED FORCES RADIOBIOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 4301 JONES BRIDGE ROAD BETHESDA, MARYLAND 20814-4799 www.usuhs.edu March 18, 2019 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555-0001 Sir:.
Enclosed is the 2018 Annual Operating Report required by the technical specifications for the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute reactor (license R-84, docket 50-170).
Should you need any further information, please contact me at (301) 295-9247.
Enclosure:
As stated
-- Interim Reactor Facility Director
Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute AFRRI TRIGA Reactor Facility 1 January 2018 - 31 December 2018 To satisfy the requirements of U.S. Nuelear Regulatory Commission License No. R-84 (Docket No. 50..,170),
Technical Specification 6.6.a.
Prepared by Harry H. Spence Reactor Staff Submitted by Walter D. Tomlinson Interim Reactor Facility Director Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute 8901 Wisconsin Avenue Bethesda, MD 20889-5603
2018 ANNUAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction General Information Section I Changes in the Facility Design, Performance Characteristics, Administrative Procedures, Operational Procedures, Results of Surveillance Tests and InspectionsSection II Energy Generated by the Reactor Core and the Number of Pulses $2.00 or Larger Section III Unscheduled ShutdownsSection IV Safety-Related Corrective Maintenance Section V Facility and Procedure Changes as Described in the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR),
New Experiments or Tests Performed During the Year Section VI Summary of Radioactive Effluent Released Section VII Environmental Radiological SurveysSection VIII Exposures Greater Than 25% of 10 CFR 20 Limits
2018 ANNUAL REPORT INTRODUCTION The Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI) reactor facility was unavailable for normal operations the entire year undergoing installation and testing of a new instrumentation and control system by contractors from General Atomics. The contractors completed all work in May 2018 and the reactor remains unavailable pending NRC specialist review of the 10 CFR 50. 59 analysis performed for the console upgrade. There were no unscheduled shutdowns during 2018.
The 2018 annual reactor audit required by the reactor technical specifications was conducted by Ms. Amber Johnson in December 2018. Ms. Johnson is an operator at the University of Maryland - College Park research reactor facility. During the audit she verbally indicated that she had not found any major discrepancies in r~actor operations and those conclusions are reflected in her written report.
A comprehensive NRC inspection ofreactor facility operations was conducted by Mr. Michael Takacs during June 2018. One minor violation was identified concerning the interval between audits of both the reactor Emergency Plan and Physical Security Plan. The AFRRI response to the violation was submitted as required including corrective changes to the Technical Specifications. An NRC assessment of the Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE) attribute of AFRRI's safety culture was conducted in August 2018. Recommendations resulting from that assessment have been implemented.
There were three RRFSS membership changes during the year. There was one reactor staff arrival and one staff departure during the year.
The remainder ofthis report is written in the format designated in the Technical Specifications for the AFRRI TRIGA Reactor Facility: Items not specifically required are presented in the General Informa~ion section. The following sections correspond to the required items listed in Section 6.6.a. of the Technical Specifications.
- GENERAL INFORMATION All personnel held the listed positions throughout the year unless otherwise specified.
Key AFRRI personnel (as of 31 December 2018) are as follows:
- 1. AFRRI Director - John Gilstad, MD, CAPT, USN Radiation Sciences Department (RSD) Chairman - Joshua A. Molgaard, MAJ, USA Radiation Safety Officer - Daniel Shaw 2 Reactor Facility Director - Walter D. Tomlinson (acting) (SRO)
- 3. Reactor operations personnel:
Reactor Operations Supervisor- Walter D. Tomlinson (SRO)
SRO Training Coordinator - Jeffrey A. Divis, LT, USN Maintenance Specialist - Walter D. Tomlinson (SRO)
Records Administration Specialist - Harry H. Spence NOTE: Mr. Spence formerly held a SRO license at the AFRRI reactor and retired in June 2013.
He returned as an unlicensed part-time staff member in February 2016. *
- 4. Other Reactor Operators:
None
- 5. Operator candidates:
Sacha T. Moore, SFC, USA Joshua A. Molgaard, MAJ, USA Jeffrey A. Divis,.LT, USN (as of 7 September)
- 6. Newly licensed operators:
None
- 7. Additions to staff during 2018:
Jeffrey A. Divis, LT, USN (as of7 September)
- 8. Departures during 2018:
Stephen I. Miller (SRO) (effective 31 August)
- 9. There were three change to the Reactor and Radiation Facilities Safety Committee (RRFSC) during 2018. CDR Gerald Burke replaced Dr. David Lesser as Chairman on 02 July, Mr.
Walter Tomlinson joined the Committee as an alternate for the Reactor Facility Director (RFD)
on 01 September, and MAJ Joshua Molgaardjoined the Committee as the Radiation Sciences Department Chairman on 06 December. Mr. Tomlinson will formally replace Mr. Stephen Miller as RFD as soon as requested Technical Specification changes are approved.
In accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 6.2.1.1. of the Technical Specifications for the AFRRI TRI GA Reactor Facility, the RRFSC consisted of the following members as of 31 December 2018.
Regular members are:
Radiation Safety Officer: - Dan~el Shaw Alternate for Reactor Facility Director- Walter D. Tomlinson Reactor Operations Specialist-Leo Bobek Health Physics Specialist - Joe Pawlovich Chairman, Radiation Sciences Department - MAJ Joshua Molgaard, U:SA Chairman and Director's Representative - CDR Gerald Burke, USN Recorder - Harry H. Spence Two meetings were held in 2018:
11 September 11 December
SECTION I Changes in the Facility Design, Performance Characteristics, Administrative Procedures, Operational Procedures, Results of Surveillance Tests and Inspections A summary of changes to the facility design, performance characteristics, administrative procedures, and operational procedures as well as the. results of surveillance testing are provided in this section.
A. DESIGN CHANGES There were no design changes to the reactor facility during 2018 that were reviewed and approved under provisions of 10 CFR 50.59. The NRC subject-matter-expert review of the, analysis for the console µpgrade remains pending.
B. PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS There were no changes to the performance characteristics of the core during 2018. Sufficient fuel elements were withdrawn from the core before beginning the instrumentation upgrad_e to ensure that the reactor could not become critical during the upgrade except that the fuel was temporarily reinstalled during March-May to permit power testing of the instrumentation as allowed by the Technical Specifications.
C. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES There were no changes to the Administrative Procedures during 2018.
D. OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES There was one change to the Operational Procedures during 2018:
12 March- The Startup, Safety, and Shutdown Operational Checklists were revised to conform to processes/nomenclature of the new reactor console. All Technical Specification required checks and tests are maintained in the new version~.
E. RESULTS OF SURVEILLANCE TESTS AND INSPECTIONS All maintenance and surveillance tasks during 2018 were accomplished as normally scheduled during the year ~xcept those tasks involving the reactor instrumentation, control rod drives, or other related components. All tasks deferred during the instrumentation upgrade will be
~ccomplished before the reactor is returned to normal operation.
There were no reactor malfunctions during 2018.
The 2018 annual reactor audit required by the reactor technical specifications was conducted
by Ms. Amber Johnson in December 2018. Ms. Johnson is an operator at the University of Maryland- College Park research reactor facility. During the audit she verbally indicated that she had not found any major discrepancies in reactor operations and those conclusions are reflected in her written report.
A comprehensive NRC inspection ofreactor facility operations was conducted by Mr. Michael Takacs during June 2018. One minor violation was identified concerning the interval between audits of both the reactor Emergency Plan and Physical Security Plan. The AFRRI response to the violation was submitted as required including corrective changes to the Technical Specifications. An NRC assessment of the Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE) attribute of AFRRI's safety culture was ~onducted in August 2018. Recommendations resulting from that assessip.ent have been implemented.
SECTION II Energy Generated by the Reactor Core and the Number of Pulses $2.00 or Larger Month Kilowatt Hours JAN 0.0 FEB 0.0 MAR 337.8 APR 1642.8 MAY 72.4 JUN 0.0 JUL 0.0 AUG 0.0 SEP 0.0 OCT 0.0 NOV 0.0 DEC _M TOTAL 2053.0 NOTE: Power generated during March-May was for purposes of instrumentation testing only .
. Total energy generated in 2018: ~,053.0 kWh Total energy on fuel elements: 1,158,846.7 kWh Total energy on FFCRs*: 426,049.0 kWh Total pulses this year~ $2.00: 0 Total pulses on fuel elements~ $2.00: 4,219 Total pulses on FFCRs* ~ $2.00: 107 Total pulses this year: 12 Total puls_es on fuel elements: 12,201
- Total pulses on FFCRs*: 2,436
- Fuel-followed control rods
SECTION III Unscheduled Shutdowns J;'here were no unscheduled shutdowns during 2018.
SECTION IV Safety-Related Corrective Maintenance There were no reactor malfunctions or other safety-related corrective maintenance during 2018.
SECTIONV Facility and Procedure Changes as Described in the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR), New Experiments or Tests Performed During the Year A. FACILITY CHANGES AS DESCRIBED IN THE FSAR There were no changes to the facility as described in the FSAR.
B. PROCEDURE
CHANGES AS DESCRIBED IN THE FSAR There were no changes to procedures as described in the FSAR.
C. NEW EXPERIMENTS OR TESTS No new experiments or tests were performed during the reporting period that were not encompassed by the FSAR.
There was one safety evaluation for changes not submitted to the NRC, pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 50.59 (see Section I.D. above).
SECTION VI Summary of Radioactive Effluent Released A. Liquid Waste: The reactor produced no liquid waste during 2018.
B. Gaseous Waste: .There were no particulate discharges in 2018.
The total activity of Argon-41 discharged in 2018 was 1.1 7 curies. The estimated effluent concentration from the release of Argon-41 represents 0.4% of the constraint limit for unrestricted areas (10 CFR 20.1 lOl(d) and Table 2, Appendix B, 10 CFR 20).
Quarterly: Jan - Mar 2018 0.19 Ci Apr - Jun 2018 0.98 Ci Jul - Sep 2018. 0.00 Ci Oct - Dec 2018 0.00 Ci C. Solid Waste: All solid radioactive waste material was transferred to the AFRRI byproduct license; none was disposed of under the R-84 reactor license.
SECTION VII Environmental Radiological Surveys All environmental sampling of soil and vegetation yielded radionuclide levels within the background range. The radionuclides that were detected were those expected from natural background and from long-term fallout from nuclear weapons testing.
The calculated annual dose, due to Argon-41 release to the environment for 2017, was 0.04 mRem at the _location of maximum public exposure. The maximum exposure is calculated at a location 91 meters from the release point as described in the FSAR. Exposure to the general population at the boundary of the Naval Support Activity Bethesda is significantly less due to the diffusion of Argon-41 in the atmosphere. The constraint limit for exposure to the public established under 10 CFR 20.1 lOl(d) is 10 millirem per year. The exposure dose was calculated" using COMPLY code, level 2, which is the most conservative level of COMPLY. Emissions due to reactor operations were 0.04 millirem, or 0.4% of the 10 millirem constraint limit, for the entire year.
The reactor in-plant surveys, specified in Health Physics Procedure (HPP) 3-2, all resulted in readings that were less than the action levels specified in HPP 0-2.
SECTION VIII Exposures Greater than 25%, of 10 CFR 20 Limits There were no doses to reactor staff personnel or reactor visitors greater than 25% of 10 CFR 20 oc.cupational and public radiation dose limits.
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