ML19242D230
| ML19242D230 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Washington State University |
| Issue date: | 08/08/1979 |
| From: | Hawley S WASHINGTON STATE UNIV., PULLMAN, WA |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19242D227 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7908140717 | |
| Download: ML19242D230 (7) | |
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE OPERATION OF THE WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY ,
TRIGA REACTOR - FACILITY LICENSE R-76 for the Period July 1,1978 to June 30, 1979 A. Narrative Summary of Year's Operation The W.S.U. TRIGA reactor has accumulated 643 megawatt hours during the reporting period. The quarterly operation summaries are shown in Table I.
Table I - Fiscal 1979 Summary of Reactor Operation JAS OND JFM AMJ T0TAL Hours of Operation 211 101 170 200 682 Megawatt Hours 192 90 169 192 643 Number of Irradiations 735 347 123 196 1401 Number of Samples 2505 1213 1028 1990 6736 Irradiated In addition, nineteen pulses were performed. Ten of these had
$2.00 of reactivity inserted per pulse. The remainder were performed with less than a $2.00 reactivity insertion per pulse. For the $2.00 pulses, the average peak power was 601 megawatts with an average peak fuel temperature of 331 C.
The cumulative energy output since the initial criticality of the TRIGA core in 1967 is 9161 megawatt hours. The mixed core of FLIP and Standard fuels installed in 1976 has accumulated 2900 megawatt hours since initial criticality.
B. Emergency Shutdowns and Inadvertent Scrams t ! '/
No emergency shutdowns occurred during the reporting period.
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The descriptions and/or causes of the 12 inadvertent scrams which occurred during the reporting period are listed in Table II.
Table II - Inadavertent Scrams Number Description or Cause 2 High Power Scram when downscaling to 1 kW range 2 Log Power Channel high voltage supply suffered line voltage transient 3 Palse rod released with no indication 1 Released pulse rod and all blades with na indication 1 Released all blades with no indication 1 Released number 1 blade with no indication 1 Released pulse rod and blades 1 and 4 with no indication 1 Released pulse rod and blade number 1 with no indication C. Charges, Test and Experiments Car. ied Out Under 10 CFR 50.59 There were no items in this category during the reporting period.
D. Major Maintenance tperations There were no items in thic category during the reporting period.
E. Radioactive Liquid Release Caring the reporting period the average monthly relase concentration was 1.95 x 10-8 microcuries/cm3 This yielded a total of 4.33 microcuries released in a total of 48,663 gallons of liquid effluent. The monthly releases are shown in Table III. The majority of the liquid effluent releases result from experiment activities performed elsewhere in the Nuclear Radiation Centa?
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a Table III - Radioactive Liquid Releases Quantity Concentgation Percent Volume pCi pCi/cm of MPC gallons July 0.091 0.501 x 10-8 1.25 4810 August 0.116 0.650 x 10-8 1.63 4708 September 0.400 2.20 x 10-8 5.50 4761 October No release November No release December 0.390 2.12 x 10-8 5.30 4915 January 0.269 1.48 x 10-8 3.70 4801 February 1.33 i.17 x ' 0-8 17.9 4886 March 0.990 5.39 x 10-8 13.5 4853 April 0. 51 6 2.74 x 10-8 6.90 9951 May No release June 0.224 1.19 x 10-8 2.98 4978 F. Radiactive Gaseous Releases No significant quantity of gaseous or particulate material with a half life greater than eight days was released during the reporting period.
The average monthl3 concentration of Argon-41 was 1.91x10-7 microcuries/cm3 . This yielded a total of 8.13 Curies released in 9
1.50x10 cubic feet of air. The monthly releases are summarized in Table IV.
G. Radioactive Solid Waste Discosal Two shipments of solid waste were made to tne Nuclear Engineering Company of Richland, Washington for disposal. A total of 18.326 Curies in a total of 360 cubic feet were packaged in 55 gallon drums for
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shipment. Over 95' of the radioactivity was received from campus facilities other than the Reactor and Nuclear Radiation Center. The shipments are tabulated below in Table V.
Table IV - Monthly Argon-41 Releases Concentration Percent of MPC mci before dilution after dilution microCi/ml July 1.98x10-7 1.32 701 August 1.81 x10-7 1.20 641 September 2.32x10-7 1.54 8 21 October 1.90x10-7 1.23 673 November 1. 35x10-7 C.90 478 December 1.14x10-7 0.76 404 January 2.90x10-7 1.90 1027 February 1.83x10-7 1.22 648 March 1.72x10-7 1,14 609 April l.52x10-7 1.02 538 May 2.37x10-7 1.58 839 June 2.12x10-7 1.41 7 51 Table V - W.S.U. Solid Radioactive Waste Disposal Date Volume in cubic feet Activity in Curies 5-23-79 195 16.206 7-26-78 165 2.126 H. Personnel and Visitor Radiation Exposures The quarterly exposures of the reactor operating personnel are shown in Table VI below. A total of 950 visitors visited the Reactor on tours. Determined from pocket dosimeters, the average individual
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e A exposure was 3 millirem with a maximum of 20 millirem.
Table VI - Reactor Personnel Exposures Exposures in millirems, tabulated by Quarters Name J JAS OND JFM AM* Lifetime Exposure at beginning of year Hawley - - - 0 0 200 Lovas 0 0 - - -
21 0 Neidiger 0 0 15 0 0 1593 Rosenberg 0 15 0 0 0 3732 Sikorski 0 0 0 0 0 3900 Wilson 0 0 0 0 0 3715
- June data to be provided when obtained
, Left in September ,
I. Reactor Facility Radiation Levels The routine surveys of radiation levels in reactor operating areas indicate an average radiation level of 0.45 mrem /hr. The highest (average) level was 2.6 mrem /hr which occurred in the locked radiation source storage area. The lowest (avercge) level was 0.03 mrem /hr, found in the reactor control rooms.
Routine surveys for removable contamination in reactor operating areas Indicate an average value of 4.1x10-5 microCi/100 cm2 The lowest (average) value of 5.5x10-6 microCi/100 cm 2 was found in the reactor control rooms. The highest (average) value,1.8x10-4 microCi/
100 cm , occurred near the tubes used for transferring irradiated samples to the laboratories.
The survey results indicate that radiation levels and removable contamination are very low and present no hazards to personnel or visitors.
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J. Environmental Monitoring Program Initiated in 1974, the environmental monitoring program uses thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD's) for locations in and around the reactor facility. The water samples taken in the vicinity of Wash-ington State University are analyzed for gross 'oeta-gamma activity.
The daily exposure rates near the fluclear Radiation Center are listed in Table VII as the quarterly averages. Da'ily exposure rates from locations throughout the State of Washington are also included.
fio significant variation from the data collected for the June 30, 1978 annual report is observed with the values from this year.
Table VII - Environmental Radiation Levels in the Vicinity of the WSU fluclear Radiation Centgr I and throughout the State of Washington (Exposure Rates in microroentgens per day) 3rd quarter 4th quarter 1st quarter 2nd quarter Yearly 1978 1978 1979 1979 Median WSU 253 178 177 183 180 State of 190 188 1 61 fiot available 188 Mashington I From sampling stations located within 50-500 meters of the
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fluclear Radiation Center.
2 From 17 locations throuohout the State of Washington. compiled by the Department of Emergency Services.
Exoosure rates at readily accessible locations at the reactor facility are listed in Table VIII. There is no signi-ficant effect of reactor operation on the environmental radiation levels as indicated by the results.
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Table VIII - Exposure Rates Above Ambient Background per Megawatt Hour of Reactor Operation Location Exposure Rates in pR per Mw hr Median 3-78 4-78 1-79 2-79 Entranca 67 52 63 44 58 Lower Loading Dock 0 40 34 54 37 Storage Shed 0 28 23 0 12 Pool Room (0verhead Door) 135 174 286 74 154 North Side of Building 28 52 29 0 28 Beam Room Door 45 64 11 0 28 The gross beta-gamma activity of the water samples taken from locations in the vicinity of Washington State University are shown in Table IX. The results indicate that there are no effects correlated with operation of the Washington State University TRIGA reactor.
Table IX - Summary of Selected Water Sample Specific Activities for July,1978 through June,1979 Sample Location No. of Average Specific Range of Samples Activity Values pCi/ liter pCi/ liter Pullman Sewage Effluent 12 0.4 0 - 0.8 South Fork of Palouse 12 0.5 0 - 1.0 Palouse River - Colfax 12 0.2 0 - 0.5 Snake River 12 0.2 0 - 0.5 Tap Water 11 0.9 0 - 6.7 1, G.v P
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