ML19316B123
| ML19316B123 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | University of Maryland |
| Issue date: | 06/30/1980 |
| From: | MARYLAND, UNIV. OF, COLLEGE PARK, MD |
| To: | |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8006110339 | |
| Download: ML19316B123 (14) | |
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ENVIRONMENT IMPACT APPRAISAL
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MARYLAND UNIVERSITY
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TRAINING REACTOR
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TABLE OF CONTENTS a..
b INTRODUCTION.....................................
1 1.0 Description of Facility..................
2 1.1 Introduction and Description.............
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l.2 Building.................................
2 1.3 Cooling, Make-up Water and Clean-up Systems.................................
3 1.4 Ventilation System.......................
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1.5
. Liquid Was te S torage _....................... _.4.._. _ _ _
2.0 Environmental Effects of Site Preparation
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and Facility Construction..............
5 3.0 Environmental Effects of Facility Operation..............................
6 3.1 Thermal Effluents 6
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3.2 Radioactive Gaseous Effluents 6
3.3 Radioactive Liquid Effluents 7
3.4 Solid Radioactive Waste 8
4.0 Environmental Effects of Accidents 9
l 5.0 Unavoidable Effects of Facility Construc-l tion and Operation.....................
9 6.0 Alternatives to Construction and Operation of Facility..................
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7.0 Long-Term Effects of Facility Construction and Operation 10
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8.0 Cost and Benefits of Facility and Alternatives 10 E
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Introduction Section 50.30.
" Filing of Application for licenses; l
oath and affirmation" of 10 CFR Part 50, " Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities," requires that i
each application for a license to operate a facilty include, along with other information, an environmental impact appraisal.
It is the purpose of this appraisal to deal with
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the probable impacts on the environment which can-be attributed to the operation of the Maryland University Training Reactor. MUTR.
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I 1.0 Description of Facility 1.1 Introduction and Location The MUTR is a pool-type, light water cooled and re-flected TRIGA-fueled reactor licensed for 250 kilowatt steady-state operation.
The core it on the bottom of an aluminum tank which is 7 feet in diameter by 21 feet in height.
The biological shield surrounding the core consists of ordinary concrete and 6000 gallons of demineralized ~
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water.
The core is shielded by approximately 17.5 feet of water on the top and by 2 feet of water and 7 feet of concrete on the sides.
The water system, which includes heat exchangers, filters, demineralizers, and a circulation pump, is used for cooling and purification.
The reactor is housed in a building connected to the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building, which is located on the northern edge of the main campus at College Park, Prince George's County, Maryland.
1.2 Building I
The reactor is housed in a building connected to the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building.
The reactor building is 50 feet long, 46 feet wide, and 26 feet high, with a center bay 37 feet high and 20 feet long.
There are no exterior conduits, pipelines, electrical or mechanical 2
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I structures, or transmission lines attached to the nuclear reactor facility other than utility service facilities which are similar to those required in other campus facilities.
1.3 Cooling, Make-up Water and Clean-up Systems The reactor tank contains 6000 galluns of light water used for moderation, shielding and cooling.
Since the core transfers 250 kW of thermal energy tcI the coolant, the heat must be removed from the coolant d'uring prolonged operation of the reactor at full power.
Two heat exchangers with a combined heat removal capacity of 240 kW are used to transfer heat from the primary coolant to the secondary coolant.
The f acility uses city water as the secondary coolant which is released to the sewer system af ter it passes through the heat exchangers.
Make-up water for the pool is obtained from the city water supply.
To prevent irradiation of mineral'- and im-purities existing in ordinary tap water, the water is filtered and demineralized before it is pumped into the pool.
i To keep the pool water free from dust and ions that gradually accumulate, the water is circulated through a clean-up system before it passes through the heat exchangers.
The clean-up system consists of a large micro filter and an ion exchanger.
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1.4 Ventilation System
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The reactor building has two roof mounted ventilating exhaust fans and two motor-operated louvers for intake of air.
The fans and louvers can be controlled from the console and from various locations in the building.
Each of the main exhaust fans is capable of handling 6000 cfm
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3 of air.
The volume of the reactor building is 97300 feet Two air conditioners in the exterior west balcony lab wall
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and two air ' ports' at ground ~ level' in the ' west wall provide--~~~~~ ~
exterior air.
Air from the west balcony labs exhausts into the main reactor area through two one-way motorized
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CO fr m the pneumatic transfer system exhausts 2
into the main reactor bay area just below the ventilating exhaust fancs.
A radiation detector monitors the air before it is exhausted through the fan mounted on the west penthouse wall.
The building ventilation system turns off
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automatically when any area monitor reading exceeds a preset limit.
1.5 Liquid Waste Storage
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All liquid waste water that ends up in the sump and holdup tank will be considered and treated as low level
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wastes.
The holdup tank is located in an excavation in the water handling room called the sump.
The sump and holdup tank have a total capacity of 1200 gallons.
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contains a sump pump that pumps the water from the sump to the sewer, and a circulation pump that can be used to circulate water in the holdup tank through filters.
There are several ducts leading to the sump holdup tank system.
The grill work around the base of the reactor and two sinks located on the west balcony laboratories drain directly into the sump.
The pool overflow drains into the holdup tank which can be drained into the sump.
Level indicator instrumentation is provided for the
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' sump.
Full, Medium, and Empty, indicator lamps are~ mounted ~~-
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on the auxiliary panel in the control room.
When the sump is full, it is sampled and the activity of its contents determined.
Based on the activity deter-mination, the waste will either be drained, stored for decay, or diluted with fresh water to release levels and drained.
The concentr'ation of radioactive material released in liquid waste will be in compliance with 10 CFR (Part 20) limits.
The liquid waste enters the city sewer system.
2.0 Environmental Effects of Site Preparation and Facility Construction Since 1959, when the reactor facility was built, there has been no noticeable effect on the terrain, vegetation, nearby waters or aquatic life.
The soc,tal, economic and esthetic impacts of the construction of the facility have I
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w been no greater than that associated with the construction of any other university f acility.
3.0 Environmnetal Effects of Facility Operation I
3.1 Thermal Effluents I
The MUTR has a maximum thermal power output of 250 kW.
The environmental effects of thermal effluents of this order of magnitude are negligible.
During prolonged operation of the reactor at full power, the waste heat is rejected to the city sewer system by means of a cooling system with two heat exchangers with a combined heat removal capacity of 240 kW.
However, during routine low power reactor operation, the cooling system is not needed due to low production of heat.
3.2 Radioactive Gaseous Effluents I_
Nitrogen-16, a gamma-emitting isotope with approximately a 7 second half-life, is produced during reactor operation by the fast neutron irradiation of oxygen in the reactor 6
pool water.
Although the transport time for the N through 16 the column of water above the core provides for N decay, a water jet diffuser installed above the core imparts a turbulence to the water and further increases the distance the N must travel before reaching the surface.
This action significantly reduces the radiation intensity at the
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I top of the pool.
Argon 14, which is produced in the reactor experimental facilities (beam ports and through tube) is contained during normal operation by gasketed plexiglass covers bolted over the plugged ports.
As a routine surveillance program, low volume air samples are collected monthly at the reactor by the University of Maryland Radiation Safety Office.
The air sampler consists of a charcoal filter to trap gases, silica gel filter to trap H-3 and C-14 compounds and micropore' filter ~
used to trap particulate matter.
No significant radiation level above background has been detected.
3.3 Radioactive Liquid Effluents All liquid waste water that ends up in the sump and holdup tank will be considered and treated as low level wastes.
The holdup tank is located in an excavation in the water handling room called the sump.
The sump and holdup tank has a total capacity of 1200 gallons.
The system contains a sump pump that pumps the water from the sump to the sewer, and a circulation pump that can be used to circulate water in the holdup tank through filters.
There are several ducts leading to the sump holdup.
tank system.
The grill work around the base of the.. reactor 7
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and two sinks located on the west balcony laboratories drain directly into the sump.
The pool overflow drains into the holdup tank which can be drained into the sump.
Level indicator instrumentation is provided for the sump.
Full, Medium, and Empty indicator lamps are mounted on the auxilliary panel in the control room.
When the sump is full, it is sampled and the activity of its contents determined.
Based on the activity deter-mination, the waste will either be_ drained, stored for-.._ _ _.
decay, of diluted with fresh water to release levels and drained.
The concentration of radioactive material released in liquid waste will be in compliance with 10CFR Part 20 limits.
The liquid waste enters the city sewer system.
3.4 Solid Radioactive Waste The generation of high level radioactive waste such as spent fuel elements is not anticipated during the term of the license research since U-235 burn-up rate is about 1 gram / year.
Fission products produced during this period are contained in the fuel rods.
Total radioactivity re-sulting from sample activation is estimated to be no greater than one'millicurie/ year.
This material is stored until the activity meets applicable criteria before being disposed of by the Campus Radiation Safety Office.
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The MUTR facility is one of the lowest producers of low-level radioactive waste on campus among users of
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radioisotopes.
The University of Maryland Radiation Safety Office Collects, packages and ships the solid
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radioactive waste to approved sites for storage.
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transportation of such waste is done in approved shipping containers in accordance with existing NRC-DOT regualtions.
4.0 Environmental Effects of Accidents
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Accidents ranging from failure of experiments to the largest core damage resulting in the release of fission
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products even under adverse conditions such as the simul-1 taneous loss of pool water and reactor ventilation system malfunction (vent open, fans on) result in doses of only a small fraction of 10 CFR 100 guidelines and are considered negligible with respect to the environment.
5.0 Unavoidable Effects of Facility Construction and
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Operation The unavoidable effects of construction and operation
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involves materials used in-construction that cannot be recovered and the fissionable material used in the reactor.
No adverse impact on the environment has occurred from either of these unavoidable effects.
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6.0 Alternatives to Construction and Operation of the Facility To accomplish the objectives associated with research reactors, there are no suitable alternatives.
Some of these objectives are training of students in the operation of reactors, production of radioisotopes, and use of neutron and gamma ray beams to conduct experiments.
7.0 Long-Term Effects of Facility Construction and Operation ___ _ _
The long-term effects of research facilities are considered to be beneficial as a result of the contribution to scientific knowledge and training.
Because of the relatively low amount of capital resources involved and the small impact on the environment, ve:y little in the way of irreversible and irretrievable committment is associated with such facilities.
8.0 Cost and Benefits of Facility and Alternatives The cost for a facility such as the Maryland University Training Reactor is about $1 million with very little environmental impact.
The benefits include, but are not limited to:
activation analysis, training and education of student engineers, production of radioisotopes for research, and the education of the public at large.
Some of these ll l
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activities could be conducted using particle accelerators or radioactive sources, but these alternatives are at once more costly and less efficient.
The is no reasonable I
alternative to a nuclear reactor of the type presently used l
at the University of Maryland.
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