ML19331D751
| ML19331D751 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Washington State University |
| Issue date: | 08/25/1980 |
| From: | Hawley S WASHINGTON STATE UNIV., PULLMAN, WA |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19331D748 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8009030530 | |
| Download: ML19331D751 (9) | |
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Annual Report on the Operation of the Washington State University TRIGA Reactor - Facility License R-76 For the Period July 1, 1979 to June 30, 1980 A. Narrative Summary of the Year's Operation The W.S.U. TRIGA reactor has accumulated 655 megawatt hours during the reporting period. The quarterly operation summaries are shown in Table I.
Table I Fiscal Year Sumrary of Reactor Operations JAS OND JFM AMJ TOTAL Hours of Operation 255 137 138 136 666 Megawatt Hours 254 136 132 133 655 Number of Irradiations 292 120 224 217 853 Number of Samples 4785 1558 724 1656 8723 Irradiated In addition, fourteen pulses were performed. Five of these had $2.00 of reactivity inserted per pulse. The remainder had less than $2.00 of reactivity inserted per pulse. For the $2.00 pulses, the average peck -
power was 732 megawatts with an average peak fuel temperature of 350 C.
The cumulative energy output since the initial criticality of the TRIGA core in 1967 is 409 megawatt days. The mixed core of FLIP and Stand-ard fuels installed in 1976 has accumulated 148 megawatt days since initial criticality.
B. Emergency Shutdowns and Inadvertent Scrams No emergency shutdowns occurred during the reporting neriod.
The descriptions and/or causes of the seven inadvertent scrams which occurred during the reporting period are listed in Table II.
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Table II Inadvertent Scrams Number Description or Cause 1 Released Pulse rod with no indication 1 Released pulse rod and blades 1 and 4 with no indication 1 Released blade 1 with no indication 1 Loss of building power 1 Loss of console power 1 Seismometer activatec with no apparent cause 1 Manual scram of pulse rod due to low (pulse) air pressure C. Changes, Tests and Experiments Carried Out Under 10 CFR 50.59 Four items were evaluated under this category. They were the in- ,
stallation of a battery power supply for selected reactor instrumentation, removal of the reactor horns, addition of a back flush valvt to the radio-active liquid waste discharge system and the installation of a drain valve and filters to the reactor pcol water icn exchange system.
Under the present SAR none of the above items involved a change in the facility as described, a change in procedures as described or a test i
or experiment not described. Since a new SAR has been submitted, but not i yet approved, the last two items were further evaluated and documented as
- though the new SAR weis .n effect. In both cases no changes were required in the Technical Specifications nor wera there any unreviewed safety ques-l tions.
A brief summary of each change or modification is included belcw.
A battery backup power system was installed to provide emergency power for te reactor pool level monitor, the evacuation sirens and the radiation area monitoring systems. Since these systems will remain i
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energized at all times, increased protection results.
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The reactor horns signaled that the console had been energized which usually implied that the reactor was commencing startup. With fire evacuation and reactor evacuation sirens, it was felt that the additional signal for a normal occurrence was unwarranted. The function of the l
horns was replaced by an announcement over the PA system that the reactor would be starting up. The change more accurately indicates the operating status of the reactor and should increase the sensitivity of building occupants to conditions which require inmediate action, i.e., evacuation.
The addition of the back flushing valve to the radioactive liquid waste system allows for back flushing the subnersible pump while it is in the holdup tank. On these occasions pumping afficiency can be restored without requiring entry down into the holdup tank to remove the pump for cleaning.
The drain valve installed on the resin tank in the reactor pool ion exchange system makes changing resin columns an easier and neater job.
The filters were installed in order to extend the lifetime of each resin column. _
D. Major Maintenance Operations During February 1980 a replacement compensated ion chamber was in-stalled on Safety Channel No. 2. This unit replaced an identical model which had failed and was returned to the manufacturer.
This was the only item in this category during the reporting period.
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E. _ Radioactive Liquid Releases During the reporting period the average monthly release concentra-3 tion was 2.64 x 10~7 uCi/cn . This yielded a total of 69.8 microcuries released in a total of 42,946 gallons of liquid effluent. The monthly releases are shown in Table III.
Table III Radioactive 1.iquid Releases Quantity Concentration Percent Volume pCi uCi/cm3 of MPC gallons July -
No release August 0.343 0.190 x 10-7 4.75 4768 September 0.692 0.388 x 10-7 9.55 4711 October 0.523 0.277 x 10-7 6.93 4987 November Ho release December 3.56 1.94 x 10~7 49.3 4852 January 6.99 3.80 x 10~7 95.0 4862 Februa ry 20.2 9.28 x 10-7 0.09 5754 March No release April 17.2 9.15 x 10-7 0.26 4968 May No release ==
June 20.3 S.5 x 10~7 0.16 G044
- 60 Release limit for Co used for February. April and June release limit calculated for mixture of 60Co and Slcr. All other releases used release limit for unknown mixture.
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For the February, April and June releases, gamma ray spectroscopy 60 revealed that essentially all the activity was due to either Co or 51 60 Cr and Co. In each of these cases the appropriate release limit value was used to calculate the fraction of the MPC released. For the identified radionuclides, the total releases during the reporting period were 38.8 microcuries of 60 Sl Co and 18.9 microcuries of Cr.
F. Radioactive Gaseous Releases No significant quantity of any gaseous or particulate radioactive material with a half-life greater than eight days was released during the reporting period.
The average monthly concentration of Argon-41 was 6.1 x 10-8 pCi/cm3 . This yielded a total of 2.57 Ci released in 1.50 x 10 9 cubic feet of air. The monthly releases are summarized in Table IV.
Table IV Monthly Argon-41 Releases Concentration before dilution Percent of MPC Quantity uCi/Cm3 after dilution mci
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July 9.2 x 10-8 0.61 326 August 7.3 x 10-8 0.49 258 September 3.5 x 10-8 0.23 124 October 7.1 x 10-8 0.47 251 November 6.4 x 10-8 0.43 227 December 0.6 x 10-0 0.04 21 January 8.0 x 10-8 0.53 283 February 6.6 x 10-0 0.44 234 March 5.4 x 10-8 0.36 191 April 6.1 x 10-8 0.41 216 May 7.8 x 10-0 0.52 276 June 4.7 x 10-8 0.31 166
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G. Radioactive Solid Waste Disposal Two shipments of solid waste were made to the Nuclear Engineering Company of Richland, Washington for disposal. A total of 0.728 Ci in a total volume of 278.5 cubic feet were packaged in 55 gallon drums for shipment. The majority of the radioactive waste was generated by campus facilities other than the Reactor and Nuclear Radiation Center. The shipments are tabulated below in Table V.
Table V W.S.U. Solid Radioactive Waste Disposal Date Volume in Cubic Feet Activity in Curies 9-12-79 105.0 0.181 6-20-80 173.5 0.547 H. Personnel and Visitor Radiation Exposures The quarterly exposures of the reactor operating personnel are shown in Table VI below. A total of 966 persons visited the Center on tours.
As determined from pocket dosimeters, the average individual exposure was 2.6 millirem with a maximum reading of 10 millirem.
Table VI Reactor Personnel Exposures (exposures in millirems, tabulated by quarters)
- Name J- JAS OND JFM A Lifetime Exposure at beginning of year Hawley 0 0 15 0 0 200 Neidiger 0 10 0 25 0 1593 Rosenberg 0 10 0 0 - 3732 Sikorski 0 0 0 0 0 3900 Wilson 0 0 0 0 0 3715 May and June data to be provided when obtained
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I. Reactor Facility Radiation Levels ,
The routine surveys of radiation levels in reactor operating areas indicate an average radiation level of 0.32 mrem /hr. The highest (average) level was 2.1 mrem /hr which occurred in the locked radiation source storage area. The lowest (average) level, 0.02 mrem /hr, was found in the reactor control rooms.
Routine surveys for removable contamination in reactor operating areas indicate an average value of 4.0 x 10-5 pCi/100 cm2 . The lowest (average) value of 5.5 x 10-6 uCi/100 cm2 was found in the reactor con-trol rooms. The highest (average) value,1.9 x 10'4 pCi/100 cm2 ,
occurred on the plationn where experimenters stand to insert or retrieve samples from the reactor.
The survey results indicate that radiation levels and amounts of removable contamination are very low and present no hazards to personnel or visitors.
J. Environmental Monitoring Programs Initiated in 1974, the environmental monitoring program uses thermo- ,
I-luminescent dosimeters ~(TLD's) for locations in anu around the reactor facility. The water samples taken in the vicinity of Washington State University are analyzed for gross beta-gama activity.
The quarterly exposures near the Nuclear Radiation Center are listed in Table VII. No significant variation from past years' data is observed with the values from this year.
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Table VII Environmental Radiation Levels in the Vicinity of the W.S.U. Nuclear Reactor for 1979-80 Fiscal Year *
(exposure rates in pR/ day)
JAS OND JFM AMJ Yearly Median 240 204 155 187 196 From sampling stations located within 50-500 meters of the Nuclear Radiation Center Quarterly exposure rates at readily accessible locations at the reactor facility are listed in Table VIII. As indicated by the results, there is no significant effect on the environmental radiation levels by reactor operation.
Table VIII Exposure Rates Above Ambient Background per Megawatt Hour of Reactor Operation (exposure rates in pR/MWH) location Median JAS OND JFM AMJ Entrance 8 38 72 47 42 _
Lower Loading Dock 20 15 11 40 18 Storage Shed 0 23 26 9 16 Pool Room Door 39 106 87 92 90 North Side of Bldg. 0 8 11 17 10 Beam Room Door 0 45 34 32 33 i
The gross beta-gamma activity of the water samples taken from loca-tiens in the vicinity of Washington State University are shown in Table IX. The results indicate that there are no effects correlated with the !
I operation of the W.S.U. Nuclear Reactor. i
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Table IX Water Sample Activities for 1979-80 Fiscal Year Number of Average Specific Range of Values Location Samples Activity, pCi/ liter pCi/ liter Pullman Sewage 11 2.0 0.03 - 10.0 Effluent South Fork of 11 1.3 0 - 7.3 Palouse River Palouse River 9 0.51 0 - 1. 5 at Colfax Snake River 9 0.80 0 - 3.0 Tap Water 9 1.9 0.27 - 6.2 4
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