ML20072H335
| ML20072H335 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | University of Texas at Austin |
| Issue date: | 03/03/2020 |
| From: | Whaley P Univ of Texas |
| To: | William Kennedy Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML20072H335 (11) | |
Text
COUEGE OF ENGINEERING THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN Department ofM<<hanical Engineering* 1 Unive,-sity Station C2200 *Austin, Texas 78712-0292 Telephone( 512)477-1131 FAX (512)471-8727 03/03/2020 ATTN: Document Control Desk Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555.-0001 W. Kennedy NRR/DLP/PRLB 3WFN MS 8 C28
SUBJECT:
Docket No. 50-602 R-126, 2019 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TRI GA II NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR Sir:
Attached is the 2019 Annual Report for the University of Texas TRIGA II Nuclear Reactor. If there are any questions, please feel free to contact P. M. Whaley at whaley@mail.utexas.edu or 512 232 5374.
P. M. Whaley
2019 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TRIGA II NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR (DOCKET 50-602)
INTRODUCTION The University of Texas System (UTS) was estabiished by the Texas Constitution in 1876, with the University of Texas at Austin the flagship institution. The Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory was established at the J. J. Pickle Research Campus with a TRI GA II Nuclear Research Reactor, critical in 1992. The reactor is licensed to the University of Texas under USNRC License R-129, a class 104 research reactor. A second USNRC license for special nuclear materials, SNM-180, authorizes possession of a subcritical assembly, neutron sources, and various equipment at
- NETL. Other activities at the NETL using radioisotopes fall under a broad scope, State of Texas license (L00485).
The NETL TRIGA II Reactor Technical Specifications (section 6.6.1) requires an annual report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This Annual Report covers the period from January through December 2019. The report is organized to summarize the status of current organization during the reporting period (line management organization, oversight committees, and independent oversight activities) followed by the information as detailed in Technical Specifications.
ANNUAL REPORT Personnel status for the organization during the 2018-2019 reporting year for management, oversight, and operating staff is provided. The Technical Specifications requires "Routine annual reports covering the activities of the reactor facility during the previous calendar year" three months following the end of each prescribed year. The information required in the annual report is addressed as indicated in Table 1. - .-
Table 1: Required Annual Report Information Information Addressed as A narrative summary of reactor operating experience including Narrative Su~ary
- a. the energy produced by the reactor or the hours the reactor was Energy produced: 3 6 MWD critical, or both. Hours critical: 1236 h Tabulation of Unscheduled The unscheduled shutdowns including, where applicable, Shutdowns b.
corrective action taken to preclude recurrence.
Analysis and Corrective Action Statement of Surveillance Tabulation of major preventive and corrective maintenance Activities c.
operations having safety significance. Description of Significant Corrective Maintenance Description of Facility Tabulation of major changes in the reactor facility and Modifications procedures, and tabulation of new tests or experiments, or both, Description of Procedure
- d. that are significantly different from those performed previously, Changes including conclusions that no new or unanalyzed safety questions Description of New were identified. Tests/Experiments 50.59 Summary
A summary of the nature and amount of radioactive effluents released or discharged to the environs beyond the effective control of the owner-operator as determined at or before the point There were no liquid effluents in of such release or discharge. The summary shall include, to the 2019 e.
extent practicable, an estimate of individual radionuclides present in the effluent. If the estimated average release after dilution or diffusion is less than 25% of the concentration Argon 41 Effluent allowed or recommended, a statement to this effect is sufficient.
A summarized result of environmental surveys performed
- f. Environmental Surveys outside the facility.
A summary of exposures received by facility personnel and
- g. visitors where such exposures are greater than 25% of that Exposures allowed or recommended.
ORGANIZATION Line Management Figure 1 presents the four levels of management identified in Technical Specifications.
Ex<01tive Vi<< Prosid<nt and Radiation Saftty Pro,*ost Committee Reactor O,*a sight Committee
~diarion Safety Nuclear Engineering T caching ---- ____ .. _________
Officer Laboratory Director Health Physicist Figure 1: Line Management Organization
Table 2: Level I The University of Texas at Austin Administration Greg L. Fenves, PhD, President Maurie Mclnnis, PhD, Executive Vice President and Provost Sharon Wood, PhD, Dean, Cockrell School of Engineering There were no changes in Level I personnel during 2019.
Table 3: Level 2 Mechanical Engineering and NETL Administration Dr. Richard Neptune, Chair, Mechanical Engineering Department Dr. W. Charlton, Director P. M. Whaley, Associate Director There were no changes in Level 2 personnel during 2019.
Table 4: Level 3 NETL Reactor Supervisor Larry Hall, Reactor Manger There was no change in the reactor manager during 2019.
Table 5: Level 4 NETL Reactor Operators/Senior Reactor Operators P. M Whaley: Senior Operator Larry Hall: Senior Operator Jim Terry (Electronic Technician) Senior Operator - Upgraded 10/2019 Tracy Tipping (Health Physicist) Reactor Operator Walker Payne (Research Assistant) Reactor Operator Isaac Kravitz (UT graduate student) Reactor Operator Briana Barth (UT undergraduate student) Reactor Operator Kevin McKay--License issued 10/2019 Anthony Sandoval -- License issued 10/2019 Mark Andrews (Research Associate) - License issued 10/2019 Three reactor operator and one senior operator licenses issued, three terminated in 2019.
Oversight Committees Table 6: 2018-2019 University Radiation Safety Committee Kevin N. Dalby, Ph.D., Chair, Professor, College of Pharmacy Dan Jaffe, Ph.D., Vice Chair, Vice President for Research R. DeWayne Holcomb, ex-officio, Radiation Safety Officer, Environmental Health and Safety Jack L. Ritchie, Ph.D., Department Chair, Professor, Department of Physics John Salsman, Director, Environmental Health and Safety (& acting Radiation Safety Officer)
Christopher S. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences J. Steven Swinnea, Ph.D., Texas Materials Institute X-Ray Facility Manager Tracy N. Tipping, NETL Health Physicist and Laboratory Manager Karen M. Vasquez, Ph.D., Professor, College of Pharmacy
Table 7: 2018-2019 Reactor Oversight Committee Derek Haas (ME), Chair Kevin Clarno (ME), Chair Dale Klein (ME)
Rick Neptune, ex-officio (ME)
John G. Ekerdt, ex-officio Lawrence R. Jacobi (External Representative)
Larry Hall, ex-officio (NETL)
Tracy Tipping, ex-officio (NETL)
Mike Whaley, ex-officio (NETL)
DeWayne Holcomb (Radiation Safety Officer)
John Salsman, Director, Environmental Health and Safety (acting Radiation Safety Officer)
Independent Oversight Activities Table 8: Inspections and Reviews USNRC License(s) Inspection R-129 18-29 November 2019 1
SNM-1 80 None State of Texas License Inspection L00485 (89) None Reactor Oversight Committee Review Semi Annual Review 15 Apr 2019 Semi Annual Review 1 Nov 2019 Other UT Fire M arshal Fire Safety 13 Feb 2019 UT Fire Safety Systems None due to installation of new fire alarm and sprinkler system FACILITY OPERATIONS
SUMMARY
REPORT Narrative Summary The UT-TRIGA reactor operated on 218 days in 2019, producing a total energy output of 867 MWh. There were routine maintenance outages in July, and December; the maintenance outage scheduled for January 2020 was completed prior to Christmas break (The University is secured over Christmas break, typically from the Friday before Christmas through January 1) to support an experiment schedule. There were week-long outages in 28 Oct- 1 Nov to resize MCZPR and subcritical core fuel and 11-15 Nov for Y-12 packaging and shipping ofMCZPR and subcritical fuel. There was a weeklong outage in August to inspect stored spent fuel in preparation for transport (schedule to be determined). Even with the special operations that limited reactor operations, the trend of operating hours and energy generation is increasing.
1 SNM 180 termination in progress
Energy Generation 40 35 30 25 0
5 20
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15 10 5
0 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Year Operating Days 250 V) t'tJ 0 200 tl.O C
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0 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Year There were 22 days of operations for training and education, including preparation for NRC examination and reactor-based laboratory classes. There were 808 samples irradiated during 196 days of experiment operations (56 experiments run: 21 for research, 27 for service work and 8 for internal experiments. The distribution of utilization across experiment facilities is provided below.
Experiment Facility Utilization BP2 BP4 ePNT 1.40% 14.70% 13.30%
RSR 20.60%
TRN 10.10%
3EL 12.40%
7 .80%
BP3 52.80%
Other Significant Operations and Events Prior to installation of the original UT TRI GA reactor (at Taylor Hall on main campus) a Lockheed Aircraft Corporation Subcritical Assembly was purchased to support UT nuclear education under a Special Nuclear Materials license (SNM-180). The subcritical assembly was moved to NETL when facili ty construction was complete. SNM-180 was amended to allow Manhattan College Zero Power Reactor fuel to be transferred from interim storage to NETL, supporting accelerator driven reactor research. The MCZPR fuel was not used in the experiment and has remained as a possession only status with no anticipated utilization. In 2019 the subcritical assembly and MCZPR Fuel were transferred to the Uranium Scrap Recovery program at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Authorization for possession of plutonium beryllium sources used in detector calibration supporting the reactor program were transferred from a Special Nuclear Materials license (SNM 180) to the reactor facility license (R-129). A request for termination ofSNM-180 was transmitted to NRC.
The oringal inventory of TRIG A fuel at NETL was principally fuel with prior power history at one or more other research reactors. Some of the previously irradiated fuel was received with significant bumup, and there are no plans to use this fuel at NELT. There are two fuel elements that had fission product leakage during operation, encapsulated as failed fuel. These elements contribute significantly to the amount of Special Nuclear Materials at NETL with no intent for utilization. However, the interim disposal site for TRIGA fuel cannot accept fuel until unrelated milestone are met by the Department of Energy. There is potential for resolving the issues within the next few years, and key personnel at the interim storage facility are nearing retirement. To ensure a campaign to ship spent fuel from NETL can be initiated as soon as the opportunity occurs, an on-site inspection of fuel designated for disposal was conducted in 2019.
Tabulation of Unscheduled Shutdowns TABLE 9: UNSCHEDULEDSHUTD0WNS 1/09/2019 NP%PWR Approach 950kW NP spiked hilili Operator Error 4/01/2019 NP%PWR Playback indicated 95% prior to trip Spurious NP 4/08/2019 NP%PWR Playback indicated 95% prior to trip Spurious NP 5/16/2019 NPP%PWR Playback indicated 95% prior to trip Spurious NPP 5/16/2019 NPP%PWR Playback indicated 98% prior to trip Spurious NPP 6/12/2019 NP%PWR Flux tilt Spurious trip Operator Error 9/12/2019 NPP%PWR Playback indicated 95% prior to trip Spurious NPP Analysis and Corrective Actions Temperature Trips There were no temperature trips in 2019, a significant change from previous years.
Operator Errors There were two reactor scrams that occurred because of errors by operators. One occurred while a less experienced operator was approaching power and they did not notice the power difference between NP and NPP due to rod positioning; signal instability at high power is compensated by operating at a lower steady state power level, and the operator did not recognize the potential for a spurious scram as the signal varied. The second occurred during power operations with 3el installed; operator did not remember the flux tilt caused by the 3-EL being installed in core causing different power values between NP and NPP.
Spurious NM 1000 Power Level Trips The NP and NPP accounted for a large fraction of spurious trips. Playback allows the operator to witness the highest level of power reached. In all cases, the scram occurred well below the scram limit. This has been a recurring event throughout the history of UT NETL. During the July 2019 maintenance period, an adjustment was performed on the detectors and seems to have reduced the incidents of spurious scrams. During the July 2018 maintenance outage, the fission chamber and integral cable were replaced and re-terminated. This corrective maintenance was very effective based on no spurious scrams caused by the NM 1000 through 2019.
Statement of Surveillance Activities The facility conducts two major maintenance outages each year, one in January (before the start of the spring semester) and one mid-summer. In 2019, the maintenance scheduled for the January 2020 outage was completed in December 2019 to support an experiment operation schedule. All surveillances and scheduled maintenance activities were completed during the
reporting year at the required frequencies. All results met or exceeded the requirements of the Technical Specifications.
Description of Significant Corrective Maintenance None Description of Facility Modifications Fire Sprinkler The fire sprinkler system throughout the facility was upgraded and some areas added. There were no sprinklers placed above the reactor pool or electronics due to possible contamination of reactor water if sprinklers were set off. The alarms and indicators were upgraded throughout the facility to include the reactor bay to allow better indication of an incident within the facility.
Description of Procedure Changes Operation Procedures 2 (Reactor Startup and Shutdown) and 3 (Reactor Operation Modes) were rewritten to be included into a single procedure to assist in ease of operations.
Operation Procedure 1 (Reactor Startup and Shutdown Checks) checklist was revised to ensure it reflected all Technical Specifications requirement completions were annotated more effectively.
New Tests or Experiments A pneumatic facility located in a 3-EL canister was approved. Facility design is in progress.
Minor changes were made to the gamma imaging and fast neutron facilities experiment.
(ongoing) 50.59 Summary Modifications for which no Technical Specifications change is required and the criteria for NRC approval prior to implementation was not met.
23 May 2019: Replaced Argon CAM vacuum pump with exact manufacture make and model pump due to an internal bearing failure.
The pneumatic facility in a 3-EL canister is in the design phase; a 10CFR50.59 review will be completed following review of final design and prior to installation (ongoing)
RADIOLOGICAL
SUMMARY
REPORT Argon 41 Effluent The principal radioactive effluent for the UT reactor is Argon 41. There were 4.3 x I 06 µCi of argon-41 discharged during calendar year 2019, approximately 4% of the value permitted by Technical Specifications.
Environmental Surveys NETL monitors exterior locations indicated as positions 1 through 6 on the exterior dosimeter map. For 2019, "minimal" doses(< 1 mrem) were reported for positions 1, 4, 5, and 6.A dose of four mrem was reported for positions 2 and a dose of 1 mrem was reported for position 3 for 2019. These doses are well below the 100 mrem annual limit for dose to the general public.
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These doses are well below the 100 mrem annual limit for dose to the general public.
Exposures One worker received an extremity exposure of approximately 15 rem in 2019. Almost all of this dose was received during the packaging phase of a special high-activity isotope production run.
The dose received is 30% of the 10 CFR 20 dose limit.