ML20073G425

Oh State Univ Research Reactor Annual Rept for FY93/94. W/

ML20073G425
Person / Time
Site:	Ohio State University
Issue date:	06/30/1994
From:	Cruz J OHIO STATE UNIV., COLUMBUS, OH
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
References
NUDOCS 9410040172
Download: ML20073G425 (10)

Text

• ,

4 I ', II,, E Engineedng Experiment station 156 Hitchcock Hall 2070 Neil Avenue

, ,, Columbus, OH 43210-1275 "1,. L Phone 614-292-4903 FAX # 614-292-9021 UNIVERSITY September 28,1994 Document Control Desk Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555

Dear Sir:

Please find enclosed the annual report for The Ohio State University Research Reactor, Docket No. 50-150. This report is being submitted as required by our Technical Specifications, Section 6.6.1. If you have questions on the content of this report, please contact Mr. Richard Myser, Associate Director of the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory.

Sincerely yours, Jose B. Cruz, Jr.

Dean JBC:krh c: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region III (w/ enc.)

Tbcodore S. Michaels (w/cnc.)

Don W. Miller (w/ enc.)

030037 ',

9410040172 931231 PDR ADDCK 05000150 College of Engineering d

,h 8

l R F D.t

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT FOR FY 93/94 SEPTEMBER 28,1994 I

l i

l Introdu'ction i As stated in The Ohio State University Research Reactor Technical Specifications, Section 6.6.1 l Operating Reports, an annual report shall be made to the NRC by September 30 of each year. This  ;

report is to include the following seven sections.

l. A narrative summary of operating experience (including experiments performed) and of changes in facility design, performance characteristics, and operating procedures  :

related to reactor safety occurring during the reporting period. j

2. A tabulation showing the energy generated by the mactor (in Kilowatt hours) and the  !

number of hours the reactor was in use. ,

3. The results of safety-related maintenance and inspection. The reasons for corrective  ;

maintenance of safety-related items shall be included.

l

4. A table of unscheduled shutdowns and inadvertent scrams, including their reasons '

and the corrective actions taken.

l 5. A summary of changes to the facility or procedures, which affect reactor safety, and performance of tests or experiments carried out under the conditions of sections .

50.59 of 10CRF50. l

6. A summary of the nature and amount of radioactive gaseous, liquids, and solid  ;

effluents released or discharged to the environs beyond the effective control of the ,

licensee as measured or calculated at or prior to the point of such release or discharge.  !

7. A summary of radiation exposures received by facility personnel and visitors, l including the dates and times of significant exposures. i i

These seven sections are discussed below. These are all for the period July 1,1993 through June 30,1994 except as noted for exposure records. j 1.A. Experiments Performed j i

The staff of The OSU Research Reactor are generally involved in four types of experiments at the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. Included are introductions to nuclear research, neutron .  !

activation analysis, material irradiations, and classes that measure various reactor '

parameters. Typically when we introduce students, faculty or other experimenters to nuclear research, we do the following:

a. Discuss nuclear reactions and radiological safety.

b. Operate the reactor at 10Kw-100Kw '

c. Have the individuals observe control room operations.

d. Complete a tour and demonstrate irradiation techniques.

Neutron activation analysis experiments are routinely completed for students ranging from high school to graduate school. The facilities normally utilized are the " rabbit" (pneumatic i

tube) and the "CIF" (Central Irradiation Facility). The majority of the NAA work is geological samples. Irradiations are typically no longer than six hours.

Material irradiations, other than for NAA, are in four basic areas: isotope production, detector, electronic component and fiber optic testing; boron neutron capture therapy  ;

(BNCT); and irradiation of biological samples. Isotope production is extremely limited.  ;

i 1 ,

i I

1 l

Detector and electronic component testing is done routinely. This testing is usually completed in the thermal column, or one of the beam ports, while fission chamber testing is in the Central Irradiation Facility. The reactor thermal column is also utilized for other BNCF studies. Typically it is the location for blood samples to determine their boron content and for the evaluatL,u of Cr-39 plastic plates.

Various nuclear engineering or physics classes throughout Ohio utilize the reactor for the following basic experiments:

i

a. Approach to critical (using banked control rods rather tha'1 fuel loading).

b. Control rod calibration by rod drop, positive period, and suberitical raultiplication.

c. Measurement of the Reactor Transfer function.

d. Void coefficient measurements.

c. Radiological surveys.

The reactor utilization for July 1,1993 through June 30,1994 is summarized in the following quarterly reports.

2

Utilization Report July 1,1993 - Sept 30,1993 Maintenance Activities 20 Hours NE 744 31 Hours NAA for Kent State 2 Hours RSFC Evaluation 23 Hours NAA for Wright State 10 BNCT 7 Hours Silicon Wafer Irradiation (Van de Graaff) 2 Hours Total 95 Hours l

3

l i

i

'l Utilization Report i October 1,1993 - December 31, 1993  :

Maintenance Activities 4 Hours  !

Tours 11 liours Requalification and Training 6 Hours Lake Shore Cryotronics 12 liours j Reuter-Stokes Fission Chambers 20 llours NE 606 2 liours NE 505 5 Hours i Production of Na-24 for Miami U. 1.5 Ilours  :

Production of Ar-41 for Victorcen 3 Hours  ;

NAA Lab for Pharmacy 800 5.5 Hours >

NAA of Geological Samples for Kent State 10 Hours  !

NAA of MgO for N. Gupta for BNCT 2.5 Hours l

NAA of Ce-141 in Metal Powders, Met. Eng. 2 Hours Total 84.5 Hours I

i I

i i

4

l i

Utilization Report [

January 1,1994 - March 31,1994  :

Maintenance Activities 7 Hours 7 t

Tours 12.5 Hours Reuter-Stokes Fission Chambers 15 Hours NAA cif Stints for OSU Radiology 6.5 Hours j NAA of Samples for Science Project - Zane Trace H.S. 2 Hours  :

NAA of Geological Samples for KSU 6 Hours i t

Irradiation of Carbon Samples for beta activity I Hour j NAA of Feathers for Zoology Dept. - OSU 2 Hours .[

! I BNCT for OSU Pathology 3 Hours l t

Air Force Institute of Technology - App. to Critical 6 Hours t Hf Production for Miami U. 7 Hours  !

NAA of Zebra Mussels for Wittenberg 5 Hours i

App. to Critical for U. of Cincinnati 6 Hours NE 742 Fission Chamber Lab 4 Hours

{

EPRI 11 Fission Chamber Analysis 3 Hours Total 86 Hours

• l l

l l

5

i Utilization Report April 1,1994 - June 30,1994 Maintenance and Inspections 50.0 liours Activation of Carbon Compounds 2.5 liours .

Terra Community College Experiments 10.0 llours EPRI 11 Fission Chamber Analysis 3.0 liours NAA of Geological Samples for KSU 6.5 Ilours Reuter-Stokes Fission Chamber Analysis 12.5 liours Tours 17.5 IIours IINCT 9.0 liours NE 720 Labs 6.0 llours NAA of Au in Feathers 2.0 liours Training 1.0 llour NE 744 Labs 4.0 llours 124 Hours 6

i

. . \

1 l

1.H. . Changes in Facility Design There were no facility design changes that required a change to the Technical i Specifications.10CFR50.59 changes are described in section 5. A.  !

1.C. Changes in Performance Characteristics ,

There have been no changes in performance characteristics related to reactor safety in the last year.

1.D. Changes in Operating Procedures There were no changes in operating procedures related to reactor safety in the last year ( 10 CFR50.59 changes are described in section 5 B.). .

2. A . Kilowatt-Ilours of Operation - 21,405 i 2.H. Ilours of Utilization - 389.5

3. Safety Related Maintenance Work continued on the design, construction, and testing of magnet control r.mplifiers in -

response to the March 8,1993 report.

4. Unscheduled Shutdowns From July 1,1993 to June 30,1994 there were a total of ten unplanned scrams. These are ,

summarized below.

RenMm Corrective Action A. Loss of Magnet Current. (5) Replaced Magnet Control Amps B. Instrumentation caused spurious None to date.

signal on period safety amplifier. (5)

5. Changes in Facility Procedures and Performance of Tests or Experiments in Accordance with 10CFR50.59 A. During the period July 1,1993 to June 30,1994 one OSURR Modification Request was completed by the reactor staff and approved by the Reactor Operations Committee.

This did not require license or technical specification changes or result in an unreviewed safety question per 10CFR50.59. This is described below.

1. Added a long-term irradiation facility by installing an access tube into the grid plate.

While this was approved, installation and testing did not commence during this i reporting period. ,

l 7

. B. The following is a list of procedure changes made under 10CFR50.59 from July 1 I 1993 to June 30,1994 in accordance with Administrative Procedure AP-05 entitled ,

Format for Writing, Revising, and Approving Procedures.

Procedure Number Procedure Title Rev.# Rev. Date AP-07 Review of Procedures 11 1/21/94 OM-01 Reactor Power Changes 5 6/6/94 O M 4)6 Pu-Be Source Removal 3 6/6/94 OM-07 Fuel Element Inspections 3 4/15/94 ,

O M 4)8 Reactor Operation Logbook Records 5 6/14/94 OM-15 Process System Checks 0 3/23/94 RS-03 Calibration of Gaseous Effluent Monitor 3 1/13/94 RS-09 Area Radiation Survey 4 2/16/94  !

R S-17 Ar-41 Release Calculation 3 1/12/94 S P-02 Security Call List 20 4/4/94 ,

EP-01 Emergency Procedures 7 3/10/94 i EP-04 Emergency Equipment Inventory 2 3/18/94

6. Radioactive Effluents l A. Gaseous Effluent- The only effluent we measure is the release of Ar-41. For the period ,

July 1 - Dec. 31,1993 Ar-41 releases measured 0.96% of the MPC. From Jan.1 -

June 30,1994, releases measured 0.58% of the annual average concentration limit. r B. cic uid Releases- The reactor pool was not drained during this reporting period. Hot  ;

sin c releases are recorded and reported through the OSU Office of Radiation Safety. '

There were no releases during this reporting period. ,

C. No releases of solid radioactive material were made to the uncontrolled environment.

7. Radiation Exposures i Since the firm that maintains records for The Ohio State University keeps a year to date .

record, it is easier to report this by the nearest completed calendar year. Therefore film badge exposures in this report are for the period January 1,1993 to December 31,1993.

Three individuals were monitored as radiation workers for the entire year or a major part of it. These are tabulated below. They are consistent with the ALARA policy for The Ohio State University and represent a small fraction of allowed limits.

Individual Whole Body Right left Deep Shallow Finger Finger 1 70 160 410 400 2 10 50 900 790 l l

3 0 0 0 0 All doses are in millirem. I i

8 l

'