ML20134D659
| ML20134D659 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Washington State University |
| Issue date: | 06/30/1985 |
| From: | Wilson W WASHINGTON STATE UNIV., PULLMAN, WA |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8508190316 | |
| Download: ML20134D659 (7) | |
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ANNUAL REPORT ON THE OPERATION OF THE WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY TRIGA REACTOR Facility License R-76 for the Reporting Period of July 1, 1984 to June 30, 1985 A. Narrative Sumary of the Year's Operation
- 1. Operating Experience The Washington State University Reactor has accumulated 577 megawatt hours on Core 31-A during the reporting period. A total of 2780 irradiations for a total of 25,042 samples were perfonned. Also, 30 pulses greater than $1.00 were performed during this reporting period. The quarterly operations summaries are shown in Table I, Section B.
- 2. There'were no changes in design, performance characteristics, or operating procedures that related to reactor safety during the reporting period.
- 3. All surveillance tests and requirements were performed and com-pleted within the prescribed time period. The results of all inspections revealed no abnormalities and were within expected values.
B. Energy and Cumulative Output The quarterly operations summaries are given in Table I below.
. Table 1 Fiscal Year Summary of Reactor Operations JA5 OND JFM AMJ TOTALS Hours of Operation 123 155 151 159 588 Megawatt Hours 123 145 151 158 577 No. of Irradiations 139 952 1188 501 2780 No. of Samples Irradiated 7061 7799 5283 4899 25042 No. of Pulses > $1.00 0 28 0 2 30 The cumulative energy output since criticality of the TRIGA core since 1967 is 523 megawatt. days. The mixed core of, FLIP and Standard fuels installed in 1976 has accumulated 262 megawatt days.
C. Emergency Shutdowns and Inadvertent Scrams During the reporting period, no emergency shutdowns occurred. The causes of the four inadvertent scrams that occurred during the reporting period are given in Table II below.
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, 2 Table II Inadvertent Scrams Number Cause 1 Period channel spike during startup 1 High radiation, reactor bridge due to sample removal 1 Pulse rod scram; no indication of cause 1 High startup rate due to loss of Log-N channel signal D. Major Maintenance There were no items in this category for this reporting period. All maintenance performed was routine, planned maintenance.
E. Changes, Tests and Experiments Carried Out Under 10 CFR 50.59 During the reporting period, one item was conducted and documented under 10 CFR 50.59.
In August,1984, the 10 Kohm trip test potentiometer and test switch in the Wide Range Log-N Channel failed. An equivalent replacement pa_rt was installed and tested. The replacement of the part was ,
documented under 10 CFR 50.59 and approved in-house. i F. 1. Radioactive Liquid Release During the reporting period, the average release concentration was 10.7 x 10-9 microcuries/ milliliter. This yielded a total of 0.79 microcuries released in a total of 20,432 gallons. The monthly releases are listed in Table III below.
1 Table III Radioactive Liquid Releases Quantity Concentration Percent Volume Month uCi uCi/ml MPC* Gallons July 0.55 3.14 x 10-8 31 4633 August Release made/no detectable counts above background 4645 September No release - - -
October No release - - -
November No release - - -
December 0.12 4.93 x 10-9 4.9 6539 January No release - - -
February No release - - -
March 0.11 5.99 x 10-9 6.0 4615 April No release - - -
May No release - - -
June 0.01 4.67 x 10-10 0.5 4644
- Based on a release limit of 1.0 x 10-7 uC1/cc for unknown mixture found in Technical Specifications 6.10, paragraph 5, page 36.
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- 2. Radioactive Gaseous Release During the reporting period, no significant quantity of any gaseous or particulate material with a half-life greater than eight days was released.
During the reporting period, at no time did the release exceed 20%
of MPC for Argon-41.
The average monthly- concentration of Argon-41 was 1.17 x 10-7 uC1/cc.
This yielded a total of 7.8 curies released in 6.7 x 1013 cc of air.
The monthly releases are summarized below in Table IV.
Table IV Monthly Argon-41 Releases Concentration Before Dilution Percent MPC* Quantity Month uC'/cc __ After Dilution mci July 1.03 x 10-7 1.03 584 August 1.01 x 10-7 1.01 573 September 1.27 x 10-7 1.27 697 October 1.26 x 10-7 1.26 714 November 1.30 x 10-7 1.30 713 December 1.07 x-10-7 1.07 607 January 1.12 x 10-7 1.12 635 February 1.32 x 10-7 1.32 676 March 1.30 x 10-7 1.30 737 April 9.45 x 10-8 0.94 518 May 1.22 x 10-7 1.22 692 June -1.23 x 10-7 1.23 675
- Based on 10 CFR 20 limit of 4.0 x 10-8 uCi/cc (;able II, Cal. I),
and a dilution factor of 4.0 x 10-3 (SAR 6.4.2) for an after dilution limit of 1.,0 x 10-5 uCi/cc.
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- 3. Radioactive Solid Waste Disposal __
For waste generated by the Nuclear Radiation Center during the reporting period, one shipment was made to U.S. Ecology Company in Richland, Washington for disposal. A total of 1.0 millicuries in 15 cubic feet was packed in.two 55-gallon drums for shipment.
The shipments are tabulated in Table V below.
Table V W.S.U., N.R.C. Solid Radioactive Waste Disposal Date Volume in Cubic Feet Activity in Millicuries 11/15/84 15.0 1.0
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G; Personnel and-Visitor Radiation Exposures The average quarterly exposures of Nuclear Radiatior. Cen'.er reactor staff and experimenters who routinely utilize the '.Su reactor are given in Table VI below. The maximum quarterly exposure of one individual, who is a reactor staff member, was 120 millirem.
A total of 1525 individuals and non-Nuclear Radiation Center staff experimenters visited the Center during the reporting period, out of which 483 entered posted radiation areas. As detennined by pocket- .
dosimeter, the average individual exposure for those entering posted radiation areas was 3.13 millirem with a maximum exposure of 30 millirem.
A total of.30 group tours visited the Nuclear Radiation Center during the reporting period consisting of 430 individuals. As determined by digital dosimeter, the average group exposure was 1.1 millirem with a.
maximum exposure of 15 millirem.
Table VI Average Quarterly Reactor / Experimenter Staff Exposure (inmillirems)
Jul-Aug-Sep Oct-Nov-Dec Jan-Feb-Mar Apr-May-Jun 17.6 12.5 7.5 9.2-H. Reactor Facility Radiation Levels The-routine area radiation' surveys of the building in non-reactor-
. operating areas had an average level of 0.10 mrem /Hr while the average level . in reactor operating areas was 0.15 mrem /Hr. The highest average was 0.36 mrem /Hr which occurred in the beam port. room at the thermal column face.' ~ The lowest average was 0.02 mrem /Hr which
. occurred in the reactor shop area. The average level in the reactor control room was 0.03 mrem /Hr.
. Routine. building surveys for removable contaminatign in non-reactor operating areas had an average value of 3.17 'x 10-3 uCi/100 cm2 while the. average value in reactor operating areas was found to be 5.03 x 10-5 uCi/100'cm2 The highest average value in reactor operating areas was 16.58 x 10-5 uCi/100 cmz which was;found on the platform where experimenters stand to insert and withdraw samples from the reactor.
The lowest average value in the reactor. operating areas was 0.96 x 10-5
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uCi/100 cm2 which was found to be the reactor control : room floor.
I. Environmental Monitoring Program L' The environmental' monitoring program uses .thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD'.s) at locations in and around the reactor building facility.
The quarterly exposures near the Nuclear Radiation Center are listed in Table VII below. The normal ambient gamma radiation levels for this area (80-mile radius) average 250 uR/ day as reported in the 19th Annual Report of the Environmental Radiation Program by the Office of Environmental Health Programs, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.
The values observed indicate there is no significant effect on the environment radiation levels by reactor operation.
Table VII Environmental Radiation Levels in the Vicinity of the Nuclear Radiation Center
- Exposure in uR/ day.
J-A-S 0-N-D J-F-M A-M-J Median 102 ** ** 134 165
- For sampling stations located 50 meters or greater from the Nuclear Radiation Center.
- Jan-Feb-Mar and Apr-May-Jun data not available from TLD vendor at the
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time this report was prepared. A completed exposure record will be provided when TLD exposures are received from vendor.
Quarterly exposures at readily accessible locations at the reactor-facility are listed in Table VIII. No significant effect on the-environment radiation levels by reactor operation was noted.
Table VIII Exposure Rates Adjacent to the Nuclear Radiation Center
- Exposures in uR/ day . .
J-A-S 0-N-D J-F-M A-M-J Median Building Entrance 270 139 ** ** 205 E. Lower Loading Dock 270 278- - -
274 E. Pool Room Door- 5116 139 - -
2628 Storage.Shed 791 333 - -
562 N. Side of Building 251 194. - -
223 W. Beam Room Door 288 167 - -
228 W. Side of Building 288 333 - -
-311 W. Building Roof .
581 139 - -
360 E. Building Roof 428 278 - -
353
- For sampling stations ' located 'less than 50 meters of the Nuclear Radiation Center.
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Technical specifications ALARA effluent releases in 3.12(2) specify annual radiation exposure at the closest offsite extended occupancy shall not, on an annual basis, exceed the average local offsite background radiation by more than 20%. For the calendar year 1984, the average background radiation level'for sampling points 400 meters or greater from the facility was 164 uR/ day. The average radiation level at the closest extended occupied area 380 meters away was 160 uR/ day, which yields a ratio of exposure to background of -2.1% indicating no exposure level above natural background.
Fiscal year 1984-1985 ratios for the reporting period will be provided when 1985 1st and 2nd quarter TLD data is available_from the TLD vendor.
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WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY PULLMAN, WASHINGTON 99164-1300 NUCLEAR RADIATION CENTER August 7, 1985 Director, Division of Reactor Licensing U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20545 Re: Docket No. 50-27 Facility License R-76
Subject:
Annual Report
Dear Sir:
In accordance with the Technical Specifications for Facility License R-76 and the provisions of 10 CFR 50.59, Paragraph (6), the attached annual report prepared by Jerry A. Neidiger, the Reactor Supervisor of the WSU facility, is hereby submitted. The report covers the period from July 1,1984 to June 30, 1985.
Sincerely, W. ? Y W.E. Wilson Associate Director WEW:mb Enc.
cc: John Sheppard, Chairman Reactor Safeguards Committee C.J. Nyman, Dean of the Graduate School N.R.C.-Region V, Office of Inspection and Enforcement J.A. Neidiger l
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