ML20151Q593

Annual Opeations Rept for Iowa State Univ Research Reactor for Jul 1987 - June 1988

ML20151Q593
Person / Time
Site:	University of Iowa
Issue date:	06/30/1988
From:	Hendrickson R IOWA STATE UNIV., AMES, IA
To:	NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION & RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (ARM)
References
NUDOCS 8808110223
Download: ML20151Q593 (4)

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ANNUAL OPERATIONS REPORT for the Iowa State University Research Reactor Docket No. 50-116 July 1, 1987 -- June 30, 1988 This is a routine operations report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in accordance with the requirements of Section 6.6 of the Technical Specifications, Appendix A to Operating License R-59.

1. Summary of reactor operatino experience includina the enerov produced by the reactor:

The operation of the reactor continues to support the teaching and research programs of the Department of Nuclear Engineering.

Three different courses, required for all sophomores and Juniors in the nuclear engineering curriculum, provided hands-on laboratory experience and sample Irradiat!on services dur!ng during fall and spring semesters.

A graduate-level course that used the reactor extensively was offered in the fall.

The reactor availability for scheduled class periods during the fall semester was about 43% due to a prolonged corrective maintenance outages availability for spring semester classes was about 93%.

For the same period last year, the availability was 100%.

During the period Jul 1,1987 - Jun 30,1988, a total of i

42 kilowatt-hours of energy production and 132 hours0.00153 days <br />0.0367 hours <br />2.18254e-4 weeks <br />5.0226e-5 months <br /> of operation were recorded.

Last year's numbers were 215 kWh and 307 hours0.00355 days <br />0.0853 hours <br />5.076058e-4 weeks <br />1.168135e-4 months <br />. A percentage breakdown by operations categories is shown below:

1 Research Teaching Maintenance Operator Service Grad U-grad Trainin I

___________________________________________________________g Energy (%)

10.0 4.3 46.4 37.1 1.8 0.4 Time '%)

16.2 4.1 46.5 23.6 8.6 1

___________________________________________________________________.0

2. Unscheduled shutdowns Ircludino where applicable. corrective action laken to preclude recurrence:

There were no unscheduled shutdowns during the reporting period.

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3. major preventive and corrective maintenance operations havina safety slanificance A major corrective maintenance operation ran from Sep 24, 1987 to Nov 24, 1907.

During this period, the compensated lon chamber that drives the multirange linear power channel was replaced, and channel calibration was completed.

Due to high radiation levels at the detector location, reactor fuel had to be removed and stored before the changeover was possible. With all the fuel in storage, a radiation survey of the core region was completed with these results: The overall average at 6' from surfaces was 2 to 4 mR/hr gamma; near steel screws and control rod drive shafts the beta-gamma readings were 10 to 12 mR/hr.

Smear samples showed no activity above background.

The main reason the outage duration was so long was the extra ef fort required to discover and repair a failed coaxial cable connection at the detector that occurred during the detector changeover. After reloading the fuel, the channel could not be calibrated, although preliminary testing for detector signal with a PuBe source before reloading fuel was performed. A test for coaxial cable performance with a time-domain reflectometer confirmed the connection failure at the detector, and the fuel transfer procedure had to be repeated.

4. Major chances in the reactor facility and procedures. and new tests or experiments. or both. thA.t-are slanificantly different from those performed previousiv and are not described in the Safety Analysis Report. Includina conclusions that no unreviewed safety cuestions were involved:

There were no major changes in the facility, procedures, tests, or experiments.

5. Summary of the natute and amount of radioactive ef fluents released or discharaed to the environs beyond the effective control of the University as determined at or before the point of such release or discharae.

(Included. to the extent practical. are estimates of Individual radlonuclides present in the effluent.

If the estimated Averaae release af tet_dllution or dif fusion is_Less than 25 oeregat_o1 the concentration allowed or recommended. a statement to this effect is used):

Argon-41: The technical specification limits on release of this radionuclide into the environs are based on weekly (up to 100 kWh) and annual tup to 4760 kWh) energy production of the reactor.

The operating records show that less than 25% of the concentration allowed was released to the environs.

Others: No measurable amounts of other radioactive effluents were released to the environs.

Annual Operations Repoit for R-59... Page 2 of 3

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6. Summarized results of any environmental surveys performed outside the facility:

No environmental surveys outside'the fac!!!ty were required to be performed since the trigger level, based on surveys inside the facility, was not exceeded.

7. Summary of exposures received by facility personnel and visitors where such exposures are areater than 25 percent of that allowed or recommended:

No facility personnel or visitors had exposures greater than 25 percent of that allowed or recommended.

l Annual Operations Report for P 59... Page 3 of 3 l

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Department of Nuclear Engineering 261 Sweeney Hall IOWA STATE

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UNIVERSITY Telephone 515 294 5840 Docket No. 50-116 Ref: 10 CFR 50.71(a)

July 29, 1988 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission ATIN: Document Control Desk Wasnington, DC 20555

Dear Sir:

-Enclosed with this letter is the Annual Operat!ons Report for the Iowa State University research reactor. The period covered by this report is from July 1, 1987 to June 30, 1988.

Sincerely, b ertdA2 h Richard A. Hendrickson Reactor Manager RAH:ch Enclosure C: Adminletrator, US NRC, Region III.

L. E. Burkhart, Chm, Radiation Safety Comm.

R. A. Danofsky, Chm, Reactor Use Comm.

E. E. Sobottka, Dir, 2nvironmental Hea!th & Safety Department B. I. Spinrad, Chm, Nuclear Engineering Department-American Nuclear Insurers Y

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