ML20205K019

Annual Rept for 1998 for Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab. with

ML20205K019
Person / Time
Site:	University of Texas at Austin
Issue date:	12/31/1998
From:	Okelly S TEXAS, UNIV. OF, AUSTIN, TX
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
References
NUDOCS 9904120297
Download: ML20205K019 (57)

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DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL $NGINEERING a *]

E THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN q ;f:

I Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory - (512) 471-5787 FAX (512) 471-4589 44 s April 1,1999 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington, DC 20555

Subject:

Docket 50-602 Annual Report 1998

Dear Sir,

A report is enclosed for the R-129 license activities of The University of Texas at Austin.

The repoit covers the activities during the 1998 calendar year.

Sincere 1 Sean O' Kelly Associate Director Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory j enclosure: 1998 Annual Report cc: A. Adams w/ enclosure I copy 1

CW 9904120297 981231- P PDR ADOCK 05000602 R PDR . .

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Street Adderss: 10100 Burnet Road Austin Texas 78758 MailAddress:JJ. Pickle Research Gmpus Bldg.159 Austin, Taar 7871

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i NUCLEAR REACTOR L ABO R ATORY TECHNICAL REPORT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS COLLEGEOF ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING l

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Annual Report 1998 Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory JJ. Pickle Research Campus The University of Texas at Austin

- 1998 NETL Annual Report Tables of Contents ii Executive Summary lii Forward iv-1.0 Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory 1 1.1 Introduction 1-1 Purpose of the Report Availability of the Facility Operating Regulations NETL History 1.2 NETL Building 1-4 J.J. Picide Research Campus NETL Building Description Laboratories, Equipment 1.3 UT-TRIGA Mark II Research Reactor 1-8 Reactor Description Experiment Facilities Beam Port Facilities 1.4 Nuclear Engineering Academic Program 1-14 1.5 NETL Divisions 1-15 Operations and Maintenance Division Nuclear Analytical Services Division Neutron Beam Projects Division Health Physics Group 2.0 Annual Progress Report 2-1 2.1 Faculty, Staff, and Students 2-1  ;

2.2 Education and Training Activities 2-8 2.3 Service and Commercial Activities 2-9 2.4 Research and Development Projects 2-10  ;

2.5 Significant Modifications 2-17 1 2.6 Publications, Reports, and Papers 2-19 3.0 Facility Operating Summaries 3-1 3.1 Operating Experience 3-1 3.2 Reactor Shutdowns 3-1 3.3 Utilization 3-4 1 3.4 Maintenance 3-5 3.5 Facility Changes 3-6 3.6 . Laboratory Inspections 3-7 N l 3.7 Radiation Exposures 3  !

3.8 . Radiation Surveys 3-15 3.9 Radioactive Effluents, Radioactive Waste l 3-16 l I

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, 1998 NETL Annual Repon EXECUTIVE

SUMMARY

There was a significant increase in reactor and facility usage during this reporting period.

The Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory CGTL) facility continues to support the academic and research missions of The University of Texas but has begun to provide these suppon functions to other institutions. Experimenters from Canada and Mexico requested the suppon of the faculty and staff of the Nuclear Engineering Program during 1998 and these collaborations will continue into the future. The environmental research and analysis services performed by the NETL during this past year supported the U.S. Army, the Amarillo National Resource Center and the State of Texas.

Work continued towards the construction and testing of a reactor-based slow-positron beam at the NETL. This project is supponed by the State of Texas Advanced Technology Program and is a collaborative project with The University of Texas at Arlington. When complete, it will be one of a few, intense, slow variable-energy positron beams in the world.

The following is a panial list of NETL funded research provided for the reponing period.

Descriptions of the individual projects are found in Section 2 of the Annual Report.

Radiation Damage and Microstructual Changes of Stainless Steels Due to Long Term Irradiation by Alpha Panicles Neutron Imaging System for Materials Characterization Research at the University of Texas Reactor

• University Reactor Shariag Gallium Interactions with Zircalloy Cladding Determination of Selenium and Other Toxic Elements in Texas Lakes Investignions of Plutonium Waste Streams in a MOX Facility Investigations of Lead and Heavy Metals Contaminated Surface Soils from Pantex Firing Ranges Determination of Cs-137 in Soils at Fon Hood Determination of Trace Elements in Archaeological Materials by Neutron Activation Analysis iii

• .1 1998 NETL Annual Report FORWARD ~

i The mission of the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laborrtory at The University of.

Texas at Austin is to:

1. preserve, disseminate, and create knowledge, 2.- help educate those who will serve in the rebirth of nuclear power and in the expanding use of nuclear technology in industry and medicine, and

3. provide specialized nuclear resources for educational, industrial, medical, and government organizations.

The above objectives are achieved by carrying out a well-balanced program of education, resenrch, and service. The focus of all of these activities is the new TRIGA research reactor, the first new U.S. university reactor in 20 years.

The UT-TRIGA research reactor suppons hands-on education in reactor physics and nuclear science. In addition, the reactor can be used in laboratory course work by students in non-nuclear fields such as physics, chemistry, and biology. It may also be used in education programs for nuclear power plant personnel, secondary schools students and teachers, and the general public.

The UT-TRIGA research reactor provides opponunities to do research in nuclear science and engineering. It can also contribute to multidisiplinary studies in medicine, epidemiology, environmental sciences, geology, archeology, paleontology, etc. Research reactors, one megawatt and larger, constitute unique and essential research tools for examining the structure of crystals, magnetic materials, polymers, biological molecules, etc.

The UT-TRIGA research reactor benefits a wide range of on-campus and off-campus clientele, including academic, medical, industrial, and government organizations. The i principal services offered .by our reactor _ involve material irradiation, trace element detection, material analysis, and radiographic analysis of objects and processes. Such services establish beneficial links to.off-campus users, expose faculty and students to multidisiplinary research and commercial applications of nuclear science, and earn revenues to help support Nuclear Engineering activities.

Bernard W. Wehring, Director Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory . a iv s<

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l 1.0 N'UCLEAR ENGINEERING TEACHING LABORATORY 1.1 Introduction j i

Purnose of the Reoort 1 The Nuclear Fagineering Teaching Laboratory (NETL) at The University of Texas at Austin prepares a annual report of program activities. Information in this repon provides an introduction to the education, research, and service programs of the NETL. A TRIGA nuclear reactor is the major experimental facility at the Laboratory. The reactor operates at power levels up to 1100 kilowatts or with pulse reactivity insertions up to 2.2% Ak/k.

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U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) [ contract number DE-AC07-ER03919. Amendment A015; C85-110742 Task Order 2, Mod.1), and the licensing agency, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) [ docket number 50-602]. This annual report covers the period from January 1,1998 to December 31,1998.

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1998 NETL Annual Repon Availability of the Facility The NETL facility serves a multipurpose role. The use of NETL by faculty. staff, and students in the College of Engineering is the Laboratory's primary function. In addition, the development and application of nuclear methods are done to assist researchers from other universities, industry, and government. NETL provides services to industry, government ar.d other laboratories for the testing and evaluation of materials. Public education through tours and demonstrations is also a routine function of the laboratory operation.

Operatine Reculations Licensing of activities at NETL involve both Federal and State agencies. The nuclear reactor is subject to the terms and specifications of Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

License R-129, a class 104c research reactor license. Another NRC license, SNM-180, for special nuclear material, provides for the use of a subcritical assembly with neutron sources.

Both licenses are responsibilities of the NETL. For general use of radioisotopes tiie university maintains a broad license with the State of Texas, LO(M85. Functions of ine broad license are the responsibility of the University Office of Environmental Health and Safety.

NETL History Development of the nuclear engineering program was an effon of both physics and engineering faculty during the late 19.50's and early 1960's. The program became part of the Mechanical Engineering Depanment where it remains to this day. The program installed, operated, and dismantled a TRIGA nuclear reactor at a site on the main campus in the engineering building, Taylor Hall. Reactor initial criticality was August 1963 with the final operation in April 1988. Power at startup was 10 kilowatts (1963) with one power ugrade to 250 kilowatts (1968). The total burnup during a 25 year period from 1963 to 1988 ns 26.1 i

megawatt-days. Pulse capability of the reactor was 1.4% Ak/k with a total of 476 pulses during the operating history. Dismantling and decommissioning of the facility were completed in December 1992.

Planning for a new facility, which led to the shutdown of the campus facility, began in l October 1983, with construction commencing in December 1986 and continuing entil May 1989.

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The final license was issued in January 1992, and initial criticality occurred on March 12,1992.

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>' 1998 NETL Annual Report The new facility, including support laboratories, administrative offices, and .the reactor is the central location for all NETL activities. i 1'

Land use in the area of the NETL site began as an industrial site during the 1940's.-

Following the 1950's, lease agreements between the University and the Federal government led to the creation of the Balcones Research Center. In the 1990's, the University became owner of the site, and in 1994 the site name was changed to the J.J. Pickle Research Campus.

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1998 NETL Annual Report 1.2 NETL Building i

J.J. Pickle Research Campus The J.J. Picide Research Campus (PRC) is a multidiscipline research campus with a site area of 1.87 square kilometers. Areas of the site consist of two approximately equal east and west tracts of land. An area of about 9000 square meters on the east tract is the location of the NETL building. Sixteen separate research units and at least five other academic research programs, including the NETL facility, have research efforts with locations at the research campus. Adjacent to the NETL site is the Center for Research in Water Resources and Bureau of Economic Geology, which are examples of the diverse research activities on the campus. A Commons Building provides cafeteria service, recreation areas, meeting rooms, and conference facilities. Access to the NETL site is shown in Figure 1-2.

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1998 NETL Annual Repon NETL Buildine Description The NETL building is a 1950 sq meter (21,000 sq ft), facility with laboratory and office spaces. Building areas consist of two primary laboratories of 330 sq m (3600 sq ft) and 80 sq m (900 sq ft), eight suppon laboratories (217 sq m,2340 sq ft), and six supplemental areas (130 sq m,1430 sq ft). Conference and office space is allocated to 12 rooms totaling 244 sq m (2570 sq l ft). One of the primary laboratories contains the TRIGA reactor pool, biological shield structure, and the neutron beam experiment areas. A second primary laboratory consists of 1.3 meter (4.25 ft) thick walls for use as a general purpose radiation experiment facility. Other areas of the building include support shops, instrument laboratories, measurement laboratories, and material handling laboratories. Figure 1-3 and 1-4 show the building and floor layouts for office and laboratory areas.

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. 1998 NETL Annual Report  ;

i Laboratories. Eauipment The NETL facility makes available several types of radiation facilities and an array of radiation detection equipment. In addition to the reactor, facilities include a suberitical assembly, a gamma irradiator, various radioisotope sources, and several radiation producing machines.

The gamma inadiator is a multicurie cobalt-60 source with a design activity of 10,000 curies. Radioisotopes of cobalt-60, cesium-137, and radium-226 are available in millicurie quantities.

Neutron sources of plutonium-beryllium and californium-252 are available. A subcritical assembly of 20% enriched uranium in a polyethylene moderated cylin6r provides an experimental device for laboratory demonstrations of neutron multiplication and neutron flux measurements.

Radiation producing equipmt.nt such as x-ray units for radiography and density measurements are available as both fixed and ponable equipment. Laboratories provide locations to setup radiatien experiments, test instrumentation, prepare materials for irradiation, process radioactive ;amples and experiment with radiochemical reactions.

A Texas Nuclear 14 MeV neutron generator is functional. It can create a neutron beam of up to one milliamp in steady-state and can also operate in a pulsed mode. Neutron source strength is approximately 10" neutrons per second.

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. 1998 NETL Annual Report 1.3 UT Tn!GA 51 ARK II Research Reactor The TRIGA Mark Il nuclear reactor at the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory of The University of Texas at Austin is an above-ground, fixed-core research reactor. The nuclear

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core, containing uranium fuel, is located at the bottom of an 8.2 meter deep water-filled tank surrounded by a concrete shield structure. The highly purified water in the tank serves as the reactor coolant, neutron moderator, and a transparent radiation shield. Visual and physical access to the core is possible at all times. The TRIGA Mark II reactor is a versatile and inhecently safe research reactor conceived and developed by General Atomics to meet the requirements of education and research. The UT-TRIGA research reactor provides sufficient power and neutron flux for comprehensive and productive work in many fields including physics, chemistry, engineering, medicine, and metallurgy. The word TRIGA stands for h .ining, Research. Isotope production, General Atomics. Figure 1-5 is a picture of the reactor core structure.

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o 1998 NETL Annual Repon Beactor Description Reactor Operation. The UT-TRIGA research reactor can operate continuously at nominal.

powers up to 1- MW, or in the pulsing mode where typical peak powers of 1500 MW can be achieved for durations of about 10 msec. The UT-TRIGA with its new digital control system provides a unique facility for perfonning .eactor physics experiments as well as reactor operator training. The pulsing operation is panicularly useful in the study of r-actor kinetics and control.

Neutrons produced in the reactor core can be used in a wide variety of research applications including nuclear reaction studies, neutron scattering experiments, and nuclear analytical and irradiation services.

Special neutron facilities include a rotary specimen rack, which is located in the reactor graphite reflector, a pneumatically operated " rabbit" transfer system, which penetrates the reactor core, and a central thimble, which allows samples to be insened into the peak flux region of the core. Cylindrical voids in the concrete shield structure. called neutron beam pons, allow neutrons to stream out away from the core. Experiments may be done inside the be.. pns or outside the concrete shield in the neutron beams.

Nuclear Core. The reactor core is an assembly of about 90 fuel elements surrounded by an annular graphite neutron reflector. Each element consists of a fuel region capped at top and bottom with a graphite section, all contained within a thin-walled stainless steel tube. The fuel region is a metallic alloy of low-enriched uranium evenly distributed in zirconium hydride (UZrH). The physical propenies of the TRIGA fuel provide an inherently safe operation. Rapid power transients to high powers are automatically suppressed without using mechanical control; the reactor quickly retuins to normal power levels. Pulse operation which is a normal mode of operation, is a practical demonstration of this inherent safety feature.

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c 1998 NETL Annual Repon Reactor Control. The instrumentation for the UT-TRIGA research reactor is contained in a compact microprocessor-driven control system. This advanced system provides for flexible and efficient operation with precise power and flux control. It also allows permanent retention of all peninent data. The power level of the UT-TRIGA is controlled by four control rods. Three of these rods, one regulating and two shim, are sealed stainless steel tubes containing powdered boron carbide followed by UZrH. As these rods are withdrawn, boron (a neutron absorber) leaves the core and UZrH (fuel) enters the core, increasing power. The founh control rod, the transient rod, is a solid cylinder of borated graphite followed by air, clad in aluminum, and operated by pneumatic pressure to permit pulse operation. The sudden ejection of the transient rod produces an immediate burst of power.

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, 1998 NETL Annual Report Exneriment Facilities The experimental and irradiation faci!ities of the TRIGA Mark II reactor are extensive and versatile. Experimental tubes can easily be installed in the core region to provide facilities for high-level irradiations or small in-core experiments. Areas outside the core and reDector are available for large experiment equipment or facilities. Table 1-1 lists the workable experiment volumes available in the standard experiment facilities.

Table 1-1 Physical Dimensions of Standard Experiment Systems Center Tube length: 15.0 in. 38.1 cm Tube OD: 1.5 in. 3.81 cm Tube ID: 1.33 in. 3.38 cm Rotary Rack length: 10.8 in. 27.4 cm Diameter: 1.23 in. 3.18 cm Pneumatic Tube Length: 4.5 in. I1.4 cm Diameter: 0.68 in. 1.7 cm The reactor is equipped with a central thimble for access to the point of maximum flux in the core. The central thimble consists of an aluminum tube that fits through the center hole of the top and bottom grid plates. Experiments with the central thimble include irradiation of small samples and the exposure of materials to a collimated beam of neutrons or gamma rays.

A rotary multiple-position specimen rack located in a well in the top of the graphite reflector provides for batch production of radioisotopes and for the activation and irradiation of multiple samples. When rotated, all forty positions in the rack are exposed to neutron fluxes of the same intensity. Samples are loaded from the top of the reactor through a tube into the rotary rack using a specimen lifting device. A rack design feature provides pneumatic pressure for insertion and removal of samples from the sample rack positions.

A pneumatic transfer system permits applications with short-lived radioisotopes. The in-core terminus of the system is normally located in the outer ring of fuel element positions, a 1-11

. 1998 NETL Annual Repon region of high neutron flux. The sample capsule (rabbit) is conveyed to a sender-receiver station via pressure differences in the tubing system. An optional transfer box permits the sample to be sent and received from one to three different sender-receiver stations.

Beam Port Facilities Five neutron beam pons penetrate the concrete biological shield and reactor water tank at core level. These beam pons were designed with different characteristics to accommodate a wide variety of experiments. Specimens may be plxed inside a beam port or outside the beam

. h a neutron beam from the beam port. When a beam port is not in use, special shielding reduces the radiation levels outside the concrete biological shield to safe values. This shiciding consists of an inner shield plug, outer shield plug, lead-filled shutter, and circular steel cover plate.

Beam Port (BP) #1 is connected to BP #5, end to end, to form a through beam port. The through beam pon penetrates the graphite reflector tangential to the reactor core ~, as seen in Figure 1-6. This configur:aion allows introduction of specimens adjacent to the reactor core to gain access to a high neutron flux, allows access from either side of the concrete biological shield, and can provide beams of thermal neutrons with relatively low fast-neutron and gamma-ray contamination.

Beam Port #2 is a tangential beam port. terminating at the outer edge of the reflector. l However, a void in the graphite reflector extends the effective source of neutrons into the l i

I reflector to provide a thermal neutron oeam with minimum fast-neutron and gamma-ray backgrounds.

Beam Port #3 is a radial beam port. The beam port pierces the graphite reflector and terminates at the inner edge of the reflector. This beam port permits access to a position adjacent to the reactor core, and can provide a neutron beam with relatively high fast-neutron and gamma-ray fluxes.

Beam Port #4 is a radial beam port which also terminat:s at the outer edge of the reflector. A void in the graphite reflector extends the effective source of neutrons to the reactor core. This configuration is useful for neutron-beam experiments which require neutron energies higher than thennat energies.

A neutron beam coming from a beam port may be modified by using collimators, j moderaers and neutron filters. Collimators are used to limit beam size and beam divergence.

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. 1998 NETL Annual Report Moderators are used to change the energy of neutron beams (e.g., cold moderator). Filters allow neutrons in selected energy intervals to pass through while attenuating neutrons with other energies.

Table 1-2 Physical Dimensions of Standard Beam Ports Beam Port Port Diameter BP#1, BP#2, BP#4 At Core: 6 in. 15.24 cm At Exit: 8 in. 20.32 cm BP #3, BP#5 At Core: 6 in. 15.24 cm 8 in. 20.32 cm 10 in. 25.40 cm At Exit: 16 in. 40.64 cm 1-13

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, 1998 NETL Annual Report l 1.4 Nuclear Engineering Academic Program The Nuclear Engineering Program (NE) at The University of Texas at Austin is located within the Mechanical Engineering Depanment. The r.ogram's undergraduate degree is the Bachelor of Science in Mechwical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering Option. h is t est l

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described as a major in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Nuclear Engineering. As such, all Mechanical Engineering degree requirements must be met.

The Program's graduate degrees are completely autonomous; they are Master of Science in Engineering (Concentration in Nuclear Engineering) and Doctor of Philosophy (Concentration ,

I in Nuclear Engineering). Course requirements for these degrees and the qualifying examination for the Ph.D. are separate and distinct from other areas of Mechanical Engineering. A Dissertation Proposal and Defense of Dissertation are also required for the Ph.D. degree and are acted on by a NE dissertation committee.

Of the five undergraduate Nuclear Engineering courses and the dozen graduate Nuclear Engineering courses, five courses make extensive use of the reactor facility. Table 1-3 lists the courses that use the reactor and its experiment facilities.

Table 1-3 Nuclear Engineering Courses Undercraduate ME 361F 1rstrumentation and Methods ME 361G I eactor Operations and Control Graduate ME 388R.3 Kinetics and Dynamics of N clear Systems ME 389R.1 Nuclear Engineering Laboratory ME 389R.2 Nuclear Analytical Measurement Techniques 1-14 i

1998 NETL Anhud Repon 1.5 NETL Divisions The Nuclear Engine.ering Teaching Laboratory operates as a unit of the Department of-

- Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas. Figure 1-8 shows the staff organization of..

the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory. . It is based on three divisions,;each with a manager and workers. The remaining staff including the Health Physics group and the Reactor Supervisor support the three divisions to insure compliance with all licensed activities.

The. Operation and Maintenance Division (OMD) is responsible for the safe and effective operations of the TRIGA nuclear reactor. Other duties include maintenance of.the 14-MeV neutron facility, the gamma irradiation facility, industrial x-ray units, and 'he t NETL computer system. Activities of OMD include neutron and gamma irradiation service, operator / engineering training courses, and giving reactor short courses.

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I l Reactor _. Associate Health Physicist Director Administrative and -

Nuclear Beam Clerical Staff Projects Manager I i Nuclear Analytical II Operations end Assistant Director -

Services Minager Maintenance Manager and Reactor Supervisor Figure 1-8 NETL Staff Organization The Nuclear Analytical Services Division (NAS) is responsible for providing, in a safe and effective manner, analytical services such as Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), low level radiation counting, and isotope production. Other service activities of NAS include teaching NAA short courses.

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The Neutron Beam Projects Division (NBP) is responsible for the development and operation'of experimental projects associated with neutron beam tubes. One permanent facility,

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.- , 1998 NETL Annual Report a cold neutron source / neutron guide tube facility, is a unique facility for experimenting with low energy neutrons.

Operation and Maintenance Division The primary purpose of the Operation and Maintenance Division (OMD) is-the.rouune maintenance and safe operation of the TRIGA Mark II Research Reactor. With the assistance of the Reactor Supervisor, this division performs most of the work necessary to meet the Technical spcifications of the recctor license. Division personnel implement _ modifications to reactor --

systems and furnish design assistance for new experiment systems. The division operates standard reactor experiment facilities.

Other activities of the division include operation and maintenance of radioisotope irradiators, such as the cobalt-60 inadiator, and radiation producing equipment. Radiation producing equipment consists of a 14-MeV neutron generator, and industrial x-ray machines.

Services provided to other divisions at the laboratory include assistance in the areas of initial experiment design, fabrication, and setup. Maintenance, repair suppon, and invenary control of computer, electronic, and mechanical equipment is also provided. Building systems maintenance is also coordinated by the Operation and Maintenance Division. Other activities include scheduling and coordination of facility tours.

Nuclear Analytical Service Diyj5i2D The principal objectives of the Nuclear Analytical Services Division (NAS) involve support of the research and educational missions of the university at large. Elemental merarements using instrumental neutron activation analysis provide nuclear analytical support for individual projects ranging from student project suppon for classes to measurements for-'

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faculty research projects. Project suppon is in the areas of engineering, chemistry, physics, geology, biology, zoology, and other areas. Research project suppon includes elemental measurements' for routine environmental and innovative research projects. In the area of education, the division, with available state-of-the-art equipment, helps stimulate the interest of s tudents to consider studies in the areas of science and engineering. Education in'the irradiation

-end measurement of radioactivity is presented to college, high school and other student groups in class demonstrations or on a one-on-one basisi The neutron activation analysis technique is mede available to different state agencies to assist with quality control of sample measurements.-

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. 1998 NETL Annual Report Analysis of samples for the presence of various elements and meastaments of environmental effects assists detection of toxic elements.

Radiation measurement systems available include several high purity germanium detectors with relative efficiencies ranging from 20 to 40%. The detectors are coupled to a Vaxstation 3100. Two of the detectors are equipped with an automatic sample changer for full-l time (i.e.,24 hrs a day) utilization of the counting equipment. The Vaxstation is connected to a campus wide network. This data acquisition and analysis system can be accessible from any ,

terminal on campus and to any user with proper authorization, a modem and the necessary communication software. Safeguards by special protocols guard against unauthorized data 9ccess One detector operates in a Compton Gamma Ray Suppression System that provides improved low background measurements. APC based acquisition and analysis system suppons the analysis of Compton Suppression spectra and short half-life nuclear reaction.

Neutron Beam Proiects Division The Neutron Beam Projects Division (NBP) manages the use of the five beam ports.

Experiments at the beam ports may be permanent systems which function for periods in excess of one or two years or temporary systems. Temporary systems function once or for a few months, and generally require removal and replacement as part of the setup and shutdown process. The reactor bay contains floor space for each of the beam ports. Available beam paths range from 6 meters (20 ft) to 12 meters (40 ft).

The main objective of the Neutron Beam Projects division is to develop and operate experimental research projects associated with neutron beams. The objectives of the research function are to apply nuclear methods at the forefront of modern technology and to investigate fundamental issues related to nuclear physics and condensed matter. Another mission of the division is to obtain new, funded research programs to promote the capabilities of the neutron beam projects division for academic, government and industrial organizations and/or groups.

The Neutron Beam Projects manager is responsible for all phases of a project. beginning i with the proposal and design, proceeding to the fabrication and testing, and concluding with the l

operation, evaluation and dismantlement. Projects available at NETL are the Texas Cold I Neutron Source, Neutron Depth Profiling, Neutron Guide and Focusing System, Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis, Gadolinium Neutron Capture Therapy studies and Texas Intense Positron Source.

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.- 1998 NETL Annual Report Health Physics Grouc The Health Physics (HP) group is responsible for radiation safety and protection of personnel at the NETL as well as the protection of the general public. The laws mandated by Federal and State government agencies are entorced at the facility through various measures.

Health physics procedures have been developed that are facility-specific to ensure that all operations comply with the regulations. Periodic monitoring for radiation and contamination assures that the use of the reactor and radioactive nuclides is conducted safely with no hazard to -

personnel outside of the facility. Personnel exposures are always maintained ALARA ("as low as is reasonably achievable"). This practice is consistent with the mission of the NETL Collateral duties of the Health Physics group include the inventory and monitoring of hazardous materials, and environmental health.'

The Health Physics group consists of one full time Health Physicist. The Health Physicist -

is functionally responsible to the Director of the NETL, but maintains a reporting relationship to the University Radiation Safety Office. This arrangement allows the Health Physicist to operate independent of NETL operations constraints to insure that safety is not compromised. A pan-time Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) may assist the Health Physicist. The L'RA reports to the Health Physicist and assists with technical tasks including periodic surveys, equipment mair,tenance, eqmpment calibration, and record keeping.

The equipment currently used by the Health Physics group is presented in Table 1-4.

Supplementing the health physics equipment are supplies such as plastic bags, mbber gloves, radiation control signs / ropes for routine and emergency use.

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.. 1998 NETL Annual R: port -

Table 1-4 Health Physics Equipment Eauipment Radiation Number High and low range self-reading pocket dosimeters gamma >10 Thin window friskers alpha / beta / gamma. >8 Scintillation microremmeter low level gamma 1 High range ponable ion chamber beta / gamma 2 BF3 proportional counter neutron 2 Hand and Foot monitor beta / gamma 1 .

Low level gas-flow proportional counter alpha / beta / gamma 1 Continuous air particulate monitor alpha / beta / gamma 2 Gaseous Ar-41 effluent monitor beta 1 Liquid Scintillation low energy beta 1 Counter Thin end window beta / gamma 1 G M meter The Health Physics Group provides radiation monitoring, personnel exposure monitoring, and educational activities.~ Personnel for whom permanent dosimeters are required must attend an eight hour course given by the Health Physicist. This course covers basic radiation principles including general safety practices, and facility-specific procedures and rules. Each trainee is ,

- given a guided tour of the facility to familiarize him with emergency equipment and to reinforce safety / emergency. procedures. The group suppons University educational activities through 1-19

, 1998 NETL Annual Report assistance to student experimenters in their projects by demonstration of the proper radiation 1

work techniques and controls. The Health Physics group panicipates in emergency planning between NETL and the City of Austin to provide basic response requirements and conducts off-site radiation safety training to emergency response personnel such as the Hazardous Materials Division of the Fire Department, and Emergency Medical Services crews.

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1998 NETL Annual Report -

2.0 ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT

~ 2.1 Faculty, Staff, and Students -

Organization. The University administrative stmeture overseeing the NETL program is presented in Figure 2-1. A description follows, including titles and names of personnel. of the -

administration and committees that set policy imponant to NETL.

President University of Texas at Austin' Radiation l

Safety Committee Executive Vice President and Provost Dean College of Engineering Nuclear Reactor Chairman Committee Department of Mechanical Engineering Director Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory Figure 2 University Administrative Structure over NETL Administration.' The University of Texas at Austin is one campus of 15 campuses of the University of Texas System. As the flagship campus, UT Austin consists of 16 separate colleges and schools.- The College of Engineering consists of six engineering departments with separate -

degree programs. NETL is one of several education and research functions within the college.

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. 1998 NETL Annual Repon Table 2-1 and Table 2-2 list The University of Texas System Board of Regents which is the governing organization and the pertinent administrative officials of The University of Texas at Austin.

Table 2-1 The University of Texas System Board of Regents Chairman D.L. Evans Vice Chairman T. Loeffler Vice Chairman R.C. Clements Executive Secretary A.H. Dilly Chancellor William Cunningham Member 1997 Member 1999 Member 2001 ,

Z.W. Holmes, Jr. T.O. Hicks L.F. Deily B. Rapaport L.H. I2bermann T. Loeffler E.C. Temple M.E. Smiley D.L. Evans Table 2-2 The University of Texas at Austin Administration President Larry R. Faulkner Executive Vice President and Provost ad interim Stephen A.Monti Dean of College of Engineering Ben Streetman (1/1/97)

Chairman of Depanment of Mechanical Engineering Parker Lamb (1/16/%)

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.. 1998 NETL . Annual Report Radiation Safet, ommittee. The Radiation Safety. Committee convenes to review radiological safety practices at the University during each academic term. The committee composition is shown in Table 2-3. Committee general responsibilities are review of activities of University research programs that utilize radiation source materials.

Table 2-3 '

I Radiation Safety Committee Chainnan D.Klein Vice-Chair J.M. Sanchez Member G. Hoffmann Member S.A. Monti Member J. Robenus Member B.G. Sanders Member B.W. Wehring Ex officio member J.C. White Ex officio member L.S. Smith Nuclear Reactor Committee. The Nuclear Reactor Committee convenes to review the activities related to facility operation during each quarter of the calendar year. The committee composition is shown in Table 2-4. Committee general responsibilities are review of reactor operation and associated activities.

Table 2-4 Nuclear Reactor Committee Chairman D.Klein Member N. Abdurrahman Member K. Ball Member R. Corsi Member R.T. Johns Student Member H.R. Radulescu Member B.W. Wehring Member J.C. White Ex officio member T.L Bauer Ex officio member J.R. Howell Ex officio member J.P. Lamb 2-3

. 1998 NETL Annual Report Personnel. NETL state funding suppons full-time positions for a Reactor Supervisor / Assistant Director, three managers, a Health Physicist, and a Senior Administrative Associate. Extemal funding by research grants and service activities suppon student assistantships. The personnel involved in the NETL program during the year are summarized in Table 2-5.

Table 2-5 NETL Personnel NETL Facility Staff Director B.W. Wehring Reactor Supervisor / Assist. Dir. T.L. Bauer Manager NAS (Research Scientist) F.Y. Iskander Manager NBP (Research Scientist) K. Unlu Manager O&M (Research Associate) M.G. Krause Health Physicist (Research Associate) A.J. Teachout Administrative Associate S.L. Biggs Faculty N. Abdurrahman B.V. Koen D.E. Klein B.W. Wehring S. Landsberger t

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a 1998 NETL Annual Report Funding. NETL funding is provided by state appropriations, research gr activities. Research funding supplements the base budget provided by Funds from service activities mostly through the process of competitive project proposals. d analysis supplement the base fund; to allow the facility to provide quality data acqu capabilities.

Both sources of supplemental funds, research projects and service a contribute to the education and research environment for students.

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, 1998 NETL Annual Report NETL Research 1997-1998 Project Title Project Soonsor Development of Nondestructive Assay ANRCP Methods for Weapons Plutonium and MOX Fuel Safeguards Water Reactor Options for Disposition of Weapons ANRCP Plutonium Cyclic Activation Analysis with Neutron Sources Alcoa Applied to Bayer Liquor Development of Environmental AIL Management Science Program at UT-Austin Investigations of Plutonium Waste Streams in a MOX ANRCP Facility Development of LEU Targets and Processing for Mo- ANL 99 Production Literature Review of Corrosion Properties of ANRCP Beryllium and Stainless Steel Reactor Based Intense Positron Beam for Materials TATP Characterizations Gallium Interactions with Zircalloy Cladding ANRCP Radiation Damage and Microstructural Changes of Stainless Steel Due to Long Term Irradiation by Alpha ANRCP Particles University Reactor Sharing Program DOE Neutron Imaging System for Materials -

Characterization Research at The University of Texas NSF Reactor Development and Characterization of Plutonium ANRCP Storage Containers Investigation of Lead and Heavy Metals from . ANRCP 2-6

.o 1998 NETL Annual Report'.

Contaminated Surface Soils from PANTEX Firing -

Ranges Technical Graduate Education for Texas Panhandle - ANRCP.

Via Distance Learning Nuclear Fellowship Training for Scientists from : NRC/IAEA Developing Countr;as -

Determination of Heavy Metals in Filters Collected CARE over the Great Lakes Determination of Trace Elements in Archaeological .TARL Materials Determination of Cs-137 in Fort Hood soils US Corps of Eng.

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1998 NETL Annual Report 2.2 Education and Trainine Activities Tours and special projects are available to promote public awareness of nuclear energy issues. Tours of the NETL facility are routine activities of NETL staff and students. A typical tour is a general presentation for high school and civic organizations. Other tours given special consideration are demonstrations for interest groups such as physics, chemistry and science groups.

A total of 1239 visitors were given access to the facility during the reporting period. The total includes tour groups, official visitors. and facility maintenance personnel.' Tours for 53 groups with an average 5 persons / group were taken through the facility during the reporting period.

Table 2-7 Public Access Tour Groups 170 Individuals 335 Workers 734 Total 1239 Presentations by NETL staff, including demonstrations with laboratory equipment, were given to several high school organizations. These presentations were done as part of school wide programs sponsored by the high schools.

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, 1998 NETL Annual Report 2.3 Service and Commercial Activities PROJECT: Determination of Selenium and Other Toxic Elements SPONSOR: Texas Parks And Wildlife Department Tissue from muscle and liver of fish samples from several Texas lakes are analyzed for -

selenium, mercury, arsenic, chromium and zinc. These measurements are part of an on-going environmental project for the State of Texas to examine the conditions of waters subjected to .

certain types of power plant or industrial effluent releases.

PROJECT: Determination of Toxic and Other Elements in Mexican Coffee EPONSOR: NETL The concentration of trace elements was determined in several samples of Mexican coffee. The results were compared to the concentration of these elements from several other sources. 'the results may be used to evaluate the local soils and the affect on the coffee crop. -l l,

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, 1998 NETL Annual Report

= 2,4 Research and Develooment Projects PROJECT: Neutron Depth Profiling SPONSOR: NETL The University of Texas (UT) NDP instmment utilizes thermal neutronsL from the tangential beam port (BP#2) of the reactor. The NDP technique is not normally available to the research community due to the limited number of appropriate neutron sources.

Neutron depth profiling is an isotope specific nondestructive techn_ique used to measure the near-surface depth distributions of several technologically important elements in.various substrates. NDP is based on neutron induced reactions to determine concentration versus depth profiles. Because of J.c y 'ential for materials research, particularly for semiconductor research.

the UT-NDP facility has been developed and is available for scientific measurements.

The UT-NDP facility consists of a collimated thermal neutron beam, a target chamber. a beam catcher, and necessary data acquisition and process electronics. A collimatot system was designed to achieve a high quality thermal neutron beam with good intensity and minimum contamination of neutrons above thermal energies.

A target vacuum chamber for NDP was constmeted from 40.6 cm diameter aluminum tubing. The chamber can accommodate several sman samples or a single large sample with a diameter up to 30 cm. The other degrees of freedom for an NDP measurement, location of charged particle detector and angle between sample and neutron beam, are set with the top cover of the chamber removed.

Depth profiles of various borophosphosilicate glass from Intel Corporation and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. have been measured. Measurements were repeated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) NDP facility using the same samples. The NETL results showed good agreement with the NIST depth profiles.

Boron-10 implanted silicon wafers from Advanced Micro Devices have been used.for NDP measurements for the comparison of reported implant Fose and profFe. Also several measurements of Helium-3 implanted in stainless steel samples were carried out in order to.

examine helium behavior on metals and alloys.

Other possible applications of the UT-NDP facility include study of nitrogen in metals as it affects wear resistance, hardness, and corwsion.

PROJECT: Texas Cold Neutron Source i

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, 1998 NETL Annual Repon SPONSOR: Advanced Technology Program and the State of Texas A cold neutron source has been designed, constructed, and tested by NETL personnel.

The Texas Cold Neutron Source (TCNS) is located in one of the radial beam ports (BP #3) and consists of a cold source system and a neutron guide system.

The cold source system includes a cooled moderator, a heat pipe, a cryogenic refrigerator, a vacuum jacket, and connecting lines. Eighty milliliters of mesitylene moderator is maintained by the cc!d source system at ~36 K in a chamber within the reactor graphite reflector.

Mesitylene,1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, was selected for the cold moderator because it has been shown to be an effective and safe cold moderator. The moderator chamber for the mesitylene is a 7.5 cm diameter right-circular cylinder 2.0 cm thick. The neon heat pipe (properly called thermosyphon) is a 3-m long aluminum tube which is used for cooling the moderator chamber.

The heat pipe contains neon as the working fluid that evaporates at the moderator chamber and condenses at the cold head.

Cold neutrons coming from the moderator chamber are transported by a 2-m-long neutron guide inside the beam port and a 4-m-long neutron guide (two 2-m sections) outside the beam port. Both the internal neutron guid and the extemal neutron guide are curved with a radius of curvature equal to 300 m. To block line-of-sight radiation streaming in the guides, the cross-sectional area of the guides is separated into three channels by 1-mm-thick vertical walls. All reflecting surfaces are coated with Ni-58.

1 The TCNS system provides a low background subthermal neutron beam for neutron i reaction and scattering research. Installation and testing of the extemal curved neutron guides, j the shielding structure, neutron focusing and a Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis facility are completed. The only other operating reactor cold neutron sources in the United States are at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and '

Cornell University. At least four major centers for cold neutron research exist in Europe, with i l

another two in Japan. l PROJECT: Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis SPONSOR: DOE and the State of Texas A Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) facility has been designed, constructed.

I and tested. The UT-PGAA facility utilizes the focused co'.d-neutron beam from the Texas Cold Neutron Source. The PGAA sample is located at the focal point of the converging guide focusing system. The use of a guided focused cold-neutron beam provides a higher capture 2-11

. 1998 NETL Annual Report reaction rate and a lower background at the sample-detector area as compared to other facilities using filtered thermal neutron beams.

The UT-PGAA facility has been designed taking into account the advantage of the low background. The following criteria have been used during the design: a) The structure and shielding materials for the UT-PGAA facility were chosen to minimize the background contribution for elements to be detected in the sampics to be studied. b) The sample handling system was designed te be versatile to permit the study of a wide range of samples with quick and reproducible sample positioning with a minimum of material close to the samples.

A 25% efficient gamma-ray detector in a configuration with an offset-port dewar was purchased to be used at the UT-PGAA facility. The detector was selected in order to incorporate a Compton suppression system at a later date. A gamma-spectrum analysis system with 16,000 channels is used for data acquisition and processing.

The applications of the UT-PGAA will include: i) determination of B and Gd concentration in biological samples which are used for Neutron Capture Therapy studies, ii) determination of H and B impurity levels in metals, alloys, and semiconductor, iii) multielemental analysis of geological, archeological, and environmental samples for determination of major components such as Al, S, K, Ca, Ti, and Fe, and minor or trace elements such as H. B V, Mn, Co, Cd, Nd, Sm, and Gd, and iv) multielemental analysis of biological samples for the major and minor elements H C, N, Na, P, S, Cl, and K, and trace elements like B l and Cd.

l PROJECT: Alpha Radiation Damage in Plutonium Encapsulating Materials l

SPONSOR: Amarillo National Resource Center for Plutonium (ANRCP)

This ANRCP sponsored project is a study to determine radiation damage and microstructural changes in stainless steel and beryllium samples by helium (alpha particle)

irradiation using a near surface nuclear technique called Neutron Depth Profiling, along with Transmission Electron Microscopy measurements, and Rutherford Backscattering and Channeling Analysis. The long term effects of high dose alpha particle irradiation to the stainless l steel and beryllium cover which surrounds the weapons grade Pu will be investigated. Alpha particles with an energy spectrum up to 5 MeV will be implanted into the stainless steel and beryllium samples up to a depth of about 9 mm. The implanted dose rate is expected to be greater than 1015 alphas /cm2. year which corresponds to a dose of greater than 1017 alpha /cm2 2-12

. 1998 NETL Annual Report in 100 years. Such a high dose may cause degradation of mechanical strength in the surface layer of these materials, but more imponantly,if the He diffuses to defects and forms localized bubbles of He gas, the internal pressure may cause exfoliation and/or could lead to the formation of cracks in the stainless steel or beryllium. These cracks could propagate and lead to failure of the encapsulating materials.

PROJECT: Collimator Design for Neutron Radiography SPONSOR: Depanment of Mechanical Engineering A collimator design is being developed for beam pon #5 of the TRIGA reactor. 't ae collimator will provide neutrons for imaging various objects for analysis by neutron radiography.

An image intensifier, display and acquisition system and analysis software are being acquired.

The system will provide standard neutron radiography and provide for research into neutron tomography.

PROJECT: Texas Intense Positron Source l

SPONSOR: Advanced Technology Program aad the State of Texas A reactor-based slow positron beam facility is being fabricated at theNuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory (NETL). This is a joint effon between UT-Austin and UT-Arlington researchers. The facility (Texas Intense Positron Source ) will be one of a few reactor-based slow positron beams in the world when completed. The Texas Inter.se Positron Source consists of a copper source, a source transport system, a combined positron moderator /remoderator assembly, a positron beam line and a sample chamber. High energy positrons from the source will bi slowed down to a few eV by a solid Kr moderator that also acts as a remoderator to reduce the beam size to enable beam transpon to a target for experimentation. The beam will be electrostatically guided and will deliver about 108 positrons /sec in the energy range of 0 - 50 kev.

Reactor-based positron beams utilizing a copper source have been implemented at J Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.

There are several differences between TIPS and these reactor based positron beams. The source / moderator array of the Delft positron beam is located inside one of the neutron beam ports of their reactor and the positron beam is transponed out of the reactor and then remoderated before it enters into an experimental chamber. For the BNL positron beam, a 200 mg copper pellet is irradiated in the High Flux Beam Reactor (8.3x10 14 n/cm'sec) and then transponed to 2-13 i

. 1998 NETL Annual Repon their posi'.ron beam facility at a different location where the copper is evaporated onto a source holder. The BNL positron beam uses solid Kr to moderate the fast positrons while at Delft a tungsten moderator is applied. The TIPS will have a joint moderator /remoderator stage using solid Kr, an approach that is similar in concept to that suggested for a magnetically guided positron beam. A major advantage is that our moderator /remoderator stage is operated in a magnetic fic!d free environment such that electric fields can be established to increase its overall l

efficiency.

Based on general experience on reactor bascd positron sources, we have decided that the moderator /remoderator assembly and the positron beam optics should be entirely outside the reactor biological shield. A source transport system will be placed in a 4 meter long vacuum jacket that will be inserted into one of the neutron beam ports of the NETL l-MW TRIGA Mark Il researca reactor. The vacuum jacket will be evacuated to high vacuum and will have a rectangular section to allow for some shielding materials inside the beam port. The transport system will be used to move the source to the irradiation location and out of the biological shield.

The source will be moved away from the neutron beam line to an ultra high vacuum (at around 10-10 torr) chamber, where the moderator /remoderator assembly is located. The high vacuum and ultra high vacuum systems will be separated by a gate valve.

The copper source of TIPS will be irradiated across from the core in the graphite reflector, in the middle section cf the through pen. The isotope 64Cu formed by neutron capture in 63Cu (69 % in natural copper) has a half life of 12.7 hours8.101852e-5 days <br />0.00194 hours <br />1.157407e-5 weeks <br />2.6635e-6 months <br />, and the branching ratio for b +

emission is 19 %. Our current source design consists of 400 copper cylinders with I cm height and 0.5 cm diameter mounted on a 10x10 cm copper plate forming a square lattice. The source activity will be around 100 Ci of which 14 Ci or more is available for positron beam production.

The combined efficiency of the moderator /remoderator assembly is approximately 10-3 and, therefore, TIPS should deliver about 10 8positrons /sec at the sample chamber.

Preliminary designs and construction of the source transport system and the vacuum jacket are completed. The designs and construction of the copper source, moderator /remoderator assemb.y, and the positron beam optics are completed and testing of these components are currently in progress. The high-intensity low-energy positron beam of TIPS will be applied to defect characterization of metals, semiconducto.s. and polymers.

PROJECT: Gallium interactions with Zircalloy Cladding 2-14

1998 NETL Annual Repon SPONSOR: DOE and Amarillo National Resource Center for Plutonium This ANRCP sponsored project is a join effort between The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University researchers. The effon is aimed toward determining a bound on Ga concentration in MOX pellets such that the Ga does not produce unacceptable damage to the cladding Although the real test will be the fuel qualification work, we should be able to experimentally simulate and examine some aspects of the Ga-cladding interaction. The Ga that is released from the pellet will be incident on the ciaudmg while the cladding is also being irradiated with fission fragments, neutrons, betas, and gammas. Clearly, the Ga interaction will not be under thermal equilibrium conditions. The irradiation of the cladding. especially by the fission fragments, will probably lead to enhanced diffusion and possibly to enhanced chemical reactions. We do not know the Ga release rate from the pellet nor whether the Ga will be monatomic or in chemical form, i.e., possibly in an oxide of Ga. In the molecular case the inradiation conditions will probably lead to breakup of th: molecule so that in both cases the Ga wi:1 probably diffuse into the cladding.

)

Each ppm of Ga in the fuel corresponds to about SEi6 Ga atoms /cm3. Since a pellet is about I cm3 surrounded by about 3 cm2 of cladding,if all the Ga were released from the fuel, the cladding would be impacted by roughly lE16 Ga atomsam3. For example,100 ppm would give roughly LEIS Ga atoms /cm2, To approximate the situation, we are implanting Ga ions into Zircaloy to a shallow depth of about 400 A (100 kev ions). Fluences are in the IE17 to IE18 range while maintaining the target at typical cladding temperatures. If there were no diffusion nor sputtering, a IE17 fluence would give a peak concentration of 40% in Zr (corresponding to a standard deviation in projected range of 229 A). The Ga depth profile can then be measured approximately using Rutherford backscattering (RBS) of energetic He ions. Unfonunately, since the mass of Ga is less than that i of Zr, the sensitivity will only be in the percent range. Even so, major cffects may be observable.

Perhaps, the Ga totally indiffuses or totally outdiffuses or forms a well-defined compound layer.

The depth profile measurements will be supplemented with scanning electron microscopy for morphology, transmission electron microscopy for stmeture measurements, and electron microprobe measurements of especially the lateral distribution of Ga as well as the identification of possible compounds. Laterally, it may be possible to determine whether Ga diffuses to grain boundaries.

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. 1998 NETL Annual Report PROJECT: Development of Non Destructive Assay Methods for Weapons Plutonium and MOX Fuel Safeguards 3PONSOR: DOE and Amarillo National Resource Center for Plutonium The focus of this project is to develop and eventually aid in the implementation of practical nondestructive fissile assay techniques to promote the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. Our activities during this year covered both computational and experimental related work. We continued our computational effon focusing on the neutronics of a new nondestructive assay concept that uses graphite slowing dowa time spectrometry. We have developed a computational model of a cylindrical graphite slowing down time spectrometer, and performed a number of assay simulations using a detailed BWR fuel assembly model. In addition, we investigated the isotopic resolving power and self shielding effect in the fuel assembly for the graphite spectrometer.

On the experimentally related part, the pulsed neutron generator, transferred from The Universitv of Michigan, has been set up at the Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory and is operated routinely. Measurements using a 101 X 105 X 122 cm rectangular parallelepipcd graphite pile have been initiated.

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. 1998 NETL Annual Report 2.5 Sienificant Modifications No significant modifications have been made to the NETL building, TRIGA reactor or experiment facilities. A summary of the types of modifications that did occur during the year follows. j i

Buildine. Routine repair and maintenance of building equipment were the primary activities. A materials handling gloved fume hood was installed in the vicinity of the reactor observation area and is connected to building ventilation.

Reactor. No changes were made to the reactor core or basic instrumentation systems during the year.

Experiment Faciliti.g.s. Standard experiment facilities for the reactor are the center tube, pneumatic tube, rotary specimen rack and beam ports. No significant modifications were made to the original installation for any of the standard experiment facilities.

Testing of components of the neutron cold source has been in progress at various reactor power levels up to full power. The cold neutron source system insertion into the beam port #3, takes advantage of the reflector penetrating port and 16 inch (40.6 cm) diameter access at the reactor shield exit. Operating tests of the cold sc,urce at 250 kw. 500 kw, and 950 kw were completed in 1994. No unusual operating conditions that relate to safety of the experiment system have been found. A review of pressure and temperature data from the TCNS is still in progress, however, to improve the understanding of the power performance. A series of tests in 1995 demonstrated the advantage of an improvement in refrigeration capacity. A moderate gain in refrigeration capacity was sufficient to extend indefinitely the stable operating time for the cold neutron source. An upgrade of the refrigerator was made in 1997.

Other changes to the Texas Cold Neutron Source were the installation of a focusing element in the facility beam line. A number of experiments are still in progress to determine the alignment and focusing properties of the new element. A prompt gamma analysis system was installed on the TCNS beam line. Initial use of the prompt gamma analysis system has been with the cold neutrons from the wave guide but without the additional cooling or presence of the mesitylene moderator.

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, 1998 NETL Annual Report 2.6 Publications. Reports. and Papers Reports, publications, and presentations on research done at NETL are produced each year by NETL personnel. The following list documents research done by NETL faculty. staff, and students during tne reporting period.

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1. Biegalski, S. R., S. Landsberger and R. Hoff, " Source-Receptor Modeling Using Trace Metals in Aerosols Collected at Three Canadian Great Lakes Sampling Stations", J. of Air and Waste Manacement. 48. 227-237 (1998).

2. Defee, T., F. Iskai, der and S. Landsberger, " Leaching Characteristics of Celotex in an Aqueous Solution", Trans ANS,79. 71-72 (1998).

3. Landsberger, S., F. Iskander, T. Bauer, M. Krause and A. J. Teachout, " Upgrade of Neutron Activation Analysis Facilities at the University of Texas at Austin" Trans ANS 79, 7-8 (1998).

4. Landsberger, S., M. Dhalla, E. Anderson and E. Zounar, " Implementation of a Health Physics Masters Program Via long-Distance Izarning" Trans ANS,79,7-8 (1998).

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5. Landste ,d De. Wu, " tobacco Smoke Cadmium as a Marker", in Encyclopedia of Envir a aysis and Remediation, pp 4832-4837, ei, R. A. meyers, John Wiley and l Sons, '

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6. Defee, . Iskander, L. Zhao, S. Landsberger, J. Kim, A. Manthiram, J.M. Sanchez, H.

Wheat, D. Williacas and G. O. Carlisle, " Characterization and Formation of corrosion Precursors on Beryllium and Stainless Steel for Weapons Application", Amarillo National  ;

Resource Center for Plutonium 1998 Researcher's Conference, July 21-22,1998. Amarillo, )

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. 1998 NETL Annual Report 3.0 FACILITY OPERATING SUMMARIES 3.1 Operating Experience The UT '. lA reactor operated for a total of 344.6 hours6.944444e-5 days <br />0.00167 hours <br />9.920635e-6 weeks <br />2.283e-6 months <br /> in 1998. The reactor produced a total energy output of 167.6 MW-hrs during this period. The bumup per quarter is shown in Figure 3-1.

2 3 50.2 51

.E 38.9

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1 2 3 4 l Quarter Figure 3-1 Quarterly Operating History for 1998 l

1 3.2 ReactorShutdowns The reactor safety system classifies protective action trips as one of three types, a limiting safety system (LSSS) trip, a limiting condition for operation (LCO) trip or a trip of the SCRAM manual switch. In the event the switch is used for a normal reactor shutdown, the operation is not considend a protective action shutdown. The following definitions in Table 3-1 classify the types of protective actions recorded.

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,- 1998 NETL Annual Report Table 3-1 Protective Action Definitions -

Protective Action Descriotion

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Safety System Setting Setpoint corresponds to detection of limiting LSSS- safety system setting.

Examples:

fuel temperature percent power Condition for Operation Hardware action detects inoperable conditions LCO - (analog detection) within a safety channel or the instrument control and safety system.

Examples:

pool waterlevel detector high voltage external circuit trips Condition for Operation Software action detects inoperable conditions LCO -(digital detection) within a program functior of the instrument control and safety system.

Examples:

watchdog timers program database errors Manual Switch Operator emergency shutdown (protective action)

Manual Switch Operator routine shutdown (intentional operation)

Scrams are further categorized according to the technical specification requirement given <

in Table 3-2. External scrams that provide protection for experiment systems are system operable conditions.

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There were seven safety system protective unschedu'ed shutdowns in 1998. Six of these were caused by spurious scrams. These spurious shutdowns were corrected by extensive cleaning of system connections and' circuit boards in July, There were no shutdowns caused by spurious signals through the remainder of 1998. The operator inadvertently changing the reactor.

. mode'at power caused one operator error scram.

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3 1995 NETL Annual Report Table 3-2 Instrumentation, Control and Safety System Protective Action Events (I)

Technical Specification Requirement Ys.E Ng SCRAM Tvoe Safety System Setpoint (LSSS) 0 0 System Operable Condition (LCO)

Analog detection (hardware) 0 0 Digital detection (software) 7 0 Manual Switch Protective action 0 0 Intentional operation (2) . .

Total Safety System Events 7 0 (1) Tests of the SCRAM cireits are not recorded (2) . Intentional SCRAMS (non-protective action) are not recorded A review is always done to determine if routine corrective actions are sufficient to prevent the recurrence of a particular reactor safety system shutdown.

Table 3-3 Summary of Safety System Protective Actions Trio Action Number of Occurrences Operator Error . I System Operable Condition _

6 Total- 7 3-3 2 i

i 1998 NETL Annual Repon 3.3 Utilization There was a significant increase in the number of external users during the reporting period compared to all previous years of NETL operations. The NETL staff continues to perform activation and analysis services as a publir vice and in support of the overall UT mission.

Neutron activation analysis accounted fc .au .! of the reactor utilization time with teaching labs and beam port research projects making up the remainder. Several neutron beam projects were in various stages of development and construction during the year and did not contribute to the facility reactor hours.

Reactor Samples irradiated E

T2. 2312 E

=

M 980 899 796 790 5 fbkO3bb Z

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Figure 3-2 Experimental Use of Facility 3.4 Msintenance All surveillances and scheduled maintenance were completed during the reporting year.

All results met or exceeded the limits of the Technical Specifications. No reactor safety equipment upgrades were performed during the reponing period.

A stainless-steel fume hood / glove box was installed in the Room 3.202 for handling of low activation radioactive materials. The hood was designed to have an independent ventilation and filter system that discharged to the building effluent. The Reactor Committee approved the -

installation and operation of the hood in a 50.59 review on 9/21/98. The hood was not used for the handling of materials in 1998.

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. 1998 NETL Annual Report -

The Purification System resin was replaced in early July of this year. The replacement resin had been in storage for a number of years and was found to be defective after installation.-

New resin was ordered and installed on July 30.

Failure of a thermocouple in Instrumented Element TC#5982 required replacement of the element with element TC#10808 on May 4. This was a new element with no bumut Fission product release was noted fror. element #10808 shonly after operations were resumed. i full repon of the incident was previously delivered to the NRC, A new element TC#10708 was obtained from DOE and installed in the reactor. Both fuel temperature indications (FTland FT2) were being monitored on TC#10708 throughout the remainder of the reponing period.

The solenoid of the handling tool shon-circuited during RSR unloading operations on November 12. The shon partially ignited hydrogen gas in the RSR cavity and" jammed the handling tool in the access tube. The gas buildup was produced from polyethylene vials during reactor operation. The unloading procedure was changed to require a RSR purge prior to unloading and the solenoid was repaired and modified to reduce the chance of another short-circuit from occurring.

3-5

_ .-x

~'

s 1998 NETL Annual Report 3.5 ' Facility Changes .-

The only significant chan'ge to the facility was the installation of the Fume

' Hood / Glove Box on the Observation Deck area. The installation was origina'ly funded by LANL

~ to support a project to produce "Mo from Low Enriched Uranium. The project was ultimately cancelled but the Hood was completed and will be available for future hazardous' material'

. handling. The installation and safety analysis of the Hood was reviewed by the Reactor Committee and was not found to present an Unreviewed Safety Question.

e

+

$ j h

3-6 l .

1998 NETL Annual Report 3.6 LaboratoryInspections Inspections of laboratory operatimis are conducted by university and licensing agency personnel. Two committees, a Radiation Safety Committee and a Nuclear Reactor Committee,  ;

review operations of the NETL facility. These committees convened at the times listed in Table 3-6.

Table 3-6 Committee Meetings Radiation Safety Committee Spring Term May 4,1998 Fall Term November 13,1998 Nuclear Reactor Committee First Quaner No Meeting .

Second Quarter May 4,1998 Third Quaner No Meeting Fourth Quarter November 13,1998 Inspections by licensing agencies include federal license activities by the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Nuclear Reactor Regulation Branch (NRR), and state license activities by the Texas Department of Health (TDH) Bureau of Radiation Control (BRC). NRC and TDH inspections were held at the times presented in Table 3-7.

Table 3-7 Dates of License Inspections License Dates R-129 December 7-11,1998 SNM-180 None LOO 485(48) .None ill Site visit by the Office for Evaluation and Analysis of Performance Data.

3-7

l

)

i 1998 NETL Annual Report .I NRC made one inspection during the year. The routine site inspection has been one every year. An inspection of the R-129 activities during the week of December 7 determined by:

selective examination of records that the licensee was maintaining and operating the reactor as required by the license and applicable regulations.

Routine inspections by the Office of Environmental Health and Safety (OEHS) for compliance with university safety rules and procedures are conducted at varf i ng intervals throughout the year. In response to safety concems at other sites on the main campus, several additional OEHS inspections have been made. Inspections cover fire, chemical, and radiological hazards. No significant safety problems were found at NETL, which reflects favorably on the positive safety culture for all hazard classes at the NETL. Safety concems included such items as storage of combustibles, compressed gases, and fire extinguisher access.

3-8 1

o 1998 NETL Annual Report 3.7 Radiation Exposures

' A radiation protection program for the NETL facility provides monitoring for personnel radiation exposure, surveys of radiation areas and contamination areas, and measurements of radioactive effluents. Rad:stion exposures for personnel, building work areas and areas of the NETL site are shown in the following tables. Site area measurements include exterior points adjacent to the building and exterior points away from the building.

Table 3-8 summarizes NETL personnel dose exposure data for the calendar year. Figure 3-3 locates the building intemal and external dosimetry sites. Dots locate fixed monitoring points within the building. Numbers identify the immediate site area radiation measurement points exterior to the building. These measurements do not indicate any measurable dose from work within the NETL building. Table 3-9 and Table 3-10 summarize doses recorded in facility work areas and the site areas. Table 3-11 contains a list of the basic requirements and frequencies of measurements.

Additional measurement data is available from the State of Texas Department of Health.

The state agency records environmental radiological exposures at five sites in the vicinity of the research reactor site. Samples are also taken for analysis of soil, vegetation, and sanitary waste effluents.

3-9

1998 NETL Annual Report Table 3-8 Annual Summary of Personnel Radiation Doses Received Within the NETL Reactor Facility

- Averane Annual Dose (1)(mrem)

Personnel Students Visitorsis:

Whole Body,DDE t2>

1.43 0.0013<6' 0 (M)

Extremities.SDE(3' 71 71.0 N/A . (M)

Lens of eye,LDE"'

l.43 0.0013 N/A (M)

Greatest Individual Dose (mrem)

Personnel Students Visitorsts)

Whole Body,DDE 46 10 0.0029 ) 0- (M)

Extremities,SDE 460 170 N/A (M)

Lens of eye,LDE 10 0.0029 N/A (M)

Total Person-mrem for Group Personnel Students Visitors tsi Whole Body,DDE 20.012 0.0029 0 (M)

Extremities,SDE 990 340.0 N/A (M)

Lens of eye,LDE 20.012 0.0029 N/A (M)

(1) "M" indicates that each of the beta-gamma or neutron dosimeters during the reporting period was less than the vendor's minimum measurable quantity of 10 mrem for x- and gamma rays and thermal neutrons,40 mrem for energetic betas,20 mrem for fast neutrons. "N/A" indicates that there was no extremity monitoring conducted or required for the group.

(2) DDE applies to external whole-body exposure and is the dose equivalent at a tissue depth of I cm (1000 mg/cm2),

(3) SDE applies to skin or extremity external exposure, and is the dose equivalent at a tissue depth of 0.00 cm (7 mg/cm2) averaged over an area of I cm2 ,

(4) LDE applies to the external exposure of the eye lens and is taken as the dose equivalent at a tissue depth of 0.3 cm (300 mg/cm2),

(5) Pocket ionization chambers (PICS) are issued to persons who enter radioactive materials / restricted aren for periods of short duration, i.e., a few hours or days annually. A total of 286 issuance cards were filled out, and none recorded a postive dose value.

(6) Exposure calculated from tritium bioassay. The tritium source was state license material for a neutron generator.

3-10

6 1998 NETL Annual Report ACCESS ROAD L

J PARKING e 1 e *

, e _

2 I a 3 4 6 , ,. ,

• ETL 5

PARKING 4

1 Sidewalk, ETL facility front entrance 2 Reactor bay exterior wall, east 3 Reactor bay exterior wall, west 4 ETL power transformer 5 NETL service door 6 ETL roof stack

• Indicates location of dosimetry within the building Figure 3-3 Environmental TLD Locations 3-11

' 1998 NETL Annual Report Table 3-9 Total Dose Equivalent Recorded on Area Dosimeters Located Within the NETL Reactor Facility Location in Reactor Facility Monitor Total Dose' (mrem)

E 11 b_&X Deep' " Shallow "'

00167 M M M Reactor Bay, Nonh Wall ReactorBay, East Wall 00168 10 M 10 Reactor Bay, West Wall 00169 2350 2350 M Water Treatment Room 00170 2010 2010 M Reactor Pool Area, Roof 00171 M M M Shield Area, Room 1.102 00172 M M M Sample Processing, Room 3.102 00173 M M N/A Gamma Spectroscopy Lab,3.112 00174 M M N/A Radiation Experiment Lab,3.106 00175 M M N/A Reception Area,2.102 00176 M M N/A Office, Room 3.104 00222 M M N/A (1) The total recorded dose equivalcat values reported in mrem do no include natural background contribution and reflect the summation of the results of 12 monthly beta, x- and gamma ray or neutron dosimeters for each location. A total dose equivalent of "M" indicates that each of the dosimeters during the period was below the vendor's minimum measurable quantity of 10 mrem for x and gamma rays,40 mrem for energetic betas. 20 mrem for fast neutrons, and 10 mrem for thermal neutrons. "N/A" indicates that there was no neutron monitor at that location.

(2) These dose equivalent values do not represent radiation exposure through an exterior wall directly into an unrestricted area.

(3) Deep indicates deep dose equivalent, which applies to external whole-body exposure and is the 2

dose equivalent at a tissue depth of I cm (!,000 my/cm ).

(4) Shallow indicates shallow dose equivalent, and applies to the external exposure of the skin or an 2

extremity, and is taken r.s the dose equivalent at a tissue depth of 0.007 cm (7 mg/cm ) averaged over an area of one square centimeter.

3-12

'1998 NETL Annual R port

' Table 3-10 Total Dose Equivalent Recorded on TLD Environmental Monitors Around the NETL Reactor Facility Location in Reactor Facility Monitor ID Dose g(mrem)

Sidewalk, NETL front entrance 00156 M NETL power transformer - 00157 M NETL Roof stack 00158 M Reactor bay exterior wall, east 00159 M Reactor bay exterior wall, west 00160 M NETL service door 00161 M (1) The total recorded dose equivalent values do not include natural background contnbution and reflect the summation of the results of four quarterly TLD dosimeters for each locations. A total dose equivalent of "M" indicates that each of the dosimeters during the period was below the vendor's minimum measurable quantity of 10 mrem for x- and gamma rays,40 mrem for energetic .

beta particles.

I l

3-13 J

j

'998 NETL Annual Repon Table 3-11 Radiation Protection Program q Requirements and Frequencies Freauency Radiation Protection Reauirement Weekly Gamma survey of all Restricted Areas.

Swipe survey of all Restricted Areat Swipe survey of Radioactive Materials Areas.

Response check of the continuous air monitor.

Response checks of the area radiation monitors.

Neutron survey of the reactor bay (during reactor operation).

Monthly Gamma, neutron and swipe surveys of exterior walls and roof.

~

Exchange personnel dosimeters and interior area monitoring dosimeters.

Review dosimetry repons.

Response check emergency locker portable radiation measuring equipment.

Review Radiation Work Permits.

Response check of the argon monitor.

Response check hand and foot monitor.

Conduct background checks of low background alpha / beta counting system.

Collect and analyze TRIGA primary water.

As Required Process and record solid wastes and liquid effluent discharges.

Prepare and record radioactive material shipments.

Survey and record incoming radioactive materials.

Perform and record special radiation surveys.

Issue radiation work permits and provide health physics coverage for maintenance operations.

Conduct orientations and training.

Quarterly Exchange TLD environmental monitors.

Gamma and swipe surveys of all non restricted areas.

Swipe survey of building exterior areas.

Calibrate area monitors in neutron generator room.

Perform Chi-square test, and determine HV plateaus and detection efficiencies on the low background alpha / beta counting system.

Semi-Annual Inventory ernergency locker.

Calibrate portable radiation monitoring instruments.

Calibrate continuous air monitor, argon monitor, and area radiation monitors.

Calibrate personnel pocket dosimeters.

lcak test and inventory sealed sources.

Annual Conduct ALARA Committee meeting.

Conduct personnel refresher training.

Calibrate emergency locker portable radiation detection equipment 3-14

. 1998 NETL Annual Report 3.8 Radiation Surveys Radiation surveys of NETL work areas are shown in Table 3-12. Surveys with portable instruments and measurements of radioactive contamination are routine. Supplemental measurements are also made any time unusual conditions occur. Values in the table represent the result of routine measurements. Environmental monitoring at sample sites exterior to the building are generally done at random times or as a case by case evaluation.

Table 3-12 Annual Summary of Radiation Levels and Contamination Levels Within the Reactor Area and NETL Facility l Accessible Location Whole Body Contamination Radiation levels Levels (mrem /hr)'" (dpm/100cm2) l Average Maximum Average Maximum TRIGA Reactor Facility Reactor Bay North 0.07 1.9 MDA t23 3.2 Reactor Bay South 0.05 3.5 MDA'2) 2.5 l Reactor Bay East 0.07 6.0 MDA t2 42.7 l Reactor Bay West 0.12 4.0 MDA'2) 10.7 l

' Reactor Pool Deck (third 0.06 1.0 MDA<2' 65.5 l floor) l t

1

' NETL Facilitv i NAA Sample Processing 0.12 2.5 6.3 661.0'" l

! (Rm 3.102) i l NAA Sample Counting 0.04 1.4 MDA'2' 2.7 I

(Rm 3.112)

Health Physics Laboratory 0.02 0.7 MDA t2 7.0 Neutron Generator 0.02 200+ 54.0 220,000 '3' l (Rm 1.102)  ;

(1) Measurements made with Victoreen 450 and/or 190 or Bicron Microrem portable survey meter in areas readily accessible to personnel.

(2) MDA for the G-5000 low level alpha-beta radiation counting systern is 2.49 dpm/100 cm2 beta, and 0.58 dpm/100 cm2alpha. Calculation of MDA based on NCRP Report No. 58.

(3) The contamination shown for this location assumes 100% smearing efficiency, and was immediately removed. As result, the average contamination level at this location during the reporting period was. .for all practical purposes, <500 dpm per 100 cm2 .

3-15

. 1998 NETL Annual Report 3.9 Radioactive Emuents, Radioactive Waste Radioactive effluents are releases to the air and to the sanitary sewer system. The most significant effluent is an airborne radionuclide, argon-41. Two other airborne radionuclides, nitrogen-16 and oxygen-19, decay rapidly and do not contribute to effluent releases. Argon-41, with a half-life of 109 minutes is the only airborne radionuclide emitted by the facility. A summary of the argon-41 releases are shown in Table 3-13. An estimated 0.2 ^ of fission gases (Kr-88,-89, -90) were released during the documented fuel element failure on Lay 21.

Table 3-13 Monthly Summary of Argon-41 Effluent Releases (l)

Date of Discharge Total Quantity of Average Fraction of (Month,1998) Argon-41 Release Concentration at Technical (microcuries) Point of Release Specifications *(c/c)

(microcurie /cm3)

January 4.39E+05 2.63E-07 13.15 February 6.74E+05 4.03E-07 20.16 March 1.50E+06 8.99E-07 44.94 April 4.75E+05 2.85E-07 14.23 May 5.56E+05 3.33E-07 16.64 June 4.73E+05 2.83E-07 14.16 July 3.57E+05 2.14E-07 10.68 l i

August 7.88E+05 4.72E-07 23.58 September 7.02E+05 4.20E-07 21.01 October 9.28E+05 5.55E-07 27.77 November 5.41E+05 3.24E-07 16.19 December 1.16E+06 6.92E-07 34.58 ANNUAL VALUE 8.59E+06 4.230E-07 21.15 (1) Point of release is the roof exhaust stack. Concentration includes dilution factor of 0.2 for mixing with main exhaust.

(2) Technical Specification limit for continuous release is 2.00E-6 microcurie /cm3, l

3-16 j l

4 1998 NETL Annual Report Releases to the sanitary sewer are done from waste hold up tanks at irregular intervals.

To date, no releases have been made. The liquid radioactive waste tanks allow for segregation of liquids for decay of the activity. Liquids may also be processed on-site to concentrate the.

radionuclides into other forms prior to disposal. Liquid disposals are infrequent.

Table 3-14 Monthly Summary of Liquid Effluent Releases to the Sanitary Sewer From the NETL Reactor Facility Date of Release Total Quantity Discharge Volume of Radioactivity (Month,1997) (m3) .(millicuries)

January No Releases February No Releases March No Releases April No Releases May No Releases June No Releases July No Releases August No Releases September No Releases October 8.68E-08 November 1.17E-07 December 2.53E-07 i

3-17

3

• 1998 NETL Annual Report Radioactive waste disposal of solids are shown in Table 3-15. The inventory of material in Table 3-15 represents the disposal of radioactive material as follows: . January, sodium:

molybdenate, elemental sulfur, mesitylene with Zn-65 and Co-60 activation products: July, mixed fission products from pinhole leak in fuel red 10808; September, Co-60, Cs-137, Mn-54 in resin beads; December, Co-60 from old pool water filter, H-3 old vacuum pump and ion pump, old neutron generator drift tube assemblies with target. Total activity sent to disposal was 2000.567 mci. All transfers of material were made to the University Office of Environmental '!

Health and Safety for disposal.

Table 3-15 Monthly Summary of Solid Waste Transfers for Disposa!

Date of Release Total Quantity Disposal Volume of Radioactivity (Month,1997) (m3) (millicuries)

January 0.2 0.133 February None  ;

March None -

April None -,

May None -)

June None July 0.2 0.004 August None September 0.2 0.13 October None November None December 0.6 2000.3 3-18