ML21091A095
| ML21091A095 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Pennsylvania State University |
| Issue date: | 12/23/2020 |
| From: | Geuther J Penn State College of Engineering |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML21091A095 (6) | |
Text
PennState College of Engineering RADIATION SCIENCE &
ENGINEERING CENTER December 23, 2020 Attention Document Control Desk US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 To Whom It May Concern:
The Pennsylvania Stale University College of Engineering Radiation Science and Engineering Center Breazeale Nuclear Reactor University Park, PA 16802-2301 Phone: 814-865-6351 Fax:
8 I 4-863-4840 65 BREAZEALE Nuclear Reactor Enclosed please find the Annual Operating Repo1t for the Penn State Breazeale Reactor (PSBR) located at the Radiation Science and Engineering Center. This report covers the period from July I, 2019 to Jane 30, 2020, as required by our Facility Operating License R-2, Appendix A, Section 6.6.1.
Please contact me with any questions you have regarding this repo1t.
Sincerely,
~Cl~,
Jeffrey A. Geuther, Ph.D.
Acting Director Associate Director for Operations Radiation Science and Engineering Center 109 Breazeale Nuclear Reactor University Park, PA 16802
Enclosures:
Annual Operating Report, FY 19-20 cc:
L. Weiss J. Schwa1tz A. Atchley L. Pauley Y. Guo X. Yin - NRC M. Balazik - NRC D. Mon-ell - DOE College of Engineering An Equal Opportunity Univeisity
Penn State Breazeale Reactor Annual Operating Report, FY 2019 - 2020 License R-2, Docket 50-005 Reactor Utilization The Radiation Science and Engineering Center (RSEC) houses the Penn State Breazeale Reactor (PSBR), a TRI GA Mark III reactor capable of I MW steady state operation and pulses of up to approximately 2000 MW peak power. Utilization of the reactor and its associated facilities falls into three major categories:
Education The RSEC's several radiation laboratories allow for an interactive learning environment and supply the equipment necessary for several Nuclear Engineering courses. The RSEC hosts approximately 3000 visitors each year for public outreach and educational support. (The number of visitors was greatly reduced in 2020 due to COVID restrictions). These visits vary from visiting faculty and graduate level classes to scouting and middle school field trips. Our facility also strives to educate members of the public about the many benefits of nuclear power as well as the diverse applications of radiation across several fields of study. Some of the major topics covered in public outreach sessions are radiation basics, nuclear security, and reactor physics.
Research The research performed at the RSEC is associated with several different colleges as the University.
RSEC staff, professors, and graduate students all play a key role in maintaining a constant flow of research projects through the facility. The RSEC maintains flexibility with radiation laboratories and equipment to support research such as thermo-acoustic testing, reactor instrumentation testing, neutron and gamma ray detection, radiation signatures from used fuel elements, neutron activation analysis, and neutron imaging applications.
Service The resources available at the RSEC, paired with the diverse capabilities of the PSBR, allow us to serve the nuclear industry and satisfy the unique needs of several domestic and international companies. The RSEC is frequently involved in neutron radiography for composition uniformity testing as well as providing fast neutron irradiation fluxes to support the nation 's defense infrastructure. Also, the RSEC remains at the forefront of neutron transmission testing for spent fuel storage and equipment to be used at nuclear utilities.
The PSBR faci lity operates on an 8 AM - 5 PM shift, five days per week, with early morning, evening, and weekend shifts as necessary to accommodate laboratory courses, public education, university research, or industrial service projects. This schedule was reduced in 2020 due to COVID-based restrictions on campus access; however, all procedures required by the Technical
Specifications were completed on schedule, and research identified as critical infrastructure support was supported throughout the pandemic.
Technical Specification 6.6.1.a - Summary of Reactor Operating Experience Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020, the PSBR was utilized as follows.
Mode of Operation Time [hours]
Hours per Shift I
Critical I
518.1 2.2 I
Sub-Critical I
164.2 0.7 I
Shutdown T
514.5 2.2 I
TOTAL I
1196.8 5.1 The reactor was pulsed a total of 96 times with the following reactivities:
Reactivity Number of Pulses I
<$2.00 9
I
$2.00 to $2.50 82 I
> $2.50 5
I TOTAL 96 The square wave mode was used a total of 38 times to operate the reactor with power levels between approximately 100 and 500 kilowatts.
Total energy produced during this reporting period was 242.9 MWh, corresponding to the consumption of approximately 12.5 g of 235U.
Technical Specification 6.6.1.b - Unscheduled Shutdowns There were zero unscheduled shutdowns due to unintentional scrams during the reporting period.
The operations team, as well as all RSEC staff, work to maintain a safe and efficient operating environment. They work to maintain a high level of facility knowledge by reviewing previous events and holding routine training sessions that allow them to operate successfully and without incident.
Technical Specification 6.6.1.c -
Major Corrective or Preventative Maintenance with Safety Significance TS-required maintenance and surveillances were completed within required time frames. Non-routine maintenance and repair is documented under facility procedure# AP-13. Safety-related maintenance during the reporting period was as follows. Additional AP-13 records for non-safety significant issues are available for review upon request.
3/22/2020 The console uninterruptible power supply (UPS) failed an automatic system battery test.
The batteries were replaced.
Technical Specification 6.6.1.d - Major Changes Reportable Under 10 CFR 50.59 Facility changes are processed via procedure AP-12. The following major change was completed during the reporting period per 1 0CFRS0.59.
Various minor changes that did not require I 0CFRS0.59 evaluations are not included below but are available for review upon request. Several change reviews related to changing the control console and control rod drive electronics were opened during the reporting period, but are not complete and are therefore excluded from this operating report.
Ch ID D
A d
D ange ate.oorove escnption 2020-03 4/3/20 A proposal to replace the underground wastewater storage tanks and processed water tank with above-ground tanks was reviewed.
The new tanks will be easier to inspect and maintain, but will have a smaller volume than the existing tanks. The volume handled by the processed water tank and wastewater tanks is extremely small compared to the size of the tanks, and it was determined that there would be no effect on the safety or emergency response of the faci I itv. due to reducing the size of the tanks.
Procedures Procedures are normally reviewed biennially, and on an as-needed bases. Numerous minor changes and updates are made during the year and do not require a report under 1 0CFRS0.59.
New Tests and Experiments The tests / experiments performed at the RSEC during FY2018-2019 were typical and did not require 10CFRS0.59 evaluation or reporting.
Technical Specification 6.6.1.e - Radiological Effluents Released Liquid There were no planned or unplanned liquid effluent releases under the reactor license for the reporting period.
Some contaminated water produced during the construction outage was evaporated to dispose of low levels of tritium (see "Tritium (3H)," below).
Liquid radioactive waste from the radioisotope laboratories at the PSBR is under the University byproduct materials license and is transferred to the Radiation Protection Office for disposal with the waste from other campus laboratories. Liquid waste disposal techniques include storage for decay, release to sanitary sewer per 1 0CFR20, and solidification for shipment to licensed disposal sites.
Gaseous All gaseous releases were less than l 0% of the allowed concentrations and do not require a specific report.
Argon-41 (41Ar)
Gaseous effluent 4 1Ar is generated from dissolved air in the reactor pool water, air in dry irradiation tubes, air in neutron beam ports, and air leakage to and from the CO2-operated pneumatic sample transfer system (i.e., "rabbit"). The amount of 41 Ar released from the reactor pool is dependent on the operating power level and the length of time at power. The release per MWh is highest for extended high power runs and lowest for intermittent low power runs. The concentration of 41 Ar in the reactor bay and bay exhaust were measured by the Radiation Protection staff during the summer of 1986. Measurements were made for conditions of low and high power runs simulating typical operating cycles.
For a conservative calculation of 41Ar release, all power operations were assumed to take place at the Fast Neutron Irradiator (FNI) Tube, the location of the greatest 4 1Ar production and release.
The calculation method includes direct release from the pool in addition to release from the FNI fixture and estimates a quantity of 1053 mCi of 4 1 Ar released for the 242.9 MWh of operations which took place during FY201 9-2020. A portion of the 41Ar wi ll decay in place, however, if all of the 41Ar were released, it represents 0.9% of the annual limit.
Parameter Value Units I Ar2on-41 produced 1053 mCi I
Avera2e concentration, unrestricted area 0.9 X 10-I O
µCi / mL I Permissible concentration. unrestricted area 1.0 X 10-S
µCi /mL
]
Percenta2e of permissible concentration 0.9 I Calculated effective dose, unrestricted area 1.1 mrem I year I
Tritium (3H)
Normally tritium is only released from the reactor facil ity due to the evaporation of reactor pool water. The total makeup to the reactor pool for FY20 19-2020 was 11910 gallons, or 1.36 gal / hr.
The evaporative loss rate is dependent on air movement, relative humidity, temperature of air and water, etc. Based on the measured average pool tritium concentration of 40752 pCi / L (averaged between July l, 20 19 - June 30, 2020), the total tritium activity released through venti lation would be ~ 1838 µCi.
A dilution of factor of2.0 x 108 mL / sec was used to calculate that unrestricted area concentration.
This is from 200 m2 ( cross sectional area of the bui I ding) times an assumed wind speed of 1 m /
sec. These are the same values used on the reactor Safety Analysis Report.
Parameter Value Units I Tritium released 1838
µCi I
Average concentration, unrestricted area 2.91 X 10*13
µCi / mL I Permissible concentration, unrestricted area 1.00 X 10"7
µCi / mL I Percentage of permissible concentration 0.0003 I Calculated effected dose equivalent, unrestricted area
<2.00 X 10*4 mrem I
Technical Specification 6.6.1.f - Environmental Surveys The only environmental surveys performed were the routine environmental dosimeter measurements at the faci lity fence line and an off-site point at a child care center approximately 100 yards from fac ility. The fo llowing table summarizes the net measurements, in millirems, for the current reporting period.
Quarter North Fence South Fence East Fence West Fence Child Care I 2019 03 0 fmRl 0 fmRl 0 fmRl O fmRl O fmRl J
2019 Q4 8
16 9
13 0
12020.01 12 10 10 14 5
I 2020 0 2 7
2 2
2 0