ML21216A439
| ML21216A439 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Reed College |
| Issue date: | 08/04/2021 |
| From: | Newhouse J Reed College |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| 2021-063 | |
| Download: ML21216A439 (15) | |
Text
REED COLLEGE Reed Research Reactor 3203 SE Woodstock Boulevard, Portland, Oregon 97202-8199 phone: 503/777-7222. email: reactor@reed.edu August 4, 2021 2021-063 ATTN: Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Enclosed is the annual report for Reed College (Docket 50-288, License No. R-112) for the period July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Digitally signed by Jerry Jerry Newhouse Newhouse Date: 2021.08.04 14:46:37 -07'00' Jerry Newhouse Director, Reed Research Reactor
Enclosure:
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021
REED RESEARCH REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT July 1, 2020 -- June 30, 2021 3203 Southeast Woodstock Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97202-8199 503-777-7222 https://reactor.reed.edu reactor@reed.edu
Table Of Contents Overview .................................................................................................................................... 1 People ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Reactor Staff ....................................................................................................................................... 2 Reactor Operations Committee (ROC)....................................................................................... 3 Facilities ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Reactor Facility ................................................................................................................................. 4 Rotating Specimen Rack Facility ................................................................................................. 4 Pneumatic Transfer System .......................................................................................................... 4 In-Core Facilities ............................................................................................................................... 4 In-Pool Facilities ............................................................................................................................... 4 Beam Facilities .................................................................................................................................. 4 Inspections and Audits ............................................................................................................. 5 Users ............................................................................................................................................ 6 Reactor Operations Seminar ........................................................................................................ 6 Outside Users ..................................................................................................................................... 7 High School Student Projects ........................................................................................................ 7 Reed Classes ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Industrial and Commercial Applications.................................................................................. 7 Reactor Operations................................................................................................................. 8 Operations .......................................................................................................................................... 8 Unplanned Reactor Shutdowns ................................................................................................... 9 Reactor Maintenance ........................................................................................................... 10 Significant Maintenance ............................................................................................................... 10 Radiation Protection ............................................................................................................ 11 Personnel Dosimetry..................................................................................................................... 11 Fixed Area Dosimetry.................................................................................................................... 11 Gaseous Releases ............................................................................................................................ 12 Liquid Waste Releases .................................................................................................................. 12 Solid Waste Disposal ..................................................................................................................... 12 Environmental Sampling ............................................................................................................. 12
OVERVIEW This report covers the period from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, and is intended to fulfill the reporting requirements of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission License No. R-112, Docket 50-288, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Oregon Department of Energy Rule No. 345-030-010.
Reed College operates a 250 kW TRIGA Mark I reactor. The Reed College Research Reactor has been a resource for research and educational projects in the Portland area since 1968. The main uses of the Reed Research Reactor are instruction and research.
Due to the pandemic, Reed College was closed to most visitors during the reporting period.
As a result, outside visits to the reactor did not occur.
During the year the reactor was taken critical 172 times on 75 days. The total energy produced was 12.63 megawatt-hours.
The reactor staff consists of a Director, a Reactor Operations Manager, and Reed College undergraduate students. The student staff consist of technicians, trainees, and students who are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as reactor operators or senior reactor operators. During the reporting period, 15 RO candidates and 5 SRO candidates received licenses.
In early October 2020 a new permanent Director was hired and completed turnover from the Interim Director in November 2020. The U.S. NRC was notified of this change in a letter dated September 21, 2020.
There were no radiation exposures to individuals in excess of any limits during the year.
There were no releases of liquid radioactive material from the facility. Airborne releases were well within regulatory limits. There was one shipment of low-level radioactive waste from the facility.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission conducted two inspections during this reporting period: July 20-24, 2020 and April 19-22, 2021. One external audit was performed in May 2021.
The Covid-19 pandemic continued throughout this reporting year. Beginning in the Fall 2020, the reactor resumed limited operations to maintain operator requalification, support student thesis research, and conduct new operator training. Occupancy was severely limited compared to normal and new operator training was especially limited as a result.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021 1
PEOPLE Reactor Staff During the reporting period the staff consisted of the following:
Table 1 Supervisory Staff Reactor Director Jerry Newhouse 10/20 - present Stephen Frantz (Interim) 3/20 - 11/20 Reactor Operations Manager Toria Ellis 6/19 - present Radiation Safety Officer April Sams 5/16 - present Operations Supervisor Kees Benkendorfer 5/20 - 6/21 Amelia Schaeffer 5/21 - present Training Supervisor Nemo Shen 5/20 - 6/21 M Benesch 5/20 - present Genna Childers 5/21 - present Requalification Supervisor Kaitlyn Li 5/20 - present Projects Supervisor Addison Guynn 5/19 - 6/21 Nicholas Lutz 5/21 - present Table 2 Staff Senior Reactor Operators (SRO)
M Benesch Addison Guynn Yilian Liu Kees Benkendorfer Jonathan Li Patrick Park Toria Ellis Kaitlyn Li Nemo Shen Reactor Operators (RO)
Abdur-Rauf Ahmed Ashlee Cook Matt Hwang Henry Scheffer Hima Aramona Ismayn Ditter Henry Jacques Ethan Shek Conor Bekaert Riyaz Ditter Pratik Kafle Maxwell VanLandschoot Sol Bixby Gavin Dury Orion Lee Tommy Yoon Leandra Bruggink Marie Faulkner Nicholas Lutz ZiQi Xie Ryen Burris Yu Fu Natalie Murphy Nicole Xu Vivian Chen Segovia Garcia Hope Palmer Genna Childers Emanuel Gordis Amelia Schaeffer Reactor Technicians Laura Estridge Segovia Garcia Samantha Hordyk Gianmatteo Martinez Natalie Murphy Anika Nicholas The list of operators includes everyone who held a license at any time during the reporting period. Reactor Operators who upgraded their licenses to Senior Reactor Operators during the reporting period are listed under Senior Reactor Operators. On June 30, 2021 there were 24 licensed operators at Reed College.
2 Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021
Reactor Operations Committee (ROC)
The membership of the Reactor Operation committee during the reporting period is listed.
Reactor Operations Committee
§ Lucas Illing, ROC Chair (Physics Faculty, Reed College)
§ Steve Reese (Radiation Center Director, Oregon State University)
§ Wayne Lei (Portland General Electric-retired)
§ Norm Dyer (OAR Services-retired)
§ Kathy Oleson (Dean of the Faculty, Reed College)
§ April Sams (Director, Reed Environmental Health and Safety)
§ Jerry Shurman (Math Faculty, Reed College)
§ Dan Gerrity (Chemistry Faculty, Reed College)
§ Jerry Newhouse (Director, RRR)
§ Stephen Frantz (Interim Director, RRR)
§ Toria Ellis (Reactor Operations Manager, RRR)
§ Kees Benkendorfer (Supervisor, RRR)
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021 3
FACILITIES Reactor Facility In addition to the reactor, the Reed Research Reactor has a radiochemistry lab. The equipment includes: high purity germanium gamma spectrometers, ion chambers, beta counters, Geiger Muller tubes, and alpha detectors. These instruments are used for experiments, and training in nuclear science and radiation detection. One exit monitor is in the control room. A liquid scintillation detector serves both the reactor and broad scope license users. The reactor facility has several systems for performing irradiations, described below.
Rotating Specimen Rack Facility The rotating specimen rack is located in a well on top of the graphite reflector surrounding the core. The rack consists of a circular array of 40 tubular receptacles, each of which can hold two irradiation tubes. The rack automatically rotates during irradiation to ensure each sample receives the same neutron fluence. The thermal neutron flux in a rotating rack position at full power is approximately 1.7 x1012 n/cm2s with a cadmium ratio of 6.
Pneumatic Transfer System The pneumatic transfer system (rabbit) consists of an irradiation chamber in the outermost F-ring of the core and its associated glovebox, blower, and piping. This allows samples to be transferred in and out of the reactor core very rapidly while the reactor is at power. The flux in the core terminal at full power is approximately 5x1012 n/cm2s.
In-Core Facilities The central thimble is a water-filled irradiation chamber about 3 cm in diameter. It provides the highest available neutron flux at full power, approximately 1x1013 n/cm2s.
Foil-insertion holes, 0.8 cm in diameter, are drilled at various positions through the grid plates. These holes allow the insertion of special holders containing flux wires into the core to obtain three-dimensional neutron flux maps of the core.
In-Pool Facilities Near core, in-pool irradiation facilities can accommodate larger samples. Neutron fluxes are lower than in the rotary specimen rack. An iridium gamma irradiator is also in the reactor pool for gamma-only irradiations.
Beam Facilities The central thimble can be evacuated with gas, producing a vertical neutron beam. The flux above the beam exit at full power is approximately 1x106 n/cm2s.
4 Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021
INSPECTIONS AND AUDITS The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission conducted two inspections during this reporting period: July 20-24, 2020 and April 19-22, 2021.
The July 20-24, 2020 inspection was both a routine inspection and a confirmatory order follow-up inspection. Per Inspection Report No. 05000288/2020201, one Severity Level VI violation was identified as part of the routine inspection and there were no findings as part of the confirmatory order follow-up inspection.
The Severity Level VI violation resulted from operating the reactor from May 25, 2018 through July 26, 2018 with the isolation mode of the ventilation system inoperable.
Corrective actions were completed and the violation was closed during the April 19-22, 2021 inspection.
It was noted in the conclusion of the confirmatory order inspection that various Order requirements are part of the RRR license, and the licensee must continue to comply with these requirements in the future. This requirement of continuing compliance with the Confirmatory Order is understood and continues to be implemented.
The April 19-22, 2021 inspection was a routine inspection. Per Inspection Report No.
05000288/2021201, on Severity Level VI violation was identified.
The situation responsible for the Severity Level VI violation was self-identified to the U.S. NRC on October 28, 2020. Between August 30, 2020 and October 12, 2020 two operators operated the reactor while out of requalification. The combination of nearly all operators being out of requalification during the pandemic, the changeover between requalification years, and the changeover between requalification supervisors, all contributed to the situation. Corrective actions are partially completed, but continuing, and include: updating the requalification SOP, delivering a requalification lecture on the cause of the violation, and revising the requalification database to be robust enough to handle extreme circumstances in the future.
Dr. Wayne Lei of the Reed Research Reactor ROC conducted an audit in May 2021. The audit discovered no significant concerns, but included six follow-up items to improve organization, and clarity improvements to various checklists.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021 5
USERS Reactor Operations Seminar The Reed Research Reactor conducts an annual seminar series. This non-credit course serves as an introduction to nuclear reactor theory, health physics, and reactor operation.
Up to 15 of the students are hired each year to continue with in-depth reactor operator training. Most subsequently apply for a Reactor Operator (RO) license.
The NRC administered two exams during the reporting period: one in October 2020 and one in March 2021. The October 2020 exam included both SRO upgrades and initial RO exams that were originally postponed due to the pandemic. The March 2021 exam included initial RO exams; all candidates trained online with only very limited access to the reactor.
Figure 1 shows the pass rate for RO and SRO for the past ten years. Figure 2 shows the number of RO and SRO license candidates for the past ten years.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 SRO pass rate RO pass rate Figure 1 NRC License Exam Results 30 25 ROs SROs 20 15 10 5
0 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Figure 2 NRC License Candidates 6 Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021
Outside Users Due to the pandemic, Reed College was closed to most visitors during the reporting period.
As a result, outside visits to the reactor did not occur.
Figure 3 is a graph showing the history of visiting groups for the past 10 years.
40 Colleges and Universities High Schools/ Middle Schools/Elementary Schools 35 Special Groups 30 Number of Tours 25 20 15 10 5
0 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 Figure 3 Visiting Groups High School Student Projects The reactor typically supports two high school interns during the summer months through the ASE organization. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we did not participate during this reporting period.
There are two interns on site currently whose work will be covered in next years report.
Reed Classes The Spring 2021 Geology course used the facilitys NAA capability.
Theses:
- Two chemistry majors used activated products and detection capabilities: one studied bismuth and phosphorus samples, and the other studied residual CS gas (tear gas) in soil samples.
Industrial and Commercial Applications The Reed Research Reactor is available for industrial or commercial concerns when it does not conflict with our educational goals. The facility also provides radiation protection training to interested parties and schools in the area, including an annual Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) class. We also provide radiation meter calibration if requested.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021 7
REACTOR OPERATIONS Operations During the reporting period the reactor was taken critical 172 times on 75 days. The total energy produced was approximately 12.63 megawatt-hours. Operating history by month appears in Table 3. A history of the data is shown in Figure 4.
Table 3 Operating History by Month Times Critical Days Operated MW-Hours July 2020 4 2 0.11 August 2020 4 3 0.00002 September 2020 18 7 3.28 October 2020 20 7 0.59 November 2020 12 4 1.09 December 2020 2 2 0.86 January 2021 4 3 1.36 February 2021 38 12 1.91 March 2021 45 15 1.56 April 2021 6 4 0.99 May 2021 9 5 0.35 June 2021 10 8 0.53 Total 172 75 12.63 600 500 400 Times Critical 300 Days Operated MW-hrs 200 100 0
2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 Figure 4 Operating History 8 Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021
Unplanned Reactor Shutdowns There were four inadvertent reactor shutdowns (scrams) during the reporting period as shown in Table 4. The number of unplanned reactor shutdowns in the past 10 years is shown in Figure 5.
Table 4 Unplanned Shutdowns Date Scram Channel Cause of Scram Sept 7, 2020 Linear, Percent Loss of power in facility Mar 6, 2021 Percent Trainee operating under direction made an error May 13, 2021 Linear RO attempted large power change using the auto-rod June 24, 2021 Linear RO overshot desired power 18 16 14 12 10 8
6 4
2 0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Figure 5 Unplanned Shutdowns Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021 9
REACTOR MAINTENANCE Significant Maintenance Most maintenance items do not require a 50.59 Safety Review because they are screened out by our procedures. There were no 50.59 Safety Reviews required during the reporting period. Reactor staff performed routine equipment checks on a daily, biweekly, bimonthly, semiannual (January and July) and annual (January) basis as required by facility procedures. Reed College maintenance personnel assisted with routine preventative maintenance to auxiliary equipment. The following significant maintenance items were competed during the reporting period:
- Replaced primary coolant loop highpoint vent
- In support of the ventilation system repair:
o Reset ventilation damper motor contact points o Rewired and reprogrammed damper motors
- Replaced chart recorder
- Replaced the APM air pump
- Replaced the pull rod on the regulating control rod motor 10 Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021
RADIATION PROTECTION Personnel Dosimetry Dosimeters are changed on a calendar quarter schedule. Individuals are issued beta-gamma sensitive ring badges and whole-body badges.
The highest individual doses received were 1 mrem/quarter Deep Dose Equivalent (DDE) and 35 mrem/quarter Shallow Dose Equivalent (SDE). These doses are well below occupational dose limits and no further action was required.
Fixed Area Dosimetry Radiation levels are continually monitored to provide an indication of the average radiation levels in the reactor bay and dose outside the facility. All dosimeters monitor beta and gamma radiation. Five locations also measure neutron dose.
The Deep Dose Equivalent (DDE) radiation measured by fixed dosimeters during the period April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 are shown in Table 5. The dosimeters from April 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 are currently being processed. An M indicates less than 1 mrem above background during the quarter.
Table 5 Area Radiation Dosimeters (doses are in mrem per calendar quarter)
Height Radiation Apr 1 - Jul 1 - Oct 1 - Jan 1 -
Location Total (m) Detected Jun 30 Sep 30 Dec 31 Mar 31 Reactor East Wall 1.5 b, g, n 1 1 1 2 5 Reactor North Wall 1.6 b, g, n 2 4 4 5 15 Reactor West Wall 1.0 b, g, n 2 1 2 3 8 Reactor South Wall 1.6 b, g, n 1 2 3 3 9 Reactor North Wall - High 2.3 b, g M 2 3 2 7 Control Room 1.5 b, g 2 6 5 4 17 Outside North 2.8 b, g M M M 1 1 Outside Roof 0.4 b, g, n M M M M M Outside East 1.5 b, g M M M M M Outside South 0.4 b, g M M M M M Counting Room 1.5 b, g M M M M M Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021 11
Gaseous Releases The only routine release of gaseous radioactivity is from 41Ar (1.83-hour half-life) and 16N (7.13-second half-life). These come from activation of pool water and air in the pool water and in the irradiation facilities. For the reporting period, the average gaseous activity at the site boundary was 1.39 x 10-10 µCi/ml, which would deliver a dose to a member of the public of approximately 0.7 mrem, well below regulatory guidelines and constraints.
Figure 6 shows the gaseous releases for the past 10 years.
5.00E-10 4.50E-10 4.00E-10 3.50E-10 3.00E-10 2.50E-10 2.00E-10 1.50E-10 1.00E-10 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 Figure 6 Gaseous Release Activity (µCi/ml) at Site Boundary Liquid Waste Releases No liquid radioactive waste was released from the Reed Research Reactor during this reporting period.
Solid Waste Disposal There was one shipment of low-level radioactive waste from the facility during this reporting period.
Environmental Sampling All environmental samples were counted in a high purity gamma spectroscopy system. Soil samples taken from the area surrounding the facility showed no activity above background.
Water from the facilitys secondary cooling system and the nearby canyon were sampled for activation products and tritium; the water samples showed no activity above background.
12 Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2020-2021