ML23074A214

Transmittal of 2022 Annual Report for the University of Texas Triga II Nuclear Research Reactor

ML23074A214
Person / Time
Site:	University of Texas at Austin
Issue date:	03/16/2023
From:	Whaley P University of Texas at Austin
To:	Geoffrey Wertz Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Document Control Desk
References
Download: ML23074A214 (1)

Text

WALKER DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory Pickle Research Campus R-9000

• Austin, Texas 78758

• 512-232-5380

• FAX 512-471-4589 nuclear. engr. utexas. edu

• wcharlton@austin.utexas.edu ATTN: Document Control Desk Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Geoffrey Wertz, P.E.

Non-Power Production and Utilization Facility Licensing Branch (UNPL}

Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities (DANU}

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT:

Docket Number 50-602, License R-126, 2022 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TRIGA II NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR Sir:

Attached is the 2022 Annual Report for The University of Texas TRIGA II Nuclear Reactor (previously communicated via email}. If three are any questions, please feel free to contact P.

M. Whaley at 512-232-5373 or whaley@mail.utexas.com .

Sincerely, P. M. Whaley

2022 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TRIGA II NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR (DOCKET 50-602)

INTRODUCTION The University of Texas System (UTS) was established by the Texas Constitution in 1876, with The University of Texas at Austin the flagship institution. The Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory was established at the J. J. Pickle Research Campus with a TRIGA II Nuclear Research Reactor, initially critical in 1992. The reactor is licensed to The University of Texas under USNRC License R-129, a class 104 research reactor. Other activities at the NETL using radioisotopes fall under a State of Texas broad scope license (L00485).

The NETL TRIGA II Reactor Technical Specifications (section 6.6.1) require an annual operating report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This Annual Report covers the period from January through December 2022. The report is organized to summarize the status of current organization during the reporting period (line management organization, oversight committees, and independent oversight activities) followed by the information as detailed in Technical Specifications.

ANNUAL REPORT Personnel status for the organization during the 2022 reporting year for management, oversight, and operating staff is provided. The Technical Specifications require Routine annual reports covering the activities of the reactor facility during the previous calendar year three months following the end of each prescribed year. The information required in the annual report is addressed as indicated in Table 1.

Table 1: Required Annual Report Information Information Addressed as A narrative summary of reactor operating experience including Narrative Summary

a. the energy produced by the reactor or the hours the reactor was critical, or both. Energy produced: 25.6 MWD Tabulation of Unscheduled The unscheduled shutdowns including, where applicable, Shutdowns b.

corrective action taken to preclude recurrence.

Analysis and Corrective Action Statement of Surveillance Tabulation of major preventive and corrective maintenance Activities c.

operations having safety significance. Description of Significant Corrective Maintenance Description of Facility Tabulation of major changes in the reactor facility and Modifications procedures, and tabulation of new tests or experiments, or both, Description of Procedure

d. that are significantly different from those performed previously, Changes including conclusions that no new or unanalyzed safety questions Description of New were identified. Tests/Experiments 50.59 Summary

Table 1: Required Annual Report Information Information Addressed as A summary of the nature and amount of radioactive effluents released or discharged to the environs beyond the effective control of the owner-operator as determined at or before the point There were no liquid effluents in of such release or discharge. The summary shall include, to the 2022 e.

extent practicable, an estimate of individual radionuclides in the effluent. If the estimated average release after dilution or diffusion is less than 25% of the concentration allowed or Argon 41 Effluent recommended, a statement to this effect is sufficient.

A summarized result of environmental surveys performed

f. Environmental Surveys outside the facility.

A summary of exposures received by facility personnel and

g. visitors where such exposures are greater than 25% of that Exposures allowed or recommended.

ORGANIZATION

SUMMARY

Line Management Figure 1 presents the four levels of management identified in Technical Specifications.

Figure 1: Line Management Organization Table 2: Level 1 The University of Texas at Austin Administration J. Hartzell, PhD, President Sharon L. Wood, PhD, Executive Vice President and Provost Roger T. Bonnecaze, Dean, Cockrell School of Engineering

Table 3: Level 2 Mechanical Engineering and NETL Administration Dr. Donald Siegel, Chair, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering Dr. W. Charlton, Director P. M. Whaley, Associate Director Table 4: Level 3 NETL Reactor Supervisor Larry Hall, Reactor Manger, Jan-October Jim Terry, October-December Table 5: Level 4 NETL Reactor Operators/Senior Reactor Operators P. M. Whaley: Senior Operator Larry Hall: Senior Operator through October Jim Terry: (Electronic Technician/Reactor Manager) Senior Operator Tracy Tipping (Health Physicist) - Reactor Operator Mark Andrews (Research Associate) - Reactor Operator Walker Payne - Reactor Operator (through May)

Kevin McKay - Reactor Operator (through May)

Oversight Committees Table 6: 2021-2022 University Radiation Safety Committee Kevin N. Dalby, Ph.D., Chair, Professor, College of Pharmacy Dan Jaffe, Ph.D., Vice-Chair, Office of the Vice President for Research R. DeWayne Holcomb, ex-officio, Radiation Safety Officer, Environmental Health and Safety Jack L. Ritchie, Ph.D., Department Chair, Professor, Department of Physics Rick Russel, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences John Salsman, Director, Environmental Health and Safety (& acting Radiation Safety Officer)

Christopher S. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences J. Steven Swinnea, Ph.D., Texas Materials Institute X-Ray Facility Manager Tracy N. Tipping, NETL Health Physicist and Laboratory Manager Karen M. Vasquez, Ph.D., Professor, College of Pharmacy

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Table 7: 2021-2022 Reactor Oversight Committee Kevin Clarno (ME), Chair William S. Charlton, ex-officio (NETL)

Howard Liljestrand (CAFÉ)

Derek Haas (ME)

Don Siegel (ME)

John G. Ekerdt, ex-officio (ChE)

Larry Hall, ex-officio (NETL) through October 2022 Jim Terry, ex-officio (NETL) as of October 2022 Tracy Tipping, ex-officio (NETL)

Mike Whaley, ex-officio (NETL)

DeWayne Holcomb (Radiation Safety Officer)

Lawrence R. Jacobi (External Representative)

Scott Pennington (External Representative)

Michael Vasquez (External Representative) as of October 2022 Independent Oversight Activities Table 8: Inspections and Reviews USNRC License(s) Inspection R-129 (Special Inspection) 07 November - 08 December 2022 State of Texas License Inspection L00485 (89) None in 2022 Reactor Oversight Committee Review Semi Annual Review 10 May 2022 Semi Annual Review 18 Nov 2022 Other UT Fire Marshal Fire Safety 27 Jul 2022 UT Fire Safety Systems 01 Mar 2022 FACILITY OPERATIONS

SUMMARY

REPORT Narrative Summary The UT-TRIGA reactor operated on 205 days in 2022, producing a total energy output of 614 MWh. There were routine maintenance outages in January and July and one additional outage in October through November to complete corrective actions after discovery of non-qualified fuel installed in the reactor core. An NRC Special Inspection was commissioned to review the event.

Figure 2, Summary of Operating Days There were 18 days of operations for training and education, including reactor-based training for NRC, preparation for NRC examination, and reactor-based laboratory classes. Experiments were not precluded by training or classes, and 205 days of experiment operations with 1162 samples irradiated occurred during 2022 (experiments included 25 for research, 12 for service work and 8 for internal experiments). Distribution among the NETL experimental facilities is provided below.

Figure 3: Experiment Facility Utilization

Other Significant Operations and Events A cryogenic irradiation facility was commissioned with successful generation of a radioisotope for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

In October it was discovered that aluminum clad elements had been installed following completion of the biennial fuel inspection in January. Operations were suspended pending investigation and resolution of issues. During investigation of the event it was discovered that the fuel inspections for 2020 and 2022 had not been conducted using the approved procedure, and the method used was not adequate to meet surveillance requirements. The fuel inspection procedure was revised, reviewed and approved by the Reactor Oversight Committee, and performed. Corrective actions developed from root cause analysis and completed prior to resumptions of normal operations include:

1. Remove the aluminum fuel elements.

2. Revise the surveillance procedure for fuel element inspection.

a. Remove the strain gage measurements form the procedure and

b. Provide an approved alternative for the measurements.

3. Preform the revised surveillance for the core configuration prior to startup.

4. Review other procedures that satisfy Technical Specifications surveillances, to evaluate if other non-compliances have been introduced in performance.

5. Conduct control rod worth calibrations.

6. Include in the B159.xls file (fuel management tool):

a. Date of last fuel inspection.

b. A qualified or disqualified flag to indicate fuel element not to be used in the core

7. Review the event with staff, emphasizing the importance of procedural compliance, the change control process for procedures, the application of license and Technical Specifications as administrative controls, and the incorporation of this into NETL culture.

8. Revise the fuel handling procedure to require fuel not in a tested configuration (i.e., not installed at the last control rod worth calibration) to be verified prior to installation:

a. Qualified/disqualified for use.

b. Inspection completed within prior 2 years.

c. Core loading only with qualified fuel verified by NETL management prior to startup.

9. Develop a method to designate fuel racks with visible indications that the contents are not allowed to be used in the core.

Long term corrective actions include revising administrative controls for developing and revising procedures (including better implementation of the 10CFR50.59 process) followed by revising administrative and operating procedures to the new standard.

Tabulation of Unscheduled Shutdowns TABLE 9: UNSCHEDULED SHUTDOWNS 09 Mar 2022 NM%PWR NM due to incorrect constant adjustment NM constant after troubleshooting adjusted correctly 06 Jun 2022 NM%PWR Due to adjustment of reg rod at power Operator training 17 Jun 2022 NM%PWR Operator error during rod adjustment Operator training Analysis and Corrective Actions Temperature Trips There were no temperature trips in 2022, continuing the trend which showed a significant change from historical experience.

Operator Error There were two operator error reactor scrams in 2022, and one scram due to an error while adjusting a constant in the NM 1000.

Spurious NM 1000 Power Level Trips Though previous years have seen spurious NM 1000 scrams, there were no NM 1000 spurious scrams in 2022 continuing to indicate successful mitigation of the issue by replacement in 2018 of a fission chamber that provides power level signal.

Statement of Surveillance Activities The facility conducts two major maintenance outages each year, one in January (before the start of the spring semester) and one in mid-summer. The biennial fuel inspection conducted in the January maintenance period was discovered to have been improperly performed, and a second fuel inspection following revision of the inspection procedure, review, and approval by the ROC was conducted in October and November. Except for the January fuel inspection, all surveillances and scheduled maintenance activities were completed during the reporting year at the required periodicity. All results met or exceeded the requirements of the Technical Specifications.

Description of Significant Corrective Maintenance 24 Mar 2022: Replaced failed hard disk drive in the console CSC computer and reinstalled TRIGA software. Performed MAIN-1 Interlock and SCRAM features.

03 Aug 2022: NPP channel failed calibration during routine maintenance (MAIN-2). Replaced NPP with refurbished unit and calibrated.

12 Sep 2022: Replaced Particulate CAM detector and discovered brittle air tubing. Replaced failed tubing, tested, calibrated, and returned unit to service.

Description of Procedure Changes Revised MAIN-5 to standardize method of measuring fuel for disqualification criteria (e.g.,

length and bend).

Revised FUEL-1 to mandate second person (management) verification that only qualified fuel is place in core (pen and ink change).

New Tests or Experiments Installation of a cryogenic irradiation facility in Beam Bort 2 (BP2) was complete (a multi-year project). The facility consists of a vacuum canister containing a cold head and condenser to produce crystals from condensed gas. A flexible liquid helium transfer line transfers heat to a cooling system external to the beam port.

50.59 Summary There were no changes in 2022 that required evaluation for adverse effects under the 50.59 process prior to implementing a change.

The pneumatic facility in a 3-EL canister is in the design phase; a 10CFR50.59 review will be completed following review of final design and prior to installation (ongoing).

An NRC Special Inspection Team identified 10CFR50.59 forms that were not signed (i.e., did not indicate ROC review), but NETL staff understand that the actions identified in the form do not meet the criteria for screening or evaluation under 10CFR50.59 and therefore did not require ROC review. Guidance for using the form was incomplete and the use confusing because the forms had been employed to document the Safety Analysis Report references reviewed in performance of activities. Implementation of the 50.59 process at the facility has been reevaluated with forms rewritten to include a clear definition of the required process with instructions for completing the forms. A draft revision to the administrative procedure is in internal review.

RADIOLOGICAL

SUMMARY

REPORT Argon 41 Effluent The principal radioactive effluent for the UT reactor is argon-41. There were 6.7x106 µCi of argon-41 discharged during calendar year 2022, approximately 6% of the value permitted by Technical Specifications.

Environmental Surveys NETL monitors exterior locations indicated as positions 1 through 6 on the exterior dosimeter map. For 2022, all six positions were minimal dose (<1 mrem). These doses are well below the 100 mrem annual limit for dose to the general public.

NETL Environmental Monitor Locations (External Dosimeter Map)

The Texas Department of State Health Services monitors exterior locations near NETL.

Currently TDSHS has only reported results for the first three calendar quarters of 2022. For this period, 0 mrem dose was reported for position 1, 4 mrem dose was reported for position 2, 2 mrem dose was reported for position 3, 10 mrem dose was reported for position 4, and 3 mrem dose was reported for position 5.

Exposures No workers or members of the general public received doses in excess of 25% of applicable exposure limits during 2022.