ML24059A103
| ML24059A103 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | University of Texas at Austin |
| Issue date: | 02/28/2024 |
| From: | Whaley P Univ of Texas |
| To: | Geoffrey Wertz NRC/NRR/DANU/UNPL, Document Control Desk |
| References | |
| Download: ML24059A103 (1) | |
Text
WALKER DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory Pickle Research Campus R-9000
- 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, 2023 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TRIGA II NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR Sir:
Attached is the 2023 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,
2023 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 as 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 2023. 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 2023 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.
A narrative summary of reactor operating experience including the energy produced by the reactor or the hours the reactor was critical, or both.
Narrative Summary Energy produced: 26.7 MWD
- b.
The unscheduled shutdowns including, where applicable, corrective action taken to preclude recurrence.
Tabulation of Unscheduled Shutdowns Analysis and Corrective Action
- c.
Tabulation of major preventive and corrective maintenance operations having safety significance.
Statement of Surveillance Activities Description of Significant Corrective Maintenance
- d.
Tabulation of major changes in the reactor facility and procedures, and tabulation of new tests or experiments, or both, that are significantly different from those performed previously, including conclusions that no new or unanalyzed safety questions were identified.
Description of Facility Modifications Description of Procedure Changes Description of New Tests/Experiments 50.59 Summary
Table 1: Required Annual Report Information Information Addressed as
- e.
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 of such release or discharge. The summary shall include, to the 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 recommended, a statement to this effect is sufficient.
There were no liquid effluents in 2023 Argon-41 Effluent
- f.
A summarized result of environmental surveys performed outside the facility.
Environmental Surveys
- g.
A summary of exposures received by facility personnel and visitors where such exposures are greater than 25% of that allowed or recommended.
Exposures 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 Personnel 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 Personnel 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 Jim Terry, Reactor Manager Table 5: Level 4 NETL Reactor Operators/Senior Reactor Operators P. M. Whaley: (Associate Director) Senior Operator Jim Terry: (Electronic Technician/Reactor Manager) Senior Operator Tracy Tipping (Health Physicist) - Reactor Operator Mark Andrews (Research Associate) - Reactor Operator Tristan Brannon (Reactor Technician) - Reactor Operator, Mar 2023 Rodrigo Viveros (Reactor Technician) - Reactor Operator, Mar 2023 Don Nolting (Research Scientist) - Reactor Operator, Jul 2023 J. Frankie Rollins (Undergraduate Student) - Reactor Operator, Jul 2023 Oversight Committees Table 6: 2022-2023 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 Karol Lang, Ph.D., 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)
Jim Terry, ex-officio (NETL)
Tracy Tipping, ex-officio (NETL)
P. Mike Whaley, ex-officio (NETL)
DeWayne Holcomb (Radiation Safety Officer)
Lawrence R. Jacobi (External Representative)
Scott Pennington (External Representative)
Michael Vasquez (External Representative)
Independent Oversight Activities Table 8: Inspections and Reviews USNRC License(s) Inspection R-129 (rescheduled, Dec 2023 to Jan 2024)
State of Texas License Inspection L00485 (89) 24 May 2023 Reactor Oversight Committee Review Semi Annual Review 10 May 2023 Semi Annual Review 01 Nov 2023 Other UT Fire Marshal Fire Safety 26 Jun 2023 UT Fire Safety Systems 07 Nov 2023 FACILITY OPERATIONS
SUMMARY
REPORT Narrative Summary The UT-TRIGA reactor operated 202 days in 2023, producing a total energy output of 640 MWh. There were routine maintenance outages in July and December.
Figure 2, Summary of Operating Days There were 11 days of operation 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 202 days of experiment operations with 948 sample irradiations occurred during 2023 (experiments included 17 for research, 26 for service work and 14 for internal experiments). Distribution among the NETL experimental facilities is provided in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Experiment Facility Utilization
Other Significant Operations and Events The original building lab air compressor (which supplies service connections and the pulse rod) has failed. The university facilities department has loaned the NETL a spare compressor, but ongoing work to replace this component is in progress.
Maintenace support for the fence around the Pickle Research Campus is being discontinued with the fence abandoned in place. A fence around the NETL building area was installed in Sep/Oct 2023 for control of access to the area afterhours and weekends.
Tabulation of Unscheduled Shutdowns TABLE 9: UNSCHEDULED SHUTDOWNS 01 Aug 2023 FT1 Erroneous SCRAM: Playback confirms Monitor Channel 17 Aug 2023 FT1 Erroneous SCRAM: Playback confirms Replace signal processor Analysis and Corrective Actions Temperature Trips Two spurious temperature trips in August. Troubleshooting following the 2nd trip identified an Action Pak performing erratically. The FT1 Action Pak was replaced with an on-hand spare, calibrated, and returned to service.
Operator Error There were no operator error reactor scrams in 2023.
Spurious NM 1000 Power Level Trips There were no NM 1000 spurious scrams in 2023; there is a history scrams associated with NM 1000 that appears to have been resolved by replacement in 2018 of the fission chamber in 2018.
Statement of Surveillance Activities The facility typically conducts two major maintenance outages each year, one in mid-summer and the other in January (before the start of the spring semester) or December (before winter break). All surveillance 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 05 May 2023: Replaced failing conductivity meter for purification loop. Like for like replacement with an upgraded and more sensitive meter.
17 Aug 2023: Replaced failed FT1 Action Pack with on-hand spare. Performed MAIN calibrated and tested.
08 Nov 2023: The building air dryer for the instrument air compressor (controlling HVAC and air-controlled valves in the pool heat exchanger system) failed, allowing moisture into control lines of a valve that isolates chill water on differential pressure between pool and chill water.
The heat exchanger blend valve positioner (used to control pool water return temperature) was behaving erratically. Facilities repaired the building air dryer and NETL personnel blew down the airlines to the valves restoring the blend valve to normal operation, but the isolation valve controller was not operable. NETL personnel replaced the isolation valve position controller with like for like normal operations resumed.
Description of Procedure Changes 04 Dec 2023: Revised ADMN-1 (NETL Procedure Outline and Control) to standardize and provide a template for ongoing needed procedure revisions, summarize updated guidance on the 50.59 process, and provide standard forms for internal use.
New Tests or Experiments 10 Mar 2023: The Beam Port Experiment authorization was modified to allow Interactive sample irradiation in a Horizontal Beam Port 26 Jul 2023: The Tri-Element irradiation facility experiment authorization was modified to allow the inclusion of an Aluminum volume-reducing insert.
50.59 Summary The 10 Mar 2023 Modification to the Beam Port authorization was evaluated for adverse effects under the 50.59 and the change screened out.
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 and corrective actions to be performed in response to the Special Inspection Team findings, the next routine inspection will confirm that all corrective actions have been performed.
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. This is contained in the recently approved ADMN-1 revision.
RADIOLOGICAL
SUMMARY
REPORT Argon-41 Effluent The principal radioactive effluent for the UT reactor is argon-41. There were 6.8x106 µCi of argon-41 discharged during calendar year 2023, 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 2023, minimal doses (< 1 mrem) were reported for positions 1, 3, 4, and 6. For position 2, reported dose was 3 mrem and for position 5, reported dose was 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 2023. For this period, -4 mrem dose was reported for position 1, 5 mrem dose was reported for position 2, 2 mrem dose was reported for position 3, 9 mrem dose was reported for position 4, and 4 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 2023.