ML25304A232
| ML25304A232 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Reed College |
| Issue date: | 10/31/2025 |
| From: | Newhouse J Reed College |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Document Control Desk |
| References | |
| 2025-082 | |
| Download: ML25304A232 (1) | |
Text
October 31, 2025 2025-082 ATTN: Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Enclosed is the annual report for the Reed Research Reactor (Docket 50-288, License No. R-112) for the period July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
Jerry Newhouse Director, Reed Research Reactor
Enclosure:
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025 cc Dr. Kathryn C. Oleson, Dean of the Faculty, Reed College Duane Kilsdonk, Compliance Officer, Oregon Department of Energy REED COLLEGE Reed Research Reactor 3203 SE Woodstock Boulevard, Portland, Oregon 97202-8199 phone: 503/777-7222. email: reactor@reed.edu Jerry Newhouse Digitally signed by Jerry Newhouse Date: 2025.10.31 09:23:58 -07'00'
REED RESEARCH REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT July 1, 2024 -- June 30, 2025 3203 Southeast Woodstock Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97202-8199 503-517-7222 https://reactor.reed.edu reactor@reed.edu
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 i
Table of Contents 1.0 Overview........................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 People............................................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Reactor Staff.............................................................................................................................. 2 2.2 Reactor Operations Committee.................................................................................................. 4 3.0 Experiment Facilities......................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Beam Facility.............................................................................................................................. 5 3.2 In-Core Facilities......................................................................................................................... 5 3.3 In-Pool Facilities......................................................................................................................... 5 3.4 Pneumatic Transfer System........................................................................................................ 5 3.5 Radiation Detection Equipment................................................................................................. 5 3.6 Rotating Specimen Rack............................................................................................................. 5 4.0 Inspections and Audits...................................................................................................... 6 5.0 Users................................................................................................................................. 7 5.1 Chemistry 010: Reactor Seminar................................................................................................ 7 5.2 Reed College Research............................................................................................................... 8 5.3 Community Engagement............................................................................................................ 9 5.4 Academic Use by Other Institutions......................................................................................... 10 5.5 Industrial and Commercial Applications................................................................................... 10 6.0 Reactor Operations......................................................................................................... 11 6.1 Operating Statistics.................................................................................................................. 11 6.2 Unplanned Reactor Shutdowns................................................................................................ 13 7.0 Reactor Maintenance...................................................................................................... 15 7.1 Changes, Tests, and Experiments............................................................................................. 15 7.2 Planned Maintenance.............................................................................................................. 15 7.3 Unplanned Maintenance.......................................................................................................... 15 8.0 Radiation Protection....................................................................................................... 17 8.1 Personal Dosimetry.................................................................................................................. 17 8.2 Fixed Area Dosimetry............................................................................................................... 17 8.3 Gaseous Releases..................................................................................................................... 18 8.4 Liquid Waste Releases.............................................................................................................. 18 8.5 Solid Waste Disposal................................................................................................................ 18 8.6 Environmental Sampling.......................................................................................................... 18
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 ii List of Charts Chart 1 Number of RO and SRO Candidates 2016-2025 ________________________________________________ 7 Chart 2 RO and SRO Exam Pass Rates 2016-2025 _____________________________________________________ 8 Chart 3 Number of Visitors 2016-2025 _____________________________________________________________ 9 Chart 4 Number of Times Critical and Days Operated by Year __________________________________________ 12 Chart 5 Energy Production by Year _______________________________________________________________ 12 Chart 6 Unplanned Shutdowns by Year 2016-2025 ___________________________________________________ 14 Chart 7 Average Concentration of Gaseous Activity Release (µCi/ml) by Year ______________________________ 18 List of Tables Table 1 Supervisory Staff ________________________________________________________________________ 2 Table 2 Staff __________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Table 3 July 2024 - June 2025 Operating History by Month ____________________________________________ 11 Table 4 2024-2025 Unplanned Shutdowns _________________________________________________________ 13 Table 5 Fixed Area Dosimeter DDE _______________________________________________________________ 17
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 1
1.0 Overview This report covers the period from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, 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 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, research, and community engagement.
Through tours, the reactor facility supports Reed Colleges community engagement efforts. Tours for local high schools typically include a laboratory portion in which students monitor the decay of radioactive Vanadium-52 and calculate its half-life, although a variety of laboratory activities are available. During the reporting period 830 visitors toured the reactor facility.
During the reporting period the reactor was taken critical 244 times on 91 days. The total energy produced was approximately 14.48 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 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as reactor operators or senior reactor operators. During the reporting period, 5 RO candidates and 9 SRO-U candidates received licenses.
There were no radiation exposures to individuals in excess of organizational administrative or regulatory limits during the year. There were no releases of liquid radioactive material from the facility. Airborne releases were well within regulatory limits. There were no shipments of low-level radioactive waste from the facility.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not conduct an inspection during this reporting period.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 2
2.0 People 2.1 Reactor Staff During the reporting period the staff consisted of the following:
Table 1 Supervisory Staff Title Name(s)
Dates Position Held Reactor Director Jerry Newhouse 10/2020 - Present Reactor Operations Manager Toria Ellis Vacant 06/2019 - 05/2025 05/2025 - 06/2025 Radiation Safety Officer April Sams 05/2016 - Present Operations Supervisor Elijah Whitlam-Sandler Elio DiMauro 05/2024 - 05/2025 05/2025 - Present Training Supervisor Laura Smith Hades Schwarzwald Azra Hrnjica Grace Mauk 05/2023 - 05/2025 05/2024 - 05/2025 05/2025 - Present 05/2025 - Present Requalification Supervisor Miles McCall Anne Determann 05/2023 - 05/2025 05/2025 - Present Projects Supervisor Vee Bartko Victor Kirchmeier Megan Regier 05/2024 - Present 05/2024 - 05/2025 05/2025 - Present
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 3
Table 2 Staff Senior Reactor Operators Vee Bartko Michael Dunn Jerry Newhouse Sophia Subramanian Ivan Bondarenko Toria Ellis Auden Oliveri Kathryn Trent Cameron Bryzek Vicky Gao Megan Regier Elijah Whitlam-Sandler Anne Determann Azra Hrnjica Hades Schwarzwald Holden Doherty Victor Kirchmeier Laura Smith Elio DiMauro Miles McCall Sydney Stitt Reactor Operators Jaden Bauer Harrison Giger Heath Nevis Evan Strohman Tate Beech Peter Gilbert Finlay Norton-Lindsay Acteon Tong Abigail Carmack Connor Gilligan Keira Palmer Irene Zhang Sam Cotera Alex Henkin Johnny Protiva Irene Zhang Joaquin Fernandez Odell Grace Mauk Oscar Pulliam Reactor Technicians Annabelle Dokupil Valeria Gonzalez Padilla Ella Lane Sherry Wang Miranda Estrada Aether Jaime Asher Nee Ruby Wasserman Elijah Godsberg Calum Knight Tony Rodriguez The table 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, 2025 there were 28 licensed operators at Reed College.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 4
2.2 Reactor Operations Committee The membership of the Reactor Operations Committee during the reporting period was:
§ Jerry Shurman, ROC Chair (Mathematics Faculty, Reed College)
§ Greg Anderson, (Computer Science Faculty, Reed College)
§ Dan Gerrity, (Chemistry Faculty, Reed College)
§ Martha Dibblee, (Radiation Safety and Regulator, retired)
§ Toria Ellis, (Reactor Operations Manager, RRR)
§ Wayne Lei, (CTO, Restoration Fuels)
§ Jerry Newhouse, (Director, RRR)
§ Kathy Oleson, (Dean of the Faculty, Reed College)
§ April Sams, (Director, Reed Environmental Health and Safety)
§ Steve Reese, (Radiation Center Director, Oregon State University)
§ Elijah Whitlam Sandler, (Operations Supervisor, RRR)
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 5
3.0 Experiment Facilities 3.1 Beam Facility The central thimble can be evacuated with compressed gas, producing a vertical neutron beam.
The flux above the beam exit at full power is approximately 1x106 n/cm2s.
3.2 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.
3.3 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.
3.4 Pneumatic Transfer System The pneumatic transfer system 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.
3.5 Radiation Detection Equipment 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.
3.6 Rotating Specimen Rack 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.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 6
4.0 Inspections and Audits The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not conduct an inspection during this reporting period.
The Reactor Operations Committee began its required audit during this reporting period, but it was still in progress at the end of the period.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 7
5.0 Users 5.1 Chemistry 010: Reactor Seminar For many years, the Reed Research Reactor has conducted an annual seminar series for students interested in learning about the reactor and nuclear technology. Formerly, this series has been considered an extra-curricular activity, however, this year the seminar was incorporated into the curriculum as Chemistry 010: Reactor Seminar. In this course, students receive an introduction to atomic theory, radiation, radiation safety, reactor theory, and research reactor operations. 51 students were registered in the course, from which 15 were selected to apply for Reactor Operator licenses.
The U.S. NRC administered three licensing exams during the reporting period: one in October 2024, one in March 2025, and one in May 2025. The October 2024 exam included initial licensing exams and senior reactor operator upgrade exams, the March 2025 exam included initial licensing exams, and the May 2025 exam included senior reactor operator upgrade exams.
Chart 1 below shows the number of reactor operator and senior reactor operator candidates over the past ten years. Chart 2 below shows the pass rate for reactor operator and senior reactor operator exams over the past ten years.
Chart 1 Number of RO and SRO Candidates 2016-2025 0
5 10 15 20 25 30 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Number of Candidates Year RO and SRO Candidates 2016-2025 RO License Candidates SRO License Candidates
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 8
Chart 2 RO and SRO Exam Pass Rates 2016-2025 5.2 Reed College Research Theses:
- One Chemistry senior used the reactor facility to support their thesis, Illuminating Neutrons: Investigation of Quantum Dot-Based Scintillators for Full Spectrum Neutron Detection Other Research:
- 30 Reed College students produced 30 internal research papers using the reactor and associated radiation facilities.
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Pass Rate Year RO and SRO Exam Pass Rate 2016-2025 RO Pass Rate SRO Pass Rate
-+-
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 9
5.3 Community Engagement During the reporting period 830 visitors toured the reactor facility. Chart 3 below shows the number of visitors per year over the past ten years.
Chart 3 Number of Visitors 2016-2025 Our tours can be classified into a number of categories: academic groups, interest groups, general members of the public, and Reed support.
Academic groups are typically either high school or college classes, but can also include Reed College academic clubs such as STEMGeMs. A typical academic tour differs from the other categories in that it includes a laboratory component. During the report period we hosted 34 academic tours with a total of 302 visitors.
Interest groups are groups of people with an academic interest, but not necessarily part of an academic institution. During the report period we hosted 11 interest tours with a total of 74 visitors.
General groups are typically friends and family of reactor student-staff, Reed staff, or Reed faculty. During the report period we hosted 8 general tours with a total of 35 visitors.
Reed support tours include events such as Orientation Week, Junior Visit Days, Parents Weekend, Admit Days, and Reunions, but also include smaller tours for Reed staff and donors.
During the report period we hosted 41 Reed tours with a total 419 visitors.
During Fall 2024 and Spring 2025, the reactor program hosted three participants in the Young Scholars program. This high school students joined our operator training program and 0
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Number of Visitors 2016-2025
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 10 participated in the program throughout the academic year, and completed an independent research project during the spring semester.
5.4 Academic Use by Other Institutions Students and professors from area institutions without nuclear or radiation facilities commonly conduct experiments at the Reed Research Reactor. During the reporting period the facility supported:
- Pacific University modern physics courses phantom lung experiment.
- Warner Pacific University physical chemistry courses radiation detection lab.
5.5 Industrial and Commercial Applications The Reed Research Reactor is available for industrial or commercial use when doing so would not conflict with our education goals. There were no industrial or commercial uses of the reactor during the reporting period.
The facility also offers radiation protection training to interested parties and schools in the area, including an annual 40-hour Radiation Safety Officer course. Additionally, the facility provides radiation meter calibration for many first responders and other organizations in the area.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 11 6.0 Reactor Operations 6.1 Operating Statistics During the reporting period the reactor was taken critical 244 times on 91 days. The total energy produced was 14.48 megawatt-hours. Table 3 below lists operating history by month. Chart 4 below shows the number times critical and days operated by year over the past ten years. Chart 5 below shows energy production by year over the past ten years.
Table 3 July 2024 - June 2025 Operating History by Month Times Critical Days Operated MW-Hours July 2024 11 7
1.64 August 2024 11 6
2.21 September 2024 38 14 2.02 October 2024 9
5 0.32 November 2024 49 12 2.54 December 2024 8
6 0.36 January 2025 9
11 0.64 February 2025 32 9
1.66 March 2025 77 21 3.08 April 2025 0
0 0
May 2025 0
0 0
June 2025 0
0 0
Total 244 91 14.48
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 12 Chart 4 Number of Times Critical and Days Operated by Year Chart 5 Energy Production by Year 0
100 200 300 400 500 600 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Number of Times Critical and Days Operated by Year Times Critical Days Operated 0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Energy Production in MW-hr by Year
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 13 6.2 Unplanned Reactor Shutdowns There were five unplanned shutdowns during the reporting period. Table 4 below lists details of each shutdown. Chart 6 below shows the number of unplanned shutdowns per year over the past 10 years.
Table 4 2024-2025 Unplanned Shutdowns Date Scram Channel Cause of Shutdown July 17, 2024 All Power flicker December 17, 2024 All Power flicker February 2, 2025 Percent While increasing power to 150 kW, the RO increased power too quickly, achieving a period of faster than three seconds. The trip 2 light of the log channel activated,and the RO of record assumed a scram was actuated. However, since no scram signals are generated by the log cannel, no scram actually occurred until ~20 seconds later, when the percent channel high power scram was actuated. The cause was determined to be a percent high power scram.
March 17, 2025 Linear As the linear scaled down from the 250W range to the 25W range, it started on the scale at 120% which is above the high power scram setpoint of ~98%. This resulted to a high power linear scram.
March 25, 2025 Percent While increasing power, the percent channel reached 98% of its full range and a high power scram occurred.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 14 Chart 6 Unplanned Shutdowns by Year 2016-2025 0
2 4
6 8
10 12 14 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Unplanned Shutdowns by Year
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 15 7.0 Reactor Maintenance 7.1 Changes, Tests, and Experiments Six 50.59 reviews were completed during the reporting period. All six reviews screened out, and evaluations were not required.
7.2 Planned Maintenance Reactor staff performed routine maintenance and surveillance on a daily, biweekly, bimonthly, semiannual, and annual schedule as required by technical specifications and in accordance with facility procedures. Reed College facilities staff assisted with routine preventative maintenance to auxiliary support equipment.
7.3 Unplanned Maintenance Seven unplanned maintenance activities were documented in accordance with facility procedure during the reporting period.
- APM and GSM pump stopped providing suction, resulting in persistent low flow alarms.
The pump was opened up, and the vanes, filters, and gaskets were replaced. When the APM and GSM were reattached to the pump, the low flow alarms did not reoccur.
- The CAM pump was opened to inspect vanes, filters, O-rings, and gaskets. All parts were found to be in satisfactory condition, and nothing was replaced.
- The safe rod position was trending downward when the rod was moved up or down at roughly 68-69% withdrawn. It was determined that the balancing potentiometer in the rod drive needed to be replaced. The balancing potentiometer was replaced, the motor re-installed, and the limit switches adjusted. While performing maintenance on the safe rod balancing potentiometer, the shim UP light came on when the rod was down. This was fixed by replacing the J8-1 pin on the console-side of the Shim plug. A modified console checkout was performed to verify that the Shim and Safe were operational, and results were satisfactory.
- Damper V-13 in the ventilation system was performing differently than described in SOP 32B; when the temperature outdoors was hot, it stayed closed in normal mode, leading to a lack of air exhaust from the bay and increased radon readings on the CAM filter, causing a perpetual CAM alarm. The programming was adjusted so V-13 does not modulate in normal mode; it is always open in normal mode and fully closed in isolation mode.
- The GSM is non-functional, due to a suspected popped internal gas-filled detector. The proposed solution is to replace the detector in the GSM with an identical GSM sampling head. As of the writing of this report, this has not yet been completed.
- The hand and shoe monitor detectors (Ludlum 177s) were replaced with a Ludlum 32 detector. The Ludlum 177s were relocated to the bonus room.
- During scheduled maintenance on the ventilation system in April of 2025, water leaked into the console through holes that had been drilled into the control room ceiling. The moisture shorted out the linear and percent power channels, and the reactor has been inoperable since this event as we await replacement power channels, which are scheduled
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 16 to be delivered in December. Once the replacement power channels arrive, they will be plugged into the console and calibrated.
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 17 8.0 Radiation Protection 8.1 Personal Dosimetry Dosimeters are changed on a calendar quarterly schedule. All staff are issued beta-gamma sensitive ring badges and whole-body badges. Select staff who may work with neutron emitting sources are issued beta-gamma-neutron sensitive whole-body badges.
The highest individual doses received were 4mR/quarter Deep Dose Equivalent (DDE) and 29mR/quarter Shallow Dose Equivalent (SDE). These doses are well below regulatory and internal administrative limits and no additional action was required.
8.2 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 fixed dosimeters monitor beta and gamma radiation. Five locations also measure neutron dose.
The Deep Dose Equivalents (DDE) measured by the fixed dosimeters during the reporting period are shown below in Table 5. An M indicates the dose was below the minimum measurable quantity for the dosimeter, which in this case is 1mR.
Table 5 Fixed Area Dosimeter DDE Dose per Quarter (mR)
Location Height (m)
Radiation Monitored Jul 1 -
Sep 30 Oct 1 -
Dec 31 Jan 1 -
Mar 31 Apr 1 -
Jun 30 Total Reactor East Wall 1.5 b, g, n 3
1 5
M 9
Reactor North Wall 1.6 b, g, n 5
2 6
1 14 Reactor West Wall 1.0 b, g, n 6
2 3
M 11 Reactor South Wall 1.6 b, g, n 5
M 5
M 10 Reactor North Wall High 2.3 b, g 5
M 4
M 9
Control Room 1.5 b, g 11 3
7 M
21 Mechanical Room 1.5 b, g, n 101 69 117 93 380 Outside North 2.8 b, g M
M M
M M
Outside Roof 4.5 b, g, n 2
M 2
M 4
Outside East 1.5 b, g M
M M
M M
Outside South 0.4 b, g M
M 2
M 2
Counting Room 1.5 b, g M
M 1
M 1
Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2024-2025 18 8.3 Gaseous Releases The only routine release of radioactive gas from the facility is Ar-41. For the reporting period, the average concentration of gaseous activity at the site boundary was calculated to be 1.48 x 10-10 µCi/ml. This concentration is well below the Technical Specification limit of 1 x 10-8 µCi/ml. If a member of the public was present at the site boundary for the entire year, then they would have received a total dose of 0.74 mR, which is well below regulatory limits.
Chart 7 below shows the average concentration of gaseous activity at the site boundary over the past 10 years.
Chart 7 Average Concentration of Gaseous Activity Release (µCi/ml) by Year 8.4 Liquid Waste Releases No liquid radioactive waste was released from the Reed Research Reactor during the reporting period.
8.5 Solid Waste Disposal There were no shipments of solid radioactive waste from the Reed Research Reactor during the reporting period.
8.6 Environmental Sampling All environmental samples were counted in a high purity germanium 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 nearby Reed Lake were sampled for activation products and tritium. The water samples showed no activity above background.
0.00E+00 5.00E-11 1.00E-10 1.50E-10 2.00E-10 2.50E-10 3.00E-10 3.50E-10 4.00E-10 4.50E-10 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Average Concentration (µCi/ml )
Year Average Concentration of Gaseous Activity Release (µCi/ml) by Year
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