ML17030A036

Us Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey - Submittal of 2016 Annual Report

ML17030A036
Person / Time
Site:	U.S. Geological Survey
Issue date:	01/09/2017
From:	Roy B US Dept of Interior, Geological Survey (USGS)
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML17030A036 (7)

Text

EUSGS science for a changing world Department of the Interior US Geological Survey Box 25046 MS-974 Denver CO, 80225 January 9, 2017 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington DC 20555

Dear NRC staff,

Enclosed is the 2016 annual report for the U.S. Geological Survey TRIGA non-power reactor facility.

The facility docket number is 50-274.

Sincerely, Brycen Roy Reactor Supervisor

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, I Enclosure Copy to:

Geoffrey Wertz OWFN 12 D20

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TRIGA REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT JANUARY 1, 2016 - DECEMBER 31, 2016 NRC LICENSE No. R-113 DOCKET NO. 50-274 I. Personnel Changes:

Clayton Manning took over the Reactor Health Physicist position on March 30, 2016.

Tim DeBey stepped down from the Reactor Supervisor position on July 23, 2016, and Brycen Roy was acting in that position until he was hired on September 15, 2016 as the replacement Reactor Supervisor.

II. Operating Experience The Geological Survey TRIGA Reactor (GSTR) was in normal operation for the year 2016. No major facility changes were made during the year.

A synopsis of irradiations performed during the year is given below, listed by the organization submitting the samples to the reactor staff:

Organization Number of Samples USGS-INAA 237 USGS - Geochronology 789 USGS-other 16 Non-USGS 2594 Total 3636 A. Thermal power calibrations were performed in March and September, with adjustments made to the instrumentation as required.

B. During the report period, 179 daily checklists and 12 monthly checklists were completed in compliance with technical specifications requirements for surveillance of the reactor facility.

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C. Tours were provided to individuals and groups during the year for a total visitor count of approximately 525.

Ill. Tabulation of Energy Generated MWh operated Critical hours Pulses Jan 31.719 35h 18m 0 Feb 25.276 26h 26m 0 Mar 59.197 63h 31m 8 Apr 85.700 87h 27m 0 May 36.100 37h 55m 0 June 54.494 55h 57m 0 July 37.572 40h 24m 0 Aug 43.140 44h 47m 1 Sept 29.643 34h 48m 0 Oct 40.199 44h 03m 6 Nov 9.120 13h 57m 0 Dec 44.589 47h 20m 0 Totals 496.749 531h 53m 15 IV. Unscheduled Shutdowns Twelve (12) unscheduled shutdowns occurred in 2016. These were:

Number Date Cause 1121 3/17/16 Failure of "Auto" mode controller; timeout scram 1122 3/18/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified 1123 3/22/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified 1124 4/6/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified 1125 4/19/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified 1126 5/25/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified.

1127 6/16/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified 1128 6/16/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified 1129 6/17/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified 1130 6/17/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified 1131 7/1/16 NP1000 high power scram due to faulty signal cable connector 1132 7/5/16 DAS watchdog scram; cause could not be identified V. Significant Maintenance Operations 1/16 Replaced inlet filter on HX inlet water pressure monitor sensor line.

1/16 Cleaned 8 nozzles on cooling tower.

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5/16 Replaced air pressure regulator for transient rod air supply.

5/16 Replaced power switch for CAM air pump.

5/16 Replace ion exchange resin.

6/16 Replaced cooling tower "fill" and spray header.

6/16 Repaired signal cable for NP1000 detector.

7/16 Replaced "tee" connector for NPP1000 detector signal cable.

7/16 Replaced Sensoray board 2 in DAC computer.

7/16 Switched Sensoray boards 1 and 2 in DAC computer.

7/16 Pumped -23 gallons of ground water from reactor tank annulus.

8/16 Performed DOP test of HEPA exhaust filters - SAT.

8/16 Replaced secondary system sump pump.

9/16 Replaced piping and fittings for secondary system sump pump.

12/16 Pumped -28 gallons of ground water from reactor tank annulus.

12/16 Replaced both belts on reactor bay main exhaust fan.

VI. Summary of 10 CFR 50.59 changes No 50.59 changes were made to the facility in CY 2016. One activity was screened for 50.59 applicability and it was evaluated to not require a full 50.59 evaluation m; NRC approval.

VII. Radioactivity Releases A. Listed below are the total amounts of radioactive gaseous effluents released to the environment beyond the effective control of the reactor facility Table 1. Gaseous Effluents Released to the Environment in CY 2016 Month Argon-41 R-113 License Tritium -HTO 10CFR20 Allowable (mCi)

• Allowable (Ci) (Ci) (mCi)

January 0.95217 5.833 0 124 February 0.35518 5.833 0.136 124 March 0.27149 5.833 0.107 124 April 1.0119 5.833 0.191 124 May 0.29592 5.833 0 124 June 0.76109 5.833 0.177 124 July 1.39031 5.833 0 124 August 1.70760 5.833 0 124 September 1.00000 5.833 0.584 124 October 2.43527 5.833 0 124 November 1.01546 5.833 0 124 December 1.2399 5.833 0.0748 124 Total 12.43629 70.00 0.688 1488

% of Allowable 17.7661% ------------------- 0.046% -------------------

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• Note: The tritium concentrations are estimates based on the amount of water lost by evaporation from the reactor multiplied by the concentration of tritium as HTO.

Tritium sample analyses were performed by ALS Laboratories.

B. No liquid releases were made during the 2016 calendar year. Two 55-gallon drums of solid waste from the reactor facility were shipped to a waste broker in California for ultimate burial in Clive, Utah.

C. During the year Na-24 and Br-82 were detected on CAM filter analyses.

Conservative estimated releases for these isotopes are in Table 2.

Table 2. Releases of Non-Gaseous Isotopes in CY 2016.

Isotope µCi µCi/ml 10 CFR 20 limit (uCi/ml)  % of limit Na-24 1.4743E-3 1.982E-14 7.00E-09 2.832E-4 Br-82 1.8234E-3 2.452E-14 5.00E-09 4.904E-4 VIII. Radiation Monitoring Our program to monitor and control radiation exposures included the four major elements below during the operating year.

1. Ten (10) gamma-sensitive area monitors, and one (1) neutron-sensitive area monitor, are located throughout the Nuclear Science Building. A remote readout panel is located in the reactor health physics office. High alarm set points range from 2 mR/hr to 50 mR/hr. High level alarms are very infrequent and due to sample movements. These monitors are calibration-checked annually.

2. One Continuous Air Monitor (CAM) samples air in the reactor bay. An equilibrium concentration of about 1.5 x 1o-s µCi/ml present for two minutes will result in an increase of about 500 cpm above background. Two alarm setpoints are a low-level alarm set at 5,000 cpm and a high level alarm set at 10,000 cpm. Reactor bay air is sampled during all reactor operations. The fixed particulate air filter is normally changed each week and counted on a HPGE gamma spectrometer. The charcoal filter, positioned behind the particulate air filter, is also normally changed and counted weekly. Filter data showed radioisotope concentrations less than allowable airborne concentration limits given in 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table 2 for all particulate radioisotopes produced by the reactor.

3. Contamination wipe surveys and portable instrument radiation surveys are performed at least once a month. The portable instruments are calibrated with a 3-Curie (initial activity) Cs-137 source traceable to NBS, and wipes are counted on a Gamma Products G5000W low-level counting system. The highest removable contamination found was during the May surveys, at 2612.4 pCi/100 cm 2 beta-gamma, located in the reactor bay on the end of the west table. The next highest contamination was found during the August surveys, at 930.3 pCi/100 cm 2 beta-4

gamma, near the southwest lead cave. Each of these areas was subsequently decontaminated to levels below the removable contamination limit. No areas were greater than 12.2 pCi/100 cm 2 alpha contamination, which does not require decontamination as it is well below the limit of 90 pCi/100 cm 2 alpha.

The roof area over the reactor tank is roped off and posted as a radiation area (averaging 2.5 mR/hr) during 1 MW operations.

4. TLD dosimeters were used at seven outdoor environmental stations. Reactor facility visitors are issued self-reading electronic dosimeters. Reactor staff personnel are issued beta, gamma, albedo neutron badges.

Table 3. Personnel Monitoring Results (12/1/15-11/30/16)

Whole Body (Rem) Whole Body (Rem)

Employee code Extremity (Rem)

Deep Dose Equiv. Shallow Dose Equiv.

E0888 0.231 0.285 0.698 E0707 0.272 0.317 0.531 E0908 0.057 0.057 0.189 E0715 0.080 0.080 0.102 Reactor visitors and visiting experimenters wore electronic pocket dosimeters that resulted in no individual's reading greater than 1.4 mr in a single visit or 1.5 mr cumulative annual dose.

Table 4. Environmental Dose Results (Oct 2015 through Sept 2016)

Dose Dose Dose Dose Total Location Oct.- Dec. Jan-Mar Apr-June July-Sept.

(RAD) (RAD) (RAD) (RAD) (RAD)

Control (Backgrond) 0.062 0.057 0.063 0.056 0.238 Main Exhaust 0.150 0.045 0.054 0.027 0.276 West Vehicle Gate 0.059 0.021 0.011 0.014 0.105 West Room 151 0.073 0.061 0.061 0.053 0.248 Gate Cooling Tower 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 SE Light Pole 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 SW Light Pole 0.011 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.011 Rx Fence Loading 0.068 0.035 0.039 0.042 0.184 Dock Tunnel 0.018. 0.028 0.025 0.019 0.090 Note: Above totals have the background subtracted (see control badge). All TLDs

• were supplied and analyzed by Mirian Technologies.

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X. Environmental Monitoring Very small releases of two non-gaseous isotopes were detected on the CAM filters during the year. These two isotopes (Na-24 and Br-82) were discharged through the normal air exhaust above the roof of the reactor bay. The amounts released are shown in Table 2. Routine biennial environmental soil and water samples were taken in the summer of 2016 and will be taken again in 2018. Analyses of the 2016 samples showed no isotopes that were produced by the reactor facility.

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