ML060180475

Submittal of Annual Report for U.S. Geological Survey Triga Non-Power Reactor Facility

ML060180475
Person / Time
Site:	U.S. Geological Survey
Issue date:	01/10/2006
From:	Timothy Debey US Dept of Interior, Geological Survey (USGS)
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML060180475 (6)

Text

United States Department of the Interior GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BOX 25046 M.S. tug DENVER FEDERAL CENTER DENVER, COLORADO 80225 IN RF P'LY RF1FR 1(1 January 10, 2006 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington DC 20555

Dear NRC staff:

The attached annual report of the U.S. Geological Survey TRIGA non-power reactor facility is submitted in accordance with license conditions.

The facility docket number is 50-274.

Sincerely, Timothy M. DeBey Reactor Supervisor Enclosure Copy to:

Al Adams, MS 0-11 -D-1 9 PP-1

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY TRIGA REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT JANUARY 1, 2005 - DECEMBER 31, 2005 NRC LICENSE NO. R-1 13 - DOCKET NO. 50-274

1. Personnel Changes: One personnel change occurred in CY 2005 with the hiring of Paul Lietz as a reactor operator trainee.

11. Operating Experience The Geological Survey TRIGA Reactor (GSTR) was in normal operation for the year 2005. 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 Geologic Discipline - INAA 960 Geologic Discipline - Geochronology 565 Non-USGS affiliated 764 Total 2716 A Thermal power calibrations were performed in May and November, with minor adjustments made to the instrumentation.

B. During the report period, 160 daily checklists and 12 monthly checklists were completed in compliance with technical specifications requirements for surveillance of the reactor facility.

C. Tours were provided to individuals and groups during the year for a total visitor count of approximately 545.

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IlI. Tabulation of Energy Generated MWH operated Critical hours Pulses Jan 15.016 16h 57m 0 Feb 25.818 26h 12m 0 Mar 27.850 28h 46m 0 Apr 61.050 62h 44m 0 May 34.687 35h 58m 0 June 38.450 39h 36m 0 57.797 64h 48m 0 AJu 38.980 40h 04m 0 Sept 42.792 43h 56m 0

§M-Oct 92.673 98h 03m 0 Nov 15.380 16h 02m 0 Dec 20.638 22h 05m 0 Totals 471.131 495h 11m 0 IV. Unscheduled Shutdowns Number Date Cause 1005 2/28/05 DAC DIS064 timeout 1006 7/27105 DAC DIS064 timeout 1007 7/28/05 Loss of building AC power 1008 12/15/05 Building evacuation alarm V. Sianificant Maintenance Operations

1. The ion exchange resin was replaced in January.

2. The main exhaust fan and motor were replaced in October.

3. The secondary sump covers were replaced in December.

4. A W/4"secondary pipe drain was plugged in December. This pipe was unplugged and a section of it was replaced along with a new gate valve.

VI. Summary of 10 CFR 50.59 changes No 50.59 changes were made during this year.

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Vii. Radioactivity Releases A. Listed below are the total amounts of radioactive gaseous effluent released to the environment beyond the effective control of the reactor facility.

Table 1. Gaseous Effluents Released to the Environment Month Argon-41 Ar-41 License Tritium (HTO) IOCFR20 Allowable Allowable H-3

_ (curies) (Ci) (R-113) (mCi) * (mci)

January 0.054 5.8 0.063 124 February 0.071 5.8 0.076 124 March 0.643 5.8 0.164 124 April 0.361 5.8 0.067 124 May 0.127 5.8 0.067 124 June 0.122 5.8 0.056 124 July 0.167 5.8 0.164 124 August 0.095 5.8 0.067 124 September 0.058 5.8 0.067 124 October 0.417 5.8 0.055 124 November 0.398 5.8 0.067 124 December 0.048 5.8 0.055 124 Total 2.993 69.6 0.968 1488

% of Allowable 4.3% - __ 0.065% __

• 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 Severn Trent Laboratories.

B. One 55-gallon drum of low-level radioactive solid waste was shipped for burial in Washington State during the year. Note: The principal radioactive waste generated at the reactor facility is the demineralizer resin. Used resin with small quantities of rinse water was de-watered by evaporation and placed in a 55-gallon drum.

VNil. Radiation Monitoring Our program to monitor and control radiation exposures included the four major elements below during the operating year.

1. Thirteen gamma-sensitive area monitors 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.

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d.

2. One Continuous Air Monitor (CAM) samples the air in the reactor bay. An equilibrium concentration of about 1 x 10 pCi/ml present for two minutes will result in an increase of 400 cpm above background. There are two alarm setpoints. A low-level alarm is set at 3000 cpm and the high level alarm is set at 10000 cpm.

Reactor bay air is sampled during all reactor operations. The fixed particulate air filter is changed each week and counted on a HPGE gamma spectrometer counting system. The charcoal filter, fitted behind the air filter, is also changed and counted weekly. In all instances, sample data were less than airborne concentration value (10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B, Table 2) for all particulate radioisotopes produced by the reactor.

3. Contamination wipe surveys and radiation surveys with portable survey instruments are performed at least once a month. All portable instruments are calibrated with a 3-Curie (initial activity) Cs-137 source traceable to NBS, and wipes are counted on a Gamma Products G5000 low level counting system. Two areas were identified greater than 30 pCi/1 00 cm2 beta contamination. One was near the 2

decon sink in room 151 @ 53 pCi/1 00 cm2 ; the other @ 48 pCi/1 00 cm was near the east exit door of Building 10. All other areas were less than 30 pCi/100 cm2 beta and 15 pCi1 00 cm2 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 four outdoor environmental stations. Reactor facility visitors are issued self-reading dosimeters. Reactor staff personnel are issued beta/gammalneutron badges.

Table 2. Personnel Monitoring Results (1211104-11130105)

Deep Dose Shallow Dose Equivalent Equivalent Name Whole Body (Rem) Whole Body (Rem) Extremity (Rem)

DeBey, T 0.180 0.362 1.883 Lightner,G 0.236 0.348 0.503 Liles, D 0.131 0.259 0.608 Perryman, R 0.110 0.798 0.539 Note: December's personnel dosimetry results are not available at this time.

Reactor visitors and occasional experimenters wore pocket dosimeters that resulted in no individual reading that was greater than one (1) mrem.

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Table 3. Environmental Dose Results Location Dose Dose Dose Dose Total Jan-Mar Apr-June July-Sept. Oct.- Dec.

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

Exhaust 0.0015 0.00 0.017 0.031 0.0495 Stack Cooling 0.00 0.00 0.002 0.011 0.013 Tower Fence West Vehicle 0.00 0.00 0.009 0.014 0.023 Gate West Room 0.00 0.00 0.014 0.014 0.028 151 Gate Southwest 0.00 0.00 0.004 0.004 0.008 Light Pole Control 0.0268 0.0203 0.029 0.037 0.1131 (backgrounds Southeast 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.001 0.001 L ight Po le__ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Note: Above totals (except control) have the background subtracted (see control).

The environmental TLDs were supplied and evaluated by Global Dosimetry.

X. Environmental Monitoring There have been no uncontrolled radioactivity releases from the reactor to the present date. Thus, the data on file from past years to the present are considered to be background information. Soil and water samples are taken every two years and were not taken in 2005.

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