ML052150028

Annual Operating Report for the University of Utah Triga Reactor for the Period July 1, 2004 Through June 30, 2005

ML052150028
Person / Time
Site:	University of Utah
Issue date:	07/25/2005
From:	Krahenbuhl M Univ of Utah
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML052150028 (8)

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Center for Excellence in Nuclear Technology, Engineering, andResearch 25 July 2005 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Document Control Desk Washington, D.C. 20555 To whom it may concern:

Enclosed is the annual operating report for the University of Utah TRIGA Nuclear Reactor, License No. R-126, Docket number 50-407, for the period of 1 July 2004 through 30 June 2005.

This report fulfills the requirements of the TRIGA technical specifications (TTS) 6.10(5).

If there are any further questions or concerns regarding this report, please contact me at (801) 585-0683 - /7 A Respectfully, Melinda Krahenbuhl, PhD Reactor Administrator AO The University of Utah TRIGA Reactor Annual Operating Report for the period 1 July 2004 through 30 June 2005 A. NARRATIVE.

1. Operating Experience.

The University of Utah Center for Excellence in Nuclear Technology, Engineering, and Research (CENTER) TRIGA Reactor, License No. R-126, Docket No. 50-407, was critical 51.915 hours0.0106 days <br />0.254 hours <br />0.00151 weeks <br />3.481575e-4 months <br /> and generated 1096.586 kilowatt-hours of thermal energy during this reporting year. The reactor was used for educational demonstrations, laboratory experiments, systems tests, power measurements and sample irradiations.

2. Changes in Facility Design.

The documents supporting a forthcoming upgrade in licensed power from 100 kW to 250 kW are being reviewed by the NRC. No facilities changes have occurred.

3. Surveillance Tests.

Documentation of all surveillance activities is retained and stored by the facility.

a. Control Rod Worth Table 1.

Summary of control rod worth, SDM, and ER Core Configuration #24-B #24-B #24-B Date 8/26/04 11/17/04 2/24/05 Worth ($) Worth ($) Worth ($)

Safety Rod 2.208 2.198 2.200 Shim Rod 1.493 1.494 1.460 Regulating Rod 0.280 0.283 0.263 Excess Reactivity 0.798 0.810 0.610 Shutdown Margin 0.975 0.967 1.113

b. Control Rod Inspection.

The Biennial Control Rod Inspection was performed during December 2003.

The control rods were sequentially removed from the reactor core for visual inspection. Each control rod was found to be in good condition with no noticeable deterioration or corrosion having occurred since the last inspection.

Rod drop times were measured on 8/26/04, 11/17/04 and 2/24/05. All rod drop times were less than 1.0 seconds.

c. Reactor Power Level Instrumentation.

Calorimetric power calibrations were performed on 8/26104, 12/02104 and 2/24/05 with the following results:

Date Measured % Power Calculated Power Level 8/26/04 93.9 93.31 12/02/04 93.4 94.4 2/24/05 91.6 86.79

d. Fuel Inspection The Biennial Fuel Inspection was performed during December 2003. Each fuel element was visually inspected while keeping it submerged for shielding.

No deterioration or excessive corrosion of in-core fuel elements was observed since the previous inspection. Pool water is sampled and analyzed periodically for evidence of fission product activity indicative of defective or deteriorating fuel. Analyses of pool water following full-power reactor operations lasting several hours have not shown any indication of fission product leakage.

e. Fuel Temperature Calibration.

Fuel temperature circuits were calibrated on 9/01/04 and 2/25/05. The circuits were calibrated to less than a 20 C error over the range 20'C to 400'C.

f. Reactor Safety Committee Audits.

Four Audits were completed during this period.

Table 2.

Audit Summary Audit Period auditor Operation and 1 Jan. 2004 to 30 Jun. 2004 Rian B. Smith Maintenance Radiation Safety and 1 Jan. 2004 to 30 Jun. 2004 Rian B. Smith ALARA Operation and I Jul. 2004 to 31 Dec. 2004 David M. Slaughter Maintenance Radiation Safety and 1 Jul. 2004 to 31 Dec. 2004 David M. Slaughter ALARA I I No significant deviations from normal operating practices were identified by these audits.

g. Environmental Surveys.

Six environmental monitors are located in areas surrounding the CENTER.

Rian B. Smith reported to the RSC a maximum exposure of 48 millirem per quarter to an environmental dosimeter located at building #80. Table 3 contains the average dose recorded for three prior years.

Table 3.

Summary of environmental monitoring Year Average quarterly readings for the 6 environmental monitors (mrem) 2004 35.58 2003 36.0 2002 34.04 2001 26.5 B. ENERGY OUTPUT.

The reactor was critical for 51.915 hours0.0106 days <br />0.254 hours <br />0.00151 weeks <br />3.481575e-4 months <br /> and produced 0.046 megawatt-days (1096.586 kilowatt-hours) of energy during this reporting period. Since initial criticality, the reactor has been operated for a total of 3230.621 hours0.00719 days <br />0.173 hours <br />0.00103 weeks <br />2.362905e-4 months <br /> with an accumulated total energy output of 8.329 megawatt-days (199887.437 kilowatt-hours).

C. EMERGENCY SHUTDOWNS AND INADVERTENT SCRAMS:

One inadvertent scram occurred during this period. There were no emergency shutdowns. Summary of the inadvertent scrams are in Table 4.

Table 4.

D. MAJOR MAINTENANCE.

1) New crane hoist was installed.

E. CHANGES, TESTS AND EXPERIMENTS PURSUANT TO 10 CFR 50.59.

As of the end of the reporting period, the current membership of the Reactor Safety Committee (RSC) as designated by the Licensee is as follows:

James M. Byrne, Chair David M. Slaughter Karen Langely, RSO of University of Utah Melinda P. Krahenbuhl, Reactor Administrator Dongok Choe, Reactor Supervisor Gary M. Sandquist Deter Gehmlich James Thompson Rian B. Smith The RSC has reviewed and approved several CENTER procedures that were modified to update and correct perceived deficiencies. The CENTER staff continues to review and update facility documentation to assure compliance with all applicable regulations.

F. RADIOACTIVE EFFLUENTS.

1. Liquid Waste - Total Activity Released: none

2. Gaseous Waste - Total Estimated Activity Released: 13.652 RCi.

The TRIGA Reactor was operated for 51.915 hours0.0106 days <br />0.254 hours <br />0.00151 weeks <br />3.481575e-4 months <br /> at power levels up to approximately 90 kW. At this power level argon-41 production is substantially below MPC values for unrestricted areas. The minimum detectable concentration of Ar-41 for the stack monitor has been found to be one-third of 10 CFR 20 appendix B limits for release to unrestricted areas.

The average annual calculated concentration of Ar-41 generated during operations is estimated at 6.075E-1 lpCi/ml approximately 0.002 % of the DAC for this radionuclide. The total amount of Ar-41 released was estimated at 13.652 pCi. No phosphorus-32 was released from CENTER during this period. The total amount of all gaseous radioactivity released was estimated at 13.652 gCi. A monthly summary of gaseous releases is given in Table 5.

Table 5.

Summary of Monthly Gaseous Radioactive Effluent Month -Ai4l (gCi) Estimated Release Total (gCi)

P-32 and all others July 0 0 0 August 2.251 0 2.251 September 0.003 0 0.003 October 3.933 0 3.933 November 0.002 0 0.002 December 3.155 0 3.155 January 0.009 0 0.009 February 3.238 0 3.238 March 0.848 0 0.848 April 0.010 0 0.010 May 0.175 0 0.175 June 0.027 0 0.027 Total Activity of gaseous effluent: 13.652 pCi

3. Solid Waste - Total Activity: 0.9853 ItCi of Co-60 and 192.505 gCi of Cs-137 Dry, compactible, solid waste from the resin bed and resin bed canisters was transferred to the University of Utah Radiological Health Department on February 25, 2005. The waste contained a combined total of 0.9853 pCi of Co-60 and 192.505 gCi of Cs-137.

G. RADIATION EXPOSURES.

Personnel with duties in the reactor laboratory on either a regular or occasional basis have been issued a OSL dosimeter by the University of Utah Radiological Health Department. The duty category and monitoring period of personnel are summarized in Table 6.

Table 6.

Summary of Monitored Personnel Name Monitoring Period Duty Category Gary M. S andquist 7/01/04-6/30/05 Regular/Terminated Melinda Krahenbuhl 7/01/04-6/30/05 Regular Dong-ok Choe 7/01/04-6/30/05 Regular Brian A. Harper 7/01/04-6/30/05 Regular Dimitre Assenov 7/01/04-6/30/05 Regular/Terminated John D. Bess 7/01/04-6/30/05 Regular Ward Chapman 7/01/04-6/30/05 Regular Jorge Navarro 3/01/05-6/30/05 Regular Christy Seiger Webster 8/01/05-6/30/05 Regular Roger Carrasquel 3/01/05-6/30/05 Regular Ronald Carrasquel 3/01/05-6/30/05 Regular Rhett W. Christensen 11/01/04-6/30/05 Regular Nathan Brown 1/01/05-6/30/05 Regular Measured Doses 7/1/04-6/30/05 Doses: <5 mrem average; 5 mrem highest measured Dose Equivalent Limit Maximum Permissible Dose Equivalent = 5000 mrem/year (1250/quarter).

Minimum Detectable Dose per Monthly Badge = 10 mrem.

Four hundred and six individuals visited the reactor facility during the period 1 July 2004 to 30 June 2005. None of the visitors received a measurable dose. A summary of whole body exposures to CENTER personnel is presented in Table 7.

Table 7.

Summary of Whole Body Exposures Estimated whole body exposure range Number of individuals in each range:

(rem):

No Measurable Dose (Less than 0.10) 13 0.10 to 0.25 0 0.25 to 0.50 0 0.50 to 0.75 0 0.75 to 1.00 0 1.00 to 2.00 0 2.00 to 3.00 0 3.00 to 4.00 0 4.00 to 5.00 0 Greater than 5 rem 0 H. LABORATORY SURVEYS Monthly surveys of the facility were conducted by the University of Utah Radiological Health Department during the reporting period. The surveys have not indicated any unusual radiation levels over previous years. Records of surveys are retained by the facility.

I. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES Environmental monitoring conducted by the University of Utah Radiological Health Department indicated no unusual dose rates in the areas surrounding the Merrill Engineering Building, which houses the reactor facility.

A >AJL09* 14 Prepared by: Date: rTIy .2.), 2.oo Submitted by: 04c 'k-e Date: JTc4Wj 27 , 2cGOr Reactor Supervisor Approved by: Date: 4 24 S -

Reactor Administrator 7