ML13361A081

Transmittal of Annual Operating Report for the Penn State Breazeale Reactor, for Period July 1, 2012 Through June 30, 2013

ML13361A081
Person / Time
Site:	Pennsylvania State University
Issue date:	12/18/2013
From:	Unlu K Pennsylvania State Univ, Hershey, PA
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML13361A081 (7)

Text

PENNSTATE VKENAN ONLO, Ph.D.Director, Radiation Science and Engineering CenterProfessor, Department of-Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA 16802-2304 Phone: (814) 865-6351Fax: (814) 863-4840E-mail: k-unlu0@ptsu.edu RADLlAON SCIENCE &ENGNEERING CENTERAnnual Operating Report, FY 12-13PSBR Technical Specifications 6.6.1License R-2, Docket No. 50-5December 18, 2013U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Attention:

Document Control DeskWashington, D. C. 20555

Dear Sir or Madame:

Enclosed please find the Annual Operating Report for the Penn State Breazeale Reactor(PSBR) at the Radiation Science and Engineering Center. This report covers the periodfrom July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013, as required by technical specifications requirement 6.6.1.Sincerely yours,Kenan nlhi, Ph.D.Director, Radiation Scienceand Engineering Center

Enclosures:

Annual Operating Report, FY 12-13cc: N.A. SharkeyD.N. WormleyA.A. AtchleyJ.S. BrenizerJ.A. LeaveyXiaosong Yin -NRCTaylor Lamb -NRCAn Equal Opportunity University College of Engineering PENN STATE BREAZEALE REACTORAnnual Operating Report, FY 12-13PSBR Technical Specifications 6.6.1License R-2, Docket No. 50-5Reactor Utilization The Penn State Breazeale Reactor (PSBR) is a TRIGA Mark III facility capable of I MW steady stateoperation, and 2000 MW peak power pulsing operation.

Utilization of the reactor and its associated facilities falls into three major categories:

EDUCATION use is primarily in the form of laboratory classes conducted for graduate andundergraduate students and numerous high school science groups. These classes vary from neutronactivation analysis of an unknown sample to the calibration of a reactor control rod. In addition, anaverage of 2500 visitors tour the PSBR facility each year.RESEARCH accounts for a significant portion of reactor usage, which involves Radionuclear Applications, Neutron Imaging, Neutron Beam Techniques, Detector development and testing, and multiple researchprograms by faculty and graduate students throughout the University.

SERVICE use provides vital techniques for industries in support of the national economy.

Someexamples include:

radio-isotopes produced at the facility enable the critical petro-chemical industry torun at full capacity; the facility neutron beam laboratory serves an critical need in quality control ofmaterials used to store the nation's spent nuclear fuel; and fast-neutron irradiation fixtures support theNation's defense infrastructure and industry semiconductor production.

The PSBR facility operates on an 8 AM -5 PM shift, five days a week, with early morning,

evening, andweekend shifts to accommodate laboratory

courses, public education and research or service projectsas needed.Page I of 6 PSBR Annual Operating Report, FY 12-13Summary of Reactor Operating Experience

-Technical Specification 6.6.1.a.Between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013, the PSBR was utilized while:Mode of Operation Time [hours] Time / Shift [hours / shift]Critical 1166 3.81Sub-Critical 249 0.81Shutdown 1024 3.35Unavailable for Use 0 0Total Usage 2438 j 7.97The reactor was pulsed a total of 101 times with the following reactivities:

Reactivity Number of Pulses< $2.00 10$2.00 to $2.50 81> $2.50 0Total 91The square wave mode of operation was used 22 times to operate the reactor at power levels between100 and 500 KW.Total energy produced during this report period was 781 MWh with a consumption (and absorption) of40.22 grams of U-235.Unscheduled Shutdowns

-Technical Specification 6.6.1.b.During the reporting period, there were three unscheduled shutdowns resulting from reactor SCRAMs." On 11/7/12 a failure of the N16 diffusion pump resulted in area radiation levels above thereactor pool exceeding the setpoint (200 mR/hr) for building evacuation and initiating a scram.All systems functioned as designed.

The reactor had been operating at 800 kW. The pump wasreplaced.

• On 2/4/13, during reactor startup (operating, not critical) a reactor scram on rod validation interlock occurred.

The cause of the scram was failure of the manual rod pushbutton switch.The switch was replaced.

" 4/14/13, a high power reactor scram occurred when operators removed an irradiation samplefrom the core while operating at 1000 kW. The event was reportable (EN48938) and corrective action is documented in special report to the NRC dated 4/29/13.Page 2 of 6 PSBR Annual Operating Report, FY 12-13Major Corrective or Preventative Maintenance with Safety Significance

-Technical Specification 6.6.1.c.Routine preventative maintenance required by Technical Specifications (TS) was completed within theTS required time frames. The following safety related maintenance actions affecting reactor control orsafety equipment was also completed.

• 7/6/12 the Digital Control Computer power supply fans were replaced.

• 11/7/12 the 16N diffuser pump was replaced following failure that resulted in a reactor scram.* 2/4/13 the safety rod manual up pushbutton was replaced after failure resulted in a reactorscram on rod interlock validation.

• 4/20/13 the purification demineralizer area monitor was replaced as preventative maintenance, the existing monitor was obsolete.

• 6/6/13 the reactor safety system wide range drawer power supplies were replaced aspreventative maintenance due to minor AC ripple.Major Changes Reportable Under 10 CFR 50.S9 -Technical Specification 6.6.1.d.The changes made at the facility were minor and screened out of the 10 CFR 50.59 review process andare not required to be reported under 10 CFR 50.59.Facility Changes of InterestThe following changes were completed during the 2012 to 2013 fiscal year:In July of 2012, a modification was completed to remove the abandoned-in-place liquid wasteevaporator.

The evaporator had been used to process water from the regenerative resin ionexchanger.

Regeneration of resin is no longer performed.

Page 3 of 6 PSBR Annual Operating Report, FY 12-13In June of 2013, the PSBR transitioned from core load 54 to core load 55. Four used 8.5wt%TRIGA fuel elements were moved from the front of the core to the rear and two more used 8.5wt% TRIGA elements were also added to the rear of the core. The loading pattern is symetricand similar to past patterns.

Analysis showed the core to be in compliance with technical specifications without approach to any limits. Pursuant to Technical Specification 2.2 the LSSSsetpoint remains lowered by this modification to account for the instrumented element being ina position other than the maximum elemental power density.

The table below compares keyparameters for Core 55 and Core 55 at their most limiting positions.

Parameter Initial Core 55 Initial Core 54Total TRIGA Fuel Elements 102 10012 wt% 37 378.5 wt% 65 63Excess Reactivity (D20 Tank) $6.59 $6.70Power Defect at 1MW (R1) $3.26 $3.72Transient Rod Worth (R1) $3.04 $3.01Procedures

• In August of 2012, Operating procedures were modified to allow operation of the ReactorBuilding Heating Ventilation and Exhaust System (RBHVES) for operational testing.

Thisallowance was continued to provide heat and air conditioning to the Reactor Bay pendingapproval of a license amendment to complete the modification and installation of the system(submitted February 2012).Additionally, procedures are normally reviewed biennially, and on an as needed basis. Numerous minorchanges and updates were made to maintain procedures during the year and do not require a reportunder 10 CFR 50.59.New Tests and Experiments

• In April of 2013, the use of a thermal neutron shielded sample enclosure of in the centralthimble and dry tubes was reviewed.

The evaluation indicated the sample enclosure would notsignificantly alter core power distribution or introduce an unanalyzed condition and did notrequire a report per 10 CFR 50.59.Page 4 of 6 PSBR Annual Operating Report, FY 12-13Radioactive Effluents Released

-Technical Specification 6.6.1.e.LiquidThere were no planned or unplanned liquid effluent releases under the reactor license for the reporting period.Liquid radioactive waste, from the radioisotope laboratories at the PSBR, is under the University byproduct materials license and is transferred to the Radiation Protection Office for disposal with thewaste from other campus laboratories.

Liquid waste disposal techniques include storage for decay,release to the sanitary sewer per 10 CFR 20, and solidification for shipment to licensed disposal sites.GaseousAll gaseous releases were less than 20% of the allowed concentrations.

Argon-41 (4lAr)Gaseous effluent 41Ar is generated from dissolved air in the reactor pool water, air in dry irradiation tubes, air in neutron beam ports, and air leakage to and from the carbon-dioxide purged pneumatic sample transfer system.The amount of 41Ar released from the reactor pool is dependent upon the operating power level and thelength of time at power. The release per MWH is highest for extended high power runs and lowest forintermittent low power runs. The concentration of 41Ar in the reactor bay and the bay exhaust wasmeasured by the Radiation Protection staff during the summer of 1986. Measurements were made forconditions of low and high power runs simulating typical operating cycles.For a conservative calculation of the 41Ar release, all power operations were assumed to take place atthe location of greatest 41Ar generation and release (Fast Neutron Irradiator (FNI) tube). The calculation method includes direct release from the pool as well as release from the FNI fixture and estimates aproduction of 3172 mCi for 781 MWh of operation in 2012-2013.

Some of this 41Ar will decay in place,but if released amount is similar to the measured

maximums, then the 41Ar released represents less than6% of the release limit.Tritium (3H)Tritium is released by evaporation of reactor pool water as a gaseous release.

The total makeup to thereactor pool in 2012-2013 was approximately 11,000 gallons.

The evaporative loss rate is dependent onrelative

humidity, temperature of air and water, air movement, etc.For a pool tritium concentration of 32,165 pCi/I (average for July, 2012 to June, 2013) the Tritiumactivity released from the ventilation system would be -1,340 lCi. A dilution factor of 2 x 108 ml /secwas used to calculate the unrestricted area concentration.

This is from 200 m2 (cross-section of thebuilding) times 1 m/sec (wind velocity).

These are the values used for the safety analysis in the reactorlicense.Page 5 of 6 PSBR Annual Operating Report, FY 12-13Parameter ValueUnits -]Tritium released 1340 micro curiesAverage concentration, unrestricted area -2.4x10-13 tiCi/mlPermissible concentration, unrestricted area ~1.2x10-7 IiCi/mlPercentage of permissible concentration

-0.00024

%Calculated effective dose, unrestricted area ~1x10-4 mRemEnvironmental Surveys -Technical Specification 6.6.1.f.The only environmental surveys performed were the routine environmental dosimeters measurements at the facility fence line and two off-site control points (one in a residential area several miles away).The net measurements (in millirems) tabulated below represent the July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013reporting period.Location 3rd Qtr '12 4th Qtr '12 1st Qtr '13 2nd Qtr '13 TotalFence North 3 4 3 4 14Fence South 3 4 3 4 14Fence.East 3 3 3 5 14Fence West 4 3 3 6 16Pleasant Gap 0 0 0 0 0Child Care UP 0 0 0 0 0The exposure measured at the facility fence-line are well within historical norms, while the off-sitedosimetry is uncharacteristically zero for the year. No meaningful conclusion can be drawn from thedata other the exposure to the public due to licensed operations remains well within the limits for thecurrent fiscal year.Page 6 of 6