ML062410246

Annual Report on Operation of Washington State University Triga Reactor for July 1, 2005 Through June 30,2006

ML062410246
Person / Time
Site:	Washington State University
Issue date:	08/23/2006
From:	Wall D Washington State Univ
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML062410246 (8)

Text

WASHINGTON STATE U UNIVERSITY Nudear Radiati )n Center August 23rd, 2006 Document Control Desk U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Re: Docket No. 50-27; Facility License R-76 In accordance with Technical Specifications for Facility License R-76 and the provisions of 10 CFR 50.59, paragraph (6), the attached Annual Report prepared by Eric Corwin, Reactor Supervisor of the WSU Facility, is hereby submitted. The report covers the period July 1,2005 to June 30, 2006.

Sincerely, 7-p6y4d6d, Dr. Donald Wall, Facility Director I1kIŽ~o PO Box 641300, Pullman, WA 99164-1300 509-335-8641

• Fax: 509-335-4433

• www.wsu.edu/-nrc

ANNUAL REPORT ON THE OPERATION OF THE WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY TRIGA REACTOR Facility License R-76 for the Reporting Period of July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 A. Narrative Summary of the Year's Operation I. Operating Experience The Washington State University Reactor has accumulated 1233 Megawatt hours on core 34-A during the reporting period. A total of 949 samples were irradiated, for a total of 13,278.58 user-hours. In addition, II pulses greater than $1.00 of reactivity addition were performed during this reporting period. The quarterly operations summaries are shown in Table I Section B.

II. Changes In Facility Design, Performance Characteristics, and Operating Procedures Related to Reactor Safety.

No changes requiring a 50.59 notification were made to the NRC during the reporting period.

1H. All surveillance tests and requirements were performed and completed within the prescribed time period.

B. Energy and Cumulative Output The quarterly operations summaries are given in Table I.

TABLE I Fiscal Year Summary of Reactor Operations 3-A-S O-N-D J-F-M A-M-J TOTALS Hours of Operation 355.10 396.37 241.17 409.05 1,401.69 Megawatt Hours 299.94 325.34 235.97 372.10 1,233.35 No of Sample Irradiations' 35 13 13 31 92 No. of Samples 382 108 104 355 949 No. of Iridium Cans 26 24 23 21 94 Irradiated No. of Silicon Disks 8 10 10 8 56 Irradiated User Hours 2,422.32 3,130.48 3,357.04 4,368.74 13,278.58 No. Pulses > $1.00 0 8 0 3 11

'This table has been modified for clarity. Numbers of Samples and Sample Irradiations do not include Iridium and Silicon data. Those data are listed in individual format. User hours denotes the total user hours, including Iridium and Silicon.

2)

The cumulative energy output since criticality of the TRIGA core (1967) is 1120 Megawatt Days, The mixed core of FLIP and Standard fuels installed in 1976 has accumulated 854 Megawatt Days.

C. Emergency Shutdowns and Inadvertent Scrams There were no emergency shutdowns that occurred during the reporting period. The dates and causes of the 16 inadvertent SCRAMS are listed in Table H1. No SCRAMS were due to a violation of the Limiting Safety Systems Set points.

TABLE II Inadvertent SCRAMS 7/20/05 Short of 24VAC power supply during work in reactor console.

9/13/05 Operator inadvertently downscaled linear channel resulting in scram.

9/28/05 Operator knocked blade #2 into core while performing maintenance.

9/29/05 High Radiation due to iridium handling.

10/5/05 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcing scram.

10/5/05 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcing scram.

10/5/05 Operator manually selected linear channel scale to low, forcing scram.

10/13/05 Operator kicked reactor console causing scram.

11/14/05 Seismic switch scram, unknown reason.

11/14/05 Seismic switch scram, unknown reason.

11/14/05 Seismic switch scram, unknown reason.

11/17/05 Seismic switch scram, operator performing routine maintenance.

11/21/05 Operator error, bumped the HV Scram switch on the NPP-1000.

5/1/06 Operator bumped FIV signal cable for NLW-1000, causing scram 5/16/06 High power from NPP-1000 due to stuck raise button.

6/12/06 High power scram from Iridium handling

3 D. Major Maintenance All routine planned maintenance items were completed within the reporting period. No major maintenance items were completed during the reporting period.

E. Changes, Tests and Experiments performed Under 10 CFR 50.59 Criteria No changes requiring a 50.59 notification were made to the NRC during the reporting period.

F. Radioactive Effluent Discharges I. Radioactive Liquid Releases A total of 0.0 microcuries was released in 10,644.39 gallons of liquid during the reporting period. As determined by calibrated HPGe detectors and associated software, there was no detectable activity in the waste water that was greater than background. A breakdown of the liquid releases is shown in Table M.

TABLE HII Radioactive Liquid Releases Date Volume Released Volume Released Activity (mCi)

(cu.'feet) (gallons) 5/5/2006 476.10 3561.50 0.0 6/27/2006 946.85 7082.89 0.0

4

2. Radioactive Gaseous Release During the reporting period, no significant quantity of any gaseous or particulate material with a half-life greater that eight days was released.

During the reporting period, at no time did the Argon-41 release exceed 20% of the Effluent Release Limit.

A total of 7.723 Curies of Argon-41 was released, with an average concentration of Argon-41 of 1.165 x 10-7 uCi/ce before dilution. The monthly releases are summarized in Table IV on Page 4.

TABLE IV Monthly Argon-41 Releases Cone. Before  % Release Limit  % DAC Limit Quantity mCi Month Dilution, uCi/ml Before Dilution 1 Before Dilution 2 July 2005 5.206 x 10-" 2.08 0.00694 286 August 1.180 x 10-7 4.72 0.0157 649 September 1.388 x 10"7 5.55 0.0185 763 October 1.298 x 10-7 5.19 0.0173 714 November 1.122 x 10-7 4.49 0.0150 617 December 9.952 x 10-8 3.98 0.0133 547 January 2006 8.818 x 10-8 3.52 0.0176 485 February 1.305 x 10-7 5.22 0.0174 718 March 1.534 x 10-7 6.14 0.0205 844 April 7.766 x 10-" 3.10 0.0104 427 May 1.339 x 10"7 5.36 0.0179 736 June 1.704 x 10-' 6.82 0.0227 937

'Based on 10 CFR 20 effluent release limit of 1.0xI0"- uCi/ml for 4lAr (Table 2, Col.1), and a dilution factor of4.0x10- 3 (S.A.R. 6.4.2) for a before dilution limit of 2.5xl0-6 uCi/cc. (20% of limit is 5.Ox10"7 uCi/ml).

2 Based on 10 CFR 20 DAC limit of 3.0xl0"6 uCi/ml for 4lAr (Table 1, Col. 3) and a dilution factor of 4.0x10-3 for a before dilution DAC limit of 7.5x1 0 4 uCi/ml.

3. Radioactive Solid Waste Disposal During the reporting period, the following solid waste was transferred to the WSU Radiation Safety Office for packaging and disposal.

N 30.305 millicuries in 16 cubic feet of non-compacted solid waste.

5 G. Personnel and Visitor Radiation Exposures The quarterly exposures of selected Nuclear Radiation Center reactor staff and experimenters who routinely utilize the W.S.U. reactor are given in Table V on Page 5. The maximum quarterly exposure of a reactor staff member was 70 millirem, whole body.

A total of 1966 individual persons visited the Nuclear Radiation Center during the reporting period, of which 786 entered a Restricted Area. All exposures as determined by digital pocket dosimeter were less than I millirem.

A total of 36 group tours, consisting of 251 individuals, visited the Center during the reporting period. As determined by digital pocket dosimeter, all exposures were less than 1 millirem.

TABLE V Quarterly Reactor and Experimenter Staff Exposure (in millirem)

Badge No. Jul-Aug-Sep 05 Oct-Nov-Dec 05 Jan-Feb-Mar 06 Apr-May 062 6296 4 6 9 1 4045 .1 . _ .

3504 4 1 - -

7224 6 2 N/A N/A 5718 70 6 38 23 1035 45 43 7 -

The "-" denotes a dosimeter reading that is less than or equal to the background radiation level for that quarter.

2 Data for the Month of June and the 2nd Quarter 2006 totals was not received at the time of submittal.

H. Reactor Facility Radiation and Contamination Levels The routinearea radiation surveys of the building in non-reactor vital areas' had an average dose level of 0.135 mR/Hr., while routinely accessible reactor vital areas had an average dose level of 1.356 mR/Hr. The highest average dose level in a routinely accessible reactor vital area was 8.642 mR/Hr., which occurred in Room 201, Reactor Pool Room east. The lowest average dose in a routinely accessible reactor vital area was 0.030 mR/Hr., which occurred in Room 201B, the Reactor Shop area. The average dose in the radiochemistry sample hoods was 0.852 mR/IHr. The highest average on site dose level was 15.256 mR/Hr. which occurred in Room 2 East, the Beam Room storage area. This area is accessible only through a locked room, and is not accessible to the public.

6 Routine building surveys for removable contamination in non-reactor vital areas' had an average level of 1.55 x 10-06iCi/100 cm 2, while the average level in the reactor vital areas was 2.74 x 10-06 pCi/I00 cm 2 . The highest average value in the reactor vital areas was 1.24 x 10-05

[tCi/100 cm 2 which was found on the north side of the pool room. The lowest average value in the reactor vital areas was 8.87 xl0-07 pCi/I00 cm 2 which was in Room 2 north, the floor of the beam room. The average level of removable contamination in the radiochemistry hoods was 3.49 x10-06 [Ci/l00 cm 2.

1 A non-reactor vital area is an area in the building where radioactive materials are used or stored but which is not a part of the Licensed reactor facility.

1. Environmental Monitoring Program The environmental monitoring program uses thermoluminecent dosimeters (TLD's) at locations both near and at distances around the reactor facility building. The quarterly exposures in the vicinity of the Nuclear Radiation Center are listed in Table VI. The average ambient gamma radiation levels for this area (80 mile radius) is 243 [tRem/day as reported in the 30th Annual Report of the Environmental Radiation Program, Washington State Department of Health, Environmental Health Program, Table A-12, Page 131.

The values observed indicate there is no significant effect on the environmental radiation levels due to reactor operation.

TABLE VI Environmental Radiation Levels in the Vicinity of the Nuclear Radiation Center (Exposure in pRem/day)

Jul-Aug-Sep 05 Oct-Nov-Dec 05 Jan-Feb-Mar 06 Apr-May-Jun 063 Average 350.64 453.62 409.33 358.48 393.02 345.452 402.67 344.832 329.902 355.702 For sampling stations located 25 meters or greater from the Nuclear Radiation Center.

2 TLD attached to "decorative" granite display on Compton Union Building Mall approximately 1300 meters from the Nuclear Radiation Center.

3Due to extensive construction of a new golf course surrounding the facility, numerous dosimeters were lost in the second quarter of 2006. Measures have been taken to ensure minimal loss of detectors during ongoing construction.

il 7

Quarterly exposures at locations adjacent to the reactor facility are listed in Table VII. No significant effect on the environmental radiation levels by reactor operation was noted.

TABLE VII Environmental Radiation Levels Adjacent to the Nuclear Radiation Center I (Exposure in [tRem/day)

Location Jul-Aug-Sep Oct-Nov-Dec Jan-Feb-Mar Apr-May-Jun Average 04 04 05' 05 E. Loading Dock 318.18 415.58 390.8 309.28 358.46 Rad. Storage Shed 627.27 714.29 781.61 711.34 708.63 Rx Rm E. Secr. Gate 354.55 467.53 390.8 329.9 385.70 Cooling Tower Fence 472.73 662.34 563.22 453.61 537.98 Liquid Waste Tank 363.64 493.51 436.78 W 431.31 Building Roof West 836.36 922.08 988.51 814.43 890.35 Building W. Side 336.36 506.49 459.77 360.82 415.86 Rx. Room Exh. Vent 318.18 441.56 379.31 340.21 369.82 Rx. Room W. Vent 2 390.91 506.49 448.28 412.37 439.51 Pool Room E. Vent 336.36 415.58 379.31 350.52 370.44 Building Roof East 272.27 454.55 379.31 319.59 356.43 S. Bldg. Entrance 327.27 441.56 402.3 350.52 380.41 For sampling stations located less than 25 meters from the Nuclear Radiation Center.

2 Pool Room West Vent. TLD on roof, directly above reactor core.

3 Dosimeter lost for this period.

BOLD print locations indicate areas that are readily accessible by the public.

Technical Specifications ALARA effluent releases in 3.12(2) specify annual radiation exposures at the closest off-site extended occupancy shall not, on an annual basis, exceed the average local off-site background radiation level by more than 20%. For the reporting period, the average total background radiation level for sampling points 25 meters or greater from the facility was 393 pR/day, while the average total radiation level at the closest extended occupied area 930 meters away was 425.52 [tR/day, indicating no significant exposure level above natural background.