ML20113G411

Univ of MD Training Reactor Annual Operating Rept for Period 950701-960630

ML20113G411
Person / Time
Site:	University of Maryland
Issue date:	06/30/1996
From:	Chappas W MARYLAND, UNIV. OF, COLLEGE PARK, MD
To:
Shared Package
ML20113G413	List: ML20113G411 ML20113G421 ML20129D226
References
NUDOCS 9609270199
Download: ML20113G411 (13)

Text

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1 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND TRAINING REACTOR l

! License # R-70 Facility Docket # 50-166 l

ANNUAL OPERATING REPORT i

for the period July 1,1995 - June 30,1996 1

I Department of Materials and Nuclear Engineering University of Maryland College Park, Md 20742-2115 9609270199 960901 PDR ADOCK 05000166 R PDR

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l TABLE OF CONTENTS I NTRO D U CTI O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 R EACTO R U S AG E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 SURVEILLANCE TESTS AND INSPECTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 C HAN G E S TO TH E FACI LITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEYS OF SURROUNDING AREAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 RADIOACTIVE RELEASE AND DISCHARGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT . . . . . . . . . 7 ALARA REVIEW FOR FACILITY PERSONNEL AND VISITOR EXPOSURE . . . . . . 8 UNSCHEDULED REACTOR SHUTDOWNS / REPORTABLE OCCURRENCES . . . . 9 CHANGES IN THE FACILITY ORGANIZATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ENCLOSURE 1 .................................................... 11 E N C LO S U R E 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 l

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1. INTRODUCTION i

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l The University of Maryland Training Reactor (MUTR) is an open-pool type, TRIGA

fueled reactor. The core is cooled by natural convection of the pool water with auxiliary coolers provided for protection of filters and ion exchange equipment associated with t .l l the reactor support piping.  !

The MUTR is used for academic instruction and operator training, performing neutron and gamma irradiations, neutron activation analysis experiments, and tours and i demonstrations for internal and outside groups. Operator training includes qualification l

training for student and staff operators as well as for visiting nuclear power plant trainees.

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II. REACTOR USAGE During the past year the MUTR operated a total of 82 runs, which can be organized into the following categories.

l Operator training 11 runs Tours, Labs & Demonstrations 11 runs Calibration and Maintenance 11 runs  !

l Nuclear Engineering Classes 41 runs l Irradiations and Activations

• 8 runs ,

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• Many of the Engineering classes involved activations and are not counted in the total runs under i activations.

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To perform these runs, the core produced 0.96 MWh, with a corresponding bum-up of 1

0.49 grams of uranium-235.

l A substantial number of the runs were conducted for tours and demonstrations. These involved high school, university, and visiting University of Maryland students. Individual l

tours were also conducted. Many of these groups account for more than one visit, as it was common for a high school to return with groups from different classes.

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. I lll. SURVElLLANCE TESTS AND INSPECTIONS I

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. All required surveillance tests and inspections were performed at the specified intervals.

l The required surveillance items for this reporting period include:

WATER SAMPLE TESTS

! AIR SAMPLE TESTS l RADIATION SURVEYS I i

POWER CAllBRATION 1

! CONTROL ROD DROP TEST l RAM CAllBRATION EXCESS REACTIVITY DETERMINATION l CONTROL ROD INSPECTION 1

- CONTROL ROD CAllBRATION l EXTERNAL AUDIT in addition to the above surveillance items, the following maintenance operations were performed on the indicated dates

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l REPLACED ION EXCHANGER RESIN (Make-up water system)* 01/23/96 l

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Most of the maintenance performed during this reporting period was routine consisting -

of fine tuning or adjusting of operating equipment. Various items from Section lli of the ,

t 1 report fall under the categories of Maintenance Operations Performed and Changes to

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the Facility. The above items accompanied with a "*" are considered maintenance I

operations. There were no changes to the facility for this reporting penod.  !

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No other major maintenance was performed during this reporting penod.

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! IV. CHANGES TO THE FACILITY i

l There were no significant changes to the reactor or facility during this reporting period.  ;

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V. ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEYS OF SURROUNDING AREAS i

Reactor surveys taken with portable beta / gamma detectors while at power indicate no  ;

changes in shielding requirements or a need to redesignate restricted areas.

All continuous monitoring for this year was accomplished using fixed mounted film  ;

badges throughout the interior of the reactor building itself. These fixed mounted film badges recorded the following exposures: i Monitor Location Dose  :

1 Control Room <10 mrem 2 Pool Surface 370 mrem l 3 Hot Room 240 mrem 4 Prep Room 20 mrem l 5 S. Wall Upper <10 mrem 6 S. Wall Lower <10 mrem i 7 E. Wall Lower 20 mrem )

1 8 Pump Room 2460 mrem

• l 9 N. Wall Lower 60 mrem 10 W. Wall Lower 180 mrem l

l Principally from PuBe sources in storage, l

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VI. RADIOACTIVE RELEASE AND DISCHARGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT Two enclosures are included with this report. The first enclosure is the calculation for Ar-41 production (from the previous year's report), that provides a description of our approach for calculating airborne releases, the possible sources for Ar-41 at the facility, and the basis and assumptions for the calculation. The second enclosure contains the updated calculations for this reporting period. The total run time for this reporting period was 0.96 MW hours that yields a calculated total release of 0.649658 mci of argon-41 at a maximum concentration of 8.7 x 10'"pCi/mi of air.

The Reactor Storage Sump was not discharged during this reporting period.

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i Vll. ALARA REVIEW FOR FACILITY PERSONNEL AND VISITOR EXPOSURE l

A review of exposure records and all facility operations were performed by facility management as part of the annual ALARA audit.

For this reporting period, all badged facility personnel anCstudents received less than 10 mrem.

i The Pocket Dosimeters recorded minimal exposure for all guests and service ,

personnel. Calibrations of these self-reading dosimeters were performed at six month l l

l intervals by the University of Maryland's Radiation Safety Office.

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Vill. UNSCHEDULED REACTOR SHUTDOWNS / REPORTABLE OCCURRENCES Four unscheduled shutdowns took place during the reporting period. The first three occured as follows:

Run number 3320 Feburary 14,1996 Run number 3329 Feburary 28,1996 Run number 3335 March 7,1996 All three of these unscheduled shutdowns experienced fluctuation in the period meter resulting in a period scram. At the time, the cause was to belived to be spurious signals induced to the period meter circuitry. The ultimate cause was revealed when, in July .

I 1996, high voltage power supply number 1 (HV1) failed completely, resulting in a loss of indications for the left side of the console (period meter included). Inspection of the i

power supply revealed several failed electronic components, probably the result of age.

HV1 was repaired and placed back in service in August,1996. Reactor operations have been resumed, and the period meter appears to function normally.

The fourth unscheduled shutdown occured during run number 3358, April 30,1996.

This was a result of loss of building power. Operations were resumed once power was restored. No action required.

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4 IX. CHANGES IN THE FACILITY ORGANIZATION i

4 No special experiments were performed during this reporting period.

l During the reporting period, no individuals earned NRC licenses on the MUTR. -

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ENCLOSURE 1:

l Ar-41 Production Calculation for Previous Reporting Period l

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