ML20070M986

Environ Rept Georgia Tech Research Reactor Neely Nuclear Research Ctr

ML20070M986
Person / Time
Site:	Neely Research Reactor
Issue date:	04/30/1994
From:	Neely Research Reactor, ATLANTA, GA
To:
Shared Package
ML20070M558	List: ML20070M556 ML20070M970 ML20070M986 ML20070M990
References
NUDOCS 9405040271
Download: ML20070M986 (12)

Text

a 5

1 p

b ATTACHMENT 3 ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT 9405040271 940419 PDR ADOCK 05000160-P PDR

1 l

I t

a i

.it ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH REACTOR  !

NEELY NUCLEAR RESEARCH CENTER  !

.t i

l GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ' l ATLANTA,GA 30332-0425 1

April 1994 l

e i

I. INTRODUCTION  :

This environmental report is prepared in accordance with 10 CFR 51 as part of the nuclear reactor license renewal at Georgia institute of Technology. The Georgia Tech Research Reactcr (GTRR) is a heavy-water cooled and moderated reactor using uranium fuel. The reactor is operated at power levels up to 5 MW. The reactor is used extensively for training of nuclear engineers and health physicists; for research projects ,

by scientists specializing in nuclear science; and as a research tool by scientists in other disciplines.

The reactor is located in the Neely Nuclear Research Center, a free standing facility, located on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus, Atlanta, Georgia. A full description of the reactor is contained in the GTRR 1994 Safety Analysis Report. 1

11. PROPOSED ACTIONS -

We propose to continue operating the Georgia Tech Research Reactor (GTRR) as we have done over the previous license period. The GTRR has a 30 year history of .

safe and reliable operations. The reactor was initially licensed in 1964 to operate at "

power levels up to 1 MW. Based upon the first decade of operation and some design ,

i modifications, the reactor license was amended in 1974 to operate at power levels up to 5 M W.

Ill. IMPACT OF THE PROPOSED ACTIONS ON THE ENVIRONMENT l

The GTRR is operated solely for educational and research purposes which benefit the community, the country and the environment. Specific benefits include: ,

' 3.1 Nuclear Education l 3.1.1 Nuclear Enaineerina Nuclear engineering is a discipline which is concerned with the safe release, l

control, and utilization of all types of energy from nuclear sources. Energy is needed to meet the world's technological needs and to maintain a suitable standard of living.

- Nuclear reactors are used to produce radioisotopes for diagnosis and therapy of disease, to produce research radiochemicals, and to provide energy sources for medical devices, e.g., pacemakers or for probes to outer space.

1 I

l l

The engineering of safe nuclear power sources is vital to the future growth of the l world. One of the reasons we have one of the finest nuclear engineering programs in i the country is because we have an on-site nuclear reactor. The Georgia Tech Nuclear  !

Engineering program builds upon the foundations of mathematics, physics, thermal hydraulics, material science, radiation protection, radiation transport, interaction of radiation with matter and applied computer science. On top of this foundation, the GTRR serves as a training site for the nuclear engineering students. At the GTRR the students gain practical experience in reactor operations, reactor safety, environmental concerns, health physics and interactive decision making.

3.1.2 Health Physics Health physics is a professional discipline based upon the scientific knowledge of, and the practical means for, radiation protection. The objective of a health physicist is to protect people and the environment from unnecessary exposure to radiation. Thus, the basic tenets of radiation must be understood, radiation knowledge explored, practical problems evaluated, radiation effects established and risk measurements relative to effect derived and implemented.

The academic health physics program at Georgia Tech is the largest health physics program in the country the Georgia Tech Research Reactor is an essential component to this program. The reactor provides the student with a hands on, real world laboratory. It is at the reactor where the environmental health physicist of the

• future learns how to monitor nuclear reactors for safety, how to communicate with regulatory agencies, how to implement emergency plans and how to monitor for environmental radiation. We have one of the finest health physics programs in the country because we have a nuclear reactor for students to use and gain practical experience.

3.1.3 Community l

The Georgia Tech Research Reactor is used by high school science classes for plant irradiation experiments. The reactor is used by the Boy Scouts of American for those scouts interested in obtaining the nuclear merit badge. Students and faculty at the reactor often participate in middle school or high school" career days" representing the area of nuclear science.

3.2 Support of Scientific Proarams In addition to the educational programs, the GTRR is one of the finest research tools in the country. The reactor was designed to produce a thermal neutron flux of more than 10E14 n/cm2 /sec at 5 MW.

l l

I 3.2.1 Nuclear Research Proarams l l

The reactor contains a bio-medical irradiation facility. This facility, with its j specially shielded room is useful for animal and human irradiations. The reactor, with its associated bio-medical irradiation facility has recently been identified as the best potential nuclear reactor in the United States with which boron neutron capture therapy can be implemented.

Georgia Tech scientists, working with Emory University neurosurgeons, have the capability of treating brain tumors in a unique way that combines the attributes of chemotherapy with radiation therapy. The bombardment of boron atoms located in tumors with neutrons provides a high intensity radiation dose to the tumor while minimizing radiation effects on other parts of the body. Key to evalt.3 ting this developing technology is the continued operation of the GTRR.

Nuclear Science faculty research programs include the design End development of neutron irradiation filters, the design, development and dosimetry of new pharmacological imaging agents and neutron dosimetry.

3.2.2 Indirect Nuclear Research Proarams Many scientists, both at Georgia Tech and across the nation, use the unique capabilities of the GTRR reactor in support of their own particular research specialty. '

Herein, the GTRR is used as a tool by other scientists in order to improve either the ,

sensitivity or specificity of their research. GTRR capabilities for isotope production, neutron diffraction, activation analysis and provision of neutrons are unique scientific assets essential to maintaining Georgia Tech as a leader in developing technologies.

Specific studies currently using the facility include a chemist evaluating radiation decomposition of chemicals, a materials scientist interested in characterizing neutron absorbing rnaterials, and numerous geologists who characterized their soil samples using neutron activation analysis.

3.3 Education for Future Enerav Needs The availability of energy strongly affects standards of living and quality of life.  ;

The increase in energy consumption is driven by the world population growth and by the  !

desire of people everywhere to have higher: standards of living. In nations where there '

l are adequate supplies of electrical energy, health care improves, more children receive education, work is more productive, pollution control is better, life spans are longer, and more people have hopes for a better life for their children in stark contrast to energy poor countries.

Nuclear energy is a vital part of the nation's energy future. Nuclear energy produces thermal energy without the release of carbon dioxide. Current scientific information indicates a strong correlation between carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere and mean earth temperature. An increase of mean earth temperature could cause significant worldwide environmental changes.

Acid rain produced from the emissions of fossil fuel plants continue to damage fragile areas of our environment. The major environmental effect caused by the Three Mile Island nuclear accident is not the radioactivity released from the reactor but the sulfur emissions from fossil fuel power plants which were built to replace the lost energy available from the reactor.

IV. ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS WHICH CANNOT BE AVOIDED.

Some low-level environmental risks cannot be eliminated. They include the use of nuclear fuel, the production of minimal gaseous effluent, the generation of some liquid and solid radioactive wastes, some waste heat, and some radiation exposure of personnel to radiation. None of these are considered significant wdh respect to environmental impact although each is individually assessed. They are:

4.1 Nuclear Fuel Cycle The GTRR is designed for 19 fuel rod assemblies spaced 6 inches apart in a triangular array. Each assembly contains 16 fuel plates. The total uranium-235 content is 3.5 Kg. In practice, the reactor is functional with 17 fuel rod assemblies with the other 2 assemblies maintained as spares. The annual burn-up rate depends on the extent of reactor usage. For the past five years the burn-up quantities were:

Yea'r 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 Workload (MWh) 75 283 236 1021 128 Fuel Burn-Up (gms) 3.8 14.7 12.3 53.1 6.7 Because of the low burn-up rate there is no special need for fuel replacement.

4.2 Radioactive Waste Radioactive waste is generated from the research operations of the facility. This waste is either in liquid or solid form. The solids include absorbent paper, plastic gloves, spent samples, some contaminated laboratory apparatus, spent standards, clean-up

1 i

I resins from the demineralyzer systems, etc. Liquid wastes consist of spent standards, diluents and rinsings of contaminated objects during the decontamination process. i All of the radioactive waste from the Georgia Institute of Technology campus is processed by the health physics staff at the Neely Nuclear Research Center. Short lived isotopes (< 30d) are stored in a secure facility. Radioactive materials with a longer half life are consolidated, compacted or treated to reduce volume and shipped to established radioactive waste disposal sites. During the last five years the volume of radioactive waste produced was:

Year 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 Dry Waste (ft ) 115 7.5 105 454 559 it is estimated that about 10 % of the aforementioned waste, in terms of both volume and activity, was generated by the GTRR; the rest was generated under the byproduct license from the State of Georgia.

4.3 Release of Radioactive Gases The levels of gaseous radiation released from the GTRR reactor have been conservatively calculated for 1) Radiation Doses Resulting from the Release of Fission

• Products into the Atmosphere, in our original Safeguards Report (GTRR January,1000, Appendix B) and 2) Radioactive Effluents as they apply to the controlled released of radioactive gases (GTRR Technical Specification 3.5). These calculations indicate that at a maximum continuous argon-41 release rate of 585 uCi/sec, the annual radiation doses to an unrestricted areas will not exceed 500 millirem.

In practice, Ar-41 gas is the only gaseous radioactive effluent emitted from the reactor. The argon-41 release rate is continuously monitored by a detector located within the effluent emission stack. While technical specifications limit our release to 585 uCi/second, the highest release rate measured during the past five years was 475 pCi/sec. For the cast five years:

Year 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 Total Release (Ci) 19.5 39.5 59.2 264 27.8 Maximum Instant Release Rate ( Ci/sec) 275 475 285 380 171 Hours of Operation 132 158 292 464 224 Each year the environmental health physics class has a laboratory where they monitor the release of radioactive gases from GTRR. The only contaminate ever

l 1

The person-rem dose for all GTRR personnel for 1992 was 0.54 rem with the highest reading being 150 millirem. The person-rem dose for all GTRR personnel for r 1993 was 0.16 rem with the highest reading being 40 millirem. In comparison the person-rem dose for all 1992 Georgia Tech occupationally employed radiation workers  ;

was 2.07 person-rem with the highest reading being 250 mrem.  !

Georgia Tech has an active "AS LOW AS REASONABLY ACHIEVABLE"(ALARA)  !

policy in place. In essence, The Program attempts to achieve, through engineering  :

controls and thorough planning, detailed procedures to minimize radiation exposures to  !

as low as possible. Furthermore, any exposures exceeding 20% of the regulatory limit: l are evaluated and, where practical, remedial action is taken. {

l 4.7 Environmental Radiation Exposure Environmental Radiation Exposures around the reactor are monitored both by l GTRR health physics staff and by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. j The State of Georgia monitors environmental radiation emissions using i thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD's) in fourteen locations. The TLD's are located in l approximately three rings around the GTRR. The inner ring is located at 40-60 meters, the middle ring at 100-250 meters and outer ring at 500-1000 meters from the

_ j control area. Analysis of annual radiation exposures over the past four years indicates - .;

no significant difference of mean exposures from the inner through the outer rings, no i significant difference chronologically between years for individual dosimeters and no j significant difference between the environmental dosimeters and the- calculated background levels at the EPA defined nearest receptor, i.e., the fraternity. The only ,

significant radiation exposures above background were recorded by those dosimeters. j located close to the University radioactive Waste Storage Barn and dosimeters located  !

close to a granite wall. l l

Using a microroentgen ionization detector, monthly nuclear reactor environmental  !

measurements are made at the reactor perimeter by health physics staff. During peak j periods of reactor operations, radiation exposures of about 10 prbentgen per hour are 1 measurable. I i

4.8 Heavy Water

.l l

The Heavy water system consists of about 2350 gallons distributed as follows:  !

1100 gallons in the reactor vessel, 350 gallons in the Emergency. Cooling system and -  ;

the remaining 900 gallons in the heat exchanges and piping. The water is used for l neutron reflection and for cooling of the re: actor. The heavy water system is a sealed-system. l l

l l

[

a v - - - . , -

i identified has been Ar-41. In all cases, the measured levels are below the conservative calculations developed for the original Safeguards Report of the Technical Specifications. .

The US Environmental Protection Agency provides a computer code that assesses ,

gaseous radioactive effluents using the latest environmental modeling techniques. This code, called COMPLY, has been used to assess gaseous radioactive effluent emission at the GTRR based upon the nearest " receptor". The nearest receptor for Georgia Tech j is a fraternity house located on campus at a distance of 500 feet from the emission stack. We used the COMPLY code to calculate radiation levels at the reactor perimeter  ;

~

and again at the fraternity (assuming that the fraternity was downwind of the reactor during operations). In each scenario the calculations indicate only 1 mrem /y would be  !

potentially received by an individual living at the receptor site or living at the perimeter j of the nuclear reactor. This calculated dose rate is smaller than variations in natural background radiation for various sites because of differences in altitude or soil types. .l Furthermore, Ar-41 with a short half-life of 1.8 hours9.259259e-5 days <br />0.00222 hours <br />1.322751e-5 weeks <br />3.044e-6 months <br /> is such that build up of gaseous j effluent or long term environmental burden will be minimal. j The health physics staff of the GTRR routinely monitor for other potential effluent  ;

. gases or particulate matter. For the past five years, tritium, radiciodines and particulate effluent releases, if any, were below the lower limits of detection. l 4.5 Heat Generation .l The heat generated in the reactor is first passed to the primary loop of heavy  !

water and then transferred to an isolated secondary loop of regular water. The warm s water is then transferred to a cooling tower. The heat exhausted by the cooling tower amounts to one - three thousand kwhr per year. This is a very small quantity.

4.6 Radiation Exoosure of Personnel  ;

)

Radiation exposures to reactor users and the operating staff are very small.

Radiation exposur.es during the,past two years are:

-l' Annual E.xposure No. Radiation Workers 1992 1993  :

1

< 10 millirem 7 11 i 10 to 49 millirem 7 8 50 to 99 millirem -2 0 100 to 199 millirem 1 0

> 200 millirem 0 0 J

1 l

l l

With time, some deuterium atoms in the heavy water is activated into tritium. The GTRR reactor is designed so that any leakage or liquid wastes are collected in a 5000 gallon suspect waste water tank. In addition, there are two 1500 gallon low level retention tanks which can be utilized. Any leakage of tritiated water is collected internally, analyzed and/or treated before release of any residuals to the environment.

V. ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS 5.1 Provision of short half life radioisotooes The availability of a nuclear reactor on campus provides researchers the opportunity to use short half life radioisotopes unavailable to users that don't have access to an on campus reactor. For example, sodium-22 is a typical sodium isotope scientists use if they have to purchase the isotope from a commercial source. Sodium-22 has a half life of 2.26 years. As an alternative and because of the capabilities of an on-site nuclear reactor, sodium-24 may be used. Sodium-24 has a 15 hour1.736111e-4 days <br />0.00417 hours <br />2.480159e-5 weeks <br />5.7075e-6 months <br /> half life.

Thus potential problems with packaging, shipping or receiving sodium-22 from a commercial source are diminished. Furthermore, sodium-24 can be held for radioactive decay for one week when all the radioactivity has dissipated. In contrast, all materials contaminated with sodium-22 would require radioactive waste disposal in a permitted site.

5.2 Public awareness of environmental enerov alternatives The GTRR faculty and staff provides an open forum for the education about alternative energy sources. An informed public can make informed decisions. Because of the GTRR, Georgia Tech employs faculty and staff with an expertise in nuclear science. This expertise is used to advise on radiological safety and alternative energy sources and issues germane to the Atlanta community. Such issues include regulations, radiation safety and environmental control for.other universities, colleges and schools, industry and resolution of legal issues regarding ionizing radiation.

VI. ALTERNATIVES TO THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE REACTOR There is no comparable alternative facility. If the reactor is not relicensed, the quality of education for nuclear engineers and health physicists will be diminished.

Research projects will come to a halt. The forward progress of nuclear science technology will be decreased.

l

Vil. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOCAL SHORT-TERM USES AND LONG-TERM BENEFITS The short term use of the GTRR centers around the education of nuclear engineers, health physicists, research scientists and the general education of the students and community about nuclear energy and radioisotopes.

The long term contribution that the GTRR provides, comes from the many contributions to society made by graduate engineers, graduate health physicists and scientists to country. Numerous novel ideas have been developed over the past thirty years by students and scientists at GTRR. Some of these ideas have turned into commercial products and successful businesses. The GTRR serves as radiation science incubator of ideas and products. These products and services have an intrinsic societal value.

The continued operation of the GTRR is not an irreversible commitment. Changes in programs, extent of operations, and potential decommissioning are all equally possible at any time in the future.

Vill. ANALYSIS The GTRR is an important education facility. It is an integral part of the overail Georgia institute of Technology plan for education, research and service commitment to Atlanta, the state of Georgia, and the world. It is an essential tool to all scientists. It has no significant adverse environmental impact. Radiation exposures to non-GTRR personnei are not significant when related to the variation in natural radiation in the same area.

The GTRR is already in operation. New capitalization funds are not necessary.

It is the most prudent use of taxpayers money to continue operation of the nuclear reactor. At this point in time, Georgia's capital investment costs have been paid off. All technology, science, education and services rendered now are at minimal cost. Thus the resultant benefit / cost ratio is very high.

The GTRR provides numerous technological spin-offs of products and services to the community. Graduates of the Georgia Tech program are making significant contributions to the resolution of societal energy development problems and contribute products and services for the community.

The GTRR is the best potential reactor for the evaluation of a new type of irradiation therapy known as neutron capture therapy. This technology has the potential for treatment of certain types of brain tumors that here-to-fore resisted all other forms of therapy.

IX. LONG TERM EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT At the end of its useful life, the GTRR site will be returned to general university use. The small additionalincrease in fuel burn-up will not be a significant factor. When finished, the fuel rods will be sent to a DOE facility where the unspent uranium will be recovered and the radioactive byproducts recovered for commercial use or packaged and shipped for disposal through commercial radioactive waste disposal brokers.

The long term effects on the environment from renewing the operating license for the GTRR are insignificant.

t 6

e de