ML20154H066
| ML20154H066 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | University of Missouri-Rolla |
| Issue date: | 03/31/1988 |
| From: | Bolon A, Straka M MISSOURI, UNIV. OF, ROLLA, MO |
| To: | NRC |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8805250214 | |
| Download: ML20154H066 (27) | |
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Progress Report 1987-88 University of Missouri-Rolla Nuclear Reactor Facility l
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PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ROLLA NUCLEAR REACTOR FACILITY APRIL 1,1987 to MARCH 31, 1988 Submitted t'o The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and The Univers!ty of Missouri-Rolla Albert E. Bolon Director Milan Straka, Manager Nuclear Reactor Facility University of Missouri-Rolla Rolla. Missouri r 65401
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i Summary During the 1987-88 reporting period the University of Missouri-Rolla Reactor was in operation for 763 hours0.00883 days <br />0.212 hours <br />0.00126 weeks <br />2.903215e-4 months <br />. The major part of this time. 52%. was used for class instruction and training purposes. About 43% of the reactor time was used for research and irradiation service and 5% was needed for maintenance runn.
There were 30 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled for course work at the reactor. This committed the facility to 52 student-hours of classes. The reactor was visited by about 2000 visitors during the past year. There were 400
{ participants in the Reactor Sharing Program this year involved in various reactor projects. The f acility was reimbursed for this prorram from a grant awarded bv the U.S. Department of Energy.
The reactor produced about 26 MW hours of energy using 1.3 g of uranium. A total of 301 samples have been irradiated at the reactor with most of them being analyzed in the Reactor Counting Laboratory.
Three one-week training programs for reactor operator trainees of a midwest utility were conducted during this reporting period. The reimbursement helped to dafray f acility costs and also helped to improve research and instructional .
capabilities.
A fast gamma-spectroscopy system has been purchased to enhance the research area focused on trace element analysis. Irradiation of samples prepared for f studies on cancer tumors continued through this reporting period. A safety study, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy is being prepared for the mandated conversion of the UMR Reactor to low enriched uranium fuel. Its preliminary results were presented at the International Meetina on Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors. November 1987 held in Buenos Aires. Argentina, and the
11 American Nuclear Society Meeting. September 1987, held in Los Angeles. Calif' nia.
The Weldon Springs Project involving the measurement of the ef ficiency of man-made aerosol scavengers nears completion. Neutron activation analysis has been used to measure the amount of deposited aerosol. The results are good and will be communicated in a pertinent technical journal. Presently, the results of this project are being used to support another proposal for studying enhanced removal of airborne fission products.
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111 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Summary i List of Tables iv I.
Introduction................................................. 1 II. Reactor Staff and Personne1.................................. 2 A. Reactor Staff.......................................... 2 B. Licensed Operators..................................... 2 C. Radiation Safety Committee............................. 3 D. Health Physics......................................... 3 III. Improvements................................................. 4 IV. Reactor Operations........................................... 4 A. Facility Use........................................... 4 B. Core Data.............................................. 12 U. Public Relations............................................. 13 VI. Educational Utilization...................................... 14 VII. Reactor Heilth Phys;cs Activities............................ 16 e
V Z 1 1 . P 1 ans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 .
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k iv LIST OF TABLES
- 1. UKRR Core Configuration and Rack Storage Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
- 2. Facility Use Other Than the Reactor......................... 6
- 3. Reactor Utilization......................................... 6
- 4. Rundowns.................................................... 7
- 5. Scrams...................................................... C
- 6. M a i n t e n an c e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
- 7. Cor e Loadin g and Un l oad i n g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
- 8. Core Technical Data......................................... 12
- 9. Public Relations Program.................................... 13
- 10. Re a c t or Sh ar i n g Pr o g r am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 i
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1 I. Introduction This progress report is prepared in accordance with the reo,uirements of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 10 CFR 50.71 concerning the operation of the University of Missouri-Rolla Nuclear Reactor Facility (License R-79).
The reactor, a swimming pool type, is operated as a university f acility available to the f aculty and students of the various depart nents of the university for their educational and research programs. Several othe'. universities and colleges have made use of the f acility during this reporting period. The facility is also made available f or the purpose of training reactor personnel f or the nuclear industry and electric utilities. Trace element analysis using neutron activation is also provided at the f acility.
The reactor staff has continued to review the operation of the Reactor Facility in an ef fort to improve the safety and ef ficiency of its operation and to provide conditions conducive to its utilization by students and faculty from this and other universities. The following sections of this report are intended to provide a briei description of the various aspects of the operation of this f acility, including its utilization for education and research.
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II. Reactor Staff and Personnel A. Reactor Staff EAR 1 Title Albert E. Bolor. Director Milan Straka Reactor Manager Carl Barton Senior Electronic Technician Juls Williams Lab Mechanic Francis Jones Reactor Maintenance Engineer Linda Pierce Senior Secretary B. Licensed Operators MARA License Albert E. Bolon Senior Operator Carl Barton Senior Operator Milan Straka . Senior Operator Francis Jones Senior Operator Don Buth5) Reactor Operator l 1) terminated effective July 1, 1987 i
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3 C. Radiation Safety Committee Name Department Dr. Nord L. Gale (chairman ) Life Sciences Mr. Ray B'ono (secretary, ex officio) Environmental Health and Risk Management Dr. Ernst Bolter Geology end Geophysics Dr. Oliver K. Manuel Chemistry Dr. Albert E. Bolon Reactor Director Dr. Nick Tsoulfanidis Radiation Safetv Officer Dr . Edward Hale Physics Dr. Milan Straka (ex of ficio, non-voting) Reactor Manager Dr . Arvind Kumar Nuclear Engineering This committee is required to meet at three month intervals. However, in practice the frequency of the meetings is usually greater.
D. Health Physics Name Title Dr. Nick Tsoulfanidis Radiation Safety Officer Mr . Ray Bono Director. Environmental Health & Risk Management Mr. William Heineken Health Physics l
i Technician
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III. Improvements A continuous ef fort to enhance availability and reliability of the f acility is being undertaken by the reactor staf f . Durina this reporting period the following improvements have been made:
- 1) A new multi-channel analyzer and computer together with samma-spectroscopy sof tware were purchased to enhance our research ef forts.
- 2) A DOS card was purchased and installed in the of fice AT&T computer to increase its capabilities.
- 3) Saf ety clothing (over-alls, boots, coat and gloves) were purchased for use in handling chemicals during the resin regeneration process.
- 4) A semiconducter curve tracer was purchased for use in demonstrating radiation effects on solid state electronics.
- 5) A new intrinsic germanium (Ge) detector has been purchased for use in the research laboratory.
IV. Reactor Operations A. Facility Use Table 1 depicts the current core loading which is designated as core 67.
The number 67 denotes the sixty-seventh core configuration (assembly and location), that has been used at the Reactor Facility since the original operating license was issued in 1961. This core 67 has been in use since December of 1978.
Its parameters are listed in Table 8 (Core Data).
Tables 2 through 7 give pertinent information about the Reactor Facility and its operation during the reporting period .
5 Table 1. UMRR Core Configuration and Rack Storage Form DATE 31 March ,1986 LOADING NUMBER 671 or 67Wa R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 RIO R11 R12 R13 R14 R15
) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !HF-1! !F-131F-20!F-22! !
RACK STORAGE FACILITY
!F-2 tF-5 !F-3 tF-18tF-21!
R16 R17 R18 R19 R20 R21 R22 R23 R24 R25 R26 R27 R28 R29 R30 l l l l l l l l !
l A l t ! ! ! ! ! ! ! l KEY TO PREFIXES
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B i ! ! ! ! S ! ! ! ! l F - Standard Elements l l l C !
l l ! ! ! ! ! C - Control Elements
! ! HR-11 F -14 t F -1 1C-4 ! ! !
! KF - Half Front Element i i ! ! ! ! ! ! HR - Half Rear Element D !_ !
!F-8 !C-1 IF-16fF-9 !F-4 !F-10! l S - Source Holder
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!F-6 !C-2 !F-19tC-3 !F-12fF-11f l l ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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1 2 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 BRIDGE SIDE UMRR CORE STATUS Other BRT - Bare Rabbit Tube CRT - Cadmium Rabbit Tube
- T designates the thermal column-reflected mode, and W designates the water-reflected mode.
6 Table 2.
FACILITY USE OTHER THAN THE REACTOR Facility Hours Bare Rabbit Tube 66.65 Beam Port 27.87 Reactor Console 499.83 Total 594.35 Table 3.
REACTOR UTILIZATION Reactor use 762.65 hr Research and irradiation runs 330 hr Instruction runs 289 hr Maintenance runs 33.17 hr Training 110.48 hr Time at power 402 hr Heat generated 25824 ku-hr l
Total number of samples 301 Sample hours 158.61 hr Research and instruction usage (1) 29.75 %
U-235 burned 1.11 g U-235 burned and converted 1.33 g (8) Based on 2080 working hours per year.
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Table 4 RUNDOWNS Qalt Cause 04/16/87 (120% demand) Occurred when switching scales. Operator cautioned.
04/16/87 (120% demand) Occurred when switching scales. Operator cautioned. (
05/01/87 (120% demand) Occurred when switching scales. Operator cautioned.
05/19/87 (120% demand) Occurred when switching scales. Operat or cautioned.
07/29/87 (HIRAD) Repaired radiation monitor at desineralizer.
09/01/87 (120% rundown) Occurred when switching scales. Operator cautioned.
09/23/87 (120% demand) Occurred when switching scales. Operator cautioned.
10/18/87 (15 Sec.) Operator error. While 30 sec. bypass, fune tioning operator cautioned.
10/18/87 (120% demand) Occurred when switching scales. Operator cautioned
. 01/25/88 (120% demand) Occurred when switching scales. Operator cautioned.
01/29/88 (120% demand) Occurred while switching scales. Operator cautioned.
02/05/88 (120% demand) Occurred while switching scales. Operator cautioned.
02/09/88 (120% demand) Occurred when changing scales. Operator cautioned.
03/11/88 (Regulating Rod Insert Limit on Auto) Bad limit switch.
Switch changed.
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8 Table 5 SCRAMS Ealt Cause 04/22/87 (150% full power) Noise in saf ety channel . Saf ety channel checked.
04/23/87 (150% full power) Noise in safety channel. Saf ety channel checked. Removed and checked Log N CIC.
05/19/88 (Manual Scram) Training.
05/20/88 (Manual Scram) Training.
09/16/87 (150% Full Power) Checked safety channel and Log N CIC.
03/22/88 (150% Full Power) Placing magnet current switch in wrong position during los taking. Operator cautioned.
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Table 6 MAINTENANCE (Other than associated with Rundown, Scrams, and Semi-Annuals)
M Cause 04/10/87 Auto Controller Will not operate at high power.
Changed Us ,tU , U; in Recorder.
04/22/87 Log N & Period Amplifier Spikes causing SCRAMS.
Replaced CIC.
04/29/87 Log N Channel Log N Amplifier and Recorder reading low.
Adjusted Log N CIC to Linear Channel.
05/28/87 Linear Channel Auto controller would not stay in auto.
Adjusted setpoints.
07/20/87 Magnet No. 1 Magnet will not pick up rod.
Repaired magnet.
08/06/87 Reg. Rod Switch Switch will not return to normal (neutral position).
Rebuilt switch.
08/14/87 Shim Rod Switch Switch not returning to normal (Neutral position).
Rebuilt switch.
08/14/87 Linear Recorder Recorder not tracking meter.
Adjusted set point and clutch.
1 i 09/16/87 Auto Controller Causes rods to run in when placed in auto position.
Replaced Us , and V in auto controller, also Vt in recorder.
09/17/87 Log N Recorder Recorder indicatina low.
Adjusted recorder current using current source.
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10 09/24/87 Log N Recorder Recorder indicating low.
Adjusted recorder current using current source, after replacing R-11.
10/26/87 Area Monitor Local meter reading low.
Cleaned adjustment potentiometers and reset.
11/04/87 Linear Recorder Auto controller will not hold.
Adjusted cam and cam clutch and set point.
12/02/87 Magnet No. 1 Magnet coil has high resistance.
Repaired magnet.
01/18/88 Resistivity Meter Resistivity meter reading low.
Replaced resistivity probe.
03/11/88 Reg. Rod Insert Limit Light Light intermittent.
Replaced micro switch.
03/28/88 Magnet Current Supply Current couldn't be adjusted to zero.
Replaced Ve.
03/29/88 Safety Amp Chamber 1 power light on.
Replaced Ve. V e. V s R46.
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s 11 Table 7.
CORE LOADING AND UNLOADING Data 6/29/87 Unload (67W to suberit) for control rod inspection.
7/09/87 Reload (suberit to 67W) to return to previous configuration.
12 B. Core Data During this reporting period only the core designation 67 has been used. The "W" mode core (that is -- with the core completely reflected by water) was uscd for normal reactor operations. The "T" mode (with the core positioned near the graphite thermal column) is used f or extended operation (>3 hrs). or beam cort and thermal column experiments. The excess reactivity was measured for cold, cleen critical conditions. In day-to-day operation the excess reactivitv is ouite of ten lower due to the temperature increase of the pool.
Table 8. CORE TECHNICAL DATA e
Average Thermal Flux 1.6X1012 n/cm2 -sec at 200 kW Maximum Thermal Flux 2.8X1012 n/cm2 -sec at 200 ku Average Epithermal Flux 1.6X1012 n 'em2 -see at 200 kW Worth of Thermal Column 0.46%
Worth of Beam Port not detectable Rod Worth (in "T" mode)
Date 4-16-79 4-16-79 4-16-79 4-28-88 I 2,64% II 2.65% III 3.36% Reg. 0.354%
Excess Reactivity (in "T" mode) 0.73% Shutdown Margin (in "T" mode)' 4.56%.
Reactivity Addition Rate (max % K/K/sec)
I 0.019 II 0.019 III 0.026 Reg. 0.01 Rod Drop Time (24")
I 410 msec. II 400 esee, III 430 msec, Date 1-12-88 f
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" Rod No. III and Reg Rod not taken into account.
13 V. Public Relations The reactor staf f continues to help educate the public about the application of nuclear energy. Over 1887 persons toured the facility during this report period. Tour groups are usually given a brief orientation by a member of the reactor staff. Table 9 lists some of the public occasions and tours.
Some of the groups spent an entire day at the f acility becoming accusinted with the reactor and performing simple experiments. Usually these groups are from colleges which have no reactor facilities. Many high schools (juniors and seniors) are given similar tours, too.
Table 9. PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAM DATE PARTICIPANT NUMBER April 8. 1987 Senior Citizen Tour. Illinois 33 April 25, 1987 Spring Open House 121 July 17, 1987 Summer Open House 50 October 22, 1987 Military Wives. Ft . Wood 22 October 24, 1987 Parents' Day 106 October 26, 1987 Material f or Nuclear Applications Conf erence 13 October 31. 1987 University Day 202 February 20, 1988 Merit Badge University 30 February 23, 1988 Chemistry Short Course 15 I
February 27, 1988 Math Counts 9 March 10,1988 Cub Scout Troop 4246. Rolla 13 f 614 4
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I UI. Education Utilization i
Thirty UMR students, graduates and undergraduates, have participated in !
i classes at the facility. utilizing 52 student-semester hours of allocated tise. '
Also students from several colleges, and high schools have used the facility.
l The following is a list of scheduled classes at the facility along with the total hours of reactor use for this reporting period.
1 Reactor )
Course Title Students Hours l NE 300 Special Problems 2 15 1
i NE 304 Reactor Laboratory I 8 48 NE 306 Reactor Operations 10 146 NE 308 Reactor Laboratory II 6 52 NE 490 Research 4 60 i
A program called Reactor Sharing Program, funded by the Department of Energy. was i
established for colleges and universities which do not own a nuclear reactor. In cddition. high schools can participate in this program, too. About 400 students and their instructors participated in this program. Table 10 lists those schools er similar groups that were involved in this year's program.
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Table 10. REACTOR SHARING PROGRAM
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Dalt PARTICIPANT NUMBER April 16, 1987 St. Charles-West High School 22 May 7, 1987 Crocker High School 23 May 28, 1987 Sullivan High School 8 June 10. 1987 School of Engineering High'Schot.'s 61 June 11. 1987 9.ekling Institute 41 June 25, 1987 Jackling Institute 36 August 13, 1987 Fundamentals of Engineering 96 September 28, 1987 Rolla Vo-Tech School 14 December 8, 1987 Nuclear Engineering Sophomores 8 January 6.1988 ArkaGsas College 8 January 27,
- 988 Pasatatton High School 18 February 19 988 St. Francis Borgia High School 17 February 23, 1989 Potost M.ch School 11 February 25, 1988 Universitv of Missouri-Columbia Nuclear Engineering 7 February 1988 S,': phen Ingracia. West Plains Hasa Schou' Individual 2 February 1988 Bob Salk. Rolla High School. Individual t'coject 1 March 10.198A Linn Techn'eal College 27 400 O
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16 UII. Reactor Health Physics Activities The health physics activities at the UMR Reactor Facility consist primarily of radiation and contamination surveys, monitoring ei personnel exposures, airborne activity, pool water activity and waste disposal . Releases cf all bv-product material to authorized, licenseo recipients are surveyed and recorded. In addition, health physics activities include calibrations of portable and stationary radiation detection instruments, personnel training, special surveys and monitoring of non-routine procedures. New Health Physics SOP's are being reviewed and additional SOPS are being written and will be implemented.
Routine Survevs Monthly radiation surveys of the f acility consist of direct gamma and neutron measurements with the reactor at power. No unusual exposure rates were found. Monthly surf ace contamination surveys consist of 20 to 30 swipes counted separately for alpha, beta and gamma activity. In 12 monthly surveys, no significant contamination cutside of contained work areas was found.
Ev-Product Material Release Survevs During the period, there were no shipments of by product material released i fr om the reacsor f acility with the exception of 12 rad +E check sources and 1 Ra-l 226 source which were disposed of through an approved f acility.
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R;utine Monitoring Thirty reactor f acility personnel and students f reouently involved with operations in the reactor f acility are currently assigned beta gamma. neutron film badges which are read twice each month. There are 4 beta gamma, neutron bcdges assigned and one test badge to check accuracy of exposure reports. Twen t y-f ive campus personnel and students are assigned beta gamma film badges, and frecuently TLD ring badges for materials and X-rav work on campus. There are 28 spare badges assigned on campus. In addition, 4-7 direct-reading dosimeters are used for visitors and high radiation area work. There have been no personnel over exposures during the period.
Airborne activity in the reaccor f acility is constantly monitored by a fixed-filter, particulate continuous air monitor (CAM) located in the reactor bav.
Argon-41 is routinely detected during operations.
Pool water activity ?s monitored monthly to ensure that no groes pool contamination nor fuel cladding rupture has occurred. Gross counts and spectra of long-lived gamma activity are compared to previous monthlv counts. From April through March sample concentrations averaged 2.03x10 4 uCi/ml.
Waste Disposal Release of gaseous and particulate activity through the building exhaunts is determined by relating the operating times of the exhaust f ans and reactor power during f an operation to previously measured air activity at maximum reactor power.
During this period 404.03 millicuries were released into the air. Released isotope was identified as Ar-41. .
r 18 Solid waste, including used water filters, used resins and contaminated paper is stored and/or transf erred to the campus waste storage area for later shipment to a commercial burial site. Radioactive waste released to the sanitarv
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sewer is primarily from regeneration of the resin exchange column. During this period 14 releases to the sanitary sewer totaling approximately 6310 gallons of concentrated resin regeneration solution and pool water were discharged with a total gross activity of 0.332 millicuries. One sample contained trace amounts of Cs-137. The total release f or CS-137 was 5.91 microcuries in 465 gallon.
Instrument Calibrations During this ceriod, portable instruments were calibrated two times. Remote area monitors were checked for calibration two times.
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19 UIll, Plans The past ef forts to upgrade research capabilities and to increase usage of the facility will continue in the future. It is intended to establish a group of regular users f or the new f act gamma-spectroscopy system. This system which is equipped with a sc;tware f or the peak search and nuclide identification enables a higher sample throughput and mere accurate elemental analysis than in the past.
A study will be performed to assess the feasibility of a modification of the present pneumatic sample transf er system. The system would be modified such tilat some of the irradiated samples could be transferred directly from the reactor to the new system f or analysis. This would eliminate manuel sample handling and enable to analyze short-lived radioisotopes. Preliminarv estimates show that about $20,000 will be needed for this upgrade.
A possibility to increase the reactor power, while still maintaining the cooling by natural convection, is being discusred. For that purpose a proposal to obtain external funds for a reactor power upgrade study will be prepared. It is hoped that such an upgrade would help to attract some of the users seeking higher neutron output.
Likewise, we will continue our ef fort to extend the group of utility users who use the facility for their reactor operator training. The reactor is an excellent teaching and training tool especially in the area of neutron and reactor
( physics. The reimbursement for t.e training will help to defray some of the f acility costs and to purchase some needed research and instructional eavipment.
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e 20 The amount of research and development work could significantly be increased if the facility had a full time dedicated person for such work. It is planned, theref ore, to arrange f or a one-year (or longer) visit of a scientist who would work in the area of neutron activation analysis and perhaps would help to develop the neutron depth profiling technique. Thi. novel technicue enables to measure the distribution of certain coating materials, e.g. the thicxness of nitride and boren film layers. Dif f erent possibilities to find a f unding f or such a visit will be explored.
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Nuclear Reactor Facility UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI ROLLA Nuclear Reactor Rolta. Missours 65401 0249 Telephone (314) 3414236 May 20. 1988 Mr. Alexander Adams Standardization & Special Pro.iects Division of Licensing - NRC Washington D.C. 20555 Mail Stop 11-A-20
Dear Mr. Adams:
Attacned is a complimentary copv of the 1987-88 Progress Report I for the Universitv of Missouri-Rolla Nuclear Reactor Facilitv.
Sincerelv.
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Milan Straka l Reactor Manarer lp Enclosure hD e t a n e Qual o p portunity mit 'vi>0n
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