ML22164A009

Annual Report for the University of Texas Triga II Nuclear Research Reactor

ML22164A009
Person / Time
Site:	University of Texas at Austin
Issue date:	06/13/2022
From:	Whaley P University of Texas at Austin
To:	Geoffrey Wertz NRC/NRR/DANU
References
Download: ML22164A009 (9)

Text

WALKER DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory Pickle Research Campus R-9000

• Austin, Texas 78758

• 512-232-5380

• FAX 5/2-47/-4589 nuclear.engr.utexas.edu

• wcharlton@austin.utexas.edu ATTN: Document Control Desk Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Geoffrey Wertz, P.E.

Non-Power Production and Utilization Facility Licensing Branch (UNPL)

Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities (DANU)

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

SUBJECT:

Docket Number 50-602, License R-126, 2021 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TRIGA II NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR Sir:

Attached is the 2021 Annual Report for the University of Texas TRIGA II Nuclear Reactor (previously communicated via email). If three are any questions, please feel free to contact P. M.

Whaley at 512-232-5373 or whaley@mail.utexas.com.

Sincerely

~

P. M. Whaley

2021 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TRIGA II NUCLEAR RESEARCH REACTOR (DOCKET 50-602)

INTRODUCTION The University of Texas System (UTS) was established by the Texas Constitution in 1876, with the University of Texas at Austin the flagship institution. The Nuclear Engineering Teaching Laboratory was established at the J. J. Pickle Research Campus with a TRI GA II Nuclear Research Reactor, critical in 1992. The reactor is licensed to the University of Texas under USNRC License R-129, a class 104 research reactor. Other activities at the NETL using radioisotopes fall under a broad scope, State of Texas license (L00485).

The NETL TRI.GA II Reactor Technical Specifications (section 6.6.1) requires an annual report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This Annual Report covers the period from January through December 2021. The report is organized to summarize the status of current organization during the reporting period (line management organization, oversight committees, and independent oversight activities) followed by the information as detailed in Technical Specifications.

ANNUAL REPORT Personnel status for the organization during the 2020-2021 reporting year for management, oversight, and operating staff is provided. The Technical Specifications requires "Routine annual reports covering the activities of the reactor facility during the previous calendar year" three months following the end of each prescribed year. The information required in the annual report is addressed as indicated in Table 1.

Table 1: Required Annual Report Information Information Addressed as A narrative summary of reactor operating experience including Narrative Summary

a. the energy produced by the reactor or the hours the reactor was Energy produced: 14MWD critical, or both. Hours critical: 588 h Tabulation of Unscheduled The unscheduled shutdowns including, where applicable, Shutdowns b.

corrective action taken to preclude recurrence.

Analysis and Corrective Action Statement of Surveillance Tabulation of major preventive and corrective maintenance Activities

c. Description of Significant operations having safety significance.

Corrective Maintenance Description of Facility Tabulation of major changes m the reactor facility and Modifications procedures, and tabulation of new tests or experiments, or both, Description of Procedure

d. that are significantly different from those performed previously, Changes including conclusions that no new or unanalyzed safety questions Description of New were identified. Tests/Experiments 50.59 Summary

A summary of the nature and amount of radioactive effluents released or discharged to the environs beyond the effective control of the owner-operator as determined at or before the point There were no liquid effluents in of such release or discharge. The summary shall include, to the 2021 e.

extent practicable, an estimate of individual radionuclides in the effluent. If the estimated average release after dilution or diffusion is less than 25% of the concentration allowed or Argon 41 Effluent recommended, a statement to this effect is sufficient.

A summarized result of environmental surveys performed

f. Environmental Surveys outside the facility .

A summary of exposures received by facility personnel and

g. visitors where such exposures are greater than 25% of that Exposures allowed or recommended.

ORGANIZATION Line Management Figure 1 presents the four levels of management identified in Technical Specifications.

Executi,** Vic* Pr*sident and Radiation Safety Provost Committee Reactor Oversight Committee Radiation Safety Nuclear Engin<cring Teaching Officer Laboratory Director Associate Director Health Physicist Reactor Supervisor Opcrarions Staff Reactor & Senior Operators Figure 1: Line Management Organization

Table 2: Level 1 The University of Texas at Austin Administration J. Hartzell, PhD, President Sharon L. Wood, PhD, Executive Vice President and Provost Roger T. Bonnecaze, Dean, Cockrell School of Engineering DR. Wood was appointed Executive Vice President and Provost with Dr. Bonnecaze interim Dean in July 2021 Table 3.: Level 2 Mechanical Engineering and NETL Administration Dr. Donald Siegel, Chair, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering Dr. W. Charlton, Director P. M. Whaley, Associate Director Dr. Siegel assumed the role of Department Chair in September 2021 Table 4: Level 3 NETL Reactor Supervisor Larry Hall, Reactor Manger There was no change in the reactor manager during 2021.

Table 5: Level 4 NETL Reactor Operators/Senior Reactor Operators P. M Whaley: Senior Operator Larry Hall: Senior Operator Jim T~rry (Electronic Technician) Senior Operator Tracy Tipping (Health Physicist) Reactor Operator Walker Payne (Research Assistant) Reactor Operator Kevin McKay -- Reactor Operator Mark Andrews (Research Associate) - Reactor Operator There was no change of licensed operators in 2021 Oversight Committees Table 6: 2020-2021 University Radiation Safety Committee Kevin N. Dalby, Ph.D., Chair, Professor, College of Pharmacy Dan Jaffe, Ph.D., Vice-Chair, Office of the Vice President for Research R. De Wayne Holcomb, ex-officio, Radiation Safety Officer, Environmental Health and Safety Kristi Powell, ex-officio, Radiation Safety Officer, Dell Medical School Jack L. Ritchie, Ph.D., Department Chair, Professor, Department of Physics Rick Russel, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences John Salsman, Director, Environmental Health and Safety (& acting Radiation Safety Officer)

Christopher S. Sullivan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences J. Steven Swinnea, Ph.D., Texas Materials Institute X-Ray Facility Manager Tracy N. Tipping, NETL Health Physicist and Laboratory Manager Karen M. Vasquez, Ph.D., Professor, College of Pharmacy

Table 7: 2020-2021 Reactor Oversight Committee Derek Haas (ME), Chair Kevin Clarno (ME), Chair Dale Klein (ME)

Rick Neptune, ex-officio (ME)

John G. Ekerdt, ex-officio Lawrence R. Jacobi (External Representative)

Scott Pennington (External Representative)

Larry Hall, ex-officio (NETL)

Tracy Tipping, ex-officio (NETL)

Mike Whaley, ex-officio (NETL)

DeWayne Holcomb (Radiation Safety Officer)

Independent Oversight Activities Table 8: Inspections and Reviews USNRC License(s) Inspection R-129 16-19 November 2021 State of Texas License Inspection L00485 (89) 01 June 2021 Reactor Oversight Committee Review Semi Annual Review 13 May 2021 Semi Annual Review 24 Nov 2021 Other UT Fire Marshal Fire Safety None 02 March 2021 UT Fire Safety Systems 18 November 2021 FACILITY OPERATIONS"

SUMMARY

REPORT Narrative Summary The UT-TRIGA reactor operated on 180 days in 2021, producing a total energy output of321 MWh. There were routine maintenance outages in Jan and July, (Jan maintenance outage was completed in Jan 2021 post-Christmas break (The University is secured over Christmas break, typically from the Friday before Christmas through January 1) to support an experiment schedule. The COVID 19 pandemic affected the operating schedule, which r~sulted in limited staff and student ability to enter facility for an extended period of time. Even with the special event that limited reactor operations, the trend of operating hours and energy generation remained relatively high. Sandia National Laboratory performed experiments at the facility during 2021.

There were 10 days of operations for training and education, including preparation for NRC examination and reactor-based laboratory classes. There were 650 samples irradiated during 180days of experiment operations (49 experiments run: 15 for research, 22 for service work and 12 for internal experiments.

Other Significant Operations and Events Tabulation of Unscheduled Shutdowns TABLE 9: UNSCHEDULED SHUTDOWNS 25 Jan 2021 NM3/4PWR Playback indicated 97% prior to trip Spurious NM 26 Feb 2021 NM3/4PWR Playback indicated 97% prior to trip Spurious NM 01 Mar 2021 NM3/4PWR Playback indicated 99% prior to trip Spurious NM 18 Aug 2021 NM3/4PWR Operator error during NM adjustment Operator error Analysis and Corrective Actions Temperature Trips There were no temperature trips in 2021 a significant change from previous years.

Operator Error There was a single reactor scram due to operator error. The scram occurred while adjusting constant in NM.

Spurious NM 1000 Power Level Trips The NM was responsible for three spurious scrams. Playback allows the operator to witness the highest level of power reached. In all cases, the scram occurred well below the scram limit.

This has been a recurring event throughout the history of UT NETL.

Statement of Surveillance Activities The facility conducts two major maintenance outages each year, one in January (before the start of the spring semester) and one mid-summer. All surveillances and scheduled maintenance activities were completed during the reporting year at the required frequencies. All results met or exceeded the requirements of the Technical Specifications.

Description of Significant Corrective Maintenance None Description of Facility Modifications New alarm and camera software were installed with greater capabilities available on both systems.

Description of Procedure Changes None New Tests or Experiments None 50.59 Summary None The pneumatic facility in a 3-EL canister is in the design phase; a 10CFRS0.59 review will be completed following review of final design and prior to installation (ongoing)

RADIOLOGICAL

SUMMARY

REPORT Argon 41 Effluent The principal radioactive effluent for the UT reactor is argon 41. There were 3.8 x10 5 µCi of argon-41 discharged during calendar year 2021, approximately 0.3% of the value permitted by Technical Specifications.

Environmental Surveys NETL monitors exterior locations indicated as positions 1 through 6 on the exterior dosimeter map. For 2021, "minimal" doses(< 1 mrem) were reported for positions 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6. A dose of one mrem was reported for position 1 for 2021. These doses are well below the 100 mrem annual limit for dose to the general public.

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The Texas Department of State Health Services monitors exterior locations near NETL indicated as positions 1 through 5 on the TDSHS TLD map. For this period, a 2 mrem dose was reported for position 1, a 9 mrem dose was reported for position 2, a 3 mrem dose was reported for position 3, a 17 mrem dose was reported for position 4, and an 8 mrem dose was reported for position 5. These doses are well below the 100 mrem annual limit for dose to the general public.

Exposures No workers or members of the general public received doses in excess of 25% of applicable exposure limits during 2020.