ML13269A076

Ohio State University Research Reactor, Annual Report

ML13269A076
Person / Time
Site:	Ohio State University
Issue date:	09/23/2013
From:	Blue T Ohio State University
To:	Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
Download: ML13269A076 (10)

Text

T H - E The Ohio State University 1298 Kinnear Road OHIO Nuclear Reactor Laboratory Columbus, OH 43212 SPhone 614-688-8220 UNIVERSITY Fax 614-292-2209 23-Sep-2013 Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission One White Flint North 11555 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852-2738

SUBJECT:

Annual Report for The Ohio State University Research Reactor, License R-75, Docket 50-150 Please find enclosed the annual report for The Ohio State University Research Reactor, Docket No. 50-150. This report is being submitted as required by our Technical Specifications, Section 6.6.1. If you have questions on the content of this report, please contact Mr. Andrew Kauffman, Associate Director of the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, at 614-688-8220.

I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed on 23-Sep-2013.

Sincerely, Thomas E. Blue, Director OSU Nuclear Reactor Lab The Ohio State University (License R-75, Docket 50-150) c:

David B. Williams, Dean, OSU College of Engineering Randolph L. Moses, Associate Dean for Research, OSU College of Engineering A. C. Kauffman, OSU Nuclear Reactor Lab

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT FOR FY 2012/2013 SEPTEMBER 2013 OSURR Annual Report Page 1 of 9 Sep 2013

Introduction As stated in The Ohio State University Research Reactor (OSURR) Technical Specifications Section 6.6.1, Operating Reports, an annual report shall be made to the NRC by September 30 of each year. This report is to include the following seven information items:

1. A narrative summary of operating experience (including experiments performed) and of changes in facility design, performance characteristics, and operating procedures related to reactor safety occurring during the reporting period

2. A tabulation showing the energy generated by the reactor (in kilowatt hours) and the number of hours the reactor was in use

3. The results of safety related maintenance and inspections and the reasons for corrective maintenance of safety-related items

4. A table of unscheduled shutdowns and inadvertent scrams, including their reasons and the corrective actions taken

5. A summary of the safety analyses performed in connection with changes to the facility or procedures, which affect reactor safety, and performance of tests or experiments carried out under the conditions of 10 CFR 50.59

6. A summary of the nature and amount of radioactive gaseous, liquids, and solid effluents released or discharged to the environs beyond the effective control of the licensee as measured or calculated at or prior to the point of such release or discharge

7. A summary of radiation exposures received by facility personnel and visitors, including the dates and times of significant exposures These seven information items are discussed below for the period July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013, except as noted for exposure records.

1. Summary of Operating Experience and Changes 1.A. Experiments Performed The OSURR engages in a wide range of research endeavors, including neutron activation analysis (NAA), radiation-damage studies, neutron and radiation sensitive detector development, isotope production, and biomedical experiments. Much of the NAA work performed at the OSURR is for geological and material science samples, but NAA is used for other purposes, such as industrial and biological. Most radiation-damage studies performed at the OSURR are for electronic and fiber-optic components, but studies have been performed for other materials. The OSURR has been involved in the development of a number of potential types of neutron and radiation detectors, including fiber-optic based systems, and it regularly tests fission chambers for use in commercial power reactors by characterizing their response to known neutron flux. Isotope production has typically been performed for medical research, but sources have been created for other uses, including testing of radiation-sensitive detectors. Biological sample irradiations performed at the OSURR have been for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) studies. In addition, other experiments are performed at the OSURR, such as reactivity worth measurements, spectrum characterizations using flux-wire activation and analysis, and physics experiments such as neutron irradiation of fullerenes.

The OSURR also provides a variety of instructional services ranging from general tours to individual and group laboratory sessions and research projects structured to student and faculty OSURR Annual Report Page 2 of 9 Sep 2013

interests. Nuclear engineering and physics classes throughout Ohio have utilized the OSURR for the following basic experiments:

a. approach to critical (using banked control rods rather than fuel loading)

b. control rod calibration by rod drop, positive period, and subcritical multiplication

c. measurement of the reactor transfer function by noise analysis

d. temperature coefficient measurements

e. radiological surveys When the OSURR is used to introduce students, faculty or other experimenters to nuclear research, the following are typically done:

a. discuss nuclear reactions and radiological safety

b. operate the reactor at 10kW-100kW

c. have the individuals observe control room operations

d. complete a tour and demonstrate irradiation techniques Neutron activation analysis experiments are performed for students ranging from high school to graduate school.

The reactor utilization for July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013 is summarized in the following reports. Please note that the utilization hours listed below only reflect actual reactor operating time.

The list does not include hours spent on tasks supporting this reactor utilization.

OSURR Annual Report Page 3 of 9 Sep 2013

The Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Lab Reactor Utilization Report:

July 1 - December 31, 2012 User (Affiliation)

Description Hours' A. Marchand (AFIT)

Shielding properties of composite materials 3.4 E. Scherrer (AFIT)

Radiation effects on electronic devices 11.4 J. Shinn (AFIT)

Radiation effects on materials 1.8 2

GE Reuter-Stokes Testing fission chambers 67.5 Lambda Instruments Radiation effects on fiber-based sensors 49.6 2

Luna Innovations Evaluation of a fiber-based neutron sensor 8.0 L. Cao (OSU NE)

Radiation effects on GaN 3.4 L. Cao (OSU NE)

Neutron depth profiling (NDP) 26.3 L. Cao (OSU NE)

Prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) 2.0 L. Cao (OSU NE)

Neutron imaging 2.6 OSU NE program Laboratory classes and tours 12.9 S. Glover (UC)

Irradiation of silica disks 0.0 2

H. Spitz (UC)

NAA of filter papers 4.7 2

NRL staff Annual maintenance, operator requalification, etc.

24.7 Various Tours: OSU WiE RISE, Ohio Energy Project, OSU 13.6 IS 4771, Kenyon College Total:

231.9 Notes:

1.

The utilization hours listed above reflect actual reactor operating time. The list does not include hours spent on tasks supporting this reactor utilization (pre-start and post-shutdown checkout, experiment setup, etc.).

2.

Does not include reactor utilization time when run as a secondary user concurrent with a primary user OSURR Annual Report Page 4 of 9 Sep 2013

The Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Lab Reactor Utilization Report:

January 1 - June 30, 2013 User (Affiliation)

Description Hours1 -

Gollub (Vanderbilt)

Radiation effects on photoluminescence 1.0 Collar (U. of Chicago)

Calibration of detector system 25.6 Schaefer (Air Force)

Carbon fullerites 2.0 GE Reuter-Stokes Fission chamber testing 36.3 Jones (OSU NE)

ITC measurement 7.4 Petrie (OSU NE)

NAA of experiment materials 0.3 2

Qiu (OSU NE)

Radiation effects on magnets 2.0 Wood (OSU NE)

NAA of experiment materials 0.7 2

L. Cao (OSU NE)

Neutron depth profiling, GaN 23.3 2

OSU NE program Laboratory classes and tours 27.8 S. Glover (UC)

Silica disks, NAA of fly ash 7.0 K. Lepper (NDSU)

NAA of geological samples 1.4 NRL staff Annual mantenance, facility characterization 14.2 Various Tours: Ohio Energy Project, OSU IS 4771, Bluffton 13.7 H.S., OSU Physics Total:

162.7 Notes:

1.

The utilization hours listed above reflect actual reactor operating time. The list does not include hours spent on tasks supporting this reactor utilization (pre-start and post-shutdown checkout, experiment setup, etc.).

2.

Does not include reactor utilization time when run as a secondary user concurrent with a primary user OSURR Annual Report Page 5 of 9 Sep 2013

1.B. Changes in Facility Design There were no facility design changes that required a change to the Technical Specifications.

10CFR50.59 changes are described in Section 5.A of this report.

1.C. Changes in Performance Characteristics There have been no changes in performance characteristics related to reactor safety in the last year.

I.D. Changes in Operating Procedures There were no changes in operating procedures related to reactor safety in the last year.

10CFR50.59 changes are described in Section 5.B of this report.

2. Energy Generated and Hours of Use Kilowatt-Hours of Operation: 50280.8 kW-hr Hours of Utilization: 394.6 hr

3. Safety Related Maintenance None.

4. Unscheduled Shutdowns From July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 there were 3 unplanned shutdowns. These are summarized below.

Reason Corrective Action Period Safety scram from noise on log (3)

None required channel

5. Changes in Facility and Procedures in Accordance with 10CFR50.59 5.A. Facility Modifications During the period July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, three OSURR Modification Requests were completed:

1) Linear channel recorder replacement

2) Period recorder replacement

3) Cooling system pump-sensing module replacement 5.B. Procedure changes The following is a list of procedure changes made under 10-CFR-50.59 from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013 in accordance with Administrative Procedure AP-05, Format for Writing, Revising, and Approving Procedures.

Procedure Procedure Revision Number Title Date EP-01 Emergency Procedures 10/01/12 OSURR Annual Report Page 6 of 9 Sep 2013

EP-03 Response to Scrams and Alarms 09/12/12 EP-04 Emergency Equipment Inventory 08/31/12 IM-03 OSURR Pre-Start Checkout 08/07/12 OM-17 Beam Port 2 Beam Facility Use 08/09/12

6. Radioactive Effluents 6.A. Gaseous Effluent The only gaseous effluent measured is the release of Ar-41. For the period July 1 - Dec. 31, 2012, Ar-41 releases measured 1.82% of the annual average concentration limit. From Jan. 1 - June 30, 2013, releases measured 0.92% of the annual average concentration limit. In accordance with the requirements of 10CFR20.1101 (d), the COMPLY code was run using the total Ar-41 release for the period July 1, 2012 - June 30, 2013 of 221.5 mCi. Using level 2 in the code, the effective dose equivalent rate at the facility fence was computed to be 0.2 mrem/yr. This is well below the 10 mrem/yr constraint specified in the regulation.

6.B. Liquid Releases Hot sink releases are recorded and reported through the OSU Office of Radiation Safety. One release was made to the sanitary sewer system during the period July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, and it contained: 93.75 pCi Co-60, 27.62 pCi Ba-133, and 49.17 pCi Cs-137.

6.C. Solid Releases No releases of solid radioactive material were made to the uncontrolled environment.

7. Radiation Exposures Since the firm that maintains records for The Ohio State University keeps a year-to-date record, it is simpler to report radiation exposure records by the nearest completed calendar year. Therefore, dosimetry badge exposures in this report are for the period January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. Thirteen individuals were monitored as radiation workers during this period, and the measured dose equivalent values are tabulated below in mrem.

Individual Dose Equivalent (mrem)

DDE LDE SDE, WB SDE, ME Visitors 0

0 0

N/A Staff member #1 32 35 35 289 Staff member #2 9

9 9

177 Staff member #3 225 228 228 751 Staff member #4 132 136 145 457 Staff member #5 202 206 206 806 Staff member #6 45 45 45 370 Staff member #7 11 11 11 Student #1 19 19 19 214 Student #2 7

7 7

36 Student #3 3

3 3

21 Student #4 49 49 52 Student #5 8

9 11 130 Student #6 7

7 7

26 OSURR Annual Report Page 7 of 9 Sep 2013

COMPLY: V1.6.

7/

2/2013 12:52 40 CFR Part 61 National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLEAN AIR ACT LIMITS FOR RADIONUCLIDE EMISSIONS FROM THE COMPLY CODE - Vl.6.

Prepared by:

Ohio State University Nuclear Reactor Lab 1298 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH Andrew Kauffman 614-688-8220 Prepared for:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Radiation and Indoor Air Washington, DC 20460 OSURR Annual Report Page 8 of 9 Sep 2013

COMPLY: V1.6.

7/ 2/2013 12:52 NRL_2013 SCREENING LEVEL 2 DATA ENTERED:

Release Rate Nuclide (curies/YEAR)

AR-41 2.215E-01 Release height 10 meters.

Building height 11 meters.

The source and receptor are not on the same building.

Distance from the source to the receptor is 15 meters.

Building width 25 meters.

Default mean wind speed used (2.0 m/sec).

NOTES:

Input parameters outside the "normal" range:

None.

RESULTS:

Effective dose equivalent:

0.2 mrem/yr.

• • • Comply at level 2.

This facility is in COMPLIANCE.

It may or may not be EXEMPT from reporting to the EPA.

You may contact your regional EPA office for more information.

• END OF COMPLIANCE REPORT OSURR Annual Report Page 9 of 9 Sep 2013