ML18200A064
| ML18200A064 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Reed College |
| Issue date: | 07/13/2018 |
| From: | Krahenbuhl M Reed College |
| To: | Document Control Desk, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML18200A064 (18) | |
Text
REACTOR FACILITY 3203 So uth east Woodstock Boulevard Portland , Oregon 97202-8199 telepho11e 503/777-7222 fax 503'777-7274 email r eac t or@reed.ed u web http://reacror.reed.edu REED COLLEGE July 13, 2018 ATTN: Document Control Desk U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Docket: 50-288 License No: R-112 Enclosed is the annual report for Reed College. Please contact me if you have any questions.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed o~ 1 ) WI V Director, Reed Research Reactor Cc: Geoffrey A. Wertz , P.E. Project Manager Research and Test Reactors U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission REED RESEARCH REACTOR ANNUAL REPORT July 1, 2017 --June 30, 2018 3203 Southeast Woodstock Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97202-8199 503-777-7222 http ://re ac tor .reed .ed u reactor@reecl.e du I TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview .....................................................................................................................................
1 People ..........................................................................................................................................
2 Reactor Staff ........................................................
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2 Reactor Operations Committee (ROC) .......................................................................................
4 F acili ti es ......................................................................................................................................
5 Reactor Facility ..................................................................................................................................
5 Rotating Specimen Rack Facility .................................................................................................
5 Pneumatic Transfer System ......................
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5 In-Core Facilities
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......... 5 In-Pool Facilities
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5 Beam Facilities
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5 Inspections and Audits .............................................................................................................
6 Users ............................................................................................................................................
7 Reactor Operations Seminar ..................
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7 Outside Users .................................
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7 High School Student Project ................................................................
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8 Scaler Kits ........................................................................................................................................
.... 9 Reed Classes ........................................................................................................................................
9 Industrial and Commercial Applications
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9 Reactor Operations
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10 0 per a tions .........................................................................................................................................
10 Unplanned Reactor Shutdowns
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11 Reactor Maintenance
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13 S ignificant Maintenance
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13 Radiation Protection
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14 Personnel Dosimetry
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14 Fixed Area Dosimetry
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14 Gaseous Releases ............................................................................................................................
15 Liquid Waste Releases .........................................
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15 Solid Waste Disposal ......................................................................................................................
15 Environmental Sampling ..............................................................................................................
15 R ee d R ese ar c h R eac t o r An nu al R e p o r t 2 01 7-2 018 3 I OVERVIEW This report covers the period from July 1 , 2017 to June 30, 2018, and is intended to fulfill the reporting requirements of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission License No. R-11 2 , Docket 50-288 , the U.S. Department of Energy , a nd the Oregon Department of E n ergy Rule No. 345-030-010.
R eed College operates a 250 kW TRIG A-Mark I rea c t or. The Reed College Research Reactor has been a resource for rese a rch a nd e ducation a l proje c ts in the Portland area s in ce 1968. The m ai n use s of the Re e d R esearc h R eac tor are instruction and research , es p ecia lly in the fi e ld of trace-element analysis.
Durin g the year there were 1031 visitors from sc hools, colleges, universities, and special gro up s. Additionally , 1769 visitors were part of Reed Colle ge a ctivities (prospective s tud ents, family of students, Reed classes, etc.). Thirty members of emergency response organizat i ons came for t rai nin g. Includin g t ours and research conducted at the facility, the Reed Research R eac tor contributed to the ed uc a tion al pro gra m s of 37 colleges, univer s itie s and 17 K-12 schools. Durin g the year th e reactor was t ake n critical 552 tim es on 1 8 0 days. The total energy produ ce d was approximately 25 meg a watt-hour s. The reactor s taff co n s i s t s of a Dir ecto r , a R eactor Operati o n s Manager , and Reed Colle ge und ergra duate students who a re licensed b y th e Nuclear Regulatory Commission as r eac tor operators or se nior re ac tor operator s. During th e r epor ting period , 24 RO ca n dida t es a nd 5 SRO candidates received NRC lic e n ses af t e r p assi ng NRC exams a dmini s t e red in October 2017 and March 201 8. There were no radiation exposures to indi v i d u a l s in excess of the any limits during the year. There were no re l eases of l iquid radi oac tive material from the facility and airborne rele ases were well within regulatory limit s. The Nuclear Re g ul a tory Commi ss ion c onduct e d a regular inspection during thi s period. The in spec tion resulting in no s i g nific a nt findin gs.
i PEOPLE Reactor Staff During the period July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, the s taff consisted of: Tab l e 1 Supervisory Staff 2017-2018 Reactor Director:
Me l inda Krahenbuhl 6/11 -present Reactor Operations Manager: Ilana Novakoski 9/17 -present Christina Barrett 6/15-9/17 Radiation Safety Officer: April Karr Sams 5/16 -present Operations Supervisor:
Sarah Brodesser 5/16-5/18 Colin Whitmore 5/18 -present Training Supervisor:
Margie Oxley 5/16-5/18 Colin Whitmore 5/17 -5/18 Maileen Nakashima 5/18 -present Elena McKnight 5/18 -present Requalification Supervisor:
Trent Freeman 5/16-5/18 Brianna Dobson 5/18 -present Projects Supervisor. Malcolm McCarthy 5/15 -12/17 Mark Anthony Loya 12/17 -5/18 Victoria Ellis 5/18 -present Table 2 Staff 2017-2018 Senior Reactor Operators (SRO) Sarah Brodesser Trenton Freeman Zachary Beadle Il a na Novakoski Christ in a Barrett C laire Mashlan Anthony Loy a Anton Zytsev Milander Victoria Ellis Maileen Malcolm Mc Ca rth y Helen Z han g Nakashima Matyas S za bo Melinda Colin Whitmore Bok Wai (Gabe) Krahenbuhl Yeung Bri a nna D o b so n Grayson Perez Margie Oxley Reactor Operators (RO) Jilli a n J ames Giolando Sophie Bend er Rebecc a Xie Ramirez Alex a nd e r Matthew Parsons E l ena McKni g ht Kee s Abr a hams Benkendorfer Henry Scheffer Avantika Vivek Lorenzo Barrar Callie Burris Sh a wn Owens Palak Jain Stephanie Ge e Dorothy Chen g Laura Y osh id a Rhody Kaner Tenzien San gpo Ashle e Cook Nick Egan Emmet Kahn Miriam Zitler Yu Fu S egov i a G a rcia Add i son Guynn J onathon Li Val Lim Yilian Liu Thoma s Natalie Murphy Gaofei (Ne mo) Malthouse Shen 2 The list of operators includes everyone who held a license at any time during the reporting period. Reactor Operators who upgrade their licenses to Senior Reactor Operators during the reporting period are li ste d under Senior Reactor Operators.
There are fifty licensed operators at Reed College. Reed R esearch Reactor Annual Report 2017-2018 3
Reactor Operations Committee (ROC) For the 2017 -2018, the membership of the Reactor Operation committee is listed. Reactor Operations Committee
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- 4 Wayne Lei -(Director of Re sea rch and Development , Portl an d General Electric)
Norm Dyer (OAR Services)
John Essick (Physics Faculty, Reed College) Robert McCollough (Neighborhood Association)
April Karr Sams (Director, Reed Environmental Health and Safety) Dan G err ity -(Chemistry Faculty , Reed College) Steve Reese (Radiation Center Director, Oregon State University)
Nigel Nicholson (Dean of the Faculty, Reed College) Melinda Krahenbuhl (Director , RRR) Christina Barrett/Ilana Novakoski (Reactor Operations M a n ager, RRR) Sarah Brodesser (Supervisor, RRR) i FACILITIES Reactor Facility In a ddition to the rea c tor , Re ed Colle ge ha s a ra dio c h emistry lab. The e quipm e nt ava il able at the reactor facility includes hi g h purit y ger manium ga mm a spectrometers, ion cha mb ers, b e t a co unt ers, Gei ger Muller tub es, and a lph a detectors.
These in stru ment s are u se d for ex p erime nts a nd training in nu clear sc i ence a nd rad i a tion detection.
On e exit monitor i s in the co ntrol room. A liquid sc intillati on d e t ec t or serves both the reactor a nd broad sco p e li ce n se u sers. Th e reac to r fac ilit y has several systems for performing irradi atio n s, d escr ibed below. Rotatin2 Specimen Rack Facility The rota tin g spec imen rack i s loc a ted in a we ll on top of th e graphite refl ec tor surround in g th e core. Th e rack co n s i s ts of a c ir c ul ar a rra y of 40 tubul ar receptacle s, each of wh i c h ca n acco mm oda t e t wo irradiation tub es. The rack a utom atica lly rotates durin g irradi atio n to e n s ure eac h sa mpl e r ece i ves th e sa m e n e utron flu x. The ap proxim a te thermal n e utron flux in a rotating rack po sitio n a t full po wer is 1.7 x 10 02 with a cadmium ra ti o of 6. Pneumatic Transfer System The pneumatic transfer sys t e m ("ra bbit") cons i sts of a n i rra di a tion c h a mb er in th e outer F-rin g of th e core and its associa ted blower a nd piping. Thi s allows samp les t o be transferred in an d out of th e re actor core very rapidly while th e reactor is at power. The flux in t h e core terminal is a ppro x im a t e ly Sx I 0 02 n/cm*s wh e n the reactor is at full power. In-Core Facilities Th e ce ntral thimble is a water-filled irradiation c hamb er about 3c m in diameter.
It provides the hi g h es t avai labl e n eu tron flu x , a bout lx10" n/cm*s. Foil-in s er tion holes, 0.8cm in diameter, a re drill ed a t various positions throu g h th e gri d plates. T h ese holes allow in ser tin g special hold ers co ntainin g flu x wires into the core, to obta in neutron flux m aps of th e core. In-Pool Facilities Near core, in-pool irradi atio n fac iliti es can b e arranged for larger samp le s. Neutron fluxes will b e lower than in the rotary spec imen rack a nd will dep e nd on the sa mple location.
An i ridium gamma irradiator i s a l so in th e reactor pool for ga mma only irradiations.
Beam Facilities T h e ce ntral thimble can b e evac u a t e d with gas, prod ucin g a ve rti ca l neutron b eam. The flu x above th e beam exi t is approximately 1x 10'n/cm*s when th e r eactor i s at full po wer. R eed R esearch R eactor Annual Report 2017-2018 5
I INSPECTIONS AND AUDITS The Nuclear Regulatory Commi ss ion conducted a routine inspection during the reporting period. The in s pection resulted in no s ignificant findings. Two audits were completed during this period. Wayne Lei (ROC) conducted an internal audit on Dec. 6-7, 2017. Timothy Koe th and Amber Johnson (University of Maryland -Research Reactor) conducted and external audit May 29-31, 2018. 6 jUSERS Reactor Operations Seminar The Reed Research Reactor conducts an annual seminar series. This non-credit course serves as an introduction to nuclear reactor theory, health physics, and reactor operation.
Some of the students continue with in-depth reactor operator training and subsequently apply for a Reactor Operator (RO) license. If successful, the individual may be hired to operate the reactor. In addition, existing ROs may take the NRC Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) exam to upgrade their licenses.
During the reporting period, 24 out of 26 RO candidates and 5 out 5 of SRO candidates received NRC licenses after passing NRC exams in February and May 2018. Figure 1 is a graph of the pass rate for RO and SRO since 2000. 120% 100% 8 0% 60% 4 0% 20% Q O/o 0 0 0 N
- SRO pas s rate RO pass rate ... 0 0 N N 0 0 N M "3" LI) \0 r,... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N N N N N CX) 0 0 N a, 0 ... 0 ... ... 0 0 0 N N N N ... 0 N M ... 0 N 0 N "' ... 0 N Figure 1 Reed Research Reactor License Exam Results Outside Users ::: 0 N " ... 0 N 0 N During the year there were 1,031 visitors from schools, colleges, universities, and special groups. Additionally, 1 , 769 individuals visited as part of Reed College activities (prospective students , family of students , Reed classes, etc.). Thirty members of emergency response organizations came for training.
Reed Resear c h Reactor Annual Report 2017-2018 7
Figure 2 is a grap h showing the history of visiting gro up s. 60 ,------------------------------------, __ ..,.. __ Colleges and Uni ve r s ities 50 +-----------------------<
--High S c h o o ls/ Middle Schools/El eme nt ary Schoo l s -...--Special Groups 40 +----------------------------------L..,,--~-----l :, ~o+------------------------------+----',.....__,,__,--;
Q) .0 E :, z 20 +----~ --------#--~-"""'C..:...,.---
f-, 1-f--+--~-
---l -. ' , , ... ____ j 0 +---,---,---,---,--,----,--~--,---,--,----,---,---,---,--,----,---,---,---i 20 00 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2 0 14 2015 2016 2017 2018 Figure 2 Visiting Groups Many reactor tours include hands-on use of facility equipment to conduct experiments in radiation science, health physics , and nuclear physics. A typical lab involves determining the background of a Geiger Muller sca ler system an d then determining the half-life of a sample of radioactive material.
Several special programs for gifted children u se the reactor for projects.
These are de signed to enrich their educational program and prepare them for college. Some of the gro up s who use the reactor target minority and disadvantaged youth who are historically under-re pre se nted in science professions. Additional l y, several Boy Scouts of America tro ops have visi ted the facility to complete the Nuclear Science merit badge. High School Student Projects The Reed Research Reactor continues to be used in independent scie nce projects initiated by stude nt s from severa l Oregon and Washington State high schools. Each year the we ho st two Saturday Academy students as interns for the summer. 8
- Sarah Daniels determined the fast a nd thermal flu x for each rotary spec imen rack position.
- John Joo used neutron act ivation to determin e the a luminum co ntent in his hair.
- Bryan To used neutron activation to det erm in e the uptake of heavy metals in plant s.
- Anushka Nair u se d gamma spectroscopy to look for heavy metals in lichen and mo ss.
Scaler Kits Through the generosity of Portland General Electric, the reactor lends out kits containing a Geiger counter, a scaler, and some small exempt sources to local high schools. Reed Classes
- Chemistry 101 determine composition of an unknown.
- Physic 332 -Two students determined control rod worth from power data collected from the log channel during a control rod scram. Industrial and Commercial Applications The Reed Research Reactor is available for industrial or commercial concerns when it does not conflict with our educational goals. The majority of this work is meter calibration.
The facility also provides radiation protection training to interested parties and schools in the area. Reed Research Reactor Annual Report 2017-2018 9
I I REACTO R OPERATIONS Operations During the year the reactor was taken critical 552 times on 180 days. The total energy produced was approximate l y 25.01 megawatt-hours.
Operating history by month appears in Table 3. A history of the data is shown in Figure 3. Table 3 Operating History 2016-2017 TIMES CRITICAL DAYS OPERATED MW-HOURS July2017 23 12 1.27 August 2017 61 18 3.37 September 201 7 41 19 2.06 October 2017 89 21 4.54 November 2017 33 15 1.2 7 December 201 7 17 4 0.4 January 2018 22 15 1.19 Febmary 2018 55 18 1.8 March 2018 72 21 2.78 April 2018 68 18 4.48 May2018 32 10 1.3 June 2018 39 9 0.55 Total 552 180 25.01 10 600 ,----;::=========
- ---------------------, -Times Critical -Da ys Op e rat ed . 500 +-----i -Irradiations
--MW-hrs 2000 2001 2002 2003 200 4 20 05 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 20 15 2016 2017 2018 Figure 3. Operations Unplanned Reactor Shutdowns There we re 11 in a dvert e nt reactor s hutd owns (scrams) as s h ow n in Table 4. Th e number of unplann e d reactor shutdowns is s hown in Figure 4. Table 4 Unplanned Reactor Shutdowns DATE SCRAM CHANNEL CAUSE OF S CRA M 7/7/2017 Linear Operator e rror 8/25/2017 P erce nt Operator e rror 8/23/2 017 Percent Op e rator e rror 9/7/2 017 Percent Operator er ror 9/26/2017 Line ar Operator error 10/6/2017 Lin ear a nd Percent Operator error l 1/9/2017 Line ar Oper a tor error 1 2/2/2 017 Percent Operator error l/27/2018 Line a r Op erat or e rror 4/9/2018 Linear a n d Percent Operato r erro r 4/9/2018 Percent Operator e rror R eed R e sear c h R eacto r Annual R e p o r t 20 1 7-201 8 11 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 20 1 0 2012 2014 2016 2018 Figure 4 Unplanned Shutdowns i REACTOR MAINTENANCE Significant Maintenance Reactor s taff performs routine equipment checks on a daily, biweekly , bimonthly , semiannual (January and July) and annual (January) basis as required by facility procedures.
Reed College maintenance personnel assist with routine preventative maintenance to auxiliary eq uipm ent. Table 5 Maintenance 2017-2018 COMPONENT EXPLANATION 17-01 Water l evel Monitor Replaced the capac i tance water level monitor with a n ult rason i c water level monitor R eed Res earch R eactor Annual Report 2017-2018 13 iRADIATI O N P R OTECTION Personnel Dosimetry Dosimeters are changed on a calendar quarter schedule.
Individuals were issued gamma sensitive ring badges and whole-body badges. There were 22 shallow doses recorded by finger badges with the highest individual shallow dose recorded was 74 rnrem. The were no recorded doses to any whole body dosimetry.
All doses are reported were below occupational dose limits and no further action was required.
Fixed Area Dosimetry Radiation l evels are continually monitored to provide an indication of the average radiation level s in the reactor bay and dose outside the facility.
All dosimeters monitor beta an d gamma radiation.
Three locations also measure neutron dose. The deep dose equivalent radiation measured by fixed dosimeters during the period April J , 20 J 7 to March 31, 2018 are shown in Table 5. Dosimeters from April 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018 are c urrently being processed. An "M" indicates le ss than 1 rnrem above back gro und during the quarter. The 20 rnrem recorded for the roof was attributed by the dosimetry vendor as fast neutrons.
The reported dose was contested since there is no plau sib le explanation for a neutron do se to the roof when there was no work being done on the core an d no open beam ports. Additionally, the outside north dosimeter was mis si ng for the 2qtr 2017. Table 6 Area Radiation Dosimeters (doses are in mrem per calendar quarter) LOCATION HE1GH1 RADlATJON AP RIL 1-JUL 1-OCT l -JAN 1-TOTAL (M) D ETECTE D JUNE 30 DEC 31 MAR31 SEP 30 Reactor East Wall 1.5 p,y 4 0 4 3 11 Re acto r North Wall 1.6 p,y 3 2 2 4 11 Reactor West Wall 1.0 p,y,n 13 18 5 6 42 Reactor South Wall 1.6 p,y,n 6 2 5 3 16 Reactor North Wall -2.3 p,y 2 0 0 1 3 Hi gh Co ntrol Room 1.5 p,y 3 3 4 6 13 Outside North 2.8 p,y -M M M M Outside Roof 0.4 p,y,n M 20 M M 20 Outside East 1.5 p,y M M M M M Outside South 0.4 p,y M M M M M Co untin g Room l.5 p,y M M M M M 14 Gaseous Releases T h e only routine release of gaseous radioactivity is from " Ar (1.83-hour half-life) and " N (7 .13-second half-life). These come from activation of pool water and air in the pool water a nd in the itTadi a tion facilit i es. For the reporting period, the average gaseous activity a t the site boundary was 1.7 x 10*" J,tCi/ml, which would deliver a dose to a m e mber of the public of a ppro x im a tely 0.7 mrem , well below regul a tory guidelines and constraints.
Fig ure 5 shows the gaseous rele as es for each year. 1.E-08 1.E-09 1.E-10 1.E-11 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 Figure 5 Gaseous Releases Activity (µCi/ml) at Site Boundary Liquid Waste Releases No liquid radioactive waste was released from the Reed Research Reactor during this report period. Solid Waste Disposal There were no s hipments of lo w-leve l radioactive waste from the facility during this reporting period. Environmental Sampling Soil samp les taken from the area surrounding the facility s how ed no activity above background.
Water from the facility's secondary cooli ng system and the nearby canyon were sampled for activation products and tritium, but showed no activity above normal background.
R eed R e sear ch Reactor Annual Report 2017-2018 15