ENS 43551
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ENS Event | |
|---|---|
04:00 Aug 7, 2007 | |
| Title | Fire in Radioactive Waste Storage Facility |
| Event Description | 6 Aug 2007 there was a small fire at ANAD's [Anniston, AL Army Depot] radioactive storage warehouse building 86. During a security patrol they noticed smoke coming out of building 86 and sent out emergency notifications to Safety, Fire Department and later to HazMat. After the Fire Department arrived they sent out notification to contact the Radiation Safety Office (RSO) and to respond. Fire personnel forced the personnel door open and accessed the fire situation from the exterior of the building. The box pallet was smoldering approximately 10 feet from their door. Fire personnel remained at the door entrance and fought the fire from that location. At no time was any of the fire personnel put in jeopardy to be overly exposed to the radioactive waste which was being stored in the warehouse. The fire was extinguished with the very least amount of water, which reduced the spread of contamination to the unaffected part of the warehouse. The fire chief was in contact with the RSO during this operation until his arrival at approximately 7:40. The damage was two wooden box pallets which contained several tritium sources awaiting waste disposal. At this time [the licensee] is not sure exactly how many sources was involved, [estimate the number to around 100 sources] containing on average 10 Ci of tritium each were involved. Many did burst due to the heat thereby releasing the tritium it contained. Surveys to the fire personnel equipment showed no contamination. Personnel were given a bioassay the following day to insure no uptake of tritium gas. Because a small amount of water was used to extinguish the fire, the spread of tritium contamination to the sealed floor area is minimum. The initial survey levels found are in the 8,000-28,000 dpm range to the floor involving an area of 10'X10'.
Cause of the fire was the result of some decon media (hydrogen peroxide) which had been sealed in a zip lock bag along with some paper towels. The hydrogen peroxide breaks down to pure oxygen and was sealed within a zip lock bag. Apparently there must have been a small amount of some oily residue also within the bag as part of the clean up process. As the oxygen content within the zip lock bag increased and interacted with the oil residue the bag begin to smolder causing the fire to start.
The local RSO performed an inventory of the contents of Bldg 86 this afternoon. He has calculated the total release of tritium to be 788 Ci [from 92 devices]. Notified R3DO (Riemer), R1DO (Summers) and FSME EO (McConnell) |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| U.S. Army Rock Island, Illinois (NRC Region 3) | |
| License number: | 12-00722-6 |
| Organization: | U.S. Army |
| Reporting | |
| 10 CFR 20.1906(d)(1) | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+7.23 h0.301 days <br />0.043 weeks <br />0.0099 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Jeff Havenner 11:14 Aug 7, 2007 |
| NRC Officer: | Mark Abramovitz |
| Last Updated: | Aug 7, 2007 |
| 43551 - NRC Website | |
U.S. Army with 10 CFR 20.1906(d)(1) | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 435512007-08-07T04:00:0007 August 2007 04:00:00
[Table view]10 CFR 20.1906(d)(1) Fire in Radioactive Waste Storage Facility 2007-08-07T04:00:00 | |
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