The following information was received from the State of
Washington via e-mail:
Tritium (H-3) contamination was found on a trailer in the outside storage area of Perma-Fix Northwest (PFNW), a radioactive material licensee in Richland Washington on April 17. A DOH inspector noticed liquid dripping from a trailer that had just been unloaded. The trailer had hauled empty radioactive waste drums from Atomic Energy Limited Canada (Chalk River facility in Ontario). The transport vehicle entered the United States at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan under a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) import license and entered Washington at Spokane. The shipment had arrived at the PFNW facility in late February. It was manifested as a plastic fiber bag with drums inside. Initial surveys on February 28 noted tritium contamination inside the plastic fiber bag, but no contamination was noted outside the bag or on the trailer. Tritium was a primary radionuclide on the manifest. During off-loading of the drums and plastic liner on April 17, liquid was found in and on the drums (one drum is suspected of being at least partially filled with liquid). After off-loading, standing liquids were noticed by the licensee on the inside trailer bed, but not on the outer trailer floor and skin. After the truck was returned to the storage yard, liquid droplets were found dripping from the front of the trailer by the DOH inspector. Initial contamination levels (up to 1.8 million dpm of tritium) on the trailer front were substantially above the U.S. Dept of Transportation limits; but due to the limited quantity (less than one gallon of liquid), does not pose a health risk. There is no indication of leakage during the actual shipment.
The manifest indicated the total shipment contained H-3 (6.59 mCi) and Cs-137 (7.79 mCi) as the predominant radionuclides. Only tritium contamination has been noted.
WA Report # WA-08-025
- * * UPDATE FROM MIKEL ELSEN TO KARL DIEDERICH VIA E-MAIL AT 1538 ON 6/11/08 * * *
The trailer was decontaminated and the associated waste will be disposed or processed. The soil under the trailer was removed and packaged for treatment or disposal. The shipper and broker were issued notices of violation. The cause of this incident was poor oversight during packaging.
Notified R4DO (G. Miller) and
FSME EO (A. Mauer).