On May 10, 2009 at about 0215, Waste Treatment operations began pumping sanitary sludge from the sanitary sludge holding tank to the Low Level Radioactivity (LLR) press. This is accomplished by activating an air-actuated
diaphragm pump which suctions from the holding tank and discharges to the LLR press. Observations by area operators both at the press and the Programmable Logic Controller (
PLC) display showed no abnormal conditions.
Near or around 0345, area security officers notified the area operators that liquid was accumulating on the ground under the sanitary sludge holding tank. The operator attending to the reported release observed a leak on the discharge side of the diaphragm pump. The pump was halted and the isolation valve at the bottom of the holding tank was closed to halt the release.
Plant supervision was promptly notified and efforts were initiated to contain the release using absorbent pads and dikes. Most of the liquid was contained and pumped back into the sanitary system, and approximately 10-20 gallons drained to the system Final Effluent Pond (FEP 601). No liquid was observed to have been released to the James River.
On May 11, 2009 at approximately 8:30 am, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was notified of the release both verbally and by email. This notification was performed to satisfy the notification requirements contained in the current site Virginia Pollutant Discharge Eliminations System (VPDES) permit for unanticipated bypasses of treatment systems. Notification is required verbally (within 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br />) and in writing (within 5 days) upon discovery of the circumstances surrounding the bypass.
There were no radiological concerns with this event.
The licensee will contact the NRC Resident Inspector.