HL-1470, Special Rept:On 901119,discrepancy Noted in Number of SRM & IRM Detectors During Inventory.Caused by Inadequate Recordkeeping Controls.Responsibility for Control & Accountability of Detectors Returned to Reactor Engineering

Special Rept:On 901119,discrepancy Noted in Number of SRM & IRM Detectors During Inventory.Caused by Inadequate Recordkeeping Controls.Responsibility for Control & Accountability of Detectors Returned to Reactor Engineering

ML20066H536
Person / Time
Site:	Hatch
Issue date:	02/14/1991
From:	Hairston W GEORGIA POWER CO.
To:	NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
References
HL-1470, IEIN-88-034, IEIN-88-34, NUDOCS 9102210139
Download: ML20066H536 (5)

Text

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HL-1470 001173 A February 14, 1991' U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Conrnission 1 ATTN: Document Control Desk:

y Washington, D.C. 20555. l 7

' PLANT HATCH'- UNITS 1, 2- l NRC DOCKETS 50-321, 50-366  !

W,  : OPERATING LICENSES DPR-57,: NPF-5

. SPECIAL REPORT- 1-91-001<

, -INVENTORY OF NON-FUEL SPECIAL-NUCLEAR MATERIAL v ,

RESULTS IN SPECIAL REPORT .;

Gentlemen:-

in-accordance with activities covered by 10 CF3 70 and the information. .l

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-provided in ;NRC Information Notice 88-34, Georgia Power -_ Company-- is -

submitting 1 the enclosed Special_ Report concerning the inability to account; for: . non-fuel special nuclear material. (SNM) items. -This event. occurred at' 4

Plant Hatch - Units 1:and '

Sincerely,-

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Enclosure:

SR 50-321/1991-001 I' -n c: (See next page.)-  ;

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Georgia l'owel er ,-

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission February 14, 1991 Page Two c: Georaia PowJy_,Q g AD.y Mr.. H. L. Sumner, General Manager - Nuclear Plant Mr. J. D. Heidt, Manager Engineering and Licensing - Hatch NORMS

,i U.S; Nucleg.t.119gillatory Commission. Washinaton. D.C.

Mr. K. Jabbour, t.icensing Project Manager - Hatch U.S. Nuclegt.jlgulatory Commission. Ragion .11 Mr. S. . D. Ebneter, Regional Administrator Mr. L. D. Wert, Senior Resident inspector - Hatch Mr. D. R.- McGuire, Chief, Safeguards Section o .;

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l ENCLOSURE PLANT HATCH - UNITS 1 AND 2 NRC DOCKETS 50-321 AND 50-366 OPERATING LICENSES DPR-57 AND NPF-5

-SPECIAL REPORT l-91-001 INVENTORY OF NON-FUEL SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL F RESULTS-IN SPECIAL REPORT 1 i

m. ' A.: REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT This report addresses activities covered by'10.CFR 70-and-is submitted -;

on the basis of information provided in NRC Information Notice 88-34,

" Nuclear Material Control and Accountability of Non-Fuel Special

Nuclear Material'at Power Reactors." 10 CFR 70 requires licensees to control -and account'for all Special Nuclear Material-(SNM) in' their possession.

'I' B. UNIT (S).. STATUS AT TIME OF EVENT

' 4 On' 11/19/90, Unit 1'and. Unit:2 were.in. the Run mode at an approximate 4, power level-of 2436 CMWT (approximately -100% rated . thermal power). .;

C; DESCRIPTION OF EVENT'

-On 11/19/90, site Reactor Engineering personnel conducted an-inventory n

1 < ofL-irradiated Source Range Monitor-(SRM) and Intermediate Range Monitor ,

h '(IRM)'-detectors. These devices are " sealed sources" per the definition -j' '

x contained in-.10? CFR .50.74. Each of -these devices- contained

, isignificantly' :less than one gram of SNM. The inventory was conducted- )

Jfor the purpose of determining exactly how many irradiated (spent) SRM-e< <

and IRM detectors were -to be shipped offsite_ for disposal and was part U' ' '

, Lof a general housekeeping project to minimize the amount of radioactive trash -at the plant. Records compiled-by Reactor Engineering: personnel ,

-indicated there should'have been 81 spent -detectors; however, only 50  !

"l .were counted during the inventory. The detectors contain only about, l

, L; !0.00,13 gramsLof fissionable material each.

4 m Upon ' discovery of:the discrepancy between the . number of spent.SRM and j

- lIRM detectors counted- and the number on inventory records, a deficiency-

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, , y card-'was initiated as required by plant procedures. An investigation was - conducted and it.was. concluded that most probably the 31 SRM and l IRM- spent detectors were disposed as radioactive trash after they were

. removed from the reactor core. It appears this occurred over a period-of.several years.

HL-1470 .

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. ENCLOSURE (Continued)

SPECIAL REPORT l-91-001 INVET'9RY OF NON-FUEL SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL ,

RESULTS IN SPECIAL REPORT LD. ;CAUSE OF EVENT

'The cause of th'is event was inadequate control of record keeping associated : with sealed source, non-fuel SNM. items. In approximately 1984, the responsibility for inventory. and control of spent SRM and IRM o detectors was. transferred to the Health Physics'and' Chemistry (HP/ Chem)_

Department:from Reactor Engineering. .This was cone because these items-were; . internally re-classified as sealed ~ sources and HP/ Chem personnel s: wereL responsible - fore controli and inventory of sealed sources.- A procedure history search reveals that appropriate administrative control -procedures were not revised at that time to reflect - the new. .

4 responsibilities or 'to include the necessary steps to provide the 1

needed-level of' control of= these items.

As La consequence, record keeping associated with spent SRM'and IRM

' detectors was -not adequately' controlled- af ter they were removed from the. core. . Reactor Engineering no Lionger considered the ~ detectors to-be '

-within their area of. responsibility and HP/ Chem Department procedures did 'not: address control of the spent detectors; therefore, neither

Reactor; Engineering'nor HP/ Chem. personnel felts a clear responsibility for contro12 and- accounting for the spent ' detectors. Because of.

inadequate 1 administrative-controls,-the SRM and IRM detectors were not

labeled, : tracked, or otterwiseL controlled as SNM to ensure they.were

. moved'to a-permanent SNM storage location prior to being disposed of as radioactive 1 trash.. The' . lack of clear control and responsibility n' existed from -about.1984: to .1988,;when control of- these detectors was 1

> returned to Reactor. Engineering and administrative controls--were- +

enhanced.

EL ANALYSIS OF' EVENT-lEach SRM and .IRM detector contains approximately 1.25 milligrams of enriched U-235.-LAfter irradiation, .they will contain something less 7 Lthan this due to burn-up. Therefore, the 31 SRMs and IRMs that are

'the subject of :this . report contained no -more than a total of 38.75 milligrams :(0;03875 grams) of SNM. -This is;significantly less than the

' amount- of;SNM defined in-10 CFR 70.4 as "special nuclear material of

'l ow strategic significance." Consequently, there are no security or 4 material' safeguard' concerns that result from the apparent mishandling of these non-fuel SNM detectors.

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ENCLOSURE (Continued)

SPECIAL REPORT l-91-001 INVENTORY OF NON-FUEL SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL RESULTS IN SPECIAL REPORT It should also be noted these irradiated items could not have been removed from the Protected Area except as properly packaged radioactive waste. Because they are radioactive, they would have alarmed the contamination monitoring equipment at the exits from the Reactor or Turbine Buildings and the exit from the Protected Area. Therefore, it is concluded that one could not have purposefully or inadvertently removed any or all of the SRM and IRM detectors from the Protected Area without detection.

Finally, the disposal of the 31 detectors did not result in any threat to the public's health and safety. All radioactive waste shipments must meet strict. procedural limits regarding surface dose rates and contamination levels. The procedural limits ensure Federal limits for radioactive waste shipments are met.

Based on the above, it is concluded this event had no adverse impact on nuclear safety or the public's health and safety.

F. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS Responsibility for control and accountability of irradiated SRM and IRM detectors has been returned to Reactor Engineering. They have ensured '

all SNM on site is labeled to prevent unauthorized or inadvertent movement. Additionally, current plant procedures require the labeling and tracking of movement of these detectors and their periodic inventory. Present controls, therefore, are adequate to prevent future unaccountability or inadvertent disposal of SRM or IRM detectors. No further corrective actions are necessary or required, h

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