IR 015000027/1980002
| ML13330A089 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | San Onofre, 02700010, 015000027 |
| Issue date: | 07/02/1980 |
| From: | Engelken R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION V) |
| To: | Papay L SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML13330A087 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8008270328 | |
| Download: ML13330A089 (3) | |
Text
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REGj UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
REGION V
1990 N. CALIFORNIA BOULEVARD SUITE 202, WALNUT CREEK PLAZA WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA 94596 JUL 2 1980 Docket No. 50-206 Southern California Edison Company P. 0. Box 800 2244 Walnut Grove Avenue Rosemead, California 91770 Attention: Dr. L. T. Papay Vice President, Advanced Engineering Gentlemen:
Subject:
NRC Inspection of San Onofre Unit 1 This refers to the inspection conducted by Mr. J. R. Curtis of this office on March 31 to April 4, 1980 of activities authorized by NRC License No. DPR-13, and an inspection at Beatty, Nevada on March 21, 1980 of a shipment of radio active material which originated at San Onofre Unit 1. The findings of these inspections were discussed by Mr. Curtis with Mr. R. Brunet and other members of the San Onofre Unit 1 staff on April 4, 1980, at the conclusion of the inspectio Areas examined during this inspection are described in the enclosed inspection report. Within these areas, the inspection consisted of selective examinations of procedures and representative records, interviews with personnel, and observations by the inspecto No items of noncompliance with NRC requirements were identified within the scope of this inspectio Although this inspection identified no specific items of noncompliance, it did identify a significant problem area. We call your attention to Paragraph 5 of the enclosed inspection report, which describes inspection findings regarding a spent resin shipment from your facility to the Beatty, Nevada waste disposal site on March 21, 1980. The NRC inspection, the State of Nevada inspection, and radiation measurements made by the burial site staff and the San Onofre staff at the disposal site identified radiation levels that were very near 8008270
Southern California Edison Company-2-JUL 1980 or perhaps slightly above those permitted. This applies to radiation levels both at the surface of the container, and at six feet from the side of the exclusive use vehicle. We understand that the State of Nevada temporarily banned your facility from further use of the waste disposal facility at Beatty as a result of that occurrenc We recognize that certain limited errors are frequently present in calibrated instruments. Additional disagreements can be introduced by different types of measuring instruments, and different dimensions of the detectors involve This situation was further complicated by a very small localized area being involved, and a question of the precision of the distance measurement (six feet or two meters) from the edge of the truck. In spite of all of these variables, there was good enough agreement among all of the measurements made to raise.
serious questions as to the compliance of that shipment with all requirement Problems involved in the shipment of radioactive materials have been receiving national attention. The NRC, through the use of Bulletin 79-19, has placed requirements for better control of shipments of radioactive materials on all licensees. We have also adopted much more stringent enforcement criteria to be applied in cases of noncompliance with transportation requirements. These were brought to your attention in a letter dated December 3, 1979. We are concerned that many of the incidents involving shipment of radioactive materials can be attributed to the use of defective shipping containers, or lack of adequate attention to care and quality control in the packaging and shipping process. This is particularly true in situations such as the present one where there is a possibility of shifting of contents within the package, or shifting of supplemental shielding during transportatio In light of the questions which have been raised by this shipment, we are doubtful that Southern California Edison management has focused enough attention on the shipment of radioactive materials, at least in this case. We would like to have your views on this matter. In your response to this letter, also please describe any actions you have taken to prevent similar situations from occurring in the futur In accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," Part 2, Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a copy of this letter and the enclosed inspection report will be placed in the NRC's Public Document Room. If this report contains any information that you believe to be proprietary, it is necessary that you submit a written application to this office, within 20 days of the date of this letter, requesting that such information be withheld from public disclosure. The application must include a full statement of the reasons why it is claimed that the information is proprietary. The application should be prepared so that any proprietary information identified is contained in an enclosure to the application, since the application without the enclosure will also be placed in the Public Document Room. If we do not hear from you in this regard within the specific period, the report will be placed in the Public Document Roo Southern California Edison Company-3-JUL 2 1980 Should you have any questions concerning this inspection, we will be glad to discuss them with yo
Sincerely, R. H. Engelken Director Enclosure:
IE Inspection Report No. 50-206/80-10 cc w/o enclosure:
R. Dietch, Vice President Nuclear Engineering and Operations, SCE