IR 05000006/1989002

Insp Rept 50-006/89-02 & 70-0008/89-02 on 890627-30.No Violations Noted.Major Areas Inspected:Mgt & Organization Controls,Transportation Activities,Radiation Protection, Criticality Safety,Operations Review & Environ Protection

ML20247L486
Person / Time
Site:	Battelle Memorial Institute, 07000008
Issue date:	09/13/1989
From:	France G, Sreniawski D NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:
Shared Package
ML20247L484	List: IR 05000006/1989002 ML20247L480
References
50-006-89-02, 50-6-89-2, 70-0008-89-02, 70-8-89-2, NUDOCS 8909220212
Download: ML20247L486 (8)

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Reports:No..'70-008/89002(DRSS)f50-006/89002(DRSS)

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Docket'Nos.07-008; 50-006 .

Licenses-No. SNM-7; R-41 l

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Licensee: .Batte11e' Columbus. Division 4 -

.505 King Avenue . . .

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Columbus; OHl'43201-2693 .

IInspection"At: ' West Jefferson 1and King Avenue FacilitiesL

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. Inspection Conducted: June 27-30,11989

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' Approved By: D. J. Sreniawski,~ Chief

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Nuclear Materials Safety ( Date Section 1

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' Inspection' Summary'-

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. Inspection on' June 27-30, 1989 (Reports No. 70-008/89002(DRSS); l No. 50-008/89002(DRSS)) l Areas Inspected: Routine, unannounced health and safety. inspection, including: 1 management _ and. organization contro~ls (IP 88005); transportation. activities  !

(IP-86740);. radiation protection (IP 83822); critic'ality safety (IP 88015); .]

operations review (IP 88020); environmental protection (IP 88045); an '

maintenance surveillance (IP 88025).

Results: sThe licensee was found to be in compliance with NRC requirements

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,c k within the areas examined. The inspector examined the licensee's progran for

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investigating unusual occurrences. The licensee's corrective action was-

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adequate to restore conditions to the usual operative mod {

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DETAILS  :)

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" Persons Contacted

' Emswiler, Tra'sportation n Specialist (Part-time Employee) i

' Failey, Research Scientist

. Hyatt, Operations Engineer .

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• Kirsch, Supervisor,-Health Physics

• V. Pasupathi, Manager, Nuclear Technical Section >

,, D. Stitcher, Indust _ rial Hygienist i E. Swindall, Master Technician-

• H. Toy, Manager, Nuclear Services Interviews were also conducted'with other members of the licensee's staf * Denotes'those present at the exit weeting on June 30, 1989.' General This inspection o'f.onsite licensce activities, which began at liOO . on June 27, 1989,,was conducted to: examine activities at the West '

C " Jefferson site and King Avenue site under Materials License No. SNM-7 and'

' Reactor License No. R-4. The inspector toured the locatiori designated for' radiographic operations znd the location where. controlled field studies involv!ng carbon-14 were being conducte , . Management Organization and Controls (IP 88005)

The inspector reviewed the licensee's management' organization and controls ~for radiation protection and operations, including; changes in the organizational strar .re .

a, Organization The licensee noted that the Supervisor, Quality Assurance (Earl Fromm) has retired and is now'a member of the retired staf A former QA Supervisor (Donald Lozier) at BCD replace 'Mr. From QA audit results are reported directly to the Vice President, Nuclear Operations.. There were no other changes in staff assignments that affected radiological health and safety concern Audits The R50 completed an annual report that summarized factors pertinent to the radiological status of the retired.Battelle Research Reactor facility for calendar year 1988. The. report was submitted to NMSS as required by Materials . License No. SNM-7. The report indicated that all smear and exposure data collected for 1988 operations were within acceptable limits. 'The radiological status of the facility

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Lis audited by th R ioactive'MaierialsSubcommittee(RSC-1)ofth . .BCD Radiological Safety Committe Nosviolitionsior,deviativ.iswere' identifie ,

.. i Radiation P'otsction-(IP r 83822)' -

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The inspector reviewed thel 1'iceris'ee's internal and external exposure control programs including the required records, reports.c and

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a .' I'ternal n Exposure Control

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. The inspector interviewed the. Health Physics' Operational Supervisor and the Master Technician (health' physics' activities) concerning

bioassay records' for the January, through-June 1989 operating perio "

The records disclosed urinalysis resuits for workers exposed to

• plutonium,' uranium and mixed fission products and workers exposed to chemical compounds _ labelled with phosphorus-32 or carbon-1 Few of the urinalysis results exceeded the level of detection above

' background. Consequently, the.40 MPC-hour i'ntake limit for uranium and plutonium was not exceede It was apparent that there had been no significant internal'

exposure to workers _from soluble forms of radioactive material Whole-body count results were reviewed during a previous-inspection. (See Inspection Report No. 70-008/89901.)

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' External Exposure

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The inspector reviewed the licensee's summary of whole-body-radiation exposures from external penetrating radiation for the January through June 1989 operating period. The highest exposure

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received among wo_ r kers assigned to the hot lab was'less than 500 mrem / hour. Apparently, most exposures occurred while workers were conducting radiological surveys of equipment scheduled for decontamination. The highest quarterly total for workers wearing ring badges were reported as 1.5 rems which is less than 10% of the

- standard specified in 10 CFR 20.101. According to the licensee's summary for external exposure no results exceeded 10 CFR Part 20 limit Retired Reactor Facility The licensee summarized data concerned with the radiological status of the retired Battelle Research Reactor (BRR) facilit These records indicated that the technical specifications of Amendment 13, BRR License No. R-4 were satisfactorily met for the January through June 1989 operating period. Exposure levels L,

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around the-reactor's six beam tube..and sump' pump covers were less than 3 mR/hr. Smears.were evaluated..for alpha and beta activit at 80-locations. All smear and exposure data measured during;the operating; period were within acceptable _ limits, Radiological Surveys and Contamination Control (West Jefferson Site)

Records of radio' logical' surveys conducted for the January through June 1989 operating period disclosed no significant contamination o exposure problems. . The licensee performs surveys in accordance with written Procedure No.' N5-NS-18 Smear Surveys-Collection, Counting and Documentation, Unusu'l a Occurrence Report

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The inspector reviewed the licensee's file'on. incidents that

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involved the. release of radioactive. materials. Details of the unusual events'were covered'during the.onsite inspection and a follow-up review was conducted.by telephone on August 9, 198 Several gallons ofJ11guid waste contaminated with cesium-137 spilled

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~ onto the asphalt driveway,near the truck loading deck and onto the basement floor of building JN-1. .The 1.iquid waste was being transferred,from~an underground holding' tank'to'an evaporator tank in building JN71; (A' technician mistakenlyxshut off a light switch-instead of the breaker switch that controlled the liquid waste-transfer pump. .This- caused the evaporator tank to overflo The contamination level was less than 1000 dpm/100cm2 after cleanup. The concentration of cesium-137 in the liquid waste was less than the. quantities required for notification under 10 CFR 20.403 or 40 In order to prevent a.similar or recurring incident the licensee y-reviewed the operating. procedure and made the .following changes:

• The operator should not leave the evaporator tank unattended during a liquid waste transfe * The circu_it breaker that deactivates the transfer pump was identified / marked with a numbe An unusual occurrence report was also filed when a glass cylinder containing fission gas krypton-85 in the presence of non-radiological gases was inadvertently broken during an inspection of the glass container. The inspector interviewed the research scientist involved in the incident. A summary of the interview is discussed below:

• The first of 100 glass cylinders of fission gas krypton-85 and non-radiological gases was being inspected for signs of

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,... deterioration.and integrity of holding a partial vacuu .The cylinder in-question was actually brittle,and inadvertently cracked during the_ inspection. There was no apparent rush.of

- air which indicated that the . vacuum was. probably. lost during

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storag * -Damage to the cylinder may have been caused by storage in a-gamma-ray radiation field and/or from internal beta particle bombardment f rom decay of krypton-8 * The cylinder originally contained a maximum cf 5 mci,Lbut there was'no apparent spread of contamination. The tylinder was a allowed to remain in the hood for two days. The inspection process-.is handled in an examining hood that was. measured for-l adequate l airflow. The radiol.ogical air monitors (room monitors)

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t did not detect an increase in airborne radioactivity that-enunciated an action alarm. The licensee indicated that the procedure for disposing'of the glass cylinders requires the

vacuum transfer of gas to a container stored in a-steel dru LAccording to the licensed waste depositary,- each waste tank capacity is limited to either occurrence'of 1.5 atmospheres'of pressure'or 100 curies of contained fission gas. The inspector will review the' licensee's operations for disposing of the

. glass cylinders during a future. inspectio .No violations or' deviations were identifie ~

f. . Airborne Releases Records of air' sampling data were reviewed for the January through June 1989 operating period. Included in this review were stack

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sampling composites for gross alpha and beta (24-hour samples) and weekly samples _ collected from constant air monitors. This data gave no' indication of;a radioactive airborne release that exceeded the action level of the licensee's reference or liuiting isotopes plutonium-239 and strontium-9 The' inspector concluded that there was no' apparent incident that resulted in an excessive dose or intake to workers at either the West Jefferson or King Avenue facilit No violations or deviations were identifie . Nuclear Criticality Safety (IP 88015)

The quantitative levels of plutonium and enriched uranium located in plant materials are considered contaminated residues. It is highly unlikely that fissile quantities of plutonium and enriched uranium are contained in any of-the contaminated material No violations or deviations were identifie _=

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= Operations Review (IP 880'20)-

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, TheLDepartment of Energy,(DOE) has phased out nuclear research performed

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for' DOE at Battelle Columbus Division (BCD). As a result,-some 15 buildingsdorl portions thereof, will require decontamination and-

. decommissioning (D.and D) in order to remediate.the facilities-and qualify the' buildings for unrestricteduse. .Only about 6% of the total

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Lwork performed in some of'the buildings was' accomplished under a NRC license. Coinciding with the D.and D effort is the current NRC license

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(Materials License SNM-7) which was amended to allow BCD to use carbon-14

'in controlled field, studies. The: license was-also amended.to authorize the possession and use of iridium-192 for radiography associated with research and developmen .The-inspector toured all portions of the 15' buildings designated fo D and D. The inspector observed that stadiological surveys had been .

performed on equipment left.over from DOE /NRC projects. . Also,'the extent

, 'of contamination in'laboratoryidrains was"being determined b . radiologically characterizing materials remo'ved from the drain ,

ai ' Radiography Room-(King Avenue Facility)

. BCD. is authorized by license amendment to ir, crease its radiographic capability by procuring a 150 curie iridium-192 source. The inspector observed that shielding ofcthe radiograph room was' upgraded by adding

. lead panels to:the ceiling-and the access door. The' basic structure of the room consists of heavily shielded concrete wall The operations engineer demonstrated the use of; interlocking procedures, operating restrictions and instructions applicable.to.the operation of the iridium. source and the security of the radiography room. The inspector determined that these components. comply with the license'

amendment applicatio Carbon-14 Field Studies (West Jefferson Facility)

The inspector reviewed records concerning health and safety audits

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and interviewed the industrial hygienist associated with the carbon-14 field studies. The records indicated that all personnel associated with the' carbon-14 project received basic orientation in

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radiation protection.. According to the standard operating procedure audits of the facility are performed and an inspection " walk-through" to identify potential hazards is also required. The inspector toured the facility and observed that appropriate engineering controls (plastic sheeting and light wooden framed

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tents) for ventilation were present in areas were experiments involving carbon-14 were conducted. The control of contaminated

}4 liquid and solid waste was managed with 55 gallon waste drum The inspector concluded that the radiological health and safety c.ontrols were properly engineered to isolate experiments in a manner l

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4 Noviol'ations<orJdeviationswere21dentifie .

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, J Environmental Protection'(IP 88045)(

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" Site ' Characterization'" ,

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As previously reported-(see' Inspection. Report.No. 70-008/89001) the-licensee is.investigat'ing the extent of residual soil contamination which accumulated from'past projects'. Hence,. soil ' samples 'were collected from the area between the effluent outfall'and Darby Creek-

?and~ sediment samples were, collected from Battelle Lak Recent data indicated that co'ntaminated' levels in soil collected.200 feet downstream of the outfall arefless than'20 pCi cesium-137/g of soil'.

Less.than 1 pCi cesium-137/g and'no americium-241 was detected i Esamples'.of' lake' sediment. . The: investigation of soil contamination is still; ongoing for consideration of remediation. The inspector observed while the licensee prepared borehole samples extracted from the'siteifor a non-destructive analysis. These samp'e data will be helpful to-the licensee in determining the extent of onsite residual-contaminatio ' Annual Environmental Report In accordance'with Materials License No. SNM-7, Item No. 19, the

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licensee is required to' submit on annual environmental repor Groundwater samples are' collected.from three wells..The 1987 environmental report disclosed that'the concentration of

. radioactivity found in well water samples was indistinguishable from background contributions. The report also indicated that liquid effluent released from the site to Darby Creek, as disclosed in upstream and downstream control samples, did.not alter the concentratiori of radioactivity in the creek to greater than background levels. In addition, the licensee verifies compliance with applicable water quality standards for radioactivity in

~ drinking water. An analysis of the non-community drinking water indicated that the average concentrations of gross alpha and gross beta radioactivity were less than EPA's drinking water standar Data presented in the 1986 environmental monitoring report disclosed similar results. Although the 1988 report has not been issued, the data is currently being reviewed by DO No violations or deviations were identifie . Maintenance Surveillance (IP 88005)

A review of the licensee's surveillance tests was conducted to determine

.specifically whether the Hot Cell Laboratory pool water was be ing maintained within the limits prescribed by the license applicatio ~ ~ - _ -

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.Q routine- operations.;shalL not' exceed;1E-03 operations'thepCi/mlibeta; upper: limits gamma' tandl hf;the

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1E-04:pCi/ml alpha! 1For non-routine

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=The poolfwaterLanalyseslindica'.ed_ that the radioactivity concentration in l

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se.ight" samples'collectedtin May and June 1989, ranged from 7.8E-08.pCi/ml'

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f'L / /InicompliancewithLtiietecNnical. specifications'asdescribed:inthe n ': license;applicationiand License; Condition No. 21,1the licensee ~ determined'.

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Records :ind'icatId thatStiree'shipmehts'c ' ontainih[ radioactive materials' '

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!were madeiduring0the, March through June:1989/ operating period. :The' l...

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1 shipments" cons,isted of milli.ng equipment, Metallurgical tools and ~ shielded >

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's -drums,of boron; carbide control rods. ,The milling equipment was~ shipped: +

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as:a limited l quantity: 1The ' external surface' contamination'on'this package; was.less than the DOTilimit of '22.dprii/cm2,- while the radiation level on

,, ' - : the. external ' surface of ths! package did rnot exceed 0.5 mR/hr.

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~ Theinspector[determinedlthatthepackageshippedas'alimitedquantity; T .

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. met the limits specifiedlin 49 CFR 173.421 and 173.44 w*

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.Theinspectorconcluded hat tiie licensee made an appropriate determination

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lin=o'rder to ship the; material:as a limited quantit L

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i; . No~ violations or- deviations were identifie t ) L-1 . Exit Meeting-

Theiscope and findings of the inspection were discussed with licensee-representatives (Section 1) at the.close of the onsite inspection on

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, June 30, 1989. The inspector s.tated that licensee programs in the areas of exposure control,' criticality safety, surveillance, operations, and

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transportation met regulatory requirements,

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o During the.. course of the inspection and the. exit meeting, the licensee did not identify any documents or inspector statements and references to

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