IR 05000184/2022201

National Institute of Standards and Technology - Us Nuclear Regulatory Commission Special Inspection Report No 05000184-2022201

ML22056A361
Person / Time
Site:	National Bureau of Standards Reactor
Issue date:	03/16/2022
From:	Mohamed Shams NRC/NRR/DANU
To:	Dimeo R US Dept of Commerce, National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST)
Roche K
Shared Package
ML22066B312	List: IR 05000184/2022201
References
EA-21-148 IR 2022201
Download: ML22056A361 (45)

Text

March 16, 2022

SUBJECT:

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY -

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION SPECIAL INSPECTION REPORT NO. 05000184/2022201

Dear Dr. Dimeo:

From February 9, 2021 - March 16, 2022, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff conducted a special inspection at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Center for Neutron Research facility. The NRC staff initiated the special inspection based upon the criteria specified in NRC Management Directive 8.3, NRC Incident Investigation Program, following the event notification (EN 55094) received from your staff on February 3, 2021, regarding an alert declaration at the National Bureau of Standards test reactor (hereinafter the NIST test reactor). The special inspection utilized guidance in Inspection Procedure 93812, Special Inspection Team, and Inspection Procedure 92701, Followup. NIST supplemented the event notification by a 14-day report dated February 16, 2021 and amended on March 4, 2021 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession Nos. ML21048A149 and ML21070A183, respectively), which describe the circumstances that led to the alert declaration as a result of detecting fission products in the helium sweep and ventilation exhaust systems. Additionally, on March 2, 2021, in a related event notification (EN 55120), NIST informed the NRC that, based upon assessment of video surveillance of the reactor core and previously reported detection of fission products, your staff determined that the February 3, 2021, event violated the reactors fuel cladding temperature safety limit in the technical specifications (TSs). Subsequently, NIST supplemented this notification by a 14-day report dated March 5, 2021, and amended on May 13, 2021 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML21064A523 and ML21133A266, respectively).

On April 14, 2021, the NRC staff issued an interim special inspection report to provide an initial assessment of our understanding of the event sequence, consequences, and the licensees response (ADAMS Accession No. ML21077A094). The enclosed final special inspection report presents the results of the NRCs special inspection activities. The NRC inspectors discussed the preliminary inspection findings with you and members of your staff at the conclusion of the special inspection on Thursday, March 10, 2022. A final exit briefing was conducted during a public meeting with you on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. Our special inspection activities confirmed that the NIST test reactor remains safely shut down and that the consequences from the February 3, 2021 event did not pose a risk to public health and safety. The inspectors review of equipment performance onsite records and interviews with the NIST staff have shown that releases of radiation during and following the event were a small fraction of regulatory limits.

The NRC inspection activities related to the violation of the TS safety limit determined that the fuel cladding reached a temperature that resulted in the partial melt of a single fuel element.

Based on the event exceeding the TS safety limit referenced previously, NRC approval is required to restart the NIST test reactor. The NRC staff will conduct additional oversight activities to assess NISTs ability to safely restart and to implement appropriate corrective actions to prevent recurrence of the event. These additional oversight activities will include inspections and technical reviews and will be informed by the apparent violations and open items identified in the enclosed report.

Based on the results of this inspection, the NRC staff identified seven apparent violations (AVs),

which are being considered for escalated enforcement action, including a civil penalty, in accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy. The current Enforcement Policy is included on the NRCs website at https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/enforcement/enforce-pol.html.

The apparent violations are related to the NIST test reactor exceeding the fuel temperature safety limit, emergency planning, and facility changes. The circumstances surrounding these apparent violations, the significance of the issues, and the need for lasting and effective corrective action were discussed with you and members of your staff at the special inspection exit meeting on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. The apparent violations and observations for future follow-up are discussed in the Summary of Violation and Summary of Follow-up Items tables of the enclosed report.

Before the NRC makes its enforcement decision, we are providing you an opportunity to, (1)

request a Pre-decisional Enforcement Conference (PEC), or (2) request Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). If a PEC is held, it will be open for public observation and the NRC will issue a press release to announce the time and date of the conference. If you decide to participate in a PEC or pursue ADR, please contact Travis Tate at 301-415-3901 within 10 days of the date of this letter. A PEC should be held within 30 days and an ADR session within 45 days of the date of this letter.

If you choose to request a PEC, the conference will afford you the opportunity to provide your perspective on these matters and any other information that you believe the NRC should take into consideration before making an enforcement decision. The decision to hold a predecisional enforcement conference does not mean that the NRC has determined that a violation has occurred or that enforcement action will be taken. This conference would be conducted to obtain information to assist the NRC in making an enforcement decision. The topics discussed during the conference may include information to determine whether a violation occurred, information to determine the significance of a violation, information related to the identification of a violation, and information related to any corrective actions taken or planned.

In lieu of a PEC, you may also request Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) with the NRC in an attempt to resolve this issue. ADR is a general term encompassing various techniques for resolving conflicts using a third party neutral. The technique that the NRC has decided to employ is mediation. Mediation is a voluntary, informal process in which a trained neutral (the mediator) works with parties to help them reach resolution. If the parties agree to use ADR, they select a mutually agreeable neutral mediator who has no stake in the outcome and no power to make decisions. Mediation gives parties an opportunity to discuss issues, clear up misunderstandings, be creative, find areas of agreement, and reach a final resolution of the issues. Additional information concerning the NRC's program can be obtained at http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/enforcement/adr.html. The Institute on Conflict Resolution (ICR) at Cornell University has agreed to facilitate the NRC's program as a neutral third party. Please contact ICR at 877-733-9415 within 10 days of the date of this letter if you are interested in pursuing resolution of this issue through ADR.

In addition, please be advised that the number and characterization of apparent violations described in the enclosed inspection report may change as a result of further NRC review. You will be advised by separate correspondence of the results of our deliberations on this matter.

In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Section 2.390, Public inspections, exemptions, requests for withholding, a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response, if you choose to provide one, will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRCs ADAMS. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact Mr. Travis Tate, Chief, Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities Oversight Branch at (301) 415-3901.

Sincerely, Mohamed K. Shams, Director Division of Advanced Reactors and Non-Power Production and Utilization Facilities Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Docket No. 50-184 License No. TR-5

Enclosure:

Special Inspection Report No. 05000184/2022201

cc w/enclosure: See next page Mohamed K. Shams Digitally signed by Mohamed K. Shams Date: 2022.03.16 10:03:55 -04'00'

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Docket No. 50-184

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