IR 05000266/1983017

IE Insp Repts 50-266/83-17 & 50-301/83-16 on 830808-0922. Noncompliance Noted:Failure to Perform Appropriate Contamination Survey of Radioactive Matls Shipment

ML20081B128
Person / Time
Site:	Point Beach
Issue date:	10/12/1983
From:	Dunaway F, Bob Fitzpatrick, Greger L, Hague R, Hartman P, Lovendale P, Madeda T, Paul R, Pirtle G NRC Office of Inspection & Enforcement (IE Region III)
To:
Shared Package
ML20081B109	List: IR 05000266/1983017
References
NRC-2020-000157, TAC-52693, TAC-52694, TASK-2.B.2, TASK-TM 50-266-83-17, 50-301-83-16, NUDOCS 8310270313
Download: ML20081B128 (8)

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U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

REGION III

Reports No. 50-266/83-17(DRMSP); 50-301/83-16(DRMSP)

Docket Nos. 50-266; 50-301 Licenses No. DPR-24; DPR-27 Licensee: Wisconsin Electric Power Company 231 West Michigan Milwaukee, WI 53201 Facility Name: Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 & 2 Inspection At: Point Beach Site, Two Creeks, WI Inspection Conducted: August 8 through September 22, 1983 eAL L Principal Inspector: P. C. Lovendale fe/2/#J Fuel Shipment Inspectors: R. A. Paul // 2' 8

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Approved By: L. acilities /0 2h2 Radiation Protection Section Inspection Summary:

Inspection on August 8 through September 22, 1983 (Reports No. 50-266/83-17 (DRMSP); 50-301/83-16(DRMSP))

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Areas Inspected: Special, unannounced inspection of radiation protection related preparations for the Unit I steam generator replacement outag Also, thirty shipments of spent fuel were inspected and certain THI Action Plan Items were reviewed. The inspection involved 189 inspector-hours on site by eight NRC inspector Results: Of the three areas inspected, no items of noncompliance or devia-tions were identified in two areas; one item of noncompliance was identified in the remaining area (Failure to perform an appropriate contamination survey of a radioactive materials shipment - Section 5).

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DETAILS Persons Contacted

• R. S. Bredvad, Plant Health Physicist

• L. Fredrichs, Radiochemist

• D. F. Johnson, Health Physics Coordinator, Special Projects

• R. E. Link, Superintendent, Engineering, Quality, and Regulatory Services

• C. Reisenbuechler, Superintendent, Technical Services D. B. Tate, Administrator, Special Projects

• J. J. Zach, Manager, Point Beach Nuclear Plant The inspectors also contacted other licensee and contractor employees in-cluding radiation control operators, Numanco technicians, and Westinghouse engineer * Denotes those present at the exit meetin . General This inspection, which began at 4:00 a.m. on August 9, 1983, was conducted to examine radiation protection related preparations for the Unit I steam generator replacement outage scheduled to begin on October 1, 1983. Also, licensee actions taken to complete NUREG-0737 Item II.B.2 were reviewed and thirty shipments of spent reactor fuel from General Electric Morris Operation were inspecte During this period, independent radiation and contamination surveys were conducted using NRC instruments. Measurements made were in close agree-ment with licensee survey result . Preparations for Unit 1 Steam Generator Replacement Organization During a previous inspection l , the licensee stated that the Plant Health Physicist would retain his responsibilities as tne radiation protection manager for all activities including the Unit I steam generator replacement project. During this inspection, the licensee stated that the organization for the Unit 1 steam genera-tor replacement project would be revised such that the Plant Health Physicist would be removed from the reporting chain on all matters related to steam generator replacement activitie The Health Physics Coordinator for the steam generator replacement project will assume the radiation protection manager's responsibilities related to that task and will report directly to the Administrator, Special Project For resolution of radiation protection related matters, an alternate reporting chain exists between the Health Physics Coordinator and the Manager, Point Beach Nuclear Plan As previously stated,2 the individual filling the Health Physics Coordinator position will meet the radiation protection manager's (RPM) qualifications listed in Regulatory Guide 1.8 by the steam

Inspection Report No. 50-266/83-03 and 50-301/83-03 2 Ibid

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generator replacement project starting date of October 1983. Also, this individual appears to meet the qualification requirements for the position of Health Physicist as delineated in Technical Specific.stion 15.6.3.2. The inspector noted that this organization change had not been relayed to NRR and conflicts with previous commitments. This matter was discussed during the exit meeting and will be reviewed during a future inspectio (266/83-03-04)

Except for two Shift Health Physicists, all key positions within the health physics organization for the Unit I steam generator replace-ment project have been filled. The two remaining Shift Health i Physicist positions are expected to be filled by the end of September i 198 The inspector reviewed the qualifications of the Shift Health Physicists, Health Physics Director (Westinghouse), and Health Physics l Manager (Morrison - Knudsen). These individuals' qualifications appear to be consistent with their positions within the organizatio No problems were note b. Facility Construction The inspector toured facilities under construction to support the Unit I steam generator replacement project including: the contain-ment access building (CAB), the mausoleum for onsite storage of the old steam generators, and the north gatehouse which contains the radiation exposure management system (REMS). Also, plans to con-struct the containment access control envelope (CACE), a noncom-pactible waste handling area, a radwaste drum handling area, and a radwaste drum storage area were reviewe The CAB will be the primary access control point for all contractor employees. The inspector observed that this building contains adequate change areas, locker space, storage space, decontamination facilities, and personal monitoring (frisker) stations. Construc-

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tion of this building is essentially complete. No problems were l noted.

l l The msusoleum is a concrete structure for storage of the old steam generators following removal from the Unit I containment. The l

inspector observed that construction of this facility is essentially l complete and determined through discussions with licensee representa-

tives that necessary entry controls for this facility would be implemented.

I l The north gatehouse was constructed for the exclusive use of con-tractor employees during the steam generator replacement projec One area of this building contains the REMS. The inspector observed l

that the terminals and operators for REMS are in place. Also contained in this building are high sensitivity walkthrough monitors

! for contractors to use when leaving the site. No problems were noted during the tour of this facility.

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. Solid Radioactive Waste Managere,nt The inspector reviewed licensee plans for handling radioactive waste generated as a result of Unit I steam generator replacement activi-ties. After removal from containment, the plant operating staff will be responsible for packaging and shipping solid radioactive wast In addition to the present compactor, a new compactor will be installed in the Unit 1 facade. Also, a drum storage building and noncompactible waste storage building will be constructe Shipments to a licensed waste burial site will be made as needed so that radioactive waste inventories remain low. No problems were note No items of noncompliance or deviations were identifie . TMI Action Plan Items Item II.B.2. Plant Shielding The inspector reviewed the licensee's actions taken to satisfy the requirements of NUREG-0737, Item II.B.2 " Plant Shielding." The licensee's plant shielding design review identified several areas which required additional permanent or portable shielding, including:

panel C-59, motor control centers IB32 and 2B32, certain piping and electrical penetrations between the auxiliary and control buildings, and the control room doors and windows. The inspector observed that the needed shielding for the motor control centers and the auxiliary building penetrations had been installed. According to a licensee representative, the portable shielding needed for the control room windows and doors and panel C-59 would be ordered in the near future and installed by January 1,1984, as required by the NRC Confirmatory Order dated March 14, 1983. This matter will be reviewed during a future inspectio (266/83-17-02; 301/83-16-02)

During a previous inspection3 , it was noted that the licensee's time and motion study for collecting and analyzing a coolant sample under accident conditions did not consider the added time needed to pull the heavy sample transport cart from the sample point back to the laboratory. The licensee has completed a new time motion study which considers the time needed to pull the cart back to the labora-tory. The inspectors reviewed the results of this study which showed sample collection and analysis could be completed without exceeding the design basis dose of 5 rem whole body and 75 rem extremity. Therefore, access to the post-accident sample stations (vital areas) can be accomplished without additional shieldin (266/82-06-03; 301/82-06-03)

3 Inspection heports No. 50-266/82-06; 50-301/82-06

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. * SA-11 Main Steam Line Monitors The inspector observed that the SA-11 main steam line monitors were installed, operating, and calibrated, as stated in the NRC Confirmatory Action Letter dated May 20, 1983. No further problems were note (266/83-08-04; 301/83-08-05)

5. Spent Fuel Shipments During this period, thirty spent reactor fuel shipments were inspecte The spent fuel shipments originated at General Electric Morris Operation and were inspected before departure by NRC inspectors, Illinois Depart-ment of Nuclear Safety inspectors, and Illinois State Police motor carrier inspector (See NRC Inspection Report No. 72-001/83-03.) Inspection of the shipments upon arrival at Point Beach Nuclear Plant included: inde-pendent radiation and contamination surveys, review of licensee survey results, discussions with shipment escorts and drivers related to safe-guards measures and procedures, and periodic monitoring of licensee cask handling operations. Also, licensee surveys of outgoing empty casks were selectively reviewed. Except as noted below, no significant problems were note On August 26, 1983, General Electric Morris Operation reported to the NRC that an empty spent fuel shipping cask (NL-1/2 No. 5) was received from Point Beach Nuclear Plant on August 25, 1983, with removable con-tamination levels in excess of the DOT limit of 22,000 dpm/100 cm 2, The report was made in accordance with 10 CFR 20.20 General Electric's survey results indicated that a small area of the cask was contaminated to a maximum of 28,900 dpm/100 cm 2 . The average activity of the area based on four smears taken in the same general vicinity was 24,000 dpm/100 cm2 . Evaluation of the four smears on NRC counting equipment revealed an average activity of 28,000 dpm/100 cm2 ,

NRC Region III review revealed that the apparent cause of the problem was excessive cask " weeping" of contamination from the metal surface of the cash. This phenomenon is recognized by DOT, which allows a factor of ten increase in rere"able contamination levels during transit. Excessive weeping had been experienced during previous shipments, but survey results which indicated the excessive weeping had apparently not been l communicated to Point Beach nor did Point Beach request such survey results from Morris Operation. Contamination increases as high as a factor of twenty had been experienced previously, but DOT limits during shipment had not been exceede The cask arrived at Morris Operation at noon on August 25, 1983, but was not surveyed for removable contamination until about 10:00 p.m. on August 25, 1983; ten hours after arrival. The outgoing survey of the cask at Point Beach was performed at 12:20 p.m. on August 24, 19R3; nineteen hours before its departure for Morris Operation at 7:30 on August 25, 1983. Had the licensee (Point Beach) performed the cask survey just prior to shipment, the results would likely have indicated

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that excessive weeping had occurred. Also, had the Morris Operation contamination survey been conducted immediately upon arrival, the results may have been less than the 22,000 dpm/100 cm2 DOT limit. These concla-sions are based on the assumption that the contamination " weeping" phenom-enon is time dependent. However, sufficient data is not available in this case to mathematically define the time dependent functio Department of Transportation regulation 49 CFR 173.475(i) requires that appropriate surveys be conducted prior to shipmen Because of previous cask weeping experienced with these shipments, an appropriate removable contamination survey should have been conducted shortly before the ship-ments. Failure to perform the appropriate survey is considered an item of noncomplianc (266/83-17-03; 301/83-16-03)

Following this incident, the licensee began discussions with Morris Operation management in order to determine the cause of the cask weeping and possible corrective actions. No significant cask weeping has been noted with shipments originating at Morris Operation and no further significant cask weeping problems have been noted with shipments originating at Point Beach. Licensee corrective actions taken to pre-clude recurrence included improvement in cask decontamination, handling, and survey procedures and improved communications with the cask receiver regarding receipt contamination levels. This matter, including further details of licensee corrective actions, was discussed during the exit meetin . Exit Meeting The inspector met with licensee representatives (denoted in Section 1)

on August 24, 1983. Further discussions were conducted during a telephone conversation between the inspector and licensee management on September 14 and October 3, 1983. The inspector summarized the scope and findings of the inspectio In response to certain matters discussed by the inspector, the licensee: Stated that NRR would be notified of the proposed change in the

! health physics organization for the Unit I steam generator replace-ment projec (Section 3)

! Stated that their decontamination procedure has been revised, in-

! cluding: reduction of the soap concentration from 50 percent to 5 ( percent, significantly increased use of demineralized water rinses,

! addition of a demineralized water wipe down, and alteration of the wipe down technique used to a downward motio (Section 5) Stated that more surveys of the cask are being conducted. The cask is surveyed while in the decon pit, af ter cask has been loaded onto trailer, and just before the cask leaves the site. (Section 5) Stated that copies of Morris Operation surveys performed on incoming casks are being reviewed by Point Beach in order to monitor the rate at which weeping occur (Section 5)

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o Acknowledged the item of noncompliance, and stated that corrective actions taken should prevent recurrenc (Section 5)

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