IR 05000266/1987011

Discusses Insp Rept 50-266/87-11 on 870428-0519 & Forwards Notice of Violation

ML20235Q666
Person / Time
Site:	Point Beach
Issue date:	07/14/1987
From:	Davis A NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:	Fay C WISCONSIN ELECTRIC POWER CO.
Shared Package
ML20235Q668	List: IR 05000266/1987011 ML20235Q723
References
EA-87-095, EA-87-95, NUDOCS 8707210091
Download: ML20235Q666 (4)

Text

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l6 lY, July 14, 1987 Docket No. 50-266 License No. DPR-24 EA 87-95 Wisconsin Electric Power Company ATTN: Mr. C. W. Fay Vice President Nuclear Power Department 231 West Michigan, Room 308 Milwaukee, WI 53201 Gentlemen:

SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC INSPECTION REPORTS N0. 50-266/87011 AND NO. 50-301/87010)

This refers to the inspection conducted during the period of April 28 through-May 19, 1987, at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant. The inspection was conducted, In part, in response to two personnel exposure events that you identified and ,

reported to the NRC Senior Resident Inspector. On June 18, 1987, we held an I enforcement conference with you and members of your staff during which the violations, the root causes, and your corrective actions were discusse The first event which occurred on April 21, 1987, involved two contractor health physics technicians who were assigned to move plastic bags of radwaste from one temporary location to another in the radwaste building. One of the bags, which contained a highly contaminated filter from a portable underwater cleaning system, was apparently slit or torn either before or during the transfer operation. As a result, radioactive particles fell on the floor in the shielded storage room and two particles were found'in the breast pocket of {

each technician's coveralls. The maximum calculated skin doses for the two i technicians were 4.5 rem and 0.75 rem. Although neither of these doses exceeded regulatory limits, there was a substantial potential that such limits could have been exceeded, j The second event occurred on May 10, 1987, when three individuals, a Health .

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Physics supervisor and two Radiation Control Operator trainees (RCOT), conducted ,

a test of the plant Radiation Monitoring System (RMS) to demonstrate that the  ;

containment purge valves would trip closed, as required. The individuals were  !

unfamiliar with the configuration of the storage container that held a 70.7 millicurie cesium-137 source that was being used in the test. As a i result, one of the trainees removed a small plug from.the storage container which, unknown to him, contained the cesium-137 source. He then held the plug  ;

and source in each hand for about 33 seconds and received a calculated dose of approximately 15 rem to each hand. Although this dose did not exceed regulatory limits, there was a substantial potential that such limits could have been exceede PDR G ADOCK 05000266 PDR g g 1 - - _ _ _ _ _ _ - - _ _ -

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Wisconsin diectric Power 2 July 14,_1987 Company

These two violations, which occurred within a three-week period, have similar root causes: a lack of awareness of radiological hazards and a failure to adequately instruct employees in precautions or procedures to minimize person-nel exposure In the first event, the technicians were not aware of the significant hazards associated with the highly contaminated filter in the plastic bag, did not realize that the filter was not adequately packaged, and had no written instruction or labeling on the bag that would have alerted them to the problem. In the second event, untreined individuals attempted to perform a test procedure without adequate training, without understanding the equipment involved, and without attempting to obtain appropriate information before proceeding with the tes In accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," 10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C (1987), the violations

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described in the enclosed Notice have been classified co m ctively as a l Severity Level III proble A civil penalty is considered for a Severity

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Level III proble However, after consultation with the Director, Office of Enforcement, I have decided that a civil penalty will not be proposed in this case because you identified and promptly reported these events to the NRC, conducted a comprehensive investigation, and took unusually prompt and extensive corrective actions. The corrective actions included the following: (1) a new Superintendent of Health Physics position was created and filled on June 1, 1987; (2) an additional staff position was created in health physics and will be filled by July 27, 1987; (3) the present six RCOTs will be increased to 13 after seven individuals complete training by December 31, 1987; (4) initiatives have been taken to upgrade the status of health physics personnel; (5) new i calibration source procedures have been drafted; (6) the calibration source container has been labeled and the cesium-137 source has been secured in the container to prevent inadvertent removal, and (7) new procedures have been implemented to control personnel contaminatio You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your response, you should document the specific actions taken and'any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. You should also describe any additional actions you have taken or plan to take to ensure that individuals will be provided with adequate training and instructions before being permitted to engage in activities that entail significant radiological hazards. After reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective actions and the results of future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirement 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 its enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Roo .

Wisconsin Electric Power 3 July 14, 1987 Company j

l The responses directed by this letter and the enclosed Notice are not subject to the clearance procedures of the Office of Management and Budget as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-51

Sincerely, frigh.cl ed;;rW by

)% Esic' Tw15'c A. Bert Davis Regional Administrator Enclosure: Notice of Violation cc w/ enclosure:

J. J. Zach, Plant Manager DCS/RSB (RIDS)

Licensing Fee Management Branch Resident Inspector, RIII Virgil Kanable, Chief l Boiler Section 1 Mary Lou Munts, Chairperson Wisconsin Public Service Commission Collette Blum-Meister (SLO),

WI Div. of Emergency Government Lawrence J. McDonnell, Chief Radiation Protection Section

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WI Department of Health and Social Services, Division 1 of Health RIII RIII Ry RIII Ct.~//~ WkW v A Kind /nma Schultz iello May s

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Wisconsin Electric Power 4 July 14, 1987 Company DISTRIBUTION';

POR SECY JTaylor, DED0 TMartin, DEDRO SSohinki, 0GC ABDavis, RIII JLieberman, OE EFlack, OE Enforcement Coordinators RI, RII, RIII, RIV, RV TMurley, NRR BHayes, 01 SConnelly, DIA EJordan, AE00 FIngram, PA DE Files ,

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