IR 05000333/1993023

Insp Rept 50-333/93-23 on 931004-08.One Noncited Violation Noted.Major Areas Inspected:Radwaste,Transportation & Radiation Protection Program

ML20058Q025
Person / Time
Site:	FitzPatrick
Issue date:	10/18/1993
From:	Bores R, Joseph Furia NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:
Shared Package
ML20058Q002	List: IR 05000333/1993023 ML20058Q001
References
50-333-93-23, NUDOCS 9310260043
Download: ML20058Q025 (6)

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b U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION I REGION I

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L -- Report No' . 50-333/93-23

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License N DPR-59 Licensee: New York Power Authority Post Office Box 41

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Lycoming. New York 13093

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p . Facility Name: James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant Inspection' At: Lycoming. New York Inspection Conducted: October 4-8.1993 Inspector:

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J. Furia, Senior Radiation Specialist, date Facilities Radiation Protection Section (FRPS),

Facilities Radiological Safety and Safeguards

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Approved by: (2.L h b 4 [ idr3[93 date

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R. Bores, Chief, FRDS, FRSSB, DRSS L-

' Areas Inspected: Announced inspection of the radwaste, transportation,and radiation protection programn including: processing of plant liquids, packaging of radioactive materials, classification cf materials for waste disposal, scaling factors, interim radwaste

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' storage and assurance of qualit '

Bestts: Continued generally strong performance in the radwaste and transportation program, including assurance of quality, was noted. Some weaknesses were observed during a shipment made on October 5,1993, including one non-cited violation. Actions taken by u the licensee in response to these weaknesses were prompt and comprehensiv u 9310260043 931018 PDR. ADOCK 05000333 G .PDRf

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DETAILS 1.0 ' Personnel Contacted

1.1 ' ' Licensee Personnel

• R. Barrett, General Manager - Operations

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T. Bergene, ALARA Supervisor M. Colomb, General Manager - Support Services p J. Gnojek, Radiation Protection Technician D. Lindsey, General Manager - Maintenance

• J. McCarty, Senior Quality Engineer

• M. McMahon, Health Physics General Supervisor

• C. Moreau, Quality Assurance Specialist

• E. Mulcahey, Senior Technical Advisor, Operational Review Group P. Policastro, Radiation Protection Supervisor <

• H. Salmon, Resident Manager J.'_Sipp, Radiological and Environmental Services Manager

• J. Solini, Radiological Engineering General Supervisor

, J. Solowski, Radiation Protection Supervisor A. Young, Decontamination and Shipping Supervisor 1.2'. NRC Personnel W. Cook, Senior Resident Inspector J. Tappert, Resident Inspector

• Denotes those present at the exit interview on October 8,199 .0 - R'adiation Protection Procram

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Since the last inspection in this area, the licensee's Radiological and Environmental

' Services (RES) Manager, who served as the Radiation Protection Manager in

accordance with plant Technical Specification 6.3.1, left the licensee's employmen The licensee named Mr. Joseph Sipp to serve as RES Manager and to serve as

. Radiation Protection Manager. An analysis of the qualifications of this individual to 1 serve as Radiation Protection Manager was undertaken by the licensee, and the results

- of that analysis were reviewed by the inspector. The individual selected by the licensee was required to meet or exceed the qualification criteria specified in NRC Regulatory Guide 1.8 (September 1975) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard N18.1-1975, in accordance with Plant Technical Specification 6. The individual selected by the licensee was determined to meet or exceed all >

requirements for the position.~' 4 In preparation for the upcoming mid-cycle maintenance outage, the licensee prepared a number of ALARA reviews of work packages to support work in both the drywell

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and the balance of the plant. During the planned 26-day outage, no fuel movement will take place, however a number of motor-operated valves will be tested and repaired, with these valves located in the drywell. At the time of this inspection, all jobs with significant total dose potential had been evaluated, with the evaluation documented in an ALARA review. In addition to outage preparations, the ALARA group continued to work as an integral part of the licensee's work planning proces For example, four ALARA planners were assigned full-time to work control activitie During the last part of September 1993, the licensee consolidated its administrative functions, including radiation protection, into a new Administration Building located on the east side of the site, and provided for a new principal access point into the Radiologically Controlled Area (RCA), via the Turbine Building. Placement of the radiological controls office directly opposite the primary RCA entrance was considered a significant licensee improvement, as it allows for direct line-of-sight control over the access point, reduces response times to portal monitor alarms, and provides for more space to be available for work crew briefings, which were difficult at the old radiological controls location, due to space limitation .0 Badwaste and Transoortation The licensee's program for the processing of plant liquids, collection and processing of gene rated radioactive wastes, Process Control Program (PCP), shipping and transportation of radioactive materials has remained substantially unchanged since the last inspection of this area in 1992. Several significant changes were being planned by the licensee at the time of this inspection, however. In 1992-1993, the licensee had a contractor conduct a comprehensive review of plant liquids processing and radwaste processing. Based upon the results of this study, the licensee has proposed to its Board of Trustees an improvement program for radwaste operations. Significant changes planned include replacement of the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) with a permanent set of demineralizers for the floor drain system; permanent replacement of the original plant waste evaporator; significant increase of the tank capacities for storage of spent resins and sludge; and reuse of condensate resins in the floor drain demineralizers, which will further reduce licensee spent resin volumes requiring disposa .1 Transoortation The Shipping and Decontamination Supervisor, who reports through the Radiological Engineering General Supervisor to the RES Manager, continued to have principal responsibility for the shipment of radwaste off-site to the Low-Level Waste Disposal Facility at Barnwell, South Carolina. As part of this inspection, the following radwaste shipment records were reviewed:

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_ Shipnient # Activity (Ci) Volume (cu ft) Iygg 0193-032 1.24E+01 20 Resin 0193-034 .1.71E+01 17 Resin

' 0193-035 8.22E+00 20 Resin L,> 0293-019 1.68E+01 17 Resin p 0293-032 1.33E+01 l'7 Evap Bottoms k 0393-043 1.49E+01 17 Evap Bottoms 0393-044 4.39E+00 20 Resin 0393-045 - 1.29E+01 17 Evap Bottoms b 0493-019 6.96E+00 20 Resin 0493-020 3.22E+01 17 Resin 0493-021 5.91E-01 17 DAW

' 0593-048 2.17E+01 20 Resin 330 2.39E+00 17 Resin 053 7.08E+00 17 Resin 113- 5.07E+00 17 Resin 331 1.69E+01 17 Resin 487 5.49E+00 17 Resin 488 1.29E+02 17 Resin 838- 7.09E+01 13 Hardware All shipments, except as noted below, were determined to be in full compliance with all applicable regulations contained in Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (49 CFR) Parts 100-177,10 CFR Parts 20, 61 and 71, and South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control license No. 097, issued to Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc. (CNSI) for the Low-Level Waste Disposal Facility at Barnwell, South Carolin On October 4-5,1993, the inspector made direct observations of radwaste shipment No. 838, involving the loading of an SEG (a Westinghouse Company) 14-142B shipping cask with a liner containing irradiated hardware (byproduct material) from the licensee's spent fuel pool. Two weaknesses and an item of non-compliance were identified regarding this activity. First, the

- licensee' delayed the loading of the liner into the cask pending the receipt of a test gauge. for use in conducting a pressure test required as part of the cask's Safety Analysis Report and _ Certificate'of Compliance, when shipping Type B quantities of radioactive material. In the case of this shipment, the material had been classified as Low Specific Activity (LSA) material, and no pressure c

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. test was necessary, however this fact was not discovered until a Quality Assurance inspector noted the appropriate paragraph in the shipping cask's )

operating procedure. SEG had sent this procedure to the licensee some i months earlier, and the conditions under which a pressure. test was needed should have been noted by the licensee much sooner. Second, in preparing for

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mentioned pressure test, the Quality Assurance inspector discovered that the pressure test procedure provided by SEG was not the one referenced in the cask handling procedure. Again this was a discrepancy that the licensee should have noted much sooner than on the day the cask was scheduled to be shipped. Finally a non-cited violation was identified by the inspector on the afternoon of October 5,1993 while reviewing paperwork associated with this shipment. Specifically the licensee failed to properly execute (i.e.,

improperly dated) a South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) form No. 803, as required under condition 24 of the South Carolina DHEC Radioactive Material License No. 097 issued to CNSI for operation of the Barnwell site. Compliance with an agreement state license, when transferring byproduct material, is required under 10 CFR Part 30.4 The NRC recognizes the low safety significance of this event, as all other paperwork was determined to be in compliance. Further, the licensee took prompt short-term corrective action, including immediately contacting the receiving license and transmitting a corrected DHEC Form 803 upon notification of the apparent violation. Also the scope and depth of root cause analysis that the licensee undertook to make long-term corrective actions, including a reexamination of potential schedule pressures regarding the spent fuel clean-up project that could have led to this violation, was considered appropriate. Based on the above, the NRC chose to exercise its discretion under 10 CFR Part 2, . Appendix C, VII, B (1) and not cite this violatio .2 Interim Radwaste Disposql in preparation for the closing of the existing Low-Level Waste Disposal Site at Barnwell, South Carolina on June 30,1994, the licensee has undertaken to prepare its Interim Radwaste Storage Facility. The licensee established a target date of April 1,1994, for all necessary facility modifications, repairs and upgrades to be completed, and for the facility to be declared operationa The Interim Radwaste Storage Facility was constructed in the mid-1980s, and was designed to store up to five years of plant-generated low-level radwaste, including processed Dry Active Wastes (DAW), dewatered spent resins and sludges, and all other miscellaneous radwastes. Since its construction, the facility has been utilized as a contractor's warehouse, with some modifications made to the structure, especially in the liner storage area. In response to the impending closing of the Barnwell facility, the licensee created a multidisiplinary task force led by a Senior Nuclear Environmental Engineer from the licensee's Corporate Office to examine all issues surrounding the utilization of the Interim Radwaste Storage Facility. At the time of this inspection, reviews were being conducted by this task force of:

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Facility Shielding Evaluation

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Facility Fire Detection and Protection Systems

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Facility Safety Analysis

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- Facility Modifications Necessary for Facility Use

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Status of Radiation Monitoring Equipment

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Opening 'of the Interim radwaste Storage Facility has been placed on the e licensee's priority list for the FitzPatrick site for 1994, and the licensee's project team anticipated meeting the April 1,1994, deadline. The inspector will follow this project'during future inspections until complete ~ 4.0 - Assurance of Ouality The licensee continued to maintain a highly effective Quality Assurance Program in both the radwaste and radiation protection areas, through the use of audits and surveillances of plant activities. As part of this inspection, the following surveillances and audits were reviewed by the inspector:

Surveillance Report (SR)-1616, "PCP-Related Valve Line-'Up" SR-1625, " Shipment Inspection on Shipment 0493-020" SR-1627, " Receipt Inspection on Cask #12"

. SR-1637, " Radiological Oversight" SR-1639, ." Refuel Floor Commitments" .

SR-1641 (DRAFT), " Refuel Floor Work Activities" Audit Report 806, " Process Control Program" Several items regarding possible deviations from commitments made to the NRC were noted in Surveillance Reports 1637 and 1639, and the inspector indicated that during a future inspection these issues will be further reviewed (Unresolved Item

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50-333/93-23-01).' Exit Interview l

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The inspector met with the licensee representatives denoted in Section 1 at the ~ conclusion of the inspection on October 8,1993. The inspector summarized the-purpose, scope and findings of the inspection. The licensee acknowledged the

findings of the inspectio I i

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