IR 05000348/1986026

Insp Repts 50-348/86-26 & 50-364/86-26 on 861106-07. Violations Noted:Transfer of Radioactive Matl to Unauthorized Recipient & Failure to Comply W/Dot Regulations Re Transfer of Radioactive Matl

ML20210U391
Person / Time
Site:	Farley
Issue date:	02/02/1987
From:	Collins T, Hosey C NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II)
To:
Shared Package
ML20210U350	List: IR 05000348/1986026 ML20210U346 ML20210U366
References
50-348-86-26, 50-364-86-26, NUDOCS 8702180469
Download: ML20210U391 (6)

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1. ,d NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION p o REGION 11 g j 101 MARIETTA STREET, * !

2 ATLANTA, GEORGI A 30323

%.....*' FEB 0 21987 Report No.: 50-348/86-26 and 50-364/86-26 Licensee: Alabama Power Company ,

600 North 18th Street Birmingham, AL 35291

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Docket No.: 50-348 and 50-364 License No.: NPF-2 and NPF-8 Facility Name: Farley 1 and 2 Inspection Conducted: November 6-7, 1986 and December 22, 1986 Inspection at Farley sdte near Dothan, Alabama Inspector:

T. R. ColTi 7W //d[87 Date Signed Approved by: / 4% / /1L/87 C. M. Hose), Sectic n Chief Date Signed Division of Radiation Safety and Safeguards SUMMARY Scope: This special, announced inspection was in the area of shipment of radioactive material (mechanical snubbers) to a recipient unauthorized to receive-radioactive materia Results: Two violations were identified: (1) transfer of _ radioactive material to an unauthorized recipient; and (2) failure to comply with Department of--

Transportation (00T) regulations ~ applicable to the transportation of radioactive materia '

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REPORT DETAILS Persons Contacted

! . Licensee Employees

• D.~ Woodard, General Manager

• B. _ Shipman, Assistant General Manager, Plant Support

! *D. Morey, Assistant General Manager, Operations

• H. W. Mitchell, Health Physics Group Supervisor

, *J. Walden, Radwaste Supervisor

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• R. Bayne, Chemistry Supervisor

• P. Farnsworth,- Health Physics Sector Supervisor

• W. C. Carr, Chemistry and Environmental Supervisor (Corporate Office)

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• L. S. Williams, Training Manager

• J. K. Osterholtz, Supervisor, Safety Audit & Engineering Review

• W. D. Oldfield, Safety Audit & Engineering Review Engineer Other licensea employees contacted included three technicians ~ and three

office personne Nuclear Regulatory Commission I *B. R. Bonser, Resident Inspector

• Attended exit interview .

! Exit Interview The inspection scope and findings were summarized .on November 7,'1986, with j those persons indicated in Paragraph 1 above. Two violations were described i

in detail: (1) transfer of radioactive material -to an unauthorized recipient; and (2) failure to comply with DOT regulations applicable to the

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transportation of radioactive materia !

The licensee acknowledged the inspector's findings and took no exception The licensee did not identify as proprietary any of the materials provided -

to or reviewed by the inspector during' this inspectio . Licensee Action on Previous Enforcement Matters

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This subject was not addressed in the inspection.

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' Shipment of' Mechanical Snubbers (93700)

The information below was developed through review of referenced records and

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discussions with licensee representative , , _ . . _ _ .. _ ._ __.._. _ i .- _

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!^ In the spring of 1985, the licensee apparently removed from Containment'and '

the Auxiliary Building a number of mechanical . snubbers and transferred them

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to a trailer located inside the RCA and operated by Wyle Laboratorie Discussions with licensee representatives indicated zthat the . surveys-performed by the licensee, when the items were removed from the Containment-

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and the Auxiliary Building, were not to release the snubbers for.

1 unconditional release but only. to transfer the items to a. repair- facility.

1 onsite. The individual performing the release surveys stated that several 4: of the snubbers contained radioactivity resulting in radiation levels of f approximately 2 mr/h He also stated that the snubbers were tagged .and

. labeled and the box which contained the snubbers was also labeled as

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containing radioactive _ material prior to being released to the onsite repair'

area. The radioactive material labels affixed to the outside of the. wooden '

box appear to have been removed prior to shipment to Wyle Laboratories'-  ;

j facilities in Huntsville, Alabama on May 15, 1985.

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The licensee's Shipment (Number RMS 85-68) to Wyle Laboratories, Huntsville,.

Alabama, contained three items manifested as radioactive material. . The

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fourth item in the shipment was a wooden box containing 99 mechanical

! snubbers which was not manifested as radioactive material nor was the l- cutside of the box marked indicating it contained radioactive material.

i 10 CFR 71.5(a) requires each licensee who transports licensed material F outside of the confines of its plant or other place of use, to comply with ,

i 4 applicable transport ofrequirements the Department of the regulations - app of Transportation (ropriate DOT) to the in 49 CFR ~ mode Parts

170 - of 4 through 18 CFR 173.22(a)(1) requires that a person , offering a l hazardous material for transport in a packaging.or container required by i this part shall classify a.nd. describe, the, hazardous material in'accordance

with Parts 172 and 173 of this Subchapter 49 CFR 172.203(d) requires the F description for a shipment of radioactive material .on a shipping paper to -

include the name of each radionuclide in the radioactive material, the l activity contained in each package and a ' description of;the physical and p

chemical form of the material,

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The licensee elected to ship this material'as an unpackaged (bulk) shipment

)' as per 49 CFR 173.425(c). On May 5, 1986, the~ licensee contacted the DOT for an interpretation of-49 CFR 173.425(b) and 49 CFR-173.425(c). .The DOT's -

response stated that if a licensee elects to ship Low Specific: Activity

.1 (LSA) material as an unpackaged (bulk) shipment, the shipper must clearly

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identify on the shipping papers the -items that are packaged per 49 CFR 173.425(b) and those that are wrapped and enclosed as bulk material as per 49 CFR 173.425(c). The inspector noted that the description of the

_F radioactive material on the shipping papers did not clearly ~ identify the

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l radioactive material in the box of ninety-nine -(99) mechanical snubbers -

j packaged per 49 CFR 173.425(b). Failure to clearly identify the ' box,of

99 mechanical snubbers as radioactive material, .the activity contained in

j the package, identified as anand the name apparent of each violation of 10radionuclide CFR 71.5(a) ~in50-348 the p(ackage,

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!- 50-364/86-26-01).

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Upon receipt of. the shipment at Wyle Laboratories, the shipment was _

off-loaded by _ the -recipient and the wooden box containing 99 mechanical snubbers was stored, awaiting approval from the licensee to perform, testing and/or repair.. When the licensee received the cost quotation from Wyl Laboratories to test and/or repair the.99 mechanical . snubbers, the licensee determined that the estimated cost was more than they- planned to spend for testing and_ repair and informed Wyle Laboratories to return them. Upon receipt by the licensee, the 99 mechanical snubbers were stored in a- ;

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warehouse outside the protected are CFR 30.41(a) requires that no licensee transfer by-product material except as authorized pursuant to this sectio On March 19,-1986, the licensee shipped the mechanical snubbers.to Pacific Scientific, Anaheim, California,.under Shipment ' Number RMS 1337: for testing .

and/or repair. -When the recipient began work on the snubbers, they . observed t that several of the snubbers were _ labeled " radioactive material, less than 2 mr/hr." Pacific Scientific contacted the.0 range County California' Health _1 Department to provide assistance in surveying the snubbers for radioactivity. The Orange County Health Department confiscated four (4) of the snubbers because the radiation survey results revealed radiation levels from 1 to 50 mr/hr. Pacific Scientific-did not have a-license to possess, test, or repair radioactive equipment. The licensee sent two, individuals to California to perform radiation surveys of ~ the inechanical snubbers in question. It was determined .that two out of the four snubbers confiscated by the Orange County Health Department had. radiation levels 'of 540,000 and 600,000 disintegrations per minute .(dpm)/ scan fixed. beta-ganna -activity as a measured by the licensee. The other two snubbers identified by the Orange County Health Department- as being contaminated when surveyed by the licensee, indicated essentially no detectable radioactivity. ' These two snubbers were returned to the licensee's facilit .The total by-product radioactivity on the 99 mechanical snubbers as measured by the; licensee was i 1.77 microcuries. The inspector stated that the licensee's transfer of radioactive material to an unauthorized recipient was an ' apparent violation of 10 CFR 30.41(a) (50-348 and 50-364/86-26-02).

Licensee personnel that were sent to California located and surveyed 89,of _ -

the 99 snubbers in question. The 10 snubbers unaccounted-for were disposed .

of by Pacific Scientific as trash and apparently ended up in a scrap yard in Los Angeles, California. The licensee and the State of California discussed whether additional radiation . surveys should be ptrformed at the scrap yard in an effort to locate the 10 missing snubbers. Licansee representatives reviewed records at the site to determine the locatior. in the plant where the missing snubbers were installed and determined that they had either not -

been installed, had been installed in clean areas or in Unit 1 Containment, where contamination levels are relatively low. The'~ decision' was made by State and local representatives not to search further since 8 of the 10

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unaccounted for snubbers were probably not radioactive and the remaining 2 had a low probability of having at most only low levels of contamination on the t

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L: En ement Conference -

AnEnforcementConferencewasheldatNRC.RedionIIonDecember 22, 1986, to-discuss the events surrounding the release of 99 mechanical snubbers to an unauthorized recipient which contained by-product radioactive material i excess of. authorized 1imits as specified in 10 CFR 30.41(a). The following persons were in endanc Alabama Power Company

'R. P. Mcdonald, Senior Vice President J. D. Woodard, General Manager C. D. Nesbitt, Technical Manager

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M. W. Mitchell, Health Physics Group Supervisor J. Walden, Radwaste Supervisor P. Patton, Plant Health Physicist W. C. Carr, Chemistry and Environmental Supervisor (Corporate Office)

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

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M. L. Ernst, Deputy Regional Administrator -

L. A. Reyes, Deputy Director, Division of Reactor Projects (DRP)

J. P. Stohr, Director, Division of Radiation Safety and Safeguards (DRSS)

i G. R. Jenkins, Director, Enforcement and Investigation Coordination Staff D. M. Collins, Chief Emergency Preparedness and Radiological Protection Branch, DRSS D. M. Verrelli, Chief, Reactor Projects' Branch 1, DRP H. C. Dance, Section Chief, Reactor Projects Branch 1, DRP

, L. P. Modenos, Project Engineer T. R. Collins, Radiation Specialist

W. T. Coog.r, Radiation Specialist

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L. Trocine, Enforcement Specialist B. Uryc, Enforcement Specialist l Licensee representatives discussed the various aspects of their radiation .

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protection program concentrating. on the controls related to shipment of radioactive material as it related. to concerns identified during the j inspection. The licensee indicated that they thought that the shipment met the requirements for bulk shipments but that the information provided on the

} shipping papers cculd have been misleading, in that they did not clearly

identify the box of 99 mechanical snubbers shipped to Wyle Laboratories as-radioactive materia NRC cersonnel discussed the seriousness of the apparent violation for failure to assure that management controls were properly exercised to preclude shipping radioactive material to an unauthorized _ recipient _ and not

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adequately identifying a box of radioactive material containing 99' mechanical snubbers on the shipping paper NRC personnel also stated that the D0T interpretation obtained by the licensee clearly required that

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the licensee identify on the shipping paper the items that are packaged per

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49 CFR 173.425(c) and those that are wrapped and enclosed as bulk material as per 49 CFR 173.425(c). Licensee representatives acknowledged the NRC's comments. Based upon review of the information provided by the licensee, it was determined that no change. In the inspection findings were warrante . .

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