IR 05000528/1988009
| ML17303A998 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palo Verde  |
| Issue date: | 03/22/1988 |
| From: | North H, Yuhas G NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION V) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML17303A997 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-528-88-09, 50-528-88-9, 50-529-88-09, 50-529-88-9, 50-530-88-09, 50-530-88-9, NUDOCS 8804060509 | |
| Download: ML17303A998 (12) | |
Text
U.
S.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
REGION V
Report Nos.
50-528/88-09, 50-529/88-09, and 50-530/88-09 Docket Nos.
50-528, 50-529, and 50-530 License Nos.
NFP-41, NFP-51, and NFP-74 Licensee:
Arizona Publ ic Servi ce Company P.
0.
Box 21666 Phoenix, Arizona 85836 Facility Name:
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station - Units 1, 2, and
Inspection at:
Palo Verde Site - Wintersburg, Arizona Inspe'ction Conducted:
February 22-25 and 29-March 3, 1988 Inspected by:
Approved by:
~Sammar:
H.
S. North, Senior Radiation Specialist G.
P.
Yuh s, Chief Facili 'adiological Protection Section Date Signed Da e
igned Ins ection durin the eriod of Februar 22-25 and 29-March
1988 Re ort No. 50-528/88-09 50-529/88-09 and 50-530/88-09 transportation, maintaining occupational exposures ALARA, radiation monitoring systems, external'ccupational exposure control, review of periodic reports, facility tours and exit interview.
Inspection Procedures 92701, 86721, 83728, 84724, 83724, 90713, 83726, and 30703 were addressed.
Results:
In the seven areas addressed no violations or deviations were identified.
In the areas inspected, the licensee's programs appeared adequate to accomplish their safety objectives.
With respect to the antimony removal program, the licensee's actions in this area appear to provide a significant contribution to ALARA.
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DETAILS Persons Contacted
"E.
E.
Van Brunt, Jr.,
Executive Vice President
"J.
G.
Haynes, Vice President, Nuclear Production
"L.
E.
Brown, Manager, Radiation Protection and Chemistry
"R.
M. Butler, Director, Standards and Technical Support
"J.
B. Cederquist, Supervisor, Chemistry Standards
"M.
H. Doyle, Jr.,
Manager, Unit 2 Radiation Protection
- R.
L. Ferro, Manager, Unit 2 Chemistry
"D.
M. Fuller, Manager, Unit 1 Chemistry
"J.
R.
Mann, Sup'ervisor, Radiation Protection Standards
"R.
Rouse, Engineer, Compliance
"L. A. Souza, Manager, guality Audits and Monitoring
"J.
C. Schlag, Supervisor, Radwaste Standards
"J.
F.
Schmadeke, Manager, Operations Computer Systems
"J.
A. Scott, Manager, Unit 3 Chemistry
"R.
L. Selman, Acting Manager, Central Radiation Protection
"J.
M. Shawver, Scientist, Chemistry Standards (") Denotes individuals present at the exit interview on March 3, 1988.
T. J. Polich, Senior Resident Inspector, also attended the exit interview.
0 en Followu 50-528/87-09-YO The licensee reported to Region V by telephone (September 1987) that a
survey in the cab of a waste transport tractor was 4 mr/hr on arrival at the disposal site.
During the inspection an unsuccessful attempt was made to locate the records of the specific waste shipment involved and the results of the licensee's followup of the report.
At the time of the inspection, the records could not be located.
The licensee's representative stated that the i'nability to locate the records was due to the fact that the office where they were located had been moved twice in the recent past.
This matter will remain open pending review of the subject records.
Trans ortation 86721 Audits and A
raisals The "Audit Summary Report Audit No.87-010," conducted September 8-28, 1987, was reviewed.
The audit addressed procedures, conduct of operations, waste stream scaling factors, waste classification, process control programs, storage and control of radioactive material, handling'f vendor supplied shipping casks and supporting documentation, surveillance testing and shipment, receipt and storage of radioactive materials.
The audit identified nothing requiring issuance of a Corrective Action Report (CAR).
A number of minor items were corrected
during the course of the audit.
Two Monitoring Reports were issued, one concerned a procedural omission related to handling of unacceptably solidified waste.
The second addressed variation in solidification bench tests without documented approval by the vendor supervisor.
Followup Monitoring Reports concerning these'atters were examined.
One had been closed.
The second concerning unacceptably solidified waste was in the process of resolution.
The auditors participating in the audit were well qualified in the area audited.
The audit summary noted,
"A substantial improvement was noted in 'all areas of Radwaste Management throughout the course of this audit due to Management involvement."
The audit scope and thoroughness appeared to be appropriate.
Procedures The departmental procedures, previously designated as Radwaste Directives, were being revised and redesignated as Radwaste Instructions.
Four revised and redesignated procedures were examined:
Radwaste Instruction (RWI) No. 001, Revision 0, Control and Use of Radwaste Instructions and Guidelines; RWI No.
007, Revision 0, Transfer Stora e and Accountabilit of Radioactive Filters; RWI No. 008, Revision 0, Handlin Casks and Containers and Su of Vendor Su lied Shi in ortin Documentation; and RWI No. 009, Revision 1, 0 eration of Vendor Su lied Portable Demineralizer S stem.
RWI No.
008 included a listing of transport casks, high integrity containers (HIC) and Letters of Variance (State of Washington) including Certificate of Compliance (COC) numbers, expiration dates and vendor/model numbers.
The instruction also contained copies of the above referenced documents.
The RWIs reviewed had been reviewed and approved in accordance with the licensee procedures and appeared to be adequate for their specified purposes.
Procurement and Reuse of Packa in s Discussion with licensee personnel established that no new or special packagings were used.
Packages used were vendor supplied, for which the licensee had full.documentation (e.g.,
COC, drawings, etc.)
and for which the licensee was a registered user.
For packages requiring periodic testing or maintenance, the licensee verified that such required tests or maintenance had been performed by the vendor in a timely fashion.
Licensee procedures (RWI No. 008) require full documentation of cask/container identification, initial (receipt)
surveys of the cask and vehicle and prior to use, cask inspection including internal conditions, gaskets, penetration seals, leak testing if required and primary and secondary (if required) torque/rachet value Im lementation Ten randomly selected records of waste shipped to disposal sites were examined for conformance with licensee procedures,
CFR 71 and 49 CFR requirements.
In addition, records of receipt and shipment of non-waste materials (e.g.,
fresh fuel, laundry, analytical samples, check sources, and contaminated equipment)
were examined.
Trans ortation Incidents Discussion with the licensee established that there were no incidents in which the effectiveness of packagings was reduced.
In one case, the licensee had reported the arrival of a waste transport vehicle at the disposal site that exhibited a tractor cab dose rate of 4 mr/hr.
This matter is addressed as Open Item 87-09-YO in Report Section 2.
The licensee reported during the inspection a waste transport vehicle arrived at a disposal site with 80K of the placards missing.
The records related to the shipment involved, 88-RW-008, were examined.
The licensee had photographs of the vehicle prior to departure which showed the required placards to be in place.
In addition, the licensee had a copy of the Driver/Carrier Instructions (Attachment K to Radwaste Directive No. 017, Revision 3) signed by the driver on February 10, 1988, which noted,
"4. Vehicle placarding, if necessary, is provided and affixed by shipper.
The carrier is responsible for replacing any placards that are lost or damaged."
The licensee had been informed concerning the event by the waste site operator by telephone.
The licensee had not received any notice concerning the event from the State of Nevada or the waste site operator other than the initial telephone cail'he waste site operator reported to the licensee that the vehicle driver allegedly had said that he had not been informed concerning his responsibility for or provided with placards.
The licensee also reported that a waste site operator had challenged the waste manifest reported totals of radioactive materials contained in waste shipments since the manually calculated totals from a series of pages describing individual packages did not agree with the licensee's computer generated totals produced by the Radman computer program.
The licensee stated that the Radman method for rounding additions had been corrected and was being verified manually.
, The matter in question was the difference caused by the computer rounding values of 0.05 to 0.0.
No violations or deviations were identified.
Maintainin Occu ational Ex osures ALARA 83728 Unit 2 Antimon Removal Pro ram Following the Unit 2 shutdown in preparation for refueling, the licensee performed an antimony removal evolution with significant results.-
Based on a preliminary report during the period February 20-25, 1988, a total of 2524 Ci of long-lived activity was removed.
The estimated dose rate at the refueling bridge was reduced from a projected value of 500 mr/hr
to less than 20 mr/hr and approximately 125 grams of elemental antimony was removed.
The comparison between the Unit 1 and Unit 2 antimony removal efforts appears to reflect the earlier multiple attempts at antimony removal in Unit 1.
Nuclide Curies of Activit Removed Unct 1 Unct 2 Sb"122 Sb-124 I-131 Co-58 Co-60 Cs-134 Cs-137 Mn-54 200 280
98
31
7.4 2000 1700 1100 490
150 150
From the shutdown primary system concentration at the beginning of the process (less than 1 pCi/ml for both Sb-122 and Sb-124),
the peak coolant antimony activities reached 11 pCi/ml for Sb-122 and 6.5 pCi/ml for Sb-124.
The effect of the antimony removal program on Unit 2 steam generator work will be evaluated during a subsequent inspection (50-529/88-09-01).
With respect to Unit 3, prior to initial criticality the antimony
'ontaining reactor coolant pump bearings were replaced with carbon bearings, and a major primary system cleanup was performed.
The post criticality primary system activity has remained low.
Particulate and Iodine Monitorin S stems 84724 At the time of the inspection, the licensee's Operations Computer Systems (OCS) group was investigating a problem with the particulate and iodine monitoring portions of the Radiation Monitoring System (RMS).
The OCS group is an interdisciplinary organization working on the resolution of problems associated with the RMS.
As an aid to this function, OCS has mimicked the plant system with examples of all models of Kaman RMS components used at Palo Verde.
The specific problem being addressed was the maximum acceptable sampling time between filter changes for particulate and iodine monitors which would provide acceptable results.
An in-depth evaluation of the microprocessor code disclosed that as the total sampling time increased the ability of the monitor to detect significant changes in concentration was significantly reduced due to the way in which counting data was processed.
The licensee began evaluating this concern on February ll, 1988.
Based on their initial findings the monitors were declared inoperable until procedure changes were accomplished and requirements for daily filter changes were instituted on February 12, 1988.
At the time of the inspection, this concern was being evaluated as a potentially reportable occurrence.
The resolution of this concern had required considerable time since it was necessary to operate the system under test for extended periods (e. g.,
9 days), rather than by artificially entering extended time base data, to avoid introducing
additional variables.
This concern extends to the following monitors at all three units:
RU-1 RU-51, 52,
RU-8 RU-14 RU-143 and to monitors, Containment Building Atmosphere Monitor Auxiliary Building Ventilation Exhaust Filter Inlet Monitor Radwaste Building Ventilation Exhaust Filter Inlet Monitor Plant Vent Monitor Low Range RU-13A and B
Technical Support Center and Emergency Operations Facility Monitors The licensee submitted a timely Licensee Event Report (LER) dated March ll, 1988.
This matter will be reviewed further during a subsequent inspection and will be tracked as Open Item 50-528/88-08-LO.
6.
External Occu ational Ex osure Control and Personnel Dosimetr (83724 During the period February 23-29, 1988, seven persons were identified as contaminated with particulate radioactive materials.
Six of the cases involved particles of fuel and in the seventh case, cobalt-60.
The fuel particles originated in Unit 1.
Initially, the licensee believed that the particulate material had come from contaminated equipment used at another facility; however, subsequent investigation established that the particles found in Unit 1 were of Unit 1 origin.
Subsequent extensive surveys performed in the Unit 1 containment positively identified particles of fuel.
The results of the licensee's calculations of individual exposures to these particles were examined.
It is noted that three particles were found on each of two individuals.
The calculated doses ranged from 55 mrem to 2640 mrem.
The licensee's method of dose calculation was conservative'.
The licensee had assembled and tested a computerized and automated extrapolation chamber.
In tests with a certified beta standard, the licensee s results were within 2X of the certified value.
No violations or deviations were identified.
7.
In-Office Review of Periodic and S ecial Re orts 90713 e
The licensee's timely Semi-Annual Radioactive Effluent Release Re ort-Jul
1987 Throu h December
1987, was reviewed.
No on-site followup was required.
No violations or deviations were identifie.
Facilit Tours 83726)
During the inspection, the recently completed Dry Active Waste Processing and Storage facility, and Units 1, 2, and 3 were toured.
The unit tours included the Auxiliary, Radwaste, and Fuel Handling Buildings.
At Unit, 1, the tour included the Turbine Building and the Radwaste Laundry and Equipment Decontamination Facility.
Surveys were performed using the following instruments:
Instrument Calibration Due Period of Use Eberline, R0-2, S/N 837, NRC008985 Keithley Model 36100, NRC009163 March 9, 1988 February 29-March 3, 1988 February 29, 1988 February 22-25, 1988 Posting and labeling in accordance with 10 CFR 20.203 and control of access -to High Radiation Areas in accordance with Technical Specification 6. 12 was verified.
No violations or deviations were identified.
9.
Exit Interview 30703 The scope and results of the inspection were discussed with the licensee representatives denoted in report section 1 on March 3, 1988,at the conclusion of the inspection.
The licensee was informed that no violations or deviations had been identified.
The verification of the presence of fuel particles at Unit 1 and the probability that such material would be present during the Unit 2 refueling outage was discussed.
The inspector noted that the prudent course would be the examination of the methods used to calculate skin exposures due to highly radioactive particles to assure that the calculations were appropriately but not excessively conservative.
In addition, it was noted that the calculations used should be defensible since exposures approaching or exceeding regulatory limits would be rigorously examine P