Information Notice 1988-71, Possible Environmental Effect of the Reentry of Cosmos 1900 and Request for Collection of Licensee Radioactivity Measurements Attributed to That Event

Possible Environmental Effect of the Reentry of Cosmos 1900 and Request for Collection of Licensee Radioactivity Measurements Attributed to That Event

ML031150135
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley, Millstone, Hatch, Monticello, Calvert Cliffs, Dresden, Davis Besse, Peach Bottom, Browns Ferry, Salem, Oconee, Mcguire, Nine Mile Point, Palisades, Palo Verde, Perry, Indian Point, Fermi, Kewaunee, Catawba, Harris, Wolf Creek, Saint Lucie, Point Beach, Oyster Creek, Watts Bar, Hope Creek, Grand Gulf, Cooper, Sequoyah, Byron, Pilgrim, Arkansas Nuclear, Braidwood, Susquehanna, Summer, Prairie Island, Columbia, Seabrook, Brunswick, Surry, Limerick, North Anna, Turkey Point, River Bend, Vermont Yankee, Crystal River, Haddam Neck, Ginna, Diablo Canyon, Callaway, Vogtle, Waterford, Duane Arnold, Farley, Robinson, Clinton, South Texas, San Onofre, Cook, Comanche Peak, Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, Quad Cities, Humboldt Bay, La Crosse, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Zion, Midland, Bellefonte, Fort Calhoun, FitzPatrick, McGuire, LaSalle, 05000000, Zimmer, Fort Saint Vrain, Shoreham, Satsop, Trojan, Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant, Crane
Issue date:	09/01/1988
From:	Rossi C Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:
References
IN-88-071, NUDOCS 8808260492
Download: ML031150135 (6)

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UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION

WASHINGTON, D.C.

20555

September 1, 1988

NRC INFORMATION NOTICE NO. .88-71: POSSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECT OF THE

REENTRY OF COSMOS 1900 AND REQUEST FOR

COLLECTION OF LICENSEE RADIOACTIVITY

Addressees

All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power

reactors, fuel cycle licensees, and Priority 1 material licensees.

Purpose

This information notice is being provided to:

1) alert licensees to the anti- cipated reentry of a U.S.S.R. satellite, COSMOS 1900, which is powered by a

nuclear reactor; and 2) request voluntary reporting of any licensee environ- mental radioactivity measurement data probably caused by that event.

In order to enhance Federal and State monitoring programs, all facilities with

ongoing environmental monitoring programs are requested to consider the NRC

request to report confirmed anomalous environmental radioactivity measurements

likely to have been caused by radioactive material released during the reentry

of COSMOS 1900. However, the request contained in this information notice does

not constitute an NRC requirement.

Description of Circumstances

On May 13, 1988, the Soviet News Agency Tass announced that the Soviets had lost

radio contact with COSMOS 1900, a satellite launched on December 12, 1987. Tass

noted that COSMOS 1900 carries a nuclear power plant which is believed to still

be operating.

The Soviets, have indicated that the satellite is continuing to

maintain its orientation. However, if nothing is done to maintain the orbit, the satellite will eventually decay and enter the earth's atmosphere. Latest

predictions are that the satellite will reenter between mid-September and early

October. This prediction is subject to uncertainties, however, and the reentry

could occur sooner if the stability of the satellite changes.

The primary means of preventing the reentry of a radioactive nuclear core is

to boost the reactor into a higher orbit to allow for decay. By radio com- mand from earth, the nuclear reactor would be ejected and moved to an orbit

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IN 88-71 September 1, 1988 in excess of 800 kilometers.

Since this method has apparently failed, there is a

system designed to automatically separate the core from the satellite. If upon

reentry, there has been a separation, it is expected that the'reactor would burn

up completely like COSMOS 1402 in 1983 and no debris would reach'the earthls'

surface.

There is, however, uncertainty about the condition of any of these

systems. If the satellite and nuclear power plant remain intact, it is believed

that debris may reach the earth's surface like the 1978 reentry of COSMOS 954 which deposited a significant amount of radioactive debris on Canada.

Discussion:

This notice is primarily to alert licensees of the reentry of COSMOS 1900. It

is highly unlikely that debris from the reentry will impact any part of the U.S.

However, there is some probability that increased radiation levels may be de-'

tected.

In that case, in order to supplement and reinforce the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) nationwide surveillance program, NRC licensees, as part

of their routine environmental monitoring program, are requested to voluntarily

provide the following information:

'

Report to the NRC any anomalous environmental radiation or radioactivity

measurement that can be reasonably assumed to have resulted from the

reentry of COSMOS 1900.

The NRC would like confirmed measurement results

from the licensee's routine environmental monitoring program to be reported

-via-facsimfle-the-NRC-Operattons- r

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t492-8187;-vertfcatton

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301/951-0550) within 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> of determining that material from the re- entry has been measured.

The reporting format is requested to provide for:

o Sample date(s) and approximate location(s)

o Medium or pathway (e.g., air particulate, soil)

o Type of analysis (e.g., gross beta, gamma spectrometry)

o

Statistical data (mean, range, number of samples)

Any data provided by NRC licensees will be transmitted to EPA.

Because of the

sensitivity and broad scope of existing licensee programs, augmentation of NRC

licensee environmental monitoring programs is not being requested.

We appreciate your cooperation with us in this, matter. If you have any questions

regarding this matter, please contact the technical contact listed below or the

Regional Administrator of the appropriate NRC regional office.

This request is covered by Office of Management and Budget Clearance Number

3150-0011 which expires December 31, 1989.

The estimated average burden hours

is 4 man-hours per licensee response, including assessment of the request, searching data sources, gathering and analyzing the data, and preparing the

reports.

Comments on the accuracy of this estimate and suggestions to reduce

IN 88-71 September 1, 1988 -the burden may be directed to the Office of Management and Budget, Room 3208, New Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C.

20503, and to the U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Records and Reports Management Branch, Office of Ad- ministration and Resources Management, Washington, D.C.

20555.

haresE. Ross1, Director

Division of Operational Events Assessment

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Bernard H. Weiss, AEOD

(301) 492-7053 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

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Attachment

IN 88-71

September 1, 1988

Page I of I

LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED

NRC INFORMATION NOTICES

Notice No.

Subject

88-70

Check Valve Inservice

Testing Program

Deficiencies

88-69

Movable Contact Finger

Binding in HFA Relays

Manufactured by General

Electric (GE)

88-48,

Licensee Report of Defective

Supplement I

Refurbished Valves

88-68 Setpoint Testing of Pres- surizer Safety Valves with

Filled Loop Seals Using

Hydraulic Assist Devices

88-67 PWR

Auxiliary Feedwater Pump

Turbine Overspeed Trip

Failure

88-66

Industrial Radiography

Inspection and Enforcement

88-65

Inadvertent Drainages of

Spent Fuel Pools

88-64

Reporting Fires in. Nuclear

Process Systems at Nuclear

Power Plants

88-63

High Radiation Hazards

from Irradiated Incore

-

Detectors and Cables

n_ *_ _

Let

OTM

Issuance

Issued to

8/29/88

All holders of OLs

or CPs for nuclear

power reactors.

8/19/88

All holders of OLs

or CPs for nuclear

power reactors.

8/24/88

All holders of OL0

or CPs for nuclear

power reactors.

8/22/88

All holders of OLs

or CPs for nuclear

power reactors.

8/22/88

All holders of OLs

or CPs for nuclear

power reactors.

8/22/88

All NRC industrial

radiography licensees.

8/18/88

All holders of OLs

or CPs for nuclear

power reactors and

fuel storage facilities.

8/18/88

All holders of OLs

or CPs for nuclear

power reactors.

8/15/88

All holders of OLs

or CPs for nuclear

_ powetretors

_

_

research reactors

- _

_

and test reactors.

OL

• Operating License

CP

• Construction Permit

UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 2055

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE, $300

FIST CLSS MAIL

POSTAGE b FEES PAID

USNHC

PERMrr tlo. 047

IN 88-71 September 1, 1988 the burden may be directed to the Office of Management and Budget, Room

New Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C.

20503, and to the U.S.

Regulatory Commission, Records and Reports Management Branch, Office of

ministration and Resources Management, Washington, D.C.

20555.

3208, Nuclear

Ad-

Charles E. Rossi, Director

Division of Operational Events Assessment

Bernard H. Weiss, AEOD

(301) 492-7053 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

• SEE PREVIOUS PAGE FOR CONCURRENCE

• AEOD

BWei ss

8/26/88

• OGCB:DOEA

VHodge

8/24/88

• OGC

STreby

8/24/88

• C:OGCB:DOEA

CHBerlinger

8/24/88

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8/;, /88

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IN 88- August xx, 1988 to reduce the burden may be directed to the Office of Management and Budget, Room 3208, New Executive Office Building, Washington, D.C.

20503, and to the

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Records and Reports Management Branch, Office of Administration and Resources Management, Washington, D.C. 20555.

Charles E. Rossi, Director

Division of Operational Events Assessment

Bernard H. Weiss, AEOD

(301) 492-7053 Attachment:

List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices

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AEOD

OGCB:DOEA

BWeiss

VHodge

p/7/88

8/'l /88 STreay

8/y / /88 C:OG :DOEA

CHBerlinger

8/3. //88 D:DOEA

CERossi

8/ /88 DD: IMNS:NMSS

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