Information Notice 2016-06, Uranium Hexafluoride Cylinders with Potentially Defective 1-Inch Valves
| ML15303A504 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 05/12/2016 |
| From: | Dan Collins Spent Fuel Licensing Branch |
| To: | |
| Vera J | |
| References | |
| IN-16-006 | |
| Download: ML15303A504 (6) | |
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS
WASHINGTON, DC 20555-0001 May 12, 2016 NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 2016-06: URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE CYLINDERS WITH
POTENTIALLY DEFECTIVE 1-INCH VALVES
ADDRESSEES
All licensees authorized to possess and use source material or special nuclear material for the
heating, emptying, filling, or shipping of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) in 30- and 48-inch cylinders.
All holders of, and applicants for, a specific source material license under Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 40, Domestic Licensing of Source Material.
All holders of, and applicants for, a fuel cycle facility license under 10 CFR Part 70, Domestic
Licensing of Special Nuclear Material.
Registered users of certificates of compliance for enriched (fissile) UF6 packages under
10 CFR Part 71, Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material.
Holders of Certificates of Compliance for enriched (fissile) UF6 packages under 10 CFR Part 71, Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material.
All State Radiation Control Program Directors.
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
U.S. Department of Energy.
PURPOSE
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information notice (IN) to remind
addressees, including more recent NRC licensees, of performance and safety concerns
regarding UF6 cylinders with 1-inch valves manufactured by the Hunt Valve Company of Salem, OH. The NRC expects the recipients to review the information within this IN and consider
actions, as appropriate, for cylinders in their possession or that they expect to receive.
However, suggestions contained in this IN are not NRC requirements; therefore, no specific
action or written response is required.
DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES
This section describes events involving transportation of cylinders fitted with Hunt valves that
have occurred within the past 5 years:
ML15303A504 * During 2014, as part of the shutdown of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant operated
by the former United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC)1, four 48G cylinders
containing natural UF6 were shipped to Honeywell. These cylinders were fitted with Hunt
valves. Two of the cylinders were received and inspected by Honeywell and discovered
to have Hunt valves installed. The other two cylinders were returned to USEC Paducah
before they were received.
- During late 2012 through early 2013, to support the Mixed Oxide Fuel Facility (MOX)
project, MOX shipped eight 48G cylinders containing depleted UF6 to AREVA. Six of
these cylinders were fitted with Hunt valves. Although shipment of depleted UF6 is not
within the NRCs purview, the NRC is concerned about the transportation of cylinders
containing Hunt valves because these cylinders may be used in NRC-regulated
activities.
- During 2011, to support the Chinese AP1000 project, the China Nuclear Energy Industry
Corporation sent five 30B cylinders containing enriched UF6 cylinders to Westinghouse
Electric Company, Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (Westinghouse). These cylinders
were fitted with Hunt valves. Westinghouse changed out the Hunt valves with
acceptable cylinder valves.
BACKGROUND
Several provisions of the NRCs regulations, license conditions, and certificates of compliance
address the adequacy of equipment, facilities, and procedures to protect health and minimize
danger to life or property. These include regulations in 10 CFR 70.23(a)(3) and (a)(4);
10 CFR 71.43, General Standards for All Packages; and 10 CFR 71.85, Preliminary
Determinations. These provisions also address the packaging and transportation of radioactive
material. The manufacture, testing, and use of UF6 cylinder valves consistent with the
provisions of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) N14.1 standard, Uranium
HexafluoridePackaging for Transport, provides an adequate level of assurance that the
health and safety of the public and workers are protected, both for onsite operations and during
transportation. The NRC has specified the use of the ANSI N14.1 standard through the NRC
certificates of compliance for fissile UF6 transportation packages. The 10 CFR Part 71, Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material, regulation applies to any licensee
authorized by a specific or general license to receive, possess, use, or transfer licensed
material. The regulations in 10 CFR 71.5, Transportation of Licensed Material, invoke DOT
requirements under 10 CFR Parts 107, 171 through 180, and 390 through 397.
The DOT requirements at 49 CFR 173.420, Uranium Hexafluoride (Fissile, Fissile Excepted, and Non-Fissile) require, in part, that packages containing UF6 be designed, fabricated, and
inspected in accordance with the ANSI N14.1 standard in effect at the time the packaging was
manufactured. Material used to manufacture cylinder valves must meet the material
stress-relief specifications stated in ANSI N14.1.
1 The NRC terminated USECs certificate of compliance for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant on
October 12, 2011, and the certificate of compliance for the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant on
February 2, 2015, per USECs requests, after USEC decided to end NRC-regulated activities at those sites. In addition, Section 5.4.6, One-inch Valves-Defect of USEC-651, The UF6 Manual, Good
Handling Practices for Uranium Hexafluoride, provides a listing of various manufacturers whose
valves are considered unacceptable for use. The section further states that Hunt valves are not
acceptable for shipment of cylinders that contain greater than a heel quantity of UF6. The intent
is that the valve will be replaced before re-filling.
NRC has previously identified performance and safety concerns with 1-inch valves for UF6 cylinders manufactured by Hunt. These safety concerns have been previously documented in
the following:
- NRC Inspection Report 99902011-2001-201, issued October 25, 2001, identified a
number of significant deficiencies with Hunts compliance with quality assurance
requirements.
- NRC IN 2002-31, Potentially Defective UF6 Cylinder Valves (1-Inch), issued on
October 31, 2002, discussed safety concerns related to UF6 cylinder valves
manufactured by Hunt. Those safety concerns involved: (1) cracked packing nuts, and
(2) the loss of material traceability and failure to conduct hardness testing, for a series of
heat codes, for valve stems purchased by USEC.
- NRC IN 2002-31, Supplement 1, Potentially Defective UF6 Cylinder Valves (1-Inch),
issued on March 24, 2003, discussed additional safety concerns related to UF6 cylinder
valves manufactured by Hunt. USEC conducted a testing program, on a sample of
valves, to demonstrate that the 1-inch UF6 Hunt valves would be able to perform their
intended safety function. Because of those tests, several 1-inch valves manufactured by
Hunt for UF6 cylinders failed the pressurized seat leakage acceptance criteria of the
ANSI N14.1 standard. All failed valves were from Hunt valve Vendor Lot 200027-85.
- NRC Bulletin 2003-03, Potentially Defective 1-Inch Valves for Uranium Hexafluoride
Cylinders, was issued on August 29, 2003.
- NRC Inspection Report 70-1113/2005-001, issued March 11, 2005, identified a notice of
deviation for the failure to replace all Hunt valves on the cylinders owned by the
licensee.
DISCUSSION
In 2003, the NRC issued Bulletin 2003-03 for the following reasons:
- To advise addressees of the performance and safety concerns with 1-inch valves for
UF6 cylinders manufactured by Hunt.
- To request that action addressees take specific actions intended to identify potentially
defective Hunt valves under their control. * To ensure cylinders with Hunt valves already installed were safely used and transported
during a transition period.
- To ensure that only valves verified to be compliant with NRC regulations, NRC licenses
and certificates, and DOT regulations were in use by the end of a transition period.
All action addressees were required to provide the NRC with a written response to the bulletin, detailing their plans to address their stock of Hunt valves and cylinders with Hunt valves.
In accordance with the bulletins instructions, licensees submitted their plans, which were
approved by the NRC as detailed in the following table.
Table 1: Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Accession
Numbers for Licensee Responses to Bulletin 2003-03 and NRC Approvals
Licensee Docket ADAMS Accession Nos. ADAMS Accession
for Licensee Nos. for
Responses NRC Approvals
ANP, Inc. 07001257 ML032810214 ML040850633 (Richland)
Global
Nuclear Fuel - ML032720331 ML032810007
07000113 Americas, LLC ML15272A386 ML041030378 (Wilmington)
04003392 ML041030416 (Metropolis) ML041890276 USEC ML032880118 ML040770043
07007001 (Paducah, ML041560120 ML041910540
07007002 Portsmouth) ML051230301 ML051370588 Westinghouse
Electric ML032810122 ML041040537
07001151 Company
(Columbia)
Nuclear Fuel No NRC response
Services, Inc. 07000143 ML032720710 possessed no Hunt
(Erwin) valves In general, most licensees had a limited number of Hunt valves installed or in inventory, with the
exception of USEC. Most of the approved plans in response to NRC Bulletin 2003-03 allowed
use of the valves for purposes of storage, but required replacement of the valves before
transportation. The events and circumstances previously highlighted in this IN demonstrate that
some users of UF6 cylinders may lack awareness of the issue. Users of UF6 cylinders should
consider the information outlined in the Background section of this IN with respect to cylinders
they possess or may receive.
CONTACT
This IN requires no specific action or written response. Please direct any questions about this
matter to the technical contact listed below.
/RA/
Daniel S. Collins, Director
Division of Material, Safety, State, Tribal
and Rulemaking Programs
Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards
Technical Contact:
John Vera, NMSS/DSFM
301-415-5790
Email: john.vera@nrc.gov
Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public Web site, http://www.nrc.gov, under Electronic Reading Room/Document Collections.
ML15303A504 *concurred via email
OFFICE NMSS/DSFM/SFLB NMSS/FCSE/ECB
- NMSS/MSTR RII/DFFI/PB1 NMSS/FCSE/ECB
NAME JVera OSiurano AMcIntosh OLopez-Santiago TGrice
DATE 09/29/2015 11/09/2015 09/30/2015 11/03/2015 11/09/2015 OFFICE NMSS/DSFM/SFLB *TECH EDITOR NMSS/DSFM NMSS/FCSE NMSS/MSTR
NAME MSampson JDougherty MLombard CErlanger DCollins
DATE 10/16/2015 3/14/2016 3/31/2016 3/28/2016 5/12/16