ML18058A448
| ML18058A448 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palisades  |
| Issue date: | 04/29/1992 |
| From: | Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Riegle D SENATE |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18058A449 | List: |
| References | |
| CCS, NUDOCS 9205210245 | |
| Download: ML18058A448 (2) | |
Text
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UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 Apri 1 29, 1992 The Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr.*
United States Senator Western Regional Office Suite 716 Federal Building 110 Michigan Avenue, N.W.
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503
Dear Senator Riegle:
This is in response to your April 2, 1992 letter to A. Bert Davis regarding
_three, issues raised by your constituents pertaining to Consumers Power Company's Palisades Nuclear Power Plant.
The first issue concerned a shipment of radioactive* material from the Palisades plant which leaked water at a truck stop on February 5, 1992.
NRC's Region III Office (Glen Ellyn, Illinois) responded to this incident.
I have provided a copy of the staff's inspection report ~s Enclosure 1.
As the -.
inspection report notes, the water which was inadvertently included in the shipment contained only very small amounts of radioactivity. The amount of radioactivity was suffi~iently small that U.S. Department of Transportation regulations do not classify the water as radioactive material.
No radioactivity was detected in the water that leaked outside the *shipping container at the truck stop.
The radiation hazard associated with this shipment was minimal and did not constitute a risk to the public.
Nevertheless, we do not find the performance by the Palisades plant to have fully met our expectations related to this incident.
As the inspection report notes, better evaluation by Palisades plant personnel in preparing the radioactive material for shipment would have prevented this incident from OCCUl'_'~ing.
The second issue concerned the condition of the Palisades reactor pressure vessel with respect to embrittlement. *The NRC ~equires that licensees monitor conditions and assess reactor vessel.embrittlement continually over the life of the reactor operating license. If any reactor vessel material is projected to exceed a specified screening level (for embrittlement), the licensee is required to submit, for NRC review, detailed analyses demonstrating adequate safety margin for continued operation.
As Palisades is one of the first plants to approach the screening level, NRC is monitoring this matter closely.
The licensee has estimated the screening level will not be reached until the year 2008.
NRC has recently independently reviewed this information. This initial review has concluded that, based on a review of reactor operation history and material properties, the scr~ening level will not be exceeded until well-after 1995. A final feview will be conducted in the near future to determine if further action is required prior to the year 2007, the end of the current Palisades operating license. I have provided additional information regarding this -matter as Enclosure 2.
The third issue concerned a constituent who reportedly drove unchallenged up to the facility. Nuclear power pla re required by the NRC to control
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NRC Fill CENTER COPY '\\\\
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The Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr. '
~~ctess tri-~ertain of their facilities to protect against acts of ~adiologital sabotage and to prevent the theft of special nuclear material.
Th~ ~ite a~~a to which access is controlled for these purposes, and which is encompassed by physical security barriers, is referred to as the "protected area." lhe protected area barrier is typically located close to the reactor plant buildings so as to minimize the area which must be controlled by the security force.
In the case of the Palisades plant, the protected area barrier is located within a few hundred feet of the reactor plant buildings.
Private vehicles are normally not allowed within this barrier, and personnel must leave their vehicle and process through explosive and metal detectors before they enter the protected area. All vehicles entering the protected area are searched. Additionally, the vehicles are accompanied by security personnel unless designated as essential to support plant operations. A vehicle trap (gates which are designed to open one at a time in front of and behind the vehicle) is utilized to ensure that unauthorized vehicles do not enter the plant protected area. A much larger buffer zone exists between the protected area and the site boundary.
Access to this larger area is controlled by the licensee to preclude long-term occupancy for radiological safety purposes.
At the Palisades plant, the site boundary and plant access road extend east to
- the Blue Star Highway, a distance of approximately 1/2 mile from the plant itself. During outages, the Palisades plant often maintains a traffit control post on the. access road a short di stance inside of the site boundary,
- primarily to control traffic and parking for the large numbers of outage workers.
My staff assumes that your constituent passed this outage traffic control post but did not enter the plant protected area. Access from this control point to the protected area is not a security concern and is not controlled by NRC regulations.
However, if your constituent's video tape shows that she actually entered the protected area, without vehiculaf and personnel searches, we would want to immediately investigate the event inasmuch as this would constitute ~-serious breach of_ plant security. If you-or your constituent believes that she entered a plant protected area, we request that Cha~les Norelius (708-790-5510) of the Region III NRC Office be.
contacted as soon as possible.
Enclosures:
- 1.
Inspection Report No. 50-255/92008
- 2.
Palisades Reactor Pressure Vessel Embrittlement Information
- see p_r~vi QUS _p_age for concurrence -
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