ML18136A163
| ML18136A163 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Surry, North Anna  |
| Issue date: | 10/19/1979 |
| From: | James O'Reilly NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | Proffitt W VIRGINIA POWER (VIRGINIA ELECTRIC & POWER CO.) |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7911080316 | |
| Download: ML18136A163 (9) | |
Text
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- ~.._(lJ£ In Reply Refer To:
RII:JPO 50-338, 50-339 50-404, 50-405 50-280, 50-281 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION II 101 MARIETTA ST., N.W., SUITE 3100 ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303 OCT 1 9 1979 Virginia Electric and Power Company Attn:
W. L. Proffitt Senior Vice President, Power P. 0. Box 26666 Richmond, Virginia 23261 Gentlemen:
Enclosed is IE Circular No. 79-21, "Prevention of Unplanned Releases of Radioactivity," which provides information in inadvertent
, releases/on-site spills of radioactivity.
Should you have any questions related to the enclosed suggested preventive measures, please contact this office~
Enclosures:
- 1.
- 2.
IE Circulars Issued in ~he Last Six Months Sincerely, James P. O'Reilly Director
'7911080 3/b c£'6,d&O c:721
Virginia Electric and Power Company cc w/encl:
W.R. Cartwright, Station Manager Post Office Box 402 Mineral, Virginia 23117 P. G. Perry Senior Resident Engineer Post Office Box 38 Mineral, Virginia 23117 W. L. Stewart, Manager Post Office Box 315 Surry, Virginia 23883 OCT 1 9 1979 UNITED STATES Accession No.:
7908220128 SSINS:
6830 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C.
20555 October 19, 1979 IE Circular No. 79-21 PREVENTION OF UNPLANNED RELEASES OF RADIOACTIVITY Numerous incidents of unplanned releases of radioactivity have been reported to the NRC within the past few months.
These incidents of leaks, overflows and spills have resulted in contamination of areas outside of plant buildings.
The attached table provides you with summary information on these events, their apparent causes, the radiological consequences and the corrective actions.
We believe that a number of these incidents could have been avoided and preven-tive actions for these types of unplanned releases should be instituted by all reactor licensees.
Based on the reported incidents, the following preventive measures can minimize the occurrence of such events.
- 1.
Review of procedures for transfer of radioactive liquids.
Errors in written procedures have led to mistakes in valve line-ups and tank overflows.
Written procedures, including check lists for valve line-ups, should be developed and followed for operations which could cause spills of radioactivity.
Management controls, including audits, should be employed to assure verbatim compliance with such procedures.
- 2.
Review of "as built" systems having the potential of inadvertent releases because of design or construction errors.
Consider items such as:
- a.
Tank overflows should be routed.to liquid radwaste tanks.
- b.
Storm drains should be located away from areas with a high potential for spills.
- c.
Consideration should be given to drip pans under equipment, such as pumps and valves, from which leakage is expected.
- d.
Cofferdams should be installed under doors to areas with a potential for radioactive spills.
- e.
Preoperational testing should verify that crossconnects do not exist that would permit radioactivity to flow from operating unit(s) to unit(s) under construction.
- 3.
Periodically functionally test and perform inspections to verify integrity of systems that could cause an inadvertent release.
Excessive wear and corrosion degradation have occurred in valves, seals and piping systems to cause leaks.
New permanent and temporary piping systems should be
e IE Circular No. 79-21 October 19, 1979 Page 2 of 2 hydrostatically tested prior to first use.
Underground piping should be periodically hydrostatically tested.
Preventive maintenance programs should be implemented and identified problems, such as leaking equipment and plugged floor drains, should be promptly repaired.
No written response to this Circular is required.
If you require additional information regarding this subject, contact the Director of the appropriate NRC, Regional Office
Enclosure:
Recent Events of Radioactive Contamination
Plant Date Turkey Point 3/4 6/11/79 Palisades 6/9/79 Surry 2 5/21/79 RECENT EVENTS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION OUTSIDE BUILDINGS Apparent cause Operator Error 900 gallons of water processed by radwaste system overflowed from waste processing tank because of error in valve line-up. The Aux.
Bldg. floor drain backed up to the on-site storm drain.
The drain system discharged to an on-site underground tile bed.
Inadequate Procedures Contaminated secondary system spent powdered resins were trans-ferred to an outside storage bin without monitoring.
Rain storm caused resins to overflow the storage bin and be washed to Lake Michigan via storm drain.
Equipment Failure.
Core spray pump isolation valve leaked during RWST transfer to Spent Fuel Pit.
Water leaked to Safeguards Bldg. floor.
Floor drain plugged; resulted in water flow out of building.
Radiological Consequence Total of 0.01 mCi of Co-58 Co-60 released to storm drain Resins activity at 10-5
µCi/cc; total release about 10 µCi of Co-60 5 gallons spilled; 2 gallons outside of bldg.
0.02 µCi/cc, Co-58 0.035 µCi/cc, H-3.
Licensee Followup Action Procedure reviewed with operator.
The monitoring procedure to determine the routing of the secondary spent resins has been replaced by a procedure requiring all spent secondary system resins to be handled and shipped as solid waste.
Leak repaired Three 55- ~
gallon drums of con-
~
taminated dirt removed Enclosure IE Circular No. 79-21 Page 1 of 3
Plant Oconee 3
- Farley 1/2 Oyster Creek Date 5/16/79 5/17/79 5/14/79 4/17/79 Apparent Cause Operational Error.
Normally closed valve left open during pumping of fuel transfer canal water to BWST.
Water overflowed the BWST to Aux. Bldg. penetration room, down a stairway to area outside Aux. Bldg.
Design Error.
Decontamination drains from Unit 1 routed to Unit 2 sump and released to flush pond via tendon access area.
Those drains should have been routed to Unit 1 floor drain system.
Equipment Failure.
Leakage from a Drywell Equipment Drain Tank (DEDT) line.
Radiological Consequence 2000 gallons overflowed; 200-300 gallons out of building.:.4 3.1 x 10
µCi/cc, I-131.
1860 gallons of contam-inated water discharged to pond.
Estimated max-imum activity of 10 mCi -
Co-58.
Pond mud activity
< 500 pCi/Kg.
No pond water activity detected.
_Water in pipe tunnel
@ 0.3 µCi/cc and soil in vicinity of penetra-tion to the reactor building were found to be contaminated.
Licensee Follow-up Action Procedure reviewed with operating personnel.
Areas outside of Aux. Bldg. decon-taminated.
Review all drains from
~
Unit 1 and Unit 2.
Six such drains were located and plugged.
DEDT-line repaired.
Structure to enclose pipe from Rx. Bldg. to main pipe tunnel to con-structed.
Enclosure IE Circular No. 79-21 Page 2 of 3 e
Plant Date Brunswick 1 5/8-9/79 Hatch 1/2 3/20/79 North Anna 9/25/79 Apparent Cause Operator Error and Equipment Failure.
Air mixing valve of RWCU backwash tank left open after liquid transfer.
Dried tank residue released to building ventilation system via loose access cover.
Construction Error.
Buried temporary line for N2 tank in yard for feed-water heaters was not capped after tank removal.
Rx steam released into ground from buried line.
Construction Error Relief val~e* on the volume control tank lifted thus trans-ferring reactor coolant to the high level waste drain tank and releasing dissolved noble gases to the auxiliary building via the waste system vent.
An incorrectly connected vent line allowed venting directly to the auxiliary building.
Radiological Consequence Total release of 12 mCi of corrosion product.
Highest on-site5ground water of 3 x 10 pCi/1 H3 Highest qtr. avg. off-site outfall of subsu3face drainage was 1.8 x 10 pCi/1.
Airborne radioactivity levels in the Auxiliary Building teached 150 X MPCs.
Auxiliary Building was evacuated.
Licensee Follow-up Action Tank transfer procedure reviewed.
Caution tag on valve installed.
Loose access cover re-paired.
Temporary line broken inside turbine building and capped.
Still under investigation Enclosure IE Circular No. 79-21 Page 3 of 3 e
IE Circular No. 79-21 October 19, 1979 Circular No.
79-21 79-20 79-19 79-18 79-17 79-16 79-15 (Carree-tion) 79-15 79-14 LISTING OF IE CIRCULARS ISSUED IN LAST SIX MONTHS Subject Date of Issued Prevention of Unplanned 10/19/79 Releases of Radioactivity Failure of GTE Sylvania 9/24/79 Relay, Type PM Bulletin 7305, Catalog 5U12-11-AC With A 120V AC Coil Loose Locking Devices 9/13/79 on Ingersoll-Rand Pumps Proper Installation of 9/10/79 Target Rock Safety-Relief Valves Contact Problem in SB-12 8/14/79 Switches on General ~lectric Company Metalclad Circuit Breakers Excessive Radiation Exposures 8/16/79 To Members Of The General Public And A Radiographer Bursting of High Pressure Hose 8/22/79 and Malfunction of Relief Valve "O" Ring in Certain Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus Bursting of High Pressure Hose 8/8/79 and Malfunction of Relief Valve "O" Ring in Certain Self-Contained Breathing ~pparatus Unauthorized Procurement and 7 /13/79 Distribution of XE-133 Enclosure Page 1 of 2 Issued to All Power Reactor Operating facilities and all facilities having a CP All Power Reactor Operating facilities and all utilities having a CP All Power Reactor Operating facilities and all utilities having a CP All Power Reactor Licensees with a CP and/or 01 All Power Reactor Licensees with a CP and/or 01 All Radiography Licensees All Research Reactors All Materials Priority I, Fuel Cycle and Operating Power Reactor Licensees All Medical Licensees except Teletheraphy Medical Licensees and to all Radiopharmaceu-tical Suppliers
IE Circular No. 79-21 October 19, 1979 e
Enclosure Page 2 of 2 LISTING OF IE CIRCULARS ISSUED IN LAST SIX MONTHS Circular No.
79-13 79-12 79-11 79-10 79-09 79-08 79-07 79-06 Subject Replacement of Diesel Fire Pump Starting Contactors Date of Issue 7 /13/79 Potential Disel Generator 6/28/79 Turbocharger Problem Design/Construction 6/27/79 Interface Problem Pipefittings Manufactured 6/26/79 from Unacceptable Material Occurrences of Split or 6/22/79 Punctured Regulator Diaphragms In Certain Self Contained Breathing Apparatus Attempted Extortion - Low 5/18/79 Enriched Uranium Unexpected Speed Increase 5/2/79 of Reactor Recirculation MG Set Resulted in Reactor Power Increase Failure to Use Syringe and Bottle Shields in Nuclear Medicine 4/19/79 Issued to All Power Reactor Operating Facilities and all Utilities having* a CP All Power Reactors Operating Facilities and all Utilities having a CP All Applicants for, and Holders of Power Reactor CPs All Power Reactor Licensees with a CP and/or OL All Materials Priority I, Fuel Cycle and Operating Reactor Licensees All Fuel Facilities Licensed by NRC All Holders of BWR OL's or CP's All Holders of Medical Licensees except teletherapy licensees