ML18153C265
| ML18153C265 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Surry  |
| Issue date: | 06/18/1990 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18153C264 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-280-90-18, 50-281-90-18, NUDOCS 9006290262 | |
| Download: ML18153C265 (2) | |
See also: IR 05000280/1990018
Text
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Three individuals were contaminated, two with contaminated shoes and
one with clothing and skin contamination. An inspector who was
leaving the 13 foot elevation of the AB and a HP Technician
responding to the event had contaminated shoes. The Decon Technician
from the Gate 2 assignment had contamination on his shirt, pants,
elbow, and nose. The Decon Technician had a positive indication on a
nasal smear and received a whole body count in accordance with
licensee procedures.
The Planner and HP Technician who wore respirators into the Ix Alley
and two Decon Technicians received Whole Body Counts (WBCs) on
March 26, 1990.
All four had measurable activity from cobalt 60.
Seventeen additional personnel received WBCs on March 27, 1990, with
three additional persons having measurable MPOB's. The licensee gave
a WBC. for all identified personnel who had been in or near the
contaminated areas on the - 2 and 13 foot elevations of the AB. A
total of seven personnel had measurable internal exposures greater
than 1 percent MPOBs. The measured activities ranged from 1.1 to
2.1 percent MPOB. No additional internal exposures were detected. The
licensee calculated MPC Hour exposures from stay times and measured
air activities. The seven MPC Hour exposures ranged from 0.1 to 1.2.
e.
Respiratory Protection
The inspector reviewed the adequacy of the licensee
I s respiratory
protection equipment assigned to the Planner and HP Technician on
March 26, 1990.
10 CFR Part 20.103(b)(2) states in part, that when it is
impracticable to apply process or other engineering controls to limit
concentrations of radioactive material in air below those defined in
section 20.203(d)(l)(ii), other precautionary procedures, such as
provision of respiratory protective equipment, shall be used to
maintain intake of radioactive material by any individual within any
period of seven consecutive days as far below that intake of
radioactive material which would result from inhalation of such
material for 40 hours4.62963e-4 days <br />0.0111 hours <br />6.613757e-5 weeks <br />1.522e-5 months <br /> at the uniform concentrations specified in
Appendix B, Table I, Column 1, as is reasonably achievable.
10 CFR Part 20.I03(c) specifies requirements for the use of
respiratory protection equipment. One of the requirements is to
- select respiratory protective equipment that provides a protection
factor greater than the multiple by which peak concentrations of
airborne radioactive materials in the working area are expected to
exceed the values specified in Appendix B, Table I, Column 1 of
Part 20.
The equipment so selected shall be used so that the average
concentration of radioactive material in the air that is inhaled
during any period of uninterrupted use in an airborne radioactivity
area, on any day, by any individual using the equipment, does not
exceed the values specified in Appendix B, Table I, Column 1 of
Part 20.
9006290262 900618
ADOCK 05000280
Q
6
On March 26, 1990, the licensee failed to select respiratory
protective equipment that provided a protection factor greater than
the multiple of airborne radioactivity exceeding the quantities
specified in Appendix B, Table I, Column 1, of Part 20, in that,
persons entering the Ix Alley or Gate 2 area on the -2 elevation of
the licensee's AB, were provided with a respirator having a
protection factor of 50, and exposed to airborne radioactivity
concentrations 99 times the quantities Specified in Appendix B,
Table I, Column 1, of Part 20.
At the exit meeting on April 20, 1990, the inspector stated that the
issuance of respiratory protection equipment having a protection
factor of 50 in an area having concentrations 99 times the MPC
concentrations was an apparent violation of 10 CFR Part 20,
Section I03(c).
However, after further review it was determined
that the licensee had not violated the requirement because the the
airborne radioactivity concentrations the workers were exposed to
were not expected by the 1 i censee. The 1 i censee
I s radiation
protection staff estimated that the respiratory protection equipment
required on the RWP, having a protection factor of 50, would be
adequate to protect the persons entering the Ix Alley that day.
f.
Dewatering Spent Resin
The 1 i censee
I s 1 iqui d radioactive waste processing systems were
located in the licensee's Decon Building (DB).
The licensee utilized
a Mobile Resin Transport System (MRTS) to collect and process spent
resin transferred from ion exchangers to a spent resin shipping
container. Spent resin from filters located in the AB traveled
through a pipe tunnel to the DB. That pipe tunnel also was connected
to the FHB. The shipping containers were then dewater*ed and were
transferred to a shipping cask for shipment to a licensed disposal
site.
The inspector determined that the licensee's HIC dewatering pumping
capabilities exceeded the DB's sump pump. Rather than overflowing the
DB sump, the licensee ran the dewatering pump effluents through a
300 foot 1 ong rubber hose from the DB to a floor drain in the
licensee's AB. The 1.5 diameter hose passed through the tunnel that
connects the DB with the FHB and AB and entered a floor drain in the
AB. The AB floor drain was located in an.area called the Ix Alley on
the -2 foot elevation.
On March 23, 1990, the licensee transferred spent resin from a spent
fuel pool ion exchanger to a MRTS shield and HIC. The licensee had
collected the fuel pool ion exchange resin along with low level
radioactivity resin from a condensate polishing system for disposal.
The licensee began dewatering of the HIC that day, abouf 3:00 PM and
continued to 4:40 PM, March 26, 1990. The resin radioactivity was
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