ML19254A865
| ML19254A865 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/10/1979 |
| From: | James O'Reilly NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | ALASKA, UNIV. OF, COLLEGE |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7909060204 | |
| Download: ML19254A865 (1) | |
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- p SUIT E 207, WAt Nur CFIE EK PLAZ A W ALNU T CiiE E K, CALIF ORNI A 9453G August 10, 1979 ALASsA, UNIVERSITY OF INSTITUTE UF ARCTIC SIULOGY COLLEGE AK 99735 Gentlemen:
Enclosed is IE Bulletin l:o. 79-19 which requires action by you with regard to your ;;RC license.
Should you have questions regarding this Bulletin or the actions re-quired of you, please contact this office.
Sincerely, h
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Director
Enclosure:
IE Builetin No. 79-19 790906610f 7ac 299 b.,
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Accession t!o:
7908070515 SSIrlS tio:
6820 UtilTED STATES tlVCLEAR REGULATORY COMi11SSIOlt 0FFICE OF INSPECTION AND EtiFORCEMEt!T WASHINGTOM, D.C.
20555 August 10, 1979 IE Bulletin flo. 79-19 PACKAGItiG OF LOW-LEVEL RADI0 ACTIVE WASTE FOR TRANSPORT AND BURIAL Description of Circumstances:
Low-level radioactive waste is that waste which can be transferred and shipped to one of three waste burial facilities which are located in and licensed by the Aqreenent States of fievada, South Carolina, and Washington.
On July 10, 1979, the Governors of the three states notified !!RC Chaiman Hendrie of the serious and repeated disregard for rules covernina the shipnents of low-level radioactive wastes to these burial facilities.
Examples of violations of Agreement State, D0T and flRC rules follow:
Improperly packaged uranium fines ignitino packaged liquid scintillation vials in combustible waste is believed to have caused a fire and destruction of a truck at the Beatty, flevada burial facility on May 14, 1979.
On July 2,1979, three of twelve steel containers shipped to the Beatty burial facility were found to be leaking radioactive material.
The material was described on the bill of lading as being a solid inorcanic salt (evaporator concentrates solidified with urea formaldehyde) from a reactor facility. The Governor of the State of llevada ordered the drums to be shipped out of the state and the burial facility was temporarily closed.
On July 30, the first shipment into the reopened Beatty facility contained free liquid in " solid" material.
The radioactive contents were sand filters used at an insitu leaching process at a uranium nill.
Forty-three shipments with sixty-three deficiencies were obsm ved during the package inspection program between April 10 and July 5,1979, by the Agreement State of South Carolina, at the Barnwell, S.C. burial facility.
The shipments were from reactor, medical, industrial and military facilities.
On June 28, 1979, the Federal Highway Administration issued a riotice of Violation to a reactor facility proposing a $10,000 fine for truck contamina-tion resultina frcm improper closures on 55-gallon Jrums of LSA naterial and for inproper loading of the drums on the vehicle.
These are a few examples of shipments of radioactive material to burial facilities which did not fully neet flRC, DOT and Agreenent State requirements which were developed to protect the health and safety of the public. The Gover" ors of the three States with licensed burial facilities have indicated tha'. if the situation is not rectified, they may have to initiate actions which would deny use of the three burial sites by violators.
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IE Bulletin No. 79-19 Auoust 10, 1979 Page 2 of 3 Sources of Information:
The DAT regulatory requirements can be found in 49 CFR Parts 170-179.
The flRC reg-
~ requirenents can be found in 10 CFR Parts 19 to 71.
The NRC regu-lat., requirements for Agreement State licensees in non-agreement states are in 10 CFR Part 150.
Copies of the regulations may be puriMased from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing ^' ' ice, Washinaton, D.C. 20402.
Infonnation about licensing requirements for NRC packages can be obtained from the 'RC Transprtation Branch (301 1271122).
Infor ation about D0T packagino and transport requirements can be obtained by calling the DDT Office of Hazarclus Materials (202-426-2311).
Action To Be Taken By Licensees:
To assure the safe transfer, packaqing, and transport of low-level radioactive waste, each licensee is expected to:
1.
MaintC, a current set of D0T and flRC regulations concerning the transfer, pack %ing and transport of low-level radioactive waste material.
2.
Maintain a current set of requirements (license) placed on the waste burial fini, by the Agreement State of Nevada, South Carolina, or Washington before packaging low-level radioact:ye waste material for transfer and shipment to the Agreement State licensee.
If a waste collection contractor is used, obtain the appropciate requirements from the contractor.
3.
Designate, in writing, people in your organization who are responsible for the safe transfer, packaging and transport of low-level radioactive material.
4.
Provide management-approved, detailed instructions and operating procedures to all personnel involved in the transfer, packaging and transport of low-level ra"cactive naterial.
Special attention should be given to controls on the chemical and physical form of the low-level radioactive material and on the containment integrity of the packaging.
5.
Provida training and periodic retraining in the COT and NRC regulatory requirements, the waste burial license requirements, and in your instruc-tions and operating procedures for all personnel involved in the transfer, packaging and transport of radioactive material. Maintain a record of training dates, attendees, and subject naterial for future inspections by NRC personnel.
6.
Provide training and periodic retraining to those employees who operate the processes which generate waste to assure that the volume of low-level radioactive waste is minimized and that such waste is processed into acceptable chenir.al and physical form for transfer and shipment to a low-level radientive waste burial facility.
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IE Bulletin fio. 79-19 August 10, 1979 Page 3 of 3 7.
Establish and implerent a management-controlled audit function of all transfer, packagino and transport activities to provide assurance that personnel, instructions and procedures, and process and transport equip-ment are function'no to ensure safety and compliance with regulatory requirements.
8.
Perform, within 60 days of the date of this bulletin, a nanagement-controlled audit of your activities associated with the transfer, packaging and trans-port of low-level radioactive waste.
flaintain a record of all audits for future inspections by f2C or DOT inspectors.
(fiote: If you have an estab-lished audit function and have performed such an audit of all activities in Items 1-6 within the past six months, this audit requirement is satisfied.)
9.
Report, in writing within 45 days, your plan of action and schedule with regard to the above items.
In addition, provide responses to the three questions below.
Reports should be subnitted to the Director of the appropriate f4RC Regional Office and a copy should be forwarded to the flRC Office of Inspection and Enforcement, Divisian of Fuel Facility and ftaterials Safety Inspection, Washington, D.C.
20555.
Provide answers for 1978 and for the first six months of 1979 to the following questions:
1.
How many low-level radioactive waste shipnents did you make? What was the volum of low-level radioactive waste shipped?
(Power reactor licensees who report this information in accordance with Technical Specifications do not need to respond to this question.)
2.
What was the quantity (curies) of low-level radioactive waste shipped? What were the major isotopes in the low-level radioactive waste?
(Power reactor licensees who report this information in accordance with Technical Specifications do not need to respond to this question.)
3.
Did you generate liquid low-level radioactive waste?
If the answer is 'yes,' what process was used to solidify the liquid waste?
Licensees who do not generate low-level radioactive waste should so indicate in their responses and do not need to take other actions specified in the above items.
Approved by GAO, B180225 (R0072); clearance expires 7-31-80.
Approval was given under a blanket clearance snecifically for identified generic problens.
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