ML19254A866
| ML19254A866 | |
| 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 7909060206 | |
| Download: ML19254A866 (1) | |
Text
.sf'.
o, UNITED ST ATEs
),
.?
NUCLE All REGULA10RY COMMISSION ye l,.
h
$ '; D;;;j!>d REGION V
,g 1%01: CALITOFINI A BOUL E VAllD o, ',,g r
'q, e'
e
$UI T E 202, WAlfiU T CM Els PL AZA WAlfjuT CFt f C l', C Alif OilTJI A 'J4'*%
- 4,,*
August 10, 1979 i
p ALA5KA, UNIVERSITY OF f
INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE i
AK 99735 LulLLGE Gentlemen:
Enclosed is IE Eulletin I;o. 79-19 which requires action by you with regard to your i;RC license.
Should you have questions regarding this Bulletin or the actions re-quired of you, please contact this office.
Sincerely,
,, i
}.4 sisuu
, p R. H. Engelken Director
Enclosure:
IE Bulletin llo. 79-19 a
<,a c 3b 790906020$
yp
Accession fio:
7908070515 SSIflS fio:
6820 UNITED STATES tlUCLEAR REGut.ATORY COMiIISSIO:1 0FFICE OF ItiSPE^ TION AND EtlFORCEi E T WASHIriGTON, D.C.
20555 August 10, 1979 IE Bulletin flo. 79-19 PACKAGIriG F LOW-LEVEL RADI0 ACTIVE WASTE FOR TRANSPORf 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 Agreement States of tievada, South Carolina, and Washington.
On July 10, 1979, the Governors of the three states notified NRC Chairman Hendrie of the serious and repeated disrecard for rules coverning the shipments of low-level radioactive wastes to these burial facilities.
Examples of viciations of Agreement State, DOT and flRC rules follow:
Improperly' packaged uranium fines igniting nackaged liquid scintillation vials in combustible waste is believed to have caused a fire and destruction of a truck at the Beatty, tievada burial facilit, on flay 14, 1979.
On July 2,1979, three of twelve steel contain2rs 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 inoraanic salt { evaporator concentrates solidified with urea formaldehyde) from a reactor facility. The Governor of the State of Nevada 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 leachinq process at a uranium mill.
Forty-three shipments with sixty-three deficiencies were observed during the package inspection program between April 10 and July 5,1979, by the Agreenent 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 Notite of Violation to a reactor facility proposing a $10,000 fine for truck contanina-tion resulting from improcer closures on 55-gallon drums of LSA material and for improper loading of the drums on the vehicle.
These are a few examples of shipments of radioactive material to burial facilities which did not fully meet t!RC, D0T and Aqreement State requirements which were developed to protect the health and safety of the public. The Governors of the three States with licensed burial facilities have indicated that if the situation is not rectified, they may have to initiate actions which woulddenyuseofthethreeburialsitesbyviolatorls.;
o 7
_,-[,UO n
l
IE Bulletin !!o 79-19 August 10, 1979 Page 2 of 3 Sources of Information:
The DOT regulatory requirements can be found in 49 CFP Parts 170-179. The NRC regulatory requirements can be found in 10 CFR Parts 19 to 71.
The NRC regu-latory requirements for Agreement State licensees in non-agrecnent states are in 10 CFR Part 150. Copies of the regulations may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washinoton, D.C. 20492.
Information about licensing requirements for flRC packages can be obtained from the ?PC Transportation Branch (201 d27 a122).
Information about DOT packaaing and transport requirements can be obtained by calling the 00T Office of Hazardcus Materials (202-426-2311).
Action To Be Taken By Licensees:
To assure the safe transfer, packaging, and transport of low-level radioactive waste, each licensee is expected to:
1.
Maintain a current set of DOT and NRC regulations concerning the transfer, packaging and transport of low-level radioactive waste material.
2.
Maintain a current set of requirements (license) placed on the waste burial firm by the Agreenent State of Nevada, South Carolina, or Washington before packaging low-level radioactive waste caterial for transfer and shipment to the Agreement State licensea.
If a waste collection contractor is used, obtain the appropriate 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 radioactive materia'.
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.
Provide trainina and periodic retraining in the DOT and MRC 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 fiRC personnel.
6.
Provide training and periodic retraining to those employees who operate the processes which generate waste to assure that the volume of icw-level radioactive waste is minimized and that such waste is processed into acceptable chemical and physical form for transfer and shipment to a low-level radioactive waste burial facility.
-,9 2kb I) n ic v
IE Bulletin flo. 79-19 August 10, 1979 Page 3 of 3 7.
Establish and implement a management-controlled audit function of all transfer, packagina and transport activities to provide assurance that personnel, instructions and procedures, and process and transport eqt'ip-ment are functioning to ensure safety and compliance with regulatory requirements.
8.
Perform, within 60 days of the date of this bulletin, a management-controlled audit of your activities associated with the transfer, packaging and trans-port of low-level radioactive waste. Maintain a record of all audits for future irspectior.s by NRC or ^0T irs;ectors.
(Note: If you have an estab-lished audil 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 submitted to the Director of the appropriate flRC Regional Office and a copy should be forwarded to the flRC Office of Inspection and Enforcement, Division of Fuel Facility and flaterials Safety Inspection, Ui shington, D.C.
20555.
Provide answers for 1978 and for the first six months of 1979 to the following questions:
1.
How nony low-level radioactive waste ship.7ents did you make? What was the volume 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 +he major isotopes in the low-level radioactive waste?
(Power reactor licensees who report thir 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 licuid 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 7-21-80.
Approval was given under a blanket clearance snecifically for identified generic problens.
0 7 '; '?
2 /{ b n
nw
, a..