ML19281B907
| ML19281B907 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 08/10/1979 |
| From: | Seyfrit K NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| To: | MATERIAL CONSULTING & TESTING CO., INC. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19281B908 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8008210211 | |
| Download: ML19281B907 (1) | |
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MATEHIAL3 CONSULTING & TESTING CO.,
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~r Gentleuen:
Enclosed is IE Bulletin-No. 79-19, which requires action by you with regard to your NRC license.
Should you have questions regarding this Bulletin or the actions required of you, please contact this office.
Sincerely,
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Karl V. Seytrit [ f Ol Director Enclosures.:
1.
List of Bulletins Issued in Last Six Months 0008210 gll
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C.
20555 IE Bulletin No. 79-19 Date: August 10, 1979 Page 1 of 3 PACKAGING 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 Agreement States of Nevada, South Carolina, and Washington.
On July 10, 1979, the Governors of the three states notified NRC Chairman Hendrie of the serious and repeated disregard for rules governing the shipments of low-level radioactive wastes to these burial facilities.
Examples of violations of Agreement State, DOT and NRC rules follow:
Improperly packaged uranium fines igniting packaged liquid scintillation vials in combustible waste is believed to have caused a fire and destruction of a truck at the Beatty, Nevada 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 inorganic 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 leaching 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 Agreement State of South Carolina, at the Barnwell, South Carolina burial facility.
The shipments were from reactor, medical, industrial and military facilities.
On June 28, 1979, the Federal Highway Administration issued a Notice of Violation to a reactor facility proposing a $10,000 fine for truck contamina-tion resulting from improper closures on 55 gallou 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 NRC, DOT and Agreement 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 would deny use of the three burial sites by violators.
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IE Bulletin No. 79-19 Date: August 10, 1979 Page 2 of 3 Sources of Information:
The DOT regulatory requirements can be found in 49 CFR 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-agreement states are in 10 CFR Part 150.
Copies of the regulations may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Information about licensing requirements for NRC packages can be obtained from the NRC Transportation Branch (301-427-4122).
Information about DOT packaging and transport requirements can be obtained by calling the DOT Office of Hazardous 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 Agreement State of Nevada, South Carolina, or Washington before pa.ckaging low-level radioactive waste material for transfer and shipment to the Agreement State licensee.
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 material.
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 training and periodic retraining in the DOT and NRC regulatory requirements, the waste burial license requirements, and ur instruc-tions and operating procedures for all personnel involved.
- transfer, packaging and transport of radioactive material. Maintain a record of training dates, attendees, and subject material 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 chemical and physical form for transfer and shipment to a low-level radioactive waste burial facility.
O IE Bulletin No. 79-19 Date: August 10, 1979 Page 3 of 3 7.
Establish and implement a management-controlled audit function of all transfer, packaging and transport activities to provide assurance that personnel, instructions and procedures, and process and transport equip-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 inspections by NRC or DOT inspectors.
(Note: If your 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, ycur 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 NRC Regional Office and a copy should be forwarded to the NRC Office of Inspection and Enforcement, Division of Fuel Facility and Materials 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 shipments 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 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 specifically for identified generic problems.
]
IE Bulletin No. 79-19 August 10, 1979 LISTING OF IE BULLETINS ISSUED IN LAST SIX MONTHS Bulletin Subj ect Date Issued Issued To No.79-01A Environmental Qualification 6/6/79 All Power Reactor of Class IE Equipment Facilities with an Operating License (OL) or Construction Permit (CP) 79-02 Pipe Support Base 3/8/79 All Power Reactor Plate Designs Using Facilities with an Concrete Expansion Operating License Anchor Bolts.
(OL) or Construction Permit (CP) 79-02 Pipe Support Base 6/21/79 All Power Reactor (Rev. 1)
Plate Designs Using Facilities with an Concrete Expansion Operating License
' Anchor Bolts (OL) or Construction Permit (CP) 79 3 Longitudinal Weld 3/12/79 All Power Reactor Defects In ASME SA-312 Facilities with an Type 304 Stainless Operating License Steel Pipe Spools (OL) or Construction Manufactured by Permit (CP)~
Youngstown Welding and Engineering Company 79-04 Incorrect Weights 3/30/79 All Power Reactor for Swing Check Facilities with an Valves Manufactured Operating License by Velan Engineering (OL) or Construction Corporation Permit (CP) 79-05 Nuclear Incident at 4/1/79 All Power Reactor Three Mile Island Facilities with an Operating License (OL) or Construction Permit (CP)
Enclosure Page 1 of 3
i IE Bulletin No. 79-19 August 10, 1979 79-05A Nuclear Incident at 4/5/79 All Power Reactor Three Mile Island Facilities with an Operating License (OL) or Construction Permit (CP)79-05B Nuclear Incident at 4/21/79 All B&W Power Reactor Three Mile Island Facilities with an Operating License (OL) 79 Review of-Op'erational 4/11'/79 All Pressurized Wat'er
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Errors and System Power Reactor Facilities Misalignments Identified Except B&W Facilities During The Three Mile Island Incident 79-06A Review of Operational 4/14/79 All Westinghouse PWR Errors and System Facilities with an Misalignments Identified Operating License During the. Three Mile (OL)
Island Incident 79-06A Review of Operational 4/18/79 All Pressurized Water (Rev. I).
Errors.and System Mis- -
Power Reactor Facilities
- alignments Identified of Westinghouse Design During the Three Mile with an Operating License (OL)
Island Incident 79-06B Review of Operational 4/14/79 All Combustion Engineer-Errors and System ing PWR Facilities with Misalignments Identified an Operating License During The Three Mile (OL)
Island 79-07 Seismic Stress Analysis 4/14/79 All Power Reactor of Safety-Related Piping Facilities with an Operating License (OL) or Construction Permit (CP)
Enclosure Page 2 of 3
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IE Bulletin No. 79-19 August 10, 1979 79-08 Events Relevant to BWR 4/14/79 All BWR Power Reactor Reactors Identified Facilities with an During Three Mile Island Operating License Incident (OL) or Construction Permit (CP) 79-09 Failures of GE Type AK-2 5/11/79 All Power Reactor Circuit Breaker in Safety Facilities with an Related Systems Operating License (OL) or Construction Permit (CP) 79 -
Requalification~ Training-5/11/79 -
All Power Reactor
~ Program Statistics Facilities with an Operating License (OL) 79-11 Faulty Overcurrent Trip 5/22/79 All Power Reactor Device in Circuit Breakers Facilities with an for Engineered Safety Systems Operating License (OL) or a Construction Permit (CP)
.79-12 Short Period Scrams at.
5/31/7.9 All Power Reactor Facilities BWR Facilities with'a'n Operating License (OL)
-or'a Construction Permit (CP)
~
79-1-3 Cr.acking In Feedwater -
6/25/79'
- All-PWRs with an Operating System. Piping License (OL) for action.
All BWR with a Construction Permit (CP) for information 79-14 Seismic Analyses for 7/2/79 All Power Reactor facilities As-Built Safety-Related with an Operting License Piping System (OL) or a Construction Permit (CP) 79-15 Deep Draft Pump 7/11/79 All Power Reactor Facilities Deficiencies with a Construction Permit and/or Operating License (OL) 79-16 Vital Area Access Controls 7/26/79 All Power Reactors with an Operating License (0L) or anticipating fuel loading prior to January 1981.
79-17 Pipe Cracks in Stagnant 7/26/79 All PWRs with Operating Borated Water Systems at License (OL)
PWR Plants 79-18 Audibility Problems 8/6/79 All Power Reactor Encountered on Evacuation Facilities with an of Personnel from High-Operating License (OL)
Noise Areas Enclosure Page 3 of 3