ML19289E082
| ML19289E082 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000754 |
| Issue date: | 02/09/1979 |
| From: | Book H, Cooley W, Shackleton O NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION V) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19289E081 | List: |
| References | |
| 70-0754-78-12, 70-754-78-12, NUDOCS 7904020024 | |
| Download: ML19289E082 (4) | |
Text
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U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 9
OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT REGION V Report No. 70-754/78-12 Docket No.70-754 License No.
Sm.1 oAn Safeguards Group 3 Licensee:
General Electric Company Vallecitos fluclear Center pleasanton, California 94566 Vallecitos fluClear Center Facility Name:
Vallecitos fluclear Center Inspection at:
Inspection conducted:
' December 22 and 28, 1978
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Inspectors:
W. J. Cool e ',' F 1 Fa'cilities Inspector Date Signed N-2/9 /qf as
- 0. C. Shackleton, Investigator tat'e /sig6ed Date Signed 2!7 7
Approved By:
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./kH. E. Book, Chief, Fuel Facility and Materials rite' Signed
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Safety Branch Summary:
Inspection on December 22 and 28,1978 (Report fio. 70-754/78-12)
Areas Insoected: This inspection included visits to the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory; observations of quantities of r.aterial contained in 2R containers and in nitrate form at that location; and reviews of the licensee's October and December, 1978 physical inventory records.
Results: fio items of noncompliance or deviations were found within the scope of this inspection. The licensee was found to be adhering to his commitments to limit plutonium nitrate quantities to less than 100 grams and plutonium oxide dispersible quantities to less than 6 grams in the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory. Administrative controls were in place to prevent dispersible quantities of plutonium in excess of 6 grams to be outside of 2R containers.
Concurrently,. the licensee was found to be in compliance with the criticality mass limits established for the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory.
RV Form 719(7) 7904020024
DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted E. F. Kurtz, Manager, Advanced Fuels Laboratory R. C. Gebhart, Manager, Advanced Fuels Laboratory Operations N. E. Hall, Manager, Advanced Fuels Laboratory Safeguards E. J. Strain, Engineer, Nuclear Safety Technology C. R. Judd, Acting Supervisor, Plutonium Analytical Laboratory M. N. Robles, Supervisor, Plutonium Analytical Laboratory R. W. Anderson, Specialist, Materials Control 2.
Allegation that the Subject Licensee Failed to Meet a Commitment to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission The purpose of this inspection was to respond to an allegation that the subject licensee had not adhered to e commitment to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with regard to operations at the subject license. The commitment referred to is Commitment No.1 (of 4) which appears in the letter to Clifford B. Smith, Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards to Mr. R. W. Darmitzel, Manager, Radiation Processing Products Section and dated November 7, 1977.
That commitment states in part (G.E. staff commits to) limiting the onsite activities to those experienced in the recent past and titcrefore result in total quantities, types and form of material, as well as processes representative of those conducted in the past. The allegation was specific to the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory.
Accompanying the November 7,1977 letter from NRC to the subject licensee was the preliminary safety evaluation by the Office of Nuclear Safety and Safeguards concerning the continued operations by the subject licensee under NRC special nuclear material license SNM-960. That preliminary evaluation makes use of source terms to calculate possible releases of radioactive material from Vallecitos Nuclear Center site in the event of a major seismic event. Those source terms rely upon, among other things, the amount and location of quantities of radioactive material on site.
The portion of the safety evaluation devoted to the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory location anticipates a normal inventory of 100 grams of plutonium as nitrates and a normal inventory of 6 grams of dispersible plutonium.
The significance of the allegations regarding the commitment referenced above and the significance of the commitment itself is that the safety evaluation is based on those normally occurring quantities of 100 grams of nitrate and 6 grams of dispersible plutonium occurring in the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory.
,. Typ' cal laboratory quantities of enriched uranium and plutonium contained in solid form were not regarded as dispersible by any of the postulated mechanisms in the evaluation. Normally dispersible material which had been rendered to a solid or which was contained in 2R containers was regarded as nondispersible.
3.
Plutonium Analytical Laboratory On December 22, 1978 the NRC inspectors visited the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory.
It was observed that the laboratory was posted with the criticality mass limits permitted in the laboratory.
The current inventory of fissile material in the laboratory was Evailable in records maintained there.
It was observed that the licensee was maintaining storage of normally dispersible plutonium compounds in 2R containers. An estimate of those 2R containers was made and indicated approximately 16 grams cf contated plutonium as metal.
Additionally, an estimated 12 grams cf plutonium was observed in nitrate solution form.
The material contained in 2R containers was identified by a licensee representative and by labels on material vials as plutonium standards.
4.
Comparison of Inventory Estimates With Physical Inventory Records This inspection included a review of the physical inventory records of the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory for the date December 28, 1978. That inventory could be broken down into dispersible oxide, plutonium nitrate, and plutonium standard forms.
The total plutonium as nitrate was listed as 15.88 grams which agrees with the estimate made on December 22, 1978. The total plutonium in inventory as standards agreed well with the estimated material contained in 2R containers on December 22, 1978. The dispersible material outside of 2R containers was 1.2 grams estimated by differences.
A similar review was made of the October 30, 1978 physical inventory records.
In that case, approximately 18 grams of plutonium was stored in 2R containers while 6 grams of dispersible oxide was in the laboratory outside of 2R containers.
10.1 grams of plutonium was in the laboratory in the form of plutonium nitrate.
This inspection included a review of all transactions by which fissile material was transferred to and from the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory between December 1 and 21,1978.
The variation in fissile material holdings over that period of time was about + 25 grams.
The inventory categories presented above are those as recorded upon receipt of materials at the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory.
Sub-sequent changes in the form of the material at the laboratory are most often from solid or dispersible oxide to the nitrate.
The inventory records, therefore, show the forms of the material in two successive physical inventories as they ':ad been received during the previous two months.
It appears that the administrative controls are in place at the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory to prevent exceeding approximately 6 grams of dispersible plutonium outside of 2R containers or out-side of other containers which prevent its dispersion in the case of a major seismic event.
By reference to physical inventories conducted about October 30 and December 28, 1978, it appears that the limits of dispersible plutonium and plutonium as a nitrate were not exceeded.
5.
Management Interview The results of this inspection were discussed with members of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center staff at the conclusion of the inspection on December 28, 1978. Those persons were informed that no items of noncompliance or deviations from Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements have been observed.
The alleger was informed of the results of this inspection by telephone call on December 29, 1978.
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