ML19341C927
| ML19341C927 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Wood River Junction |
| Issue date: | 09/04/1980 |
| From: | Grier B NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Erickson B ENERGY, DEPT. OF |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19341C923 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8103040540 | |
| Download: ML19341C927 (2) | |
Text
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Exhibit 1.
Region !
79 Letter to DOE-Schenectady
- v Naval Reactors Office
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U. S. Ecpartrent of Energy AT*N: Mr. B. M. Erickson, Manager Schenectady Naval Reactors Office Schenectady, New York 12301
Dear Mr. Erickson:
Eraircnrental water sanples taken from test wells located in close proxin'ty to the United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) Recovery facility at Wood River Junction, Rhode Island, have shown the presence of radionuclides, including fission products such as strontium 90. This coupled with the fact that UNC is decommissioning this facility has created much public and NRC interest.
The United Nuclear plant at Wood River Junction was authorized by Special Nuclear Material License No. 777 from May 1966 through July 1976 to recover uranium from fuel, containing microcurie quantities of fission products, used in low power critical experiments operated by the Atomic Energy Commission.
When the licensee applied for renewal of his license, he did not request permission to continue this operation; and when the license was renewed in 1976, it did not include this authorization. An NRC inspection concerning the source of the radionuclide contamination of the aquifer flowing beneath the plant has disclosed that it likely came from waste from this uranium recovery process. The inspection also disclosed that uranium containing fission products was processed after 1976.
The scrap material processed by UNC Recovery Systems after 1976 included KAPL scrap lots 139C and 139D which had a special notation "This material is e
unclad'and has been exposed to hot water in critical assemblies..." We need to know whether or not this material was indeed irradiated. And, i f irradiated, we would also like to know at what power level and for what period of time the material was irradiated.
We also need to know of any other irradiated enriched uranium scrap containing fission products sent from KAPL to Oak Ridge for recovery at the UNC facility or sent directly from KAPL to the UNC facility during the period from January 1976 to March 1980. We are interested in:
quantity of U-235; criticality experiment involved; available information concerning power level and time of exposure of the U-235; 1
741 number; Oak Ridge lot number; and scrap declaration number (SNR _ _ _).
i 81030405YO
1 Exhibit 1.
Continued (Page 2 of 2)
Mr. B. M. Erickson 2
SU b i ;.4 Thank you for your prompt attention to this request.
Sincerely.
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Boyce H. Grier Director 9
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