ML19346A172
| ML19346A172 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000754 |
| Issue date: | 05/27/1981 |
| From: | Book H, Cooley W, Pang J, Thomas R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19346A170 | List: |
| References | |
| 70-0754-81-01, 70-754-81-1, NUDOCS 8106050315 | |
| Download: ML19346A172 (11) | |
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U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 0FFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT REGION V Report No.
70-754/81-01 Docket No.70-754 License No.
SNM-960 Safeguards-Group 1
Licensee:
General Electric Company Vallecitos Nuclear Center P. O. Box 460 Pleasanton, California 94566 Facility Name:
Vallecitos Nuclear Center
.spection at:
Pleasanton, California Inspection conducted:
April 21-24, 30, and May 5, 1981 Inspectors:
([e-[3 ddy f/;j/py W. J. Cooley, Fi/el Fachities Inspector Date' Signed 2.r % % -
r_,<.m J. Frank Pang, Radiatibn Specialist Date Signed Approved by:
- pf4%
- . 7 R. D. Thomas, Chief, Materials Radi.ological Date ' Signed gf gp Approvad by
e
' H E. Book, Unief, Radiological Safety Branch Dat'e Sigiled t.
Summary:
Insoection on April 21-24, 30, and May 5, 1981 (Report No. 70-754/81-01)
Areas Insoected: Modifications and changes to facilities and systems; internal review and audits; safety committee activities; operations review; criticality safety; emergency planning; radiation protection; confirmatory measurements; and transportation activities.
The inspection involved 47 inspecter-hours onsite by uso NRC inspectors.
Results:
No items of noncompliance or deviations were identified within the subject areas inspected.
RV Form 219 (2) 810605 315
DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted
- R. A. Moschner, Manager, Nuclear Safety and Quality Assurance i.
W. H. King, Manager, Nuclear Safety Technology
- G. E. Cunningham, Senior Licensing Engineer B. M. Murray, Radiological Engineer, Nuclear Safety Technology W. R. Lloyd, Senior Engineer, Nuclear Safety Technology E. J. Strain, Engineer, Nuclear Safety Technology D. C. Bowden, Nuclear Safety Ccmpliance Engineer, Nuclear Safety Technology P. S. Webb, Manager, Radiological and Environmental Protection C. A. Hooker, Specialist, Radiclogical and Environmental Protection R. Jones, Soucialist, Industrial-Safety and Fire Marshall J. I. Tenor 10, Manager, Remote Handling Operations M. L. Thompson, Manager, Advanced Fuels Laboratory R. C. Gebhart, Manager, Advanced Fuels Laboratory Operations C. J. Mauck, Nuclear Engineer, U.S. Department of Energy S. Chin, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Denotes those attending the exit interview.
2.
Modifications and Changes to Facilities and Systems Decommi.ssionine of the Ad anced Fuels Laboratory continues.
Equipment from the ceramir. iine glove boxes and the scrap recovery box has been removed and those boxes have been decontaminated. Most of the
,equipnient from the nitrate conversion line has been removed and decontamination of the box was beginning.
All glove boxes remain connected to the filtered, ventilation system awaiting packaging in i
l specially constructed wooden boxes.
Equipment from the glove boxes is being packaged in 55 gallon drt.ms which, in turn, are being I
mounted in Model N-55 overpack containers. The licensee anticipates j
transferring approximately 88 drums of low level contaminated transuranic waste and 37 boxes containing larger equipment including glove boxes.
The drums are planned for shipment to a transuranic retrievable waste storage facility operated by the Department of Energy at the Hanford, Washington complex during the month of May,1981. The boxes are r lanned for shipment to the same installation in the latter part of 1981.
The completion of the decommissioning operation is scheduled for January 1,1982.
The first shipment of drums was made on May 5,1981 and a portion of the drum loading was witnessed by the NRC -inspectors on that date.
(See Transportation Activities below).
Some difficulty has been experiencd by the licensee in obtaining i
j the specification wooden boxes. 4 proximately 16 of those boxes have been manufactured but only one has been successfully coated with fiberglass by the vendor. All required tests for the normal l
. conditions of transport have been completed on the box.
The box has been certified by NRC Headquarters Transportation Branch as acceptable for its intended purpose. The drums involved in the waste shipment arc identified as model N-55, Certificate of Compliance 9070 containing a qualified specification 17-H steel drum.
The Plutonium Analytical Laboratory, which was used for analytical i
backup to the Advanced Fuels Laboratory, has been decontaminated along with its equipment including glove boxes. The -schedule for decommissioning t'it laboratory and removal of any residual contaminated equipment has n, been completed by the licensee.
3.
Internal Review and Audit A more formalized approach to radiation safety audits was instituted in September 1979 as discussed in NRC Report No. 70-754/80-04, Section 4.
Progress with that formalization has continued and detailed audit plans and procedures have been developed in the subject areas of X-ray machines; employee training and re-training; respiratory training; isotope authorization reviews; audits of change authorizations; radiation work permit usage; radioactive waste handling; and radiation detection instrumentation.
Three of those sets of plans and procedures were reviewed as, a part of this inspection. They were detailed and complete and included l
the concepts of audit scope, objectives, followup actions, applicable documents (conditions of License SNM-960, requirements of Vallecitos Site Safety Standards, Standard Operating Procedures), and checklists of items to be reviewed. The audit procedures for radioactive waste handling are particularly detailed and address various waste forms, authorized packagings, package and st rage of radwaste, personnel training requirements, responsibilities of waste generating com,,onents, and other Nuclear Center components.
This inspection included a review of the radiation safety audits conducted since the last NRC inspection.
On January 22, 1981, a review was made of an available video tape (The Hazards of Alpha Emitters) for possible inclusion in the employee training program.
On February 18, 1981, a review was completed of the status of all change authorizations issued during 1980. On March 25, 1981, an audit was completed of all X-ray producing devices at the Vallacitos Nuclear Center.
i Since the last inspection, the Na/ada Inspection Service of Quadrex Corporation made an inspection at Vallecitos Nuclear Center with respect to the requirements of 10 CFR 71.
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4 4 Safety Committee Activities This inspection included a review of the minutes _of meetings held by the Vallecitos Technological Safety Council dating to the last inspection. The Vallecitos Technological Safety Council continues to meet quarterly and discuss matters which have been prepared in an agenda. On February 10, 1981, the committee discussed plans to process contaminated liquids that remain in storage at the Vallecitos site. The committee also observed that the ALARA goal of less than.
3 rem per year exposure per badge wearer had been met for the year 1980 with one exception. One employee had received 3.030 rem during 1980. Those statistics related to the issuance of 1,075 personnel dosimeters. The committee further discussed manpower requirements for health physics monitoring at the site and the DOP carcinogenic problem in testing absolute filters.
A special meeting of the council was conducted on April 21, 1981, to discuss the development af liquid waste volume reduction.
5.
Employee Training The subject of employee training was discussed with licensee representatives during this inspection in the context of Internal Reviews and Audits, Emergency Planning, and Transportation Activities.
Those i
training activities are discussed in this report under the respective subject headings-6.
Operations Review Brief visits were made by one NRC inspector to Building 103 analytical laboratories, the radioactive materials laboratory waste handling operation, and the Remote Handling Operation in Building 102.
Detail observations were made by both inspectors of the packag.ing-and traile,r loading of transuranic waste from the Advanced Fuels Laboratory.
That waste handling operation is discussed below in Sections 11-13, Transportation Activities.
7 Criticality Safety The licensee's program of restudying all nuclear safety analyses pertaining to operations of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center is continuing.
That plan is discussed in NRC Inspection Report No. 70-754/80-04.
The reanalysis of operations in Building 103 Chemistry and Metallurgy is being done presently and the analysis for the Building 103 special nuclear n;aterial vault has been redone as a result of changes in vault loading and material configuration.
The criticality analyst in the Nuclear Safety Technology Unit is also presently validating the various computer codes that are used
. in criticality computations. Validation of those codes was presented in application for renewal of license SNM-960 about 1966. That validation data was derived from critical experiments which were conducted between 1958 and 1962 at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center.-
Those early experiments were good at the time but have since been superseded by more recent critical experiments which are better documented than the earlier work at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center.
General Electric reactor physics persennel and NRC Headquarters licensing personnel have been contacted for guidance in this effort by the Nuclear Safety Analyst. Reactor physics personnel selected several critical experiments from the Cross Section Evaluation Working Group, Brookhaven National Laboratory,' to be used by the Nuclear Safety Analyst in code validation. Approximately eight of those experiments were used and a decision was made sto pursue a greater number of critical experiments. To date, comments by the GE reactor physics personnel as to code validation have been available only in the case of low enriched boiling water reactor computations.
Additional plans include.further validation of the codes using about five of 80 critical experiments which are available at both low and high enrichments including a number of those performed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Ultimately, the program calls for the assembly of the Models used, the code used, the verification of the code, and its input and output data in a validation effort.
8.
Emergency-Planning The licensee maintains contacts with state radiological health i
l-agencies, state police, county sheriff, local fire departments, local hospitals, a local ambulance service, and a contracted on-site physician. The licensee has an agreement with the Valley Memorial Hospital, Livennore, California which was renewed as of December,1980.
The licensee participates in the Twin Valley _ Mutual Aid Fire Protection Group.
In the event of a fire, the first response from that group would be from the California State Forestry located at a 15-minute run from the Vallecitos Nuclear Center Site. Radio communication-is maintained with the County Sheriff by agreement which was last updated on September 4, 1979. Ambulance service is available from the City of Livennore and appropriate telephone numbers are maintained in the emergency call list of the licensee. A physician is onsite two days a week and available in emargencies. A nurse is available onsite each working day on the dayshift. The hospital associated with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is available on an i
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informal basis to the licensee in the event of an emergency.
Likewise, the radiological assistance team based at the _LLNL could be made available to the licensee in the event of a radiological n
accident.
Emergency equipment available :o the licensee onsite includes a fire engine (pumper, 250 gpm, 400 gal. capacity), approximately 18 emergency kits containing special protective clothing, and decontamination and first aid accessories; emergency radiation detection instrumentation and meteorological tower for wind speed and direction. The emergency kit supplies are maintained in sealed lockers at approximately 11 locations distributed about the Vallecitos Nuclear Center Site.
Two of those locations are the GETR control room and the primary security station. Comunication equipment is located at the GETR control room and the primar security station.
Emergency radiation detection instrumentation is maintained at six different locations onsite.
Instrumentation checks are made each two weeks and calibrations are performed at a frequency of three times per year.
An emergency vehicle of the-Bronco Jeep type is available onsite.
First aid training and fire fighting training has been provided by the licensee to fire crews. Approximately eight people with that training are available during dayshifts onsite while.backshifts are manned by two people with that type of training who are located at the GETR control room.
Tests and evacuation drills are conducted once each year with regard to possible criticality and radiation emergency. type. events in each building in which a criticality detectcr is located.
Fire drills are held once per year in each building at the Vallecitos i
Nuclear Site. This inspection included a review of fire drills conducted during the year 1980. Nine such drills were conducted between August and October, 1980. On October 22, 1980, the Division of Forestry fire unit participated in a drill conducted at Building 105 at the Vallecitos Nuclear Site. During the same period of time, five criticality evacuation drills were conducted involving Buildings 102, 103, 105, 200, and the Hillside Storage Facility.
Critiques of the various tests and drills were held and summarized in writing by the site Fire Marshall giving the drill chronology, pertinent observations, and recommendations for improvement.
Fire inspections are conducted by onsite fire technicians following a checkoff list procedure. Those inspections are recorded and reported to the site Fire Marshall at a monthly frequency. This inspection included a review of the monthly inspections for February and March, 1981. Those inspection reports were addressed to the position of control valves for sprinkler systems, hydrants, hose
. houses (including hose condition), condition of automatic sprinkler systems, condition of the main. 500,000 gallon, 200,000 gallon fire reserve water tank, testing of sprinkler alarm systems, and the
' condition of the onsite fire truck. Sprinkler alarm systems. include -
an audible alarm at the main security station and the GETR control room.
Additional inspections for fire protection are conducted by the licensee's fire insurer. Most recent inspections conducted by that person were on September 26, 1980 and October 9, 1980.
The licensee has prepared a site map upon which are identified all water-supplies and water lines available and has presented that map l
to members of the Twin Valley Mutual Aid Group.
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Immediate response to a fire would be by GE Vallecitos Nuclear Center personnel using immediately available equipment. The next response would be from the City of Sunol Fire Department followed by aid from the Twin Valley Mutual Aid Group. One could expect representatives of those three entities to be at the fire scene t'
within 15 minutes of the alarm. Assistance from the Twin Valley Mutual Aid Group would be considered the first alarm to that group after the response of the. City of Sunol Fire Department. The first alarm response, as planned, would include the California Division of Forestry Chief and equipment, the LLNL Fire C,htef, the Alameda.
County Fire Department, and the City of Livermore Engine #4. Water pumping capacities of first alarm equipment (including the VNC fire engine) are in gallons per minute / gallon capacity as follows:
250/400, 1,000/1,000, 300/500, 1,000/300 (50 ft. snorkel), and 1,000/800. Additional second alarm and third alarm' assistance has l
been provided for from the Twin Valley Mutual Aid.
9.
Radiation Protection l
The licensee's annual exposure report for personr.el visiting or employed at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center lists a maximum employee exposure measurement of 3.030 rem per year for 1980.
The maximum l
measured exposure for a visitor to the Vallecitos Nuclear Center l
was less than 2 rem during the year 1980. The total employee j
exposure over that year was 84 man rem and the total visitor exposure was 7.6 man rem. The employee who received an annual exposure of 3.030 rem received 2.240 rem quarterly exposure during the second quarter of 1980. A form AEC-4 had been completed for that employee in January, 1960.
This inspection included a review of bioassay records for the year 1980. The maximum uranium bioassay result for a single individual employee was 11 dpm/ liter at a limit of detection of 2 dpm/ liter.
The maximum indication by bioassay for plutonium analysis was 2.2 dpm/ liter with a limit of detection of 0.02 dpm/ liter.
That
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. individual subr.itted three additional samples as a followup on the
. initial 2.2 dpm/ liter analysis result. Those samples indicated chronologically a decay ~ to 0.060.dpm/ liter followed by two samples indicating less.than 0.02 dpm/ liter. That' analytical work was performed over.a period of 2h months. The individual-had not worked with plutonium and because of the rapid decay evidence, the l
analytical-work was judged. to be a. false reading. All other bioassay results for plutonium analysis were less than 0.060 dpm/ liter with most indicating less than 0.02 dpm/ liter.
- 10. Transportation Activities Management control of transportation activities is presented'in the Vallecitos Nuclear Center Safety Standards 7.6 and 7.3.
Safety Standard 7.6 is addressed to shipments and receipts of all-types ot-radioactive material. Site Standard 7.3 is addressed to the deta?ls of shipment of waste radioactive material.
I Site Safety Standard 7.6 presents the responsibilities.and coordination i
.for shipments and receipts. That coordination is among the. Warehousing 3
and Distribution Section,-the waste generating component, and the Nuclear Energy Traffic Operation. ~ The Safety Standard 7.6. requires that radioactive material shipment and receipt procedures be prepared and approved by component management and.the Nuclear Energy Traffic, Operation..Those procedures are filed with the Warehousing and Distribution Section.
Each waste generating component isl responsible l
for adherence to those procedures.
Safety Standard 7.3, which is addressed exclusively to the shipment -
l of radioactive wastes similarly requires written procedures as well as internal audits. The responsibility of the waste generating facilities, the Senior Engineer-Licensing, and the Nuclear Safety Technology Unit are specified. That Safety Standard includes burial site requirements and the various contamination limits and l
radiation level limits imposed upon waste shipments by various l
regulatory agencies. That-standard also provides a listing of I
typical 7A type containers and certified shipping packagings which the licensee is authorized to use.
- 11. Transportation Training Joseph Tenorio, Manager, Remote. Handling Operations, is the designated authority for overseeing shipments of radioactive materials and radioactive waste at the Vallecitos site. Mr. Tenorio stated that training on the subject of' transportation of radioactive waste was provided by the company during February 1981.
Records of this
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training were reviewed. The title of the course-given was " Hazardous Material Regulations" which was attended by 33 attendees including the radioactive waste handling staff.
The course material covered hazardous materials in general and. included radioactive materials.
The in:tructor for this course was Keith Elder.
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' Radioactive Waste Training was also conducted on September 24, 1980 and October 8,1980.
Instruction was by Gene Cunningham with 41 persons attending.
- 12. Transportation Procedures Waste handling and transportation procedures were reviewed and were found to be adequate. The following procedures were reviewed:
Accountable LSA Preparation and Transfer 0MT-0P4.2.7 Non Accountable LSA Preparation and Transfer OMT-0P4.2.5 In Cell High Level Waste Revision 6 dated 11-21-80.
Shipping and Receiving --Xenon Ampul loading in the Cell 9 Facility.
A general form 747A&B was also reviewed. This form consisted of essentially a shipping check list which included such items as radiation and contamination surveys and is used as a check off list for all shipments of radioactive materials.
l Preparation of packaged plutonium waste for shipment at the General Electric Vallecitos plant was inspected on May 5,1981. - Package conditions, package marking and labeling, and shipping papers were observed. Radiation levels,and radiological contamination checks were made with a Xetex 305B, SN 8174, due for_recalibration on June 30, 1981 and a Ludlum Model 12 Count Rate Meter, SN 003564, due for
. recalibration on July 15,1981, respectively. No items of noncompliance l
with D0T/NRC regulations were observed during this inspection.
Although the shipment is of plutonium waste generated at GE Vallecitos, the shipment is being made by the Department of Energy rather than.
by G.E.
For this reason Charles J. Mauck of the Department of Energy and Stephen Chin of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory were also i
inspecting the plutonium waste shipment at the time of the inspection.
Fifty-five gallon drums of plutonium waste were being loaded into Model N-55 overpaks at Building 102 during the inspection. A representative sampling of 55 gallon drums and overpaks was made.
The 55 gallon drums available for inspection were identified with l
appropriate marking and labeling as required. The drums observed l
had the following information:
" Caution radioactive material"
" Combustible"
" Radiation levels at the surface and at three feet" l
" Gross and Tare Weight" "Date and Signature" l
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The overpaks which were observed were pr9perly marked and labeled.
Each overpak was marked with the following information:
i.
Radioactive Material, NOS USA 9070B(
)F Kerr McGee Nuclear Cresant, OK.
Inspected by J. L. Kegin Each overpak had a metal label having the following information attached:
Nuclear Packaging Inc.
Type B Overpak Model No. N-55 Gross Wt. 750 lbs.
S/N Both the 55 gallon drums and the overpaks were observed to be in i
excellent condition.
Several packages consisting of the 55 gallon drums in the overpaks were observed being measured for radiation levels by-the licensee prior to affixing the appropriate transportation labels.
Confirmatory-measurements of the radiation levels were made using a Xetex 305B.
Radiation levels were found to be less than 0.5 mr/hr.
Independent-contamination surveys of five 55 gallon drums and three overpaks were made by wiping and checking the wipes with a Ludlum Model 12.
No significant radiological contamination was measured.
I Shipping papers of this shipment during preparation were reviewed -
and were found to have the equired information as follows:
Type B NRC Certificate No.
Model No.
l Physical and Chemical Form Gross Weight Total Activity Survey Results Type of Labels Certification The inspectors were told by a licensee representative that instructions for maintenance of sole-use shipment controls will be a part of the shipping papers when completed.
The following documentation of package certification and quality l-assurance were also reviewed:
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. USNRC Certificate of Compliance for the N55 overpak and associated references.
Type A specification container evaluation, " Quality Assurance Program for Shipping Packages for Radioactive Material" QAP-1,
- Revision 1, March,1980".
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- 13. Management Interviews l
The scope and the results of this inspection were discussed with licensee representatives at the conclusion of the. inspection.
The licensee was informed that no items of noncompliance or deviations were observed within the scope of the inspection.
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