ML20005G201
| ML20005G201 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000687 |
| Issue date: | 01/03/1990 |
| From: | Bores R, Jang J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20005G200 | List: |
| References | |
| 70-0687-89-05, 70-687-89-5, NUDOCS 9001180279 | |
| Download: ML20005G201 (7) | |
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COPMISSION w "-
REGION 1-
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. Report No;.70-687/89-05 t
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- Docket No. 70-687-i
- License No. SNM-639-Priority-1 Category UHBR a
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' Licensee:!iCintichem,= Incorporated i
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- P.O. Box 516-F Tuxedo, New York 10987' j
Facility Name: Reactor.and Hot Laboratory 7
- Inspection At:. Tuxedo, New York
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Inspection Conducted: December 19, 1989 Y
/~3'kC LInspector:
s JasgrVC. Jang, diation Prote/Jpecialist Sr. Radiation date pfluents Ra ction Section i
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- Approved by
- -_. RobertJ.Boresb~hief,EffluentsRadiationDivisio
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date Protection Se on,
. Safety and Safeguards 6
Inspection Summary: Inspection on December 19, 1989 (Inspection Report Number l:
70-687/89-05)-
Areas Inspected' Special,f contamination in the storm drain and collect several announced inspection of the licensee's actions taken
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to. identify the sources o 1
environmental samples-on which to perform independent measurements in the NRC Region I Laboratory, u
Result: - Analytical results of environmental samples indicate that there were
.recent-radioactive liquid releases into the retention pond, however, there was no evidence of measurable offsite environmental releases.
I 9001180279 900203 PDR ADOCK 07000687 C
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L DETAILS 1.0 Individuals Contacted-1.1-Cintichem, Inc.
- J. McGovern, Plant Manager Health Safety and Environmental Affairs
- T. Vaughn,. Manager, Health khysicisl
- J. Guenther Staff
- *L. Thelin, $taff Health Physicist x
- T. Rice, Health. Physicist Technician III 1.2 State of New York-
- S. Zobel, Environmental Radiation Specialist II, Department of Environmental Conservation, Bureau of Radiation
- W.-Varcasio, Environmental Radiation Specialist I, Department of Environmental Conservation Bureau of Radiation
- J.'Zeglen, Environmental Radiation Specialist I, Department of Envircnmental Conservation, Bureau of Radiation
- R. Pratt, Associate Radiophysicist, Division of Safety and Health, Department of Labor
- Denotes those present at the exit interview on December 19, 1989.
, c 2.0 Purpose The purpose of this special inspection was (1) to observe actions taken by 2 to review the licensee to eliminate contamination in storm drain water, (dr)ain water future plans to identify the sources of contamination in storm
, and (3) to collect 14, 1989)t measurement in the
-(Reference licensee'stletter dated December ground water and environmental samples for independen NRC_ Region I Laboratory.
3.0 Background
During April 1989 the licensee identified a possible discharge of slightly contaminated water through a storm drain located in the onsite parking lot (See Figure 1 for detail of sampling points). This storm drain is used to Warehouse'l, and ( ) possibly fr(2) Building 3 (Engineering and catch the runoff from (1) the arking lot, om the hot laboratory building Maintenance (Building 2 area including t e roof of the building. Water collected in the storm dr)ain discharges into a retention )ond (sampling point S 5) and
'then flows to the Indian Kill Reservoir.
T1e licensee identified elevated radioiodine (I-131) levels in water in the same storm drain in the parking lot (sampling point S-4) on November 28, 1989 through the routine monthly environmental surveillance program.
The November 28 measurement of I-131
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was 3.0E-6 uci/m1~at the storm drain. Normally -the I-131 concentration of
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the storm drain water is below the minimum detectable level. (MDL).- The 4
licensee measured I-131 in the storm drain water again on December 6, and
' December 11,1989-and the results were 2.5E-7 uCi/ml and less than 1.0E-7 uC1/ml,respectively.
f The licensee also measured a wet sediment' sam)1e collected from the storm 1989. The analytical result drain discharge point (S-5) on December 12, The licensee determined that c
the contamination from the storm drain /ml.
for I-131 was approximately 1.0E-6 uC1 discharge to the retention pond was-oT limited to an area within a-10-foot radius from the end of-the discharge o
- pipe, j
p The licensee also-measured water-samples collected from the retention pond outfall (002 Outfall, Sampling /ml. Point S-1) and the analytical results for L
I-131 were less than 1.0E-8 uCi Water samples collected from the storm o
drain outfall at the visitors parking lot (Sampling Point S-3)' indicated
' background levels for I-131.
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E Based on the above analytical results, there was no evidence of measurable L
offsite environmental releases.
4.0 Licensee's Investigatior, and' Corrective Actions 4.1' Leak from the Ventilation Duct As stated in the licensee's-letter dated on December 14, 1989, the licensee believed that a leak had developed in the hot cell exhaust duct between the hot cell filter bank and the main filter bank (containing charcoal beds)
- for the hot laboratory. This leak allowed contaminated air to flow through a' cavity located underneath the T-1 room, the hot cell filter bank, and the duct under the hot laboratory. There was evidence of soil and water contamination in this cavity. floor, walls, foundation, and bed rock. y is enclosed by th The cavit There is no indication of an obvious leak from~the cavity to the environment. The cavity became a part of the ventilation duct system because there was no pressure differential between the ventilation duct and the cavity, both negative with respect to atmosphere. The licensee drilled 'a hole into the cavity to increase the l
o pressure in the cavity to atmospheric on December 8, 1989.
This action 1:
was ex)ected to assure that air flow was only through the duct and not throug1 the cavity and the duct. This action was also expected to prevent contamination of the cavity, which in turn should reduce the contamination level at the storm drain (Sampling Point S-4), as a result of water intrusion of the cavity The licensee conducted a smoke test to verify R
that air flow was from the cavity into the duct and from the surrounding l
area into the cavity. The licensee further believed that these actions were successful in reducing the contamination level because activity of I-131 in the storm drain water was reduced between December 6 and December i
11, 1989.
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The inspector was informed that the licensee remotely inspected the inside l
l of the duct, located between the main filter bank and the filter room i
plenum, using a video camera on December 15, 1989. The licensee could not i
see any obvious cracks or holes. The i$censee plans to inspect the inside i
of the duct between the hot cells and the main filter bank, as soon as
>ossible. Yhe licensee stated that the result of this investigation will i
>e forwarded to the NRC.
a The inspector discussed the investigation and corrective actions taken with the licensee since the air flow from a wet cavity to the ventilation duct could degrade the integrity of the charcoal beds in 'the main filter bank.
This degradation could occur because the moisture cr ground water in the i
cavity could be pulled into the main filter bank through the ventilation duct and reduce the iodine adsorption capacity of the charcodi beds. The inspector stated that the integrity of the charcoal beds in the main filter bank should be examined to evaluate the effect of moisture intrusion on the main filter bank. This was identifieo as an inspector followup item (70-687/89-05-01).
4.2 Other Possible Contamination Sources The ins ossible ground water contamination sources withth!ectordiscussedotherbdedradioactiveliquidleaksfrompipesand licensee. These inci holdup tanks. The licensee scated that there was no evidence of radioactive liquid leaks from pipes.
The licensee however dug three water wells on the west edge of the parking lot be[ ween Buildings 3 and 5 i
and will analyze any water found in these wells in an attempt to trace the L
source of the leak. These wells were dry as of the date of this inspection.
5.0 Environmental Samples and Analytical Results Three environmental samples one water sample and two wet soil / silt samples,werecollecteddurIngthisinspectiontoperformanindependent measurement in the NRC Region I Laboratory. The water sample collected at the storm drain (sampling point S-~4) was split among the licensee, he storm representatives of New York State, and the NRC. The flow rate of t drain water at thL sampling time was approximately 0.6 gallons per minute.
Wet soil / silt samples at the outfall of the storm drain in a retention pond (sampling point S-5 and outfall of the retention pond (sampling point i
S-Is, were collected),by ti.a NRC for analysis of iodines and long half-life j
radnonuclides.
The analytical results of these samples are listed in the following table.
The analytical results of the storm water samples for I-131 and 1-133 were 3.457E 5 uti/mi and 7.5E-6 uCi/ml, respectively, as shown in the table.
The analytical result of I-131 was about a factor of 10 higher than the previously reported licensee's sample (November 28,1989).
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5 An immediate telephone call was made to discuss those analytical results with the licensee on December 21 1989. The licensee's analytical results ofI-131andI-133wereaboutafactorof2lowerthantheNRC'sresults due to the licensee's camma counting geometry correction. The licensee is l
currently developing tfie counting geometry, therefore, analytical results will be confirmed by the contractor laboratory. The presence of Mo-99/Tc-99m was also confirmed in this storm drain water sample by the 1
L licensee and the NRC. This suagests that a leakage pathway other than the ventilation system may be involved. The licensee initiated actions to i
investigate other possible pathways includino leakage from the reactor water reactor water transfer pool, and liquid radwasts transfer pipes.
The lleensee also increased sampling frequency to daily at the storm drain 4
l outfall of the storm drain ( 5),and utfall o the retention pond The analytical results of the storm drain outfall soil sample indicated i
that there were recent radioactive liquid releases in the retention pond because short half-life activation / fission product radionuclides were identified in the soil sample as shown in the following table. However, there was no evidence of measurable offsite environmental releases since there was no indication of activation / fission product radionuclides associated with facility operations in the retention pond outfall soil i
sample. The levtl of Cs-137 in the retention pond outfall soil sample was consistent w4h the level normally seen as a result of world wide fallout i
due to nuc1 w weapons testing.
Sample ID Sample Type Radionuclide Activity Unit - uci/nl 3.457+/-0.007)6 S-4 Storm Drain Water I-131 E-5 12/19/89 91315 hr I-133 7.50+/-l.03)E-4 Unit - uti/ gram wet S-5 Wet Soil / Silt I-131 (3. 543,+/-0.003) E-5 Storm Drain Outfall I-133 i l.1+f-0.41E-6 (6.1+/-0.71E)E-6 1.98+/-0.L1 12/19/89 Cs-137 Cs-134 1
-7 1.96+ -0.L3 E-6 (3.96+-0.12E-6 Zr-95 Nb-95 1
(6.5+ 1.7 E 5 Mo 99/Tc-99m 4.3+-0.8)hlE-7 Ru-103 1
J1.5+-0.2)E-6 Sb-125 (7.5+-0.8E-6 Ce-144 S-1 Wet Soil / Silt Cs-137 (8.2+/-0.4)E-7 Retention Pond Outfall 12/19/89
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6.0 Exit Interview The inspector met the licensee representatives (denoted in Section 1.0) at i
the conclusion of the inspection on December 19, 1989. The inspector summarized the purpose and findings of the inspection.
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S-1 Right Drain at 002 Outfall S-2 Left Urain at 002 Outfall k
S-3 Stom Drain Outfall at Visitors Parking Lot S-4 Building 3 Storm Drain Catch Basin e
l S-S Building 3 Stom Drain Outfall S-6 Runoff Stream, 20 ft from Inoian Kill Reservoir 3
S-7 Building 4/ Cooling Tower Stonn Drain Outfall Figure 1. Sampling Point Designations for Runoff Water
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