ML20028H022
| ML20028H022 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/20/1990 |
| From: | Caniano R, Kurth M, Mulay S NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20028H019 | List: |
| References | |
| REF-QA-99990063-900921 99990063-90-06, 99990063-90-6, NUDOCS 9010050176 | |
| Download: ML20028H022 (4) | |
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U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY C0!PISSION REGION III Report No. 999-90063/90006(0055)
Docket No. 999-90063 General Licensee:
Nalco Chemical Company L
50 West Big Beaver Road Troy, Michigan 48084 Inspection At:
Lake County Civil Defense Center 776? West 35th Avenue Gary, Indiana 46408 I
Inspection Conducted: August 15-28, 1990 purpose of Inspection: This was an announced, special inspection conducted to review the circumstances surrounding the loss and retrieval of a promethium-147 sealed source, and the licensee's corrective action associated with the event.
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V Inspectors:
'S. J.
tulay f[te/v0 Radiation Specialist Dath <
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M.F.kurth G//e/fo Radia. ion Specialist Dat'e Approved By:
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'7/Po/m no Nuclear Materials Safety Date Section 2 1
Inspection Sumary inspection Conducted on August 15-28,1990 (Report No. 999-90063/90006(DRSS))
' Areas Inspected: This was a special inspection initiated by the NRC's receipt of a telephone report on July 27, 1990, that a promethium-147 sealed source used in backscatter gauges had been found in Highland, Indiana. The inspection included a review of records and procedures es well as interviews with representatives of Halco Chemical Company and various state agencies.
Results: Two violations of NRC requirenents were identified:
(1) failure to perform leak tests at no longer than six-month intervals, 10 CFR 31.5(c)(?)
(Section 3); and (2) unauthorized transfer of byproduct material, 10 CFR 31.5(c)(8)
(Section 3).
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99990063
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I DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted
- Robert Lamprecht, Director, Lake County Department of Emergency Management
- Dennis Finn, Senior Industrial Hygienist Nalco Chemical Company
- Douglas Harkness, Product Specialist, Nalco Chemical Company
- William Latham, Attorney, Nalco Chemical Company
- Jack Treasure, Area Sales Manager, Nalco Chemical Company
- William Timmer, Training Officer, Lake County Department of Emergency Management
- Thomas Taks, Indiana State Department of Environmental Management (Michael Patterson, Automotive Group Nalco Chemical Company John Casper, Environmental Health and Safety, Nalco Chemical Company David Nauth, Indiana State Department of Radiological Health Dennis Bakalik, PH.D., Technical Director, Nalco Chemical Company Bob Trivett, Senior Chemist, Halco Chemical Company Donald Woelfel, Service Manager, Twin City International, Inc.
- Present at Exit Meeting on August 15, 1990.
(Exit meeting conducted by telephone on September 11, 1990.
7.
Licensed program The licensee uses Betascope gauges to conduct evaluations of the thickness of oil coatings on steel and various other metals. The Betascope is a backscatter type beta-ray gauge which utilizes microcurie amounts of radioactive materials to determine thickness of material by measuring the intensity of reflected beta emissions.
The promethium-147 sealed source is possessed and used under a general license issued pursuant to 10 CFR 31.5.
The Betascopes are distributed by Twin City International, Inc., North Tonawanda, New York in accordance with the specifications contained in a specific license issued by the State of New York. Currently, the licensee possesses no byproduct material at the Troy, Michigan fccility.
All radioactive material received and possessed by the licensee under the general license has been transferred to the corporate office, Naperville, Illinois for ultimate return to the manufacturer.
3.-
Inspection Findings In a telephone report from the Lake County Department of Emergency Management (LCDEM) to the NRC Headquarters Duty Officer, Washington D. C. on July 27, 1990, it was reported that a container labeled with a " Radioactive Material" insignia was found in the parking lot of a Highland, Indiana automobile dealership.
The source was identified by dealership personnel as promethium-147, containing approximately 900 microcuries. This information was given to the Region III office later that day.
Region III staff contacted LCDEM personnel and instructed them to secure the source and also made arrangements for an onsite inspection.
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-On August 15-28, 1990, a special inspection was conducted to review the circumstances surrounding the loss and retrieval of the p(Serial romethium-147 sealed source.
The inspection revealed that the source No. 102355) and device were obtained from Twin City International Inc.
nJ (TCI) on November 11, 1988 by Nalco Chemical Company (NCC), Taylor, t
p Michigan under the general license provisions of 10 CFR 31.5.
In 1
approximately January 1989, the device was transferred by NCC Taylor, Michigan to a Nalco sales representative in Munster, Indiana. The device
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and promethium-147 sealed source was then transferred to Inland Steel Corporation, East Chicago, Indiana and was used there to measure coating K
thickness on steel.
10 CFR 31.5(c)(8) requires that any person who t
W acquires, receives, possesses, uses, or transfers byproduct material in a device pursuant to tie general license in paragraph (a) of this section, Y
transfer or dispose of the device only by transfer to a person holding a-specific license to receive the device.
j Contrary to the above requirement, during the period of November 1988 to o
approximately January 1989, a Betascope backscutter gauge, Model No. 26195, L
containing less than 900 microcuries of promethium-147 in a sealed source,.
i Serial No. 10?355, was transferred in an unauthorized manner.
Specifically, j
the source was transferred to a Halco sales representative who did not possess a specific license to possess the source. The unauthorized transfer
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of the promethium-147 source contained in a Betascope gauce constitutes an I
-apparent violation of 10 CFR 31.5(c)(B).
o Region III has u ncluded that the unauthorized transfer af this material does not pose a significant threat to public health and safety. The licensee indicated that the root cause of the violation was that they 4,
were not aware of the requirements of 10 CFR 31.5 i
The inspection further revealed that in approximately February 1990, i
Inland Steel Corporation requested NCC to exchange the promethium-147 source for a cadmium-109 sealed source.
The promethium-147 source, in its shipping container, was placed in the trunk of the NCC service representative's automobile for eventual return to the manufacturer (TCI). The source remained in the automobile trunk for several months i
F until the representative discovered it and realized that he had forgotten to return it to the manufacturer. He then placed it on the console of i
the automobile.. The automobile was subsequently taken to the deale-ship for repairs with the promethium-147 source still on the console. Ne to parking lot maintenance, the vehicle was moved to another location.
y During de move, the source fell out of the automobile and was later-found by dealership employees. Local police end fire departments were r
notified and responded to the dealership. The area was secured and members of LCDEM responded and conducted surveys using a GM counter which revealed no readings above background. Wipe tests taken of the source container by the LCDEM Director revealed no removable contamination. The i
source was brought to the LCDEM Civil Defense office on July P7, 1990 and was stored and secured there until it was turned over to NCC representatives on August 15, 1990 and returned to NCC corporate offices in Naperville.
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As a result of Region III follow-up, NCC has agreed to leak test the l
source and return it to the manufacturer.
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10 CFR 31.5(c)(2) requires that any person who acquires, receives, 1
possesses, uses or transfers bystoduct material in a device pursuant to the general license in paragrapi (a) of this section shall assure that the device is tested for le-kage of radioactive material at no longer than six-month intervals.
According to licensee representatives, since the promethium-147 source was purchased in November 1988, the source had not been tested for leakage of radioactive material. The f ailure to test for leakage all devices containing radioactive material constitutes an apparent violation of 10 CFR 31.5(c)(2).
Two apparent violations of NRC requirements were identified.
4 Exit Meeting An exit meeting was conducted on August 15, 1990, at the conclusion of the inspection with the individuals identified in Section 1 of this report. A telephonic exit meeting was conducted with Mr. Michael Patterson, Nalco Chemical Company, Troy, Michigan on September 11, 1990.
In both meetings, the inspection review of the incident, the NRC Enforcement Policy, and the licensee's corrective actions were discussed.
No information in this report was identified as proprietary by the licensee.
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