ML20045H074
| ML20045H074 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/13/1993 |
| From: | Grobe J, Wiedeman D NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20045H073 | List: |
| References | |
| REF-QA-99990003-930713 99990003-93-11, NUDOCS 9307190027 | |
| Download: ML20045H074 (9) | |
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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION III i
Report No.. 99990003/9311(DRSS)
License No. SNM-183 (terminated)
Docket No. 070-00133 (terminated)
Associated Licenses:
34-00653-01 34-00653-02 C-3790 C-3692 Facility:
Clevite Research Center Division of Clevite Corporation i
540 East 105" Street Cleveland, Ohio
-Inspection At: Neighborhood Progress, Inc.
(a former Clevite Corp. facility) 540 East 105" Street Cleveland, Ohio 44108 Inspection Conduct 6d: May 27., 1993 j.
s t
D. lG. Wie& &, D,
/,4 deman 7-N'93 Inspector:
Senior Health physicist Date 4
Approved:
J A. Gro'e 7-1343 o
1 Cycle and Decommissioning Date 4
Inspection Summary Inspection on May 27. 1993 (Report No.999900u.,,:
1(DRSS))
Areas Inspected:
This was a special inspection.wh.h included a review of the-former licensee's activities associated with the decontamination and remediation of their formerly used manufacturing and processing areas. This inspection was in response to an NRC project in which an evaluation of approximately 17,000 retired licenses was conducted by an NRC contractor, Oak Ridge National Laboratories (0RNL), which on the basis of the information in the retired license file, may have a potential for significant residual.
contamination in their former facilities. Due to the lack of documentation in i
the Clevite Corporation retired license files, the NRC contractor concluded that the former facilities used by Clevite Corporation could have significant amounts of residual contamination.
Results: The NRC inspector identified low levels of fixed uranium contamination on the floor of the former licensee's manufacturing building The inspector did not identify any radiation levels above natural background nutside the facility. Based upon the inspection findings, it was concluded that the facility was not successfully decontaminated to levels below the NRC release criteria.
t 9307190027 930713 REG 3 GA999 ECI*****
i 99990003 PDR
4 DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted
- Raymond J. Pierce, Facilities Manager, Neighborhood Progress, Inc.
(NPI) j Daryl Rush, Vice President, NPI
~
@ Craig Bowman, Esq., General Counsel, The Pullman Company Robert Owen, Radiation Health Programs Administrator, Ohio Department of Health Todd T. Brady, R.T., Cuyahoga County Board of Health
@ Thomas Coyne, Esq., legal counsel for NPI Attended the exit meeting conducted on May 27, 1993.
- Telephone conversation conducted on June 15, 1993 regarding the results of the smear tests taken on the day of the inspection.
@ Telephone conversation conducted on June 1, 1993 to discuss the findings of the inspection.
2.
Backaround License No. SNM-183 was issued to Clevite Research Center, Division of-Clevite Corporation on March 10, 1958 for use and possession of enriched uranium-235 at their facility located at 540 East 105" Street, l
Cleveland, Ohio. The authorized activities included melting, alloying, forging, rolling, welding, pickling, chemical and metallographic analyses, machining, stamping and the sintering of enriched uranium-4 powder and ceramic materials for the production and fabrication of fuel elements for nuclear reactors.
Initially the license authorized 9,010 grams (9.01 kg) of 90% enriched uranium-235.
Subsequent amendments to the license authorized 55,800 grams-(55.8 kg) of enriched uranium-235' (see Attachment A). According to documents found in the license files, a special area located on the 1" floor of the building (near the rear of the building) was reserved for fabrication of fuel elements.
Drawings found in the docket files show that this area had approximately 20 operational criticality areas.
In 1962-Clevite Corporation elected to not renew their license and prepare for the decontamination and t
decommissioning of their facility.
In a letter dated August 14, 1962 Clevite Corporation submitted their final radiation survey results.
A review of this radiation survey indicates that the maximum radiation level over the surface of the working area was 140 microroentgen/ hour (pR/hr) measured at 1.0 cm from the surface and the average radiation level was 30 uR/hr measured at that same distance.
The Atomic Energy-Commission (AEC) conducted an inspection on August 30, 1962 to confirm the licensee's survey results. Apparently, the AEC inspector took nine smear tests in certain areas of the facility to compare with the licensee's results; however, it appears that direct radiation measurements by the AEC inspector were not conducted during that inspection.
Other licensed activities at this facility were conducted under ' license No. 34-00653-01 and 04-00653-02.
The 01 license authorized millicurie amounts of phosphorus-32, sodium-24, potassium-42 and chlorine-36 for i
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use in irradiation and research on crystalline compounds. The 02 license authorized sealed sources of cobalt-60 for use in irradiation and radiography. Source Material Licenses No. C-3790 and C-3692 authorized 200 pounds of natural uranium and 5 grams of thorium sulfide, respectively, for research.
It appears that work under the 01 and 02 licenses were being conducted on the second floor o' the building. The files did not indicate where work (research) with the source materials was conducted.
The docket files did not contain a close-out survey by the licensee and a confirmatory survey by the AEC for the above referenced licenses.
During the license file review by ORNL, references were made in the terminated license file that disposal of contaminated waste materials were made in an onsite incinerator. The NRC contractor also concluded that due to the way that the radioactive material was used, there was a potential for an off-site release and the on-site buildings could have been left with contamination.
3.
Facility Stat _n Neighborhood Progress, Inc., a non-profit corporation which rehabilitates, refurbishes and manages industrial buildings, moved into the building on December 6, 1991.
The building was purchased from The Pullman Company who procured the assets of Clevite Corporation /Gould, M.
It was the inspectors understanding that prior to 1969 the original building owners were known as Cleveland Graphite Bronze /
Clevite. Clevite became a sole subsidiary and in 1969 Clevite merged with Gould, Inc.
In September 1981, the building was purchased by a newly formed corporation, Imperial Clevite, Inc..
A " buy-out" occurred
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in 1986 and the building reverted back to Clevite, Inc.
In 1987, the i
Pullman Company purchased certain assets which included this building from Clevite, Inc. and Neighborhood Progress, Inc. purchased the building in December 1991 from The Pullman Co.
The approximate size of the entire site is 180,000ft2 and the building is approximately j
160,000ft', the former fabrication and manufacturing area where contamination was found is approximately 7,000ft2 Currently this area J
is occupied by a tenant known as Grid Seal Corporation.
The surrounding neighborhood is a mixture of commercial buildings and single family residences.
Prior to the purchase of the building, Neighborhood Progress, Inc. hired a private consulting firm (EDP Consultants) to conduct an independent environmental assessment of the property which included a radiation survey of the building. This assessment was performed on August 6, 1991, and the consultant concluded that no radiation levels above natural background were found, (See Attachment B).
4.
Indenendent Measurements The inspector conducted radiologic surveys in and around the former manufacturing areas on the first floor. The areas surveyed included first floor locker rooms, rest rooms, hallways, offices, former manufacturing areas, basement areas, incinerator, parking lot and 3
p building down spouts and loading dock. The inspec' tor noted that some remodeling of the facility has occurred during the past 30 years. The current property owner did not have any records of the disposition of the building rubble and equipment that was removed during the remodeling.
The NRC inspectors radiologic surveys of the parking lot and adjacent property did not identify any radiation levels above natural background.
Independent radiation surveys were performed with a Victoreen, Model 190 portable survey instrument with a Model RP-1 pancake probe, NRC Tag No.
042444 which was calibrated on January 22, 1993.
An instrument response check with a.006 pCi thorium-230 check source showed 2,900 counts per minute (cpm) which equates to 600-700 microroentgens/ hour (pR/hr) and a 1 pCi cesium-137 check source showed 19,000 cpm which equates to 2.8 milliroentgens/ hour (mR/ hour). Attachment C of this repc-t shows direct radiation measurement locations and locations where smear tests were taken.
Attachment D shows the results of the smear tests for removable contamination.
Background measurements taken in the parking lot with the Victoreen, Model 190 showed 40-50 CPM which equals to 10-20 pR/hr.
Random measurements on contact with the floor of the 1" floor manufacturing area now occupied by Grid Seal, Corp. showed low level contamination ia an area that was approximately 9 ft X 15 ft that ranged from 400 to 2,800 LPM (beta + gamma) and one isolated area under a cabinet measured 120,000 CPM (beta + gamma). The inspector placed a piece of sheet metal over this area to reduce the radiation level to near background. Smear-tests were taken on various areas that showed elevated radiation levels.
These smears were analyzed in the Region III laboratory and indicate that the contamination is predominantly a beta emitter and the contaminant is not removable. The results from the smear tests were consistent with the findings of the AEC inspection conducted on August 30, 1962.
In conclusion, the inspectors direct radiation measurements indicate that the low level contamination that remains on the floor in the former manufacturing area exceeds the NRC release criteria for release of facilities for unrestricted use.
The NRC limit for release of a licensed facility for unrestricted use is 1,000 dpm/100 cm2 (removable), 5,000 dpm/100 cm2 (average over 1 m') and 15,000 dpm/100 cm2 (maximum) and direct radiation measurements not to exceed 200 pR/hr (average) and 1,000 pR/hr (maximum) above natural background when measured at 1.0 cm from the surface. This criteria is described in
" Guidelines for Decontamination of Facilities and Equipment Prior to Release for Unrestricted Use or Termination of Licensees for Byproduct, Source, or Special Nuclear Material" dated August 1987.
5.
Exit Meetina The NRC inspector met with the individuals identified in Section 1 of this report and summarized the findings of the inspection.
The inspector informed the current property owner representatives that the independent radiologic survey indicated that the former Clevite Corporation facility did not meet current NRC criteria for release of 4
facility for unrestricted use as described in the NRC document t
" Guidelines for Decontamination of Facilities and Equipment Prior to Release for Unrestricted Use or Termination of Licenses for Byproduct, Source, or Special Nuclear Material" dated August 1987. The NRC t
-inspector also emphasized the point that this survey was not complete and all encompassing and consideration should be given to have the entire building characterized for residual contamination.
F Attachments:
A.
AEC license B.
Consultants report (excerpt)
C.
Survey results and wipe locations D.
Smear test results b
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August 28,1991 Page 3 of 7 Glenville Development Site GEIGER COUNTER SURVEY On August 6, 1991, an environmental geologist from our office met Mr. Gale Davies of Grid Seal Corporation.
Mr. Davies escorted us through the portion of the building which he is currently leas-ing.
From conversation with Mr. Davies, a longtime Clevite employee, we learned that uranium fuel pellets were processed in the western one-half of the first floor of the main building.
Mr. Davies was in charge of a number of sections in the former uranium fuel processing area during the operations of Clevite-Could.
We asked Mr. Davies if there were any other areas where uranium was handled.
The only other area of possible concern, according to Mr. Davies, would be the former ceramics lab on the second floor, where thorium oxide was handled.
Mr. Davies indi-g cated that the former operations of Clevite-Could J
were regulated by the Atomic Energy Commission AEC), and that when the uranium processing area cease (d production, fuel pellet the AEC conducted an audit of the decontamination of the entire area.
During our walkover with Mr. Davies, our environmental geologist equipped with an Anton Electronics Geiger counter which is was
,1 accurate to within one-hundredth of a millirem.
During our walk-over of tha former uranium fuel processing area, we did not encounter any radiation levels above normal background, which was measured outside of the building.
Our radiation survey of the second floor ceramics lab showed no indication of radioactivity.
In addition to the areas indicated by Mr. Davies we also surveyed the remainder of the building, including the roof for indications of abnormal radiation levels.
We did not encounter any anomalous radiation levels in the remainder of the building.
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1 A TTA CHMENT D PAGE_f_ of_l PAGES
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