ML20049H697
| ML20049H697 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07000754 |
| Issue date: | 02/19/1982 |
| From: | Book H, Cooley W, Thomas R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION V) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20049H676 | List: |
| References | |
| 70-0754-82-01, 70-754-82-1, NUDOCS 8203030461 | |
| Download: ML20049H697 (12) | |
Text
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U. S. NUCLEAR REGULAT0Y COMMISSION REGION V Report No. 70-754/82-01 Docket No.70-754 License No. SNM-960 Safeguards Group
__ 1 Licensee: General Electric Company Vallecitos Nuclear Center P. O. Box 460 Pleasanton, California 95466 Facility Name: Vallecitos Nuclear Center Inspection at:
Pleasanton, California Inspection conducted: January 14-15, 1982 Inspectors:
MIe
/
M/1/22 W. J. Cooley, Fuel Facpties Inspector
'Dat'e Signed Approved by:
NE 2
/
R. D. Thomas, Chief, Materials Radiation
'Dat6 Signed Prot tion Se
'on I
b Approved by:
,H., E., Book, Chief, Radiological Safety Branch Date Signed Summary:
Inspection on. January 14-15,1982 (Report No. 70-754/82-01)
Areas Inspected:
Organization; modifications' and changes to facilities and systems; operations review; criticality studies; environmental program; radiation protection; and radioactive waste management.
l The inspection involved 14 inspector-hours on site by one NRC inspector.
Results: No items of noncompliance were identified in the subject areas inspected.
l 8203030461 820219 PDR ADOCK 070007S4 C
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DETAILS
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1.
Persons Contacted M. L. Thompson, Manager, Advanced Fuels Laboratory
- G. E. Cunningham, Senior Licensing Engineer W. R. Lloyd, Senior Engineer, Nuclear Safety D. C. Bowden, Nuclear Safety Compliance Engineer, Nuclear Safety Technology R. E. Gest, Environmental Specialist, Radiological and Environmental Protection
- Denotes those attending the exit interview.
2.
Organization Since the last NRC inspection Mr. C. A. Hooker, Specialist, Radiological and Environmental Protection has terminated employment at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center. Mr. D. C. Bowden has assumed the duties of Mr. Hooker and will continue to conduct internal audits in the area of radiation safety. The Change Authorization Review function formerly performed by Mr. Bowden is presently being done by Mr. W. H. King, Manager, Nuclear Safety and Quality Assurance.
It is anticipated that Mr. W. R. Lloyd will phase into the compliance engineering function formerly performed by Mr. Bowden in about April, 1982.. Visual inspection of incoming HEPA filters and in situ testing of filters formerly performed by Mr. Bowden are presently being done by the Quality Assurance group at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center.
i Mr. R. C. Gebhart, Manager, Advanced Fuels Laboratory Operations, has retired since the last inspection.
3.
Modifications and Changes to Facilities and Systems Decontamination and decommissioning of the Advanced fuels Laboratory is continuing. Only the nitrate conversion glove. box remains in the laboratory and it was being disassembled at the time of this inspection.
All other glove boxes and most equipment from the laboratory have been packaged in special fiberglassed shipping cnntainers which were being stored at ground level outside the Advanced Fuels Laboratory. Those boxes were in various stages of preparation for shipment to a DOE burial site at the Hanford reservation.
The licensee's tentative plans are to vacate the second floor of Building 401 which is presently used as office space for Vallecitos i
personnel including those within Quality Assurance and Nuclear Safety.
Those persons would be moved to office space in Building 102. The shops located in Building 104 which include instrumentation calibration and repair are being considered for move to Building 105. Tentative 1
i plans also include the storage of nuclear control instrumentation sensors (manufactured at the San Jose Facility of General Electric Company) in Building 104.
Personnel presently located in Building 104 will be moved to Building 102 and Advanced Fuels Laboratory personnel will be moved from their present office trailer to Building 102.
With that move the whole body counter located in Building 104 will be located in Building 102.
A new well south of the Security Building has been drilled to monitor ground water in the downstream direction from Building 102.
The location of that well was in agreement with the Water Quality Control Board.
4.
Operations Review This inspection included visits to the Building 102 area where low level Advanced Fucls Laboratory Waste Shipping Containers are being stored.
Brief visits were also made to the Building 107 area where those boxes were staged in preparation for shipment and to Building 304 where some of the boxes ready for shipment are ' presently being stored.
Opportunity was taken to inspect both completed and partially completed boxes in storage.
Some detail regarding those shipping containers is given below in Section 7, Radioactive Waste Manaaement.
5.
Criticality Studies The licensee program of restudying all nuclear safety analyses pertaining to operations at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center is almost conoleted. The plan was discussed in NRC Inspection Reports No. 70-754/80-04 and 70-754/81-01. The remaining work to be done by the criticality analyst is to reduce the criticality limits assigned to laboratories in Building 103. That change will be made to maintain consistency between the presently permitted criticality limits and the " seismic" analysis performed.
The criticality analyst will consider deactivation of criticality alarm systems at various locations on the Vallecitos Nuclear Center site. At the present time it appears that criticality alarm systems will be removed from the Advanced Fuels Laboratory and from Building 400.
One or two alarm systems will remain in Building 103.
It does not appear that an alarm system will be required in Building 104 for the storage of nuclear control instrumentation sensors (mentioned above in Section 3 of this report).
Alarm systems have previously been removed from Buildings 105 and 106.
. f The licensee plans to furnish a 700 series shipping cask to the DOE for its transportation needs. A reanalysis of the criticality limits for that cask will be required to meet the DOE requirements.
The licensee plans to perform that analysis and to apply for amendment to the 700 series cask Certificate of Compliance.
6.
Radiation Protection This inspection included a review of surveys and. bioassay work conducted during 1981 at various Vallecitos Nuclear Center facilities, a.
Building 102 Wipe surveys made at the hog cell access corridor ranged from 5,000 to 10,000 cpm /ft beta-gamma with no detectable alpha i
activity. Removable activity in that range or lower was detectable also in the corridor leading from the hot cells to the loading dock and in adjacent rooms and laboratories.
Theradiochemistrylaboratoryingicatedremovableactivityin the range of 500 to 3,000 cpm /ft beta-gamma and essentially no alpha activity. Themanipulatorrepairroomigdicatedremovable activity in the range of 1,000 to 4,000 cpm /ft beta-gamma with
[
no alpha activity.
Change rooms and hot cell operating gallery 2
areas {ndicatedlessthan200dpm/ft alpha and less than 100 cpm /ft beta-gamma.
Removable activity determined by a wipe survey is collected over various areas and normalized to one square foot.
The elevated removable activity was confined to controlled, restricted areas in which special protective clothing is required.
Radiation levels ranging from 5 to 140 mrem /hr were detected at filter banks located in the basement of Building 102. These filter banks service the hot cells.
Radiation levels ranging i
1 to 70 mrem /hr were monitored at the' Hill Side Storage area, the higher leveh bc% detected at the surface of waste drums.
Radiation levels at the tops of cells 1 and 2 ranged from 10 to 125 mrem /hr. Radiation levels of monitored contaminated 4
laundry bags were approximately 2 mrem /hr.
Removable activity surveygmadeattheBuilding102lunchroomindicatedless200 2
dpm/ft alpha and less than 100 cpm /ft beta-gamma.
Cleanup of removable activity is effected at a level of 10,000 4
cpm /ft in the controlled, restricted areas of Building 102.
The inspection review of surveys conducted at Building 102 covered the period of July through December,1981.
During the year 1981,1,180 surveys were recorded for Building 102.
. b.
Advanced Fuels Laboratory Surveys conducted at the Advanced Fuels Laboratory were reviewed for the entire year 1981.
During that year a total of 340 routine surveys were made at an approximately daily frequency.
Those surveys were at the laboratory change room, mens room, access stair and hand rail, laboratory floors and step off pads, glove box 51 (scrap recovery and nitrate conversion) and glove box parts. These surveys do not include special measurements made during the decontamination of other glove boxes and laboratory equipment in preparation for shipment to a land burial site. Of the routine surveys listed above, which were made to verify control 2
of contamination at the laborajory, all indicated less than 200 dpm/ft alpha and less than 100 cpm /ft beta-gamma.
Routine surveys surveys included checks of contaminated laundry bags.
The inspection included a review of air sample results obtained at the Advanced Fuels Laboratory during the month of November,
'1981. Air samples are collected at a flow rate of 2 cfm and are allowed to decay approximately 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> beforT3finalc9gnting.
Therangeofalphaairborneactivitywa92from10j4 to 10-uCi/cc.
The ranne of airborne beta was from 10 to1g2 uCi/cc.
The perinissible alpha concentration is 2 X 10 uCi/cc and the permissible beta activity is 3 X 10'9 uCi/cc. The
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,licenseehasestablishedanalphawarning_gvelof4X10 uCi/cc and a beta' warning level of 5 X 10 uCi/cc.
Prior to
', November' 1981, the licensee operated 53 air samplers at the
_. Advanced Fuels Laboratory with some samples exchanged twice
'a-week and others exchanged weekly.
Since approximately
( November 1981 the number of sample locations has been reduced
'from"53 to 21.
This inspection included a review of plutonium urinanalysis
. sample' results obtained for Advanced Fuels Laboratory personnel during the year 1981. The review included one individual wh'o was not assigned to the Advanced fuels Laboratory but rather to the Building 102 Radioactive fiaterials Laboratory.
That individual indicated the highest results obtained during the year 1981. The result was 11 dpm/l. The result had been only recently obtained. The three, sequential samples have been obtained for analysis to confirm the original results, but the results of those latter samples have not been received from the licensee's independent laboratory.
Region V will continue to follow that possible exposure until the matter is resolved.
(WC-02-05)
I Twelve additional urinalysis samples for plutonium indicated results ranging from 0.03 to 0.10 dpm/l, The licensee repeat analysis level is 0.03 dpm/l. Three additional samples were obtained in each of the twelve cases and indicated less than 0.02 dpm/l. The variability in. plutonium analytical results demonstrated in those twelve original samples is believed to indicate independent laboratory difficulties in obtaining the limit of detection of 0.02 dpm/l.
The licensee is presently removing overhead ducting at the Advanced Fuels Laboratory as part of the decontamination and decommissioning effort. On January ll, 1982 and again on January 14, 1982 spots of alpha activity of about 500 dpm were detected by alpha instrument on shoe covers,of personnel doing that work in the laboratory.
There was a simultaneous rise in alpha airborne activity as detected at the constant air monitors and fixed air sampler stations.
Personnel removing the ducting including duct separations from the nitrate conversion glove box were wearing respiratory protection at the time. Air samples obta 11, 1982 indicated a concentration of1.1X1%jgedonJanuary uCi/cc as compared to the permissible concentration of 2 X 10-uCi/cc. Air samples obtained on January 14,19 indicatedairbornealphaactivityofapproximately2.7X10'g uCi/cc. Nasal smears obtained from workers indicated no significant alpha activity, but the swabs will be dissolved and counted.
Special bicassay samples were collected from the employees and have been submitted for plutonium analysis.
The bioassy result of 11 dpm/l and the elevated airborne con-centrations on January 11, and 14,1982 were not related because of the separation of time.
c.
Building 400 l
An inspection, review of surveys conducted at Building 400 covered the year 1981 during which 88 routine surveys were made.
The removable. contamination levels on reviewindicatedoccasiona} beta-gamma.
the order of 20,000 cpm /ft Radioactive material used in Building 400 is limited to na'tural'and depleted uranium except for small qualities of low enriched uranium used in Laboratory #114.
b
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. 7.
Radioactive Waste Management On December 3, 1981 the licensee reported to Region V, for information purposes, that a liquid radioactive material spill had occurred at the Building 349 waste evaporator facility. The spill was the result of the over flowing of the receiving tank during a liquid waste transfer which occurred within the Waste Evaporator Building. The Waste Evaporator Building floors were contaminated and some of the liquid flowed out of the building contaminating a concrete slab at the building entrance, as well as about 200 square feet of asphalt located in the adjacent roadway.
The matter was regarded as a nonreportable incident because the waste contained insufficient quantities of flRC licensed material, and because the spill had been confined to a relatively small area within the Vallecitos fluclear site.
This matter was examined for additional information.
A review of recorded instrument surveys associated with the spill indicated contamination levels ranging from 12,000 to 20,000 cpm beta-gamma as detenained by direct readings.
Smears obtained in thesamegeneralareasipdicated1,000 cpm /ft beta-gamma activity and less than 200 dpm/ft alpha activity.
The spill occurred on December 2, 1981 and the licensee's corrective action was completed by December 8,1981. The actions taken by the licensee included replacing tile at the evaporator building boiler room floor, and painting the concrete pad at the entrance to the building to fix the contamination. Approximately 200 square feet of asphalt in the adjacent roadway has been removed and replaced.
The matter of the spill was formally reported to the regulatory authorities of the State of California, and Region V was furnished with a information copy of the report.
E The fiberglassed shipping containers (mentioned above in this report) containing contaminated waste from the Advanced Fuels Laboratory are presently being stored at Buildings 102 and 304 at Vallecitos fluclear Center.
Appro<imately 15 containers are located at ground level outside of Building 102 and are covered with tarpaulins to protect against the weather. Three boxes are stored inside Building 304.
The licensee's procedure for shipment of those containers is to accumulate approximately 8 boxes in the vicinity of Building 102, and transfer them to a staging area Building 107 to await transportation.
Six boxes had been shipped as of flovember 30, 1981, of a total of 37 proposed shipping containers. Approximately 86 drums of waste had been shipped at the time of this inspection.
The target date for shipment of all drums to the waste disposal site is February 1982.
The licensee is preparing to similarly package glove boxes and associated equipment presently located in the Plutonium Analytical Laboratory for burial at a land disposal facility.
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. 8.
Environmental Program Effective June 2,1980 the licensee reduced his environmental program by eliminating all soil samples, and reducing the number and frequency for the collection of surface water and vegetation samples. This circumstance was reported in Section 9 of NRC Inspectinn Report No. 70-754/80-04, dated August 22, 1980.
Further reduction in the environmental program is planned for calendar year 1982. The additional planned reduction was reviewed by the licensee's Quality Assurance and Nuclear Safety Section as specified in Change Authorization NS-MISC-21, which was approved November 24, 1981.
The current reduction in the program include: the elimination of a vegetation sample obtained from a stream crc,. sing the Vallecitos Site boundary, and the elimination of a vegetation sample and stream bottom sample obtained in the Alameda Creek off site. Three vegetation samples (of a total of 4) obtained down wind of GETR have been eliminated. Two additional vegetation samples, and two additional stream bottom samples obtained along Vallecitos Road have also been eliminated. Two vegetation samples remain within the program to monitor the GETR (500 feet down wind, and at the site boundary at Vallecitos Road). Ground water sample collections have been eliminated at two wells which are located within the plume described in the USGS Study performed at the Vallecitos Site. Both of the eliminated wells are located to the north of all site operations. New ground water sample locations have been established. One of the locations is a control well located an additional 1,500 feet north of the site control wells which were eliminated from the program. Three additional wells located downstream of the plume de' scribed in the USGS Study have been added to the program. An additional new ground water sampling station located ~ south-southwest of Building 102 (and downstream of the plume described in the USGS) has been added to the program.
Additional shallow wells located _in the-near vicinity of Building 102 have been routinely-sampled since 1975, but are not regarded by the licensee as part of the environmental program.
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. The following is a summary of the licensee's environmental sampling program:
i TABLE 1 DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLE LOCATION AND FREQUENCY OF_ SAMPLING a.
Fresh water inffluent to Samples obtained daily.
site analyzed for gross alpha and gross beta-gamma.
b.
Gross alpha and gross Liquid samples collected daily and beta-gamma liquid effluents analyzed by licensee.
Daily samples discharged from the site composited monthly and analyzed by retention basins.
vendor. Monthly samples composited quarterly by vendor and analyzed for plutonium-239; strontium 89-90; tritium; cesium-137; and cobalt-60.
c.
Liquid samples obtained from Samples of Lake Lee waters -- quarterly; various streams near the sample of stream crossing south licensee's site. All samples boundary -- quarterly; sample of drainage analyzed for gross alpha, ditch crossing south boundary -- monthly; gross beta-gamma, and tritium, sample of Vallecitos Creek one mile downstream of site -- annually or when l
drainage ditch or Franko Pond samples are positive; Franko Pond, 0.4 mile downstream of site boundary -- May and October.
d.
Ground water samples obtained One control sample on site to the from 7, wells located on or north of all site operations; one
.near the licensee's site.
sample downstream of the GETR and i
l Analyzed for gross alpha, '
Hillside Storage; one sample l
gross beta-gamma,-and downstream of the GETR, Hillside l
tri tium.
Storage, and Building 102.
Those l
two samples are onsite.
Four samples of four wells downstream of site operations'and off site. All well samples obtained quarterly.
e.
Stream bottom sediment Sample at Lake Lee -- annually.
samples are analyzed for-Stream crossing south boundary offsite --
l gross alpha, gross beta-quarterly; out fall of retention gamma, cobalt-60, cesium-137, basins at south boundary of site --
strontium-90, and plutonium-239.
quarterly; Vallecitos Creek, one mile downstream of the site -- annually; Franko Pond 0.4 miles downstream of the site -- May and October.
DESCRIPTION OF SAMi)LE LOCATION AND FREQUENCY OF SAMPLING f.
One soil sample is obtained This soil sample as well as the near Lake Lee annually and stream bottom sample mentioned under analyzed for gross alpha, item e. above have been resumed upon gross beta-gamma, strontium-90, NRC permission to fill on site Lake Lee.
cesium-137, cobalt-60, and Recent heavy rains in the area have potassium-40.
nearly filled that lake.
g.
Thirty-one cloud-gamma The maximum dose detected by stations are located on site thermoluminescent dosimeter was to measure cloud-gama 10 mr per year at the north boundary radiation using thermolumine-of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center site.
scent dosimeters sealed in
' plastic and aluminum foil.
Those monitors are analyzed for gamma radiation annually.
h.
Four environmental air stations
~ Environmental air monitoring station for particulates are placed samples are obtained weekly, to the north, south, east and west of the site center and their samples are analyzed for alpha,
' beta-gama, and iodine-131.
i.
The effluent air exhaust stacks Alpha, beta-gamma, and iodine samples from Building 102 and all other are collected weekly. Noble gases exhaust stacks on site are are counted continuously.
monitored for alpha, beta-gama, I-131, and noble gas effluent
. activity as appropriate.
This inspection included a review of tabulated environmental data as it will appear in the' licensee's Annual Environmental Surveillance Program Report for 1981.
Dailybasineffluentsamplesaveragedgver
- uCi/cc.
[
each month of 1981 indicated an alpha activity less than 3 X 10 month in 1981 was less than 5.2 X 10" flue'nt samples averaged over each Beta-gamma activity in daily basin ef uCi/cc.
Weekly basin e samples averaged for each month in 1981 were less than 3 X 10 ffluent UCi/cc I-131.
The monthly effluent composite of basin effluent samples for alpha
-g activity indicated a maximum of 1 X 10 uCi/cc and a maximum of 7 X 10- uCi/cc beta-gamma.
Three months composite samples of that water effluent indicated less than the limit of detection for the method gf measurement of specific isotopes as follows:5 X 10 ) plutonium-239, 8 X 10- pCi/l;s$pontium-89,andstrontium-90-7
- pCi/1; tritium 1.1 X 10 pCi/1; cesium-137, 8 X 10 rCi/1; cobalt-60, 2 X 10-2 pCi/1. These concentrations may be compared with the maximum permissible concentrations permitted to unrestricted areas respectively as follows: 5,000 pCi/1; 300 pCi/1; 20,000 pCi/l and 30,000 pCi/1.
, The three months composite water effluent concentrations presented above were those experienced between May and August, 1981. The sensitivity of detection of the analytical work for plutonium and tritium were reduced in March, 1981.
Surface water samples obtained both on site and off site indicated annual average values for 1981 ranging from 0.493 to 1.88 pCi/1.
The range for beta-gama activity was 3.92 to 4 59 pCi/l beta-gama.
3 A rangg for tritium activity was from 0.32 X 10 to less than
- uCi/ccandabeta-gammalimitof5X10'grationlimit The licensee accepts an alpha concen 2 X 10 uCj/1.
uCi/cc although of 3 X 10 higher concentrations are permitted by 10 CFR 20. The permissible
-3 concentration for tritium remains 3.X 10 uCi/cc.
Quarterly ground water (well) samples obtained during 1981, all indicated less than the limi.t of detection for the measurement method used for alpha and beta-gama activity as well tritium.
Those values were very similar to the surface water sample results listed above.
Bottom sediment samples obtained off site gave positive indications of beta-gama activity which, in some cases, could be identified as cesium-137 and cobalt-60. ~ No regulatory limit for the radioactive content of stream bottom sediments exists.
One soil sample obtained at Lake Lee, on site, indicated background alpha and beta-gamma activity.
Alpha activity measured at the four environmental air stations indicatgagreenentamongthefourstationswithamaximumof uCi/cc. Beta-gamma activity measured at those four.
8 X 10 locations were also coy 3 stent ameng the four stations and indicated
- i uCi/cc.
Iodine concentrations measured a maximum of 3.7 X 10 at those four loygtions all indicated the limit of detection for I-131 at 5 X 10-uCi/cc. These activities may be comparej4 uCi/cc; 1 X 10'g the permissible con 9entrations of 2 X 10 respectively wi
- uCi/cc.
uCi/cc; and 3 X 10 Exhaust stack samples for Building 102 were summed to indicate the total alpha, beta-gamma, noble gas and I-131 activity. discharged duringeachmonthof_yperation. The maximum alpha particylate discharge was 2 X 10 uCi; beta-gamma maximum yas 1 X 10 uCi; noble gas maximum activity discharge wjs 1 X 10 curies; and I-131 maximum monthly discharge was 2.5 X 10 uCi. -
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. e In an NRC Inspection Report Number 70-754/81-02, Section 10, Confirmatory Measurements it was reported that a comfirmatory measurement of water from well number 102K had been obtained.
The results of that sample have since been received from the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. The results of that sample
~g indicatedgrossalphaacyivityof8+3X10 uCi/cc. Tritium results were 8 g 2 X 10 uCi/cc.
Gross beta results were 1.8 + 0.1 X 10- uCi/cc. The gamma scan of the liquid sample indicated trace amounts of cesium-137. The concentrations were in substantial agreement with a similar sample obtained by a licensee representative at the same time.
- 10. Management I--terview The scope and results of the inspection were discussed with the licensee management at the conclusion of the inspection on January 15, 1981.
Licensee management was informed that no items of noncompliance with NRC regulations were observed within the scope of this inspection.
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