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{{#Wiki_filter:_ _.. e p ( v e V Oreg U / o UNITED STATES 1 / p' " NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION yy g .-p g ,c WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 f' % t l ....+ June 4,1981 ) 81-46 MEMORANDUM FOR: John Hickey Material Licensing Branch FROM: Joseph M. Brown, Jr. Material Certification and Procedures Branch
SUBJECT:
REVIEW 0F THE RESUBMITTED SECTION 2(c) 0F THE RENEWAL APPLICATION FOR.SNM LICENSE NO. SNM-1154, DATED MAY 18, 1981 I have reviewed the subject submittal and find that the questions raised in my March 13, 1981 memorandum to you have been satisfactorily answered. From the information submitted on the Los Alomos Scientific Laboratory (LASL) tests and the 0.025 inch iridium cladding on the GPHS fueled clad assembly, it would appear that there is reasonable assurance that there will be minimal, if any, release of Pu02 to the Pacific Ocean water for the duration of the proposed test, especially since the test samples will be examined for leakage at monthly intervals for three months and later at no greater than three month intervals. Since the Navy has stated that the test duration will be a minimum of one year with continuation of the test if the Dept of Energy requests a longer duration, you may want to consider licensing the test for a two year period with a review of the test data and effects of the sea water on the irridium cladding before extending the test for a longer period of time. The above assumes that the resubmitted test proposal has no bearing on the formal dental that was previously issued regarding the intentional releases of Pu02 to the Pacific Ocean. f rg, c u,l, y,Q'J . Joseph M. Brown, Jr. A Material Certification and Procedures Branch 8204230088 81111o PDR FOIA WESTLAKE81-428 PDR 1
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- 'UCLEAR REGULATCRY COMMISSION LICENSE No. SNM-Il54 lit II A
tRC LTR FCMR;JMB (070-01216) (16733) 0F 6 OCT 80 P. f.Y 232006Z CCT B0 i 1. IN REPLY TO REF A, hWVAL CCEAN SYSTEMS CENTER C NOSC) PEUESTED A HEARING TO DISCUSS THE PROPOSED DENIAL OF SECTI.ON 2C i l OF NCSC'S REQUEST FOR A LICENSE, PER REF B. 2 DURING FONECON THIS DATE BETWEEN PR. NUSSBAUMER AHD COUliSEL h' PRE.-HEARING CONFERENCE WAS AGREED TO ON 11 DECEMBER. i i 3. SOSC REQUESTS THAT No HEARING BE SCHEDULED UNTIL THE RESULTS 1 j JHOM THE CONFERE?UE ARE XNOWN. l 4. CONTACT FOR PREHEARING CONFERENCE IS PR. STEPHEN XATZ, TILE?::CNE (714)225-7239. )n. gg ' rT37 li u
O O. i s / !!aval Ocean Systems Center Meeting: Date: December 11,'1980. Attendees: George Maticek Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Herbert V. treiss flaval Ocean Systems Center ste;: hen Katz Naval Ocean Systems Center Victor E. fioshkin Laurence Livermore National ~ Laboratory George H. Ogburn, Jr. Department of Energy, Space and Terr. Systems Division ~ Gary L. Bennett Department of Energy, STS Vindy L. Miller Nuclear Regulatory' Comission, HMSS Donald A. Nussbaumer Nuclear Regulatory Comission, NMSS Thomas F. Dorian Nuclear Regulatory Comission, ELD Joseph fi. Brown, Jr. Nuclear Regulatory Comission, NMSS e e 1 e 4 4
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.c 0.,;.n.., i 3 M i 7: : n.. Scr:.' 581 I i 1 S.... DIECD 7 IAAY 1980 gC)l93 From: Officer in Charge To: Commander, Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, CA 92152 A 037j' 02, l Subj : Nuclear Regulatory Commission Materials License No. SNM-1154 /O l ~ Re f: (a) NOSC ltr WCS:re 10330 Ser 037/8 of 3 Apr 80 ~ ~ ~ ~ (b) Titic 10 Code of Federal Regulations (c) NAVMED P-5055, Radiation !!calth Protection Manual i Enc 1: (1) Comments on Application for Renewal of NRC Materials License No. SNM-1154 dated 3 April 1980 (2) "The Minimum Dctcctable Activity Concept" by Joseph C. Lochamy i 1. Re ference (a) has been reviewed for conformance with the rules and ) regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as promulgated by reference (b), and the radiation protection standards and policies as promulgated by reference (c). Certain discrepancies were noted as described in enclosure (1). Endorsement of reference (a) will be made upon receipt of page change corrections and/or clarification of the discrepancies. Enclosure (2) is forwarded for in format ion. j i 2. A request for a 90 day extension should be submitted as soon as possibic. /.} g R. II. SMITil By direction 'FM 'GCOM (111N) T'E i l [ habl J_ a l l .........7.n,
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o rs e / CO>NENTS ON APP.LICATION FOR RENEWAL' 0F NRC MATERIALS LICENSE NO. SNM *1154 DATED 3 APRIL 1980 1. Paragraph 2.a: The model number and exact dimensions of the source should be specified. 2. Paragraph 2.c: a. The sponsor ship activity is. currently named the F1ight Safety and Fuels. h, Branch, Advanced Nuclear Programs Division, Department of Energy. b. The total number of pellets and thus the total" quantity of plutonium j j oxide is not clearly specified. I The neutron and' gamma radiati6n. dose rates should be specified for a c. typica1 pellet. The isotopic content of oxygen should also by specified, since itef{ectstheneutrondoserate. ] d. The_ test at LASL may have ueen conducted under equilibrium conditions which approximates conditions only for a " worst case" concentration. It is mcro I appropriate to estimate the quantity of plutonium which will be lost to the l / environment during the test. It is noted that the concentration range from the LASL test appears to be above the maximum permissibic concentration in 10 CFR 20, Appendix B, Table II, Column 2.
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It is understood that an-6nvironmental survey of the San Clemente Island implant area has been completed. Since the prior testi,ng conducted under this license involved unsealed sources which have been deleted from the application, it is recommended that the environmental survey be included in the renewal application as a baseline for further operations. _J 4. The list of monitoring equipment does not include a laboratory alpha instrument / i for analysis of air samples and swipes. 5. The limit of detection does not agree with the currently acceptable lower l limit of detectability recommended b'y NCRP Report No. 58, %\\ Handbook of l Radioactivity Measurement Procedure's", An explanatory article is attached. h / ENCLOSURE (1) J
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. e i"t$ 2 SEpd 3 - Q W a. m 330 0 gg e 037/37 8- / u,,"Ech'g, 1 SEP 1931 3'74-g 1/,. From: Commander, flaval Ocean Systems Cent
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,g el ensing Branch, To: Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety, Washington, D. C. Subj : Leak Test Ref: (a) IIRC License flo. Stifi-1154 (b) F0flEC0!1 btwn Mr. Paul L. Zurakowski, flRC Region V, Walnut Creek, CA and Mr. William C. Salsbury, flaval Ocean Systems Center on 17 Sep 1981 1. In accordance with reference (a), a leak and wipe test was perfonned on two (2) encapsulated Plutonium-238 heat sources. flaval Ocean Systems Center (fl0SC) Radiation Safety Officer detected one of the sources to be possibly leaking and contaminated. At that time, the U. S. fluclear Reg-ulatory Commission was notified, as outlined in reference (b). 2. The source is a model GPHS heat source (152 gm Pu-238), serial num- ~ ber GP-49, made at Los Alamos flational Laboratory (LAf1L). The source started leaking after an iridium vent was opened. r 3. Leakage was detected using an Eberline PAC-ISA with an alpha scintil-lation probe. 4. The maximum removable contamination was approximately 50,000 d per m and was subsequently reduced to approximately 500 d per m. 5. flo detectable contamination of equipment, facilities or personnel re-sulted from the leak. 6. The cause of the leak is unknown and fl0SC/LAllL personnel are attempt-ing to resolve the problem. 7. The source presently is on San Clemente Island (SCI), in a fl0SC owned trailer. 8. The source is in water in a covered stainless steel container and in-side of a covered outer container. The assembly is being stored in a glove box. fl0SC will decide what to do with the source at a later time. ~ ] 'K! ' d '?S.c.. "'my ed - t ' ' ' - g., ^ 4 %. y. [4 -O 00 h' g~.. y -O PDR ' -~~ a z .n f .e- ^
= t = 9. For further 'information, please call William C. Salsbury (714) 225-7 6458. E in A(f ' L &Rd v ? CHARLES F. COURCott 3 By diroc. tion 25 .i sf$ ~ Copy to: flEESA ilRC, Region V. California s~_ <a a hY 'i-i g lId it- ,e ,In p =.' m g l' ~ 1 2. 197~1e2 .p-
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'g 5 4j NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g .r WASHINGTON. D. C. 20555 g,g g o[ v j JdN 7 sat FCMLB:JM3 (16733) 070-01216 MEMORANDUM FOR: Files FROM: J. M. Brown, Jr., Material Licensing Branch
SUBJECT:
INFORMAL MEETING ON THE PROPOSED DENIAL OF THE REQUEST TO REINSTATE THE TEST PROGRAM FOR PURE PLUTONIUM OXIDE HEAT SOURCES IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN (LETTER DATED OCTOBER 6, 1980) This informal meeting on the above proposed denial was held at the request ~of DOE and the Navy to discuss the previously submitted renewal application for the renewal of Special Nuclear Material License SNM-ll54, Docket 070-01216. See Attachment No. 1 for list of meeting attendees. g ByletteronOctober6,1980,theNRChadinformedtheNavyOceanSySlem Center of the proposed denial of the Navy's request for the reinstatement of their test program for pure plutonium oxide heat sources in the ocean environment offshore at San Clemente Island, California. Following receipt of the proposed denial, the Navy sent a telegram to the NRC requesting a hearing with respect to the denial. This telegram was never received by the NRC. A,second telegram was submitted. See Attachment No. 2. At this meeting, Dr. Gary Bennett of DOE explained the role of the Navy testing program as it relates to obtaining information on the possible environmental aspects of the loss of plutonium power sources. These types of sources are l used by the military, NASA, and the civilian space programs. The purpose of these tests is the continuation of previous tests to determine environmental effects in the event of an aborted launch, or other accidents which would result in the release of plutonium power sources to the ocean. It was emphasized that this ocean testing is only a small part of the overall test program conducted by DOE and is needed to verify, by actual environmental testing, the data previously generated in laboratories, such as the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. Mr. Stephen Katz, Naval Ocean Systems Center (N0SC), attorney, described the Navy's program to date on previously performed tests and revealed to the NRC that the proposed continued tests did not involve the use of plutonium capsules that are vented down to the bare plutonium oxide. This was not clearly spelledg out in the renewal application. Drs. George Matlack (LASL), and Herbert Weiss (N0SC) explained the following: 1. The proposed tests of " vented" capsules including venting down to the iridium plated plutonium oxide only and not to bare plutonium oxide as p f}g4Q _i) k,
W& Q Q j 1 Fi1es 2 was interpreted from the application. Los Alamos National Laboratory tests previously performed on the plated pellets indicated a time period in excess of 1 year is necessary for the iridium cladding covering the plutonium oxide to fail, thereby permitting the release of the plutonium oxide to the marine environment. They explained that no release of ) plutonium oxide to the marine environment is expected during the estimated 1 year testing of the capsules in the actual Pacific marine environment. W They further explained that the requested ocean testing was necessary in order to verify the extensive LASL tests, particularly since the marine environment cannot be completely duplicated in the laboratory. 2. The cage-like containment of the capsules during testing in the ocean assures complete recovery of the capsules from the 50-foot depth of the proposed test site. 3. The Navy would pull the test samples from the ocean at frequent intervals to assure that the actual marine environment did not cause any premature release of plutonium oxide. 4. They wanted to maintain the size of the capsules at 153 grams versus the previously used 88 gram size since this quantity duplicates the size of the capsules customarily used in space applications. As a result of the meeting, it was decided that the previousiy submitted renewal application did not adequately address the proposed ocean test program. Therefore, the Navy Ocean Systems Center requested that they be allowed to resubmit the request informally through DOE to the NRC. This was agreed upon and it was explained that the formal hearing on the proposed denial would be on a " hold" status pending the review of the newly submitted informal application. Mr. Nussbaumer requested that the Navy also provide the additional information requested in NRC's December 2, 1980 letter, along with the resubmitted materials on the marine environmental tests. h h. L/ p m y - 2 i J. M. Brown, r. Material Licensing Branch Division of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety
Enclosures:
1. Attendee List 2. Telegram Received 11/1/80 u
P m (s- - ) y s ~ ~ 6 e Meetina: Naval Ocean Systems Center Date: December 11, 1980. Attendees: George Matlack Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Herbert V. Ueiss Naval Ocean Systems Center Stephen Katz Naval Ocean Systems Center Victor E. Noshkin Laurence Livermore National Laboratory George H. Ogburn, Jr. Department of Energy, Space and Terr. Systems Division Gary L. Bennett Depart' ment of Energy, STS Vandy L. Miller Nuclear Regulatory' Commission, HMSS Donald A. Nussbaumer Nuclear Regulatory Commission, HMSS Thomas F. Dorian Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ELD Joseph M. Brown, Jr. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NMSS l 9 e i e}}