ML20057A245

Forwards Summary Rept on Contamination Incident Involving Pipe Fittings Imported from Taiwan

ML20057A245
Person / Time
Issue date:	11/30/1984
From:	Cunningham R NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS)
To:	Davis, Deyoung, Dircks NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE), NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS), NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
Shared Package
ML20057A246	List: ML20057A245 ML20057A258 ML20057A260 ML20057A264 ML20057A281 ML20057A286
References
NUDOCS 9309130275
Download: ML20057A245 (7)

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' Hose on tttacned Distrinution rRDi':

icha re. E. Cunni ngnan, Di rectnr Civision of Fuel Cycle and Material Safety i

SUBJECT:

Inf=14Y EPORT Ot! C0!!TWINATION INC!rE!JT INVOLVING PIPE FITTINGS IMPORTED FROM TAlWMi l

The attacnen report sumarizes the regulatory actions taken after the initial discovery of contamination in a one-inch galvanized pipe tea, inclucing tracing the contaminated pipe fittings to their source, determining tre recrae of contamiration in tna steel and the extent of distribution of contaminated steel products, assessing the risks to public health and safety.

a nd concluding that no regulatory action is recuireo.

The steps taken to

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cevelop the basis for the staff's conclusion regarding tt'e extent of the I

risk to public health and safety are described, and the advice to Agreement

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States and to users anti distributors of the contaninated pipe fittings is i

noted.

Original Signed by Richard E. Cunningham Richard E. Cunningham, Director 9309130275 841130 Division of Fuel Cycle and PDR ORG NOMAppg Material Sa fety, M'SS bec:

DISTRIBUTION:

B. Grimes, IE RECunningham L. I. Cobb, IE RGPage-J. R. "etzger, IE GATerry J. D. Lafleur, IP FCTA R/F l

J. O. Lucenau, SP FCUF R/F i

F. L. Ingram, PA m33 gfp 1

W. E. Thompson, FC' F J

FC Central File B. Singer, FCMC DRChapell nl V. L. Miller, FCML l

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L. C. Rouse, FCAF C.

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STRIBUTION

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r. Shea, IP v

Yr. Kerr, SP Mr. Fouchara, PA pr. Heltemes, AECD Mr. Centon, NRR Mr. Minogue, RES Dr. Murley, Regional Administrator, Region I

r. O'Reilly, Regional Administrator, Region II v

vr. =:eopler, Regional Administrator, Region III i

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vartin, Reg 1cnal Administrator, Region IV l

vr. vartin, Regional Administrator, Region V I

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i CONTWI'MTICN INCIDENT

cbal t-60 *- Dice rit:1rgs en T3iwan N D 3 954 l

etart :n of Contamination On ecrescay, August 29, 1984, reaitn anysicists at GA Tecnnologies.

!.a Jolla, California, detected racioactivity in an unuseo Dipe tee cur 1 ; a routine cnecx to clear the tee for release to unrestricteo areas. The racicactivity was tentatively identifiec as cocalt-60 aro the surface radiation level was measurec as less than 0.2 mraas cer cur (later measureo more accurately as 0.05-0.07 mr per hr). GA recorteo tne contamination to the California Radiation Control office, nicn **

turn recorted it to the Region V office of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

-3c1-c ne source of t~e Contamina:1on

ali'ornia State 'nscettors founa o acaitional contaminated oice fit:1,cs at tne local harcware store wnere tne tee nad been purcnasec, out locatea anc emoargoea 23 coxes of contaminated fittings (100 taes ana lock nuts Der tox) at the wnolesale supplier in Valencia, Cali':rnia.

One cox of pipe fittings had apparently ceen districuted to customers. The fittings were found to nave been imported from Taiwan.

Samples were sent to the California Department of Health laboratory for analysis.

The analysis confimed that the radioactivity was tocalt-60, with no etner racionuclice present, and that the concentration of the contaminant was less inan one nanocurie per gram (0.21 nanocuries per gram in the hignest reacing samole).

The nignest radiation reading of a samole was 0.08 mr per nr.

~Se ? eliminary Notification reports given in Attacnment A summarize the fir. dings, t

Deter-1cino the Extent of Scread of Contaminated Fittinos j

Infor ation obtained by telegraon from the Taiwan Atomic Energy Council c1sclosed tnat tne pipe fittings had been manufactured by the Taiyang Comoany in Ta1wan during the period from January 27 to February 8,1983. the texts of the telegrams are contained in Attachment B.

The Taiwan analysis of t~e incident i

led tnem to est1 mate that a 10 to 20-millicurie source of cocalt-60 ha:: been l

mixec with 75.3 tons of scrap in a single Daten of steel that was cast into procucts including the pipe fittings exported to the United States. according to their sales recoros, during the time after the baten of contaminated steel was meltec anc cast, export shionents had been made only to two Unitec States distrio-utors, one in Valencia, California, and the other in Sharon, Massacnusetts.

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NOV 3 a 554 e rwan aralysis of contaminatec steel eleces snowec 0.15 nano:u-as t

er : am 7-tre nignest samole. *1tn a surf ace aclation levei :f :.13 r :Ar nr.

Iales of procucts from Talyang Cce:any and Taiwan 5:ec:, a

-alwan cistr utcr, have teen sus:encec by tre Taiwan autnort:1es. :11 i

3:13:::n cetection systems are installed anc :rotecures develete: 'r

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receng re:ucts.

The Taiwan Atomic Energy ^:uncil will also s::: :necx j

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recu::s :: :e excorted.

Agreement State ins:ectors anc NRC Regi:ral Offices ave : ecrec.ith :ne knerican cistributors of pipe fittings im or:ac frem Taiyang.

nvestigatine the Location and Use of Contaminated Fittinos The cistri ut:r in Valencia, California, identified the following cust:rers wno made purchases of pipe fittings of the type found :: ave teen ::ntaminated with cocalt-60.

A cnain of 77 stores in four states A cnain of 14 har: ware stores 4

A harcware distributor in Addison, Illinois A distributor in Louisville, Kentucky.

Reciens II and V notified states where hardware stores are located, acvising them that there is possibility of racioactive contamination in ci;e fittings.

- Pegien III conducted a survey of the warenouse at the nar: ware cistribution center located in Addison, Illinois, and foun :ne ein c:ntaining about 120 tees, seven of wnich had small amounts of contami na ti o n.

The seven tees were analyzed and found to ::ntain

alt-60 in concentrations well belew one nanocurte oer gram.

Regicn 11 checked with the distributor in Louisville, Kentucky, anc f:unc that all fittings from their Decemoer 1983 shipment Of Taiwanese fittings had been sold t harcware stores. They have received no snipments from Taiwan since December 1983.

The cistri0 uter in Sharon, Massacnusetts, was found to be only a sales offi:e :na: arranges shipments cirectly to customers.

This distri:utor nas o warenouse and no stock on hand.

They stated to Region I that tney naa enly one Orcer for pipe fittings from Taiwan in 1983 whicn mign: have conta1 rec ::ntaminated fi tti ng s. That order, consisting of 800 pieces, was 1

ro:-sniccea : a firm in Miami, Florida, an Agreement State.

Surveys mace

y 5:3:e of ficials snowed some fittings with small amounts of contamination,

ne same as found in otner places, less : nan one nanocurie :er gram.

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~5e U. 5. :ecartment of State ano tne U. S. Customs were notifiec by teleonone l

cf : e cetection of cocalt-60 contamination in otpe fit:1ngs imocr:ec from l

iwan.

T ey were acv1sec :nar the level of contamination is accarently less j

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nan :ne aximum cermiss1ble concentrations anc that consiceraole cistribution of :ne fit:1ngs witnin the Unit.ed States has alrency occurrea. ?.otn agencies incicatec accrec1ation for being informed out statec tnat ney plannec to take no at lon.

The emergency response system was used to notify tne Department of Energy, 1

Feceral Emergency Management Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Health and Human Services of the occurrence of the incident.

Radiolacical Assessment The *;RC Recional offices founc contaminatec cice fittings importec from Taiwan in several locations.

All had raciation levels telow 0.C8 mr cer nour at :ne surface anc contained only cocalt-60 as ne contam1nant.

The cocalt-60 content of all samples analyzec was well below one nano-

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curie per gram. The Taiwan analyses of pieces still in Taiwan snowed

ne nionest radiation level to be 0.1 mr per hour at the. surface of the fitting, witn a cobalt-60 content of 0.15 nanocuries per gram. The Taiwan authorities reported that the steel melting furnace showec no contamina-tion upon inspection, and fittings manufacturea after Parcn 1983 were not The maximum raciation dose that any person would be _likely to -

contam1natec.

receive mignt come from being in close proximity to a place where the pipe fittings are stored, or are installed in a plumbing system.

The cose rate crops to less tnan 10 percent of the surface dose wnen the distance fro;n the surface of the contaminated fitting is two intnes or more, even wnen a numoer of contaminated fittings are storea in a box.

Thus, the maximum radiation dose to any individual is certain to be less than that calculated for constant exposure to the pipe fitting at a cistance of two incnes:

01 mrem /hr at surface x 10 percent x 24 hr/ day x 365 days /yr = 88 mrem /yr Tie validity of this method of estimating is supported by the measured radiation levels of 0.004 to 0.05 mr per hr at the surface of a box of contaminated fittings i

(less tnan two incnes from the surface of the closest fittings) and readings in the same range for the stock of all 23 boxes. (See Attachment C for measured cata crevicert by the State of California.)

I This theoretical maximuin exposure is on the orcer of that received from natural background radiation along the East coast of the United States, is well below the maximum level of raciation (500 mrem per yr) recommenced for exoosure of the oublic by tre International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and permittec by 10 CFR Part 20, anc is also below the 100 crem/yr average annual

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dose recommended by tre ICRP.

Further, the whole body dose ecuivalent wnich would actually be receivec would be several orcers of magnituce less than this theoretical maximum since it is based upon continuous exposure, with no allowance

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'or occupancy f actors Or creased distance from tne source. In estimate of the average exposure likely :: te *eceivec Dy a memoer of the nuclic _1gnt be baseo f

cn tae more realistic assum:tien of a person staying at an average cistance of 1 I

eter frem tre surface of a c:ntaminatec pipe fitting for.about 'I hours 'a cay.

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n t 1s case tne ractation execsure would De mucn smaller:

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9 3.1 mrem /nr at surface x (1/100 cm) x 12 hr/ day x 365 aays/yr= 0.04 mrem /yr J

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A ectential secena scurce of raciation exposure also exists from the leaching of i

the ccoalt-60 into crining water.

This potential source can re evaluated by-j ccm:aring the t:tal cuantity of cocalt-60 in a tee to the maximum :ermissible 1

bocy ourcen (MPBB):

I I nanocurie/gm (maximum) x 350gm = 350 nanocuries 1

1 wnicn is less than one tentn of the occupational MPBB of 10 micr: curies (ICRP II).

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he calculatec cuantity is a maximum value ana any leatning tnat :ccurs would l

likely involve only a very smail fraction of the cobalt-60 over a long perica cf tr e.

Even if several fittirgs were used in a single run of tice, there

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a is no likelihoca :nat the maximum permissible bocy burcen would te exceeded.

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?ecul atory Conclusion I

Based upon results of the analyses of the cobalt-60 contaminatec pipe j

fittings from several suppliers, including some located in Taiwan, it.

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is likely that none of the procucts contained cocalt-60 concentrations l

aeove one nanocurie per gram. No contaminated product was founa to l

have radiation levels above 0.1 mr per per hour at the surface.

1 ihe calculatec, theoretical, maximum exposure to any individual possessing J

J one or more contaminated pipe fittings is very' low and constitutes no significant risk to ne general public or to the maximally excosec i

incivicual. Accorcingly, the staff concludes that there is no tnreat to uclic nealtn and safety, and tnerefore, no regulatory action is requirec.

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l Moting that unnecessary exposure to radiation should be avoided, if practicable, unless there is a resulting cerefit, the staff has suggested to. possessors of the contaminated fittings that they arrange to return them to tne1r supplier or to ne manufacturer in Taiwan in excnange-for new, uncontaminatec fittings. The distributor in Valencia, California.- has indicated a willingness to make such l

excnances for their customers and return the contaminated fittings to Taiwan.

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ATTACHMENT A

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THREE PRELIMINARY NOTICICATION REPORTS ON t

COBALT-60 CONTAMINATED PIPE FITTINGS FROM TAIWAN l

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