ML20084F335

AO 251-75-10:on 751021,unplanned Release of 880 G Radioactive Liquid to Underground Area Outside Plant Radiation Controlled Boundary Occurred.Caused by Personnel Error.Floor Drains to Be Labeled

ML20084F335
Person / Time
Site:	Turkey Point
Issue date:	10/31/1975
From:	Schmidt A FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT CO.
To:	Moseley N NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE)
References
AO-251-75-10, NUDOCS 8304210102
Download: ML20084F335 (2)

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1f n -- w FuADA POWER & UGHT COMPANY October 31, 1975 Mr. Norman C. Moseley, Director, Region II office of Inspection and Enforcement pilt~.

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission s ', -n # ' 's 230 Peachtree Street, N.W., Suite 818 , , l:,s Ng 3 Atlanta, Georgia 30303 ht(e f ,. ,/, La,

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Dear Mr. Moseley:

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ABNORMAL OCCURRENCE 251-75-10 64 17 D# D TURKEY POINT UNIT 4 3 DATE OF OCCURRENCE: OCTOBER 21, 1975 h'gLIlyd (\

N p UNPLANNED RELEASE OF RADIOACTIVE LIQUID A. CONDITIONS PRIOR TO OCCURRENCE The reactor was in steady state power operation at 100%

l rated power.

B. DESCRIPTION OF OCCURRENCE . . . , ,

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The Waste Holdup Tank (WHT),a'e" whi'ch is shared by Units 3 and 4,

, was recently cleaned'to remove sludge deposits. The cleaning process produced a sludge-water mixture which was pumped to several 55-gallon drums for temporary storage. Most of the sludge settled to the bottom of the-drums but some of it re-l mained suspended in the water. It was planned to return the

water from each drum to the WHT via the appropriate floor l drain in the Unit 4 spent fuel cask wash area. The remaining l sludge was then to be treated as waste and eventually shipped off-site for disposal.

From about 4:00 AM to 7:00 AM on October 21, 1975, maintenance i personnel pumped the water from twenty drums into the Unit 4 cask wash area floor drain which connects to a storm drain and discharges into an underground drywell south of the plant.

The inadvertent use of the wrong floor drain resulted in an l unplanned release of about 880 gallons of radioactive liquid to an underground area outside the plant's radiation controlled l boundary.

C. DESIGNATION OF APPARENT CAUSE OF OCCURRENCE l Personnel error resulted in the pumping of radioactive liquid into the wrong floor drain. The flocr drains in the Unit 4 spent fuel cask wash area are not labeled and there was un-certainty as to which drain connected to the WHT. The personnel ,

involved did not make a positive identification of the WHT 1 floor drain. l 8304210102 751031 enpv qvNT REGION PDR ADOCK 05000251 s-S PDR j HELPIP+G BUILD FLORID A

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U Mr. Norman C. Moseley October 31, 1975 Page Two D. ANALYSIS OF OCCURRENCE Sludge and water samples were taken from some of the remaining full drums and subjected to an isotopic activity analysis. Dose rate measurements from the full drums were then compared with dose rate measurements from the twenty empty drums. The isotopic activity and dose rate data were used to estimate the activity of the water which had been pumped to the storm drain. Analytical results indicate that approximately 2.1 Curies of primarily Cobalt-58 and Cobalt-60 were released.

The drywell termination of the storm drain is located underground about 150 feet southeast of the new Radwaste Building. There are no potable water sources in this.

vicinity. The water table beneath the drywell is a salt water stratum and does not represent a source.of potable water. In addition, natural filtration by the soil can be expected to remove much of the insoluble activity before it _

reaches the water table. The isolated location of the drywell which is surrounded by the closed canal system provides reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will not be adversely affected by this occurrence.

E. CORRECTIVE ACTION The floor drains in the Unit 4 spent fuel cask wash area l will be labeled to differentiate between the WHT and storm drains. The floor drains in the Unit 3 spent fuel cask wash area will also be labeled.

Plant personnel will be instructed to request guidance from i knowledgeable personnel whenever any uncertainty arises re-l garding the handling of radioactive material. A copy of this report will be routed to the personnel involved for their instruction.

Very truly yours, w +~ Y

. D. Schmidt Vice President Power Resources MAS / jar cc: Jack R. Newman, Esquire Director, Office of Inspection and Enforcement (40)

Director, Office of Management Information and Program Control (3)

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