ML20112H048
| ML20112H048 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Fort Calhoun  |
| Issue date: | 03/19/1985 |
| From: | Andrews R OMAHA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT |
| To: | Martin R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| References | |
| LIC-85-036, LIC-85-36, NUDOCS 8504020109 | |
| Download: ML20112H048 (8) | |
Text
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Omaha Public Power District 1623 Harney Omaha. Neb aska 68102 402/536-4000 March 19, 1985 LIC-85-036
) I@'~b b $ D Mr. Robert D. Martin
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PAR 2 5 E 6
Regional Administrator
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U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV
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'j 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 1000 Arlington, TX 76011
References:
(1) Docket No. 50-285 (2) Letter from State of South Carolina to OPPD dated January 2, 1985 (Attachment 1)
(3) Letter from OPPD to the State of South Carolina dated January 22, 1985 (EP-85-15) (Attachment 2)
(4) Letter from South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to OPPD dated January 25, 1985 (Attachment 3)
Dear Mr. Martin:
Radioactive Waste Shipment Number 1284-299-S The Omaha Public Power District received a letter from the State of South Carolina, Reference (2), identifying a possible radioactive waste shipment violation. Upon receipt of Reference (2), the District conducted a de-tailed investigation. Af ter completion of the investigation, District representatives met on January 9, 1985 with representatives of the Bureau of Radiological Health for the State of South Carolina to discuss the re-sults. Based on the information presented by the District at the January 9,1985 meeting, representatives of the State of South Carolina requested that the information be formally submitted and the State of South Carolina would then reconsider their action.
That submittal has been mace ((Reference (3)).
The District subsequently received Reference (4), which stated that the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control had, based on their investigation and Reference (3), withdrawn the assessment of the gDR504020109 850319 y @ [g G
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LIC-85-036 Page 2 violation and the corresponding civil penalty.
Sincerely, b
jh2/W R. L. Andrews Divishn Manager Nuclear Production RLA/JJF/dao Attachments cc: Dr. J. Nelson Grace Regional Administrator U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region II 101 Marietta Street, Suite 3100 Atlanta, GA 30323 LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae 1333 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036 Mr. E. G. Tourigny, NRC Project Manager Mr. L. A. Yandell, NRC Senior Resident Inspector U
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L South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Board Maass N. ("Ineteen.Je.. Chairensa t nsed W. Deweias. M.D.. Vise.ch.itman j
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January 3,1955 CERTIFIED MAIL Mr. Allen D. Silau i
Radioactive Waste Coordinator Omaha Publio' Power District l
Fort cathoun station F.D. Son 399 Fort Calhoun, Mehrask's 65,023 Deat Mr. Rilaus An investigation conducted on necember.28.
1984_ by the south Carolina Department of Realth and1nviYonmentai control revealed that a shipment of radioactive waste received at the Chem-Nuclear Inc. burial f acility in Barnwell, South Carolina was in j
systems,iance with applicable stato and federal regulations.
noncompl The violation is identified as follows:
1184-299-8 olassified as Radione-Radioactive Waste shiyaent No.
tive Material, L8A, n.o.s.,, described as liquide solidified in i
cement and dry compacted ' waste, and contained in $5 steel drums was found to have liquids released from the containers onto the The drums floor of the trailer and ground at the burial facility.
had been invertad in en apparent effort to circument regulatory We find taquirements for radiation levela undorneath the trailor.
i th'is unnooeptable The drums did not serve as a strong tight l
contrii~ner and maintain the radioactive contents as required by de s
cFR 173.42$ {b)(1), eventhough the amount of liquid was minimal and 4
contraination insidental.
Please be informad that pursuant to section 11.7-180e 8+C Cod
- of and 8 action 7.3 of the Department's Regula-Laws,1976 ( as amended) i tions for the Transportation of Radioactive wasto Into or within south Carolina, you are hereby assessed e civil penalty of One i
Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
4 2a addition to the civil penalty, you are hereby required to a thmit to the Department evidence that adequate vaansures have been implemented to ensure compliance with a?.1 applicable provisions of fiteeral and state law.
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Mt. Allen D. Bilau CBRTIFIBO MAIL Page 2 January 2,1985 e
If you do not wish to appeal this decision, payment of the civil penalty _,shall he submitted no later than January 16, 1985 and made payable to the '8.C. Department of Health and Environmental Cont.rol".
Information concerning corrective measures and procedural modifications shall be submitted assordingly.
You are entitled to a full administrative hearing upon request.
Rowever, should you wish to discuss this matter wit 3 us in an informal setting, representatives of this Bureau will be made available to meet with you at a mutually conveniont time.
Should you desire such a conference or wish to roguest 4 forma.'. adminis-trative hearino, please contact Mr. Virgil R. hutty of she Bureau or andsologica;. health, (003) 758-5540.
Very truly yours,
.,N-erward G. Shealy, Chief Bur. eau of Radiological Health MGsivnAsb$
eci Ms. Jennifer Peters, nsq.
ORBC Legal counsel Mr. David Reid, Bueo. Asst.
Office of the Governor Mr. Robert Trojanowski, USNRC Region JI, J
Michael T. Ryan, Ph.D.
l ChemaWuoloar Systems, Inc.
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Omaha Public Power District 1623 Harney Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402/536 4000 Janua ry 22, 1985 EP-85-15 Mr. Heyward G. Shealy, Chief Bureau of Radiological Health Scuth Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control 2600 Bull Street Columbia, South Carolina 29201
Dear Mr. Shealy:
This letter is in response to your memorandum dated January 2,1985, identi-fying a possible radioactive waste shipment violation and the subsequent discussion conducted at the South Carolina Department of Health and Environ-mental Control on January 9,1985. The Onaba Public Power District (0 PPD) herein presents additional infonnation to support its position that a strong tight radioactive waste shipping container was provided and respect-fully requests that South Carolina reconsider its action by withdrawal of the noncompliance violation.
Radioactive waste shipment number 1284-299-S is identified in Fort Calhoun Station records as Shipment 84-49 and consisted of concentrated evaporator liquids solidified in cement and dry conpacted waste contained in new E5 gallon steel drums.
The processing and solidification of these wastes were perfonned under OPPD approved procedures HP-3 Solid Waste Shipment and RPP-15 Verification of Liquid Free Solid Waste.
These two procedures describe and control each step of the waste shipment program, have been in ef fect for years and, we believe, have contributed to a very successful program.
Radioactive waste shipment 84-49, the shipment under review, conformed to all steps of the procedures and pertinent shipping regulations.
No free standing liquid was present in drums during final inspection.
No abnormal-ities were encountered during the solidification process. However, the loading of this trailer was accomplished outside of the Fort Calhoun Sta-tion auxiliary building during adverse winter cor.ditions.
Preparation and loadirg of shipment 84-49 was completed as follows:
Radioactive Waste Shipment 884-49 was prepared for shipment in the same manner as previous shipments. The containers were allowed to cure for a ninimun cf five days prior to in-spection. Contamination and radiation surveys were performed for each drum and determined to be within regulatory require-ments for shipment. The radiation reading and smear results were marked on each processing drum lid as required. The change from processing to shipment drum lids was accomplished 45Sild Emp!oyment with Equal opportunity We Female
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.c Mr. Heyward G. Shealy January 22, 1985 Page Two individually.
Each new drum lid was inspected for defects and for properly transferred data. The interior of each solidifed
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drum was inspected for free standing liquid, water saturated material and any evidence that liquid was otherwise present.
The drum lids were reapplied and tightened to specifications.
. After all drums were inspected and resealed, selected drums were inverted. All drums were temporarily stored in the Sta-tion Railroad Siding for an additional four days prior to loading.
The shipment trailer was located out-of-doors near the railroad siding roll-up door. Drums were transferred from the railroad siding to the trailer by forklif t.
Each drum was visually in-spected for any evidence of internal moisture and for proper positioning in the trailer. The railroad siding where the drums were temporarily stored was inspected for moisture.
No moisture was detected. Workers passed into and out of the trailer many times during the loading operation tracking into the trailer recently fallen snow.
It is known that drums were placed on snow covered sections of the trailer bed as loading progressed.
The tracking of snow into the trailer is the key point in this description and we believe is the source of the non-radioactive liquid noted in the trailer during unloading. As substantiated in the photographs viewed in your office, the drum circunference marks indicate the water was trapped The within the floor area under the drum prior to completion of loading.
dried water tracking marks which can also be seen on the floor of the trailer indicate water in the trailer before drum placement.
It is our conclusion that this snow, which had been trapped under the drums caused the rusting on the trailer floor and was the brown liquid present under several drums.
As furtber evidence that no drum leakage occurred, was the extremely low concentration of radioactive material present in both the floor liquid and The the contamination smears measured from the trailer and the drums.
waste liquid which was solidified with cement into the drums was concen-trated waste evaporator bottoms which had becn isotopically analyzed and Any liquid ieak-contained 0.6 microcurie per milliliter of radioactivity.
age from the interior of these drums would be approximately 1,300,000 dpn The contamination surveys performed on the floor of the per milliliter.
trailer at the Barnwell site and pogted on the Chem-Nuclear,. Inc. unloading record document were 114 dpm/100 cmc as the maximum quantity present. This large difference substantiates our position that the snow lying on the floor of the trailer during loading and transport was in contact with mini-mal contamination from the floor and external surface of the drums which is The low contamination level detected and ronnal, expected and acceptable.
the verification by your site inspector of the acceptable interior of an opened drum indicate to us in our review that at no time was there either free standing liquid within the drum or liquid leakage from this container.
The waste classification of Shipment 84-49 is " low specific activity" (LSA) and allows for packaging in any strong, tight container.
As is our normal
s' Mr. Heyward G. Shealy January 22, 1985 Page Three practice, Fort Calhoun Station utilized new DOT Specification 17-H steel drums to contain the solidified evaporator waste. This package is much stronger than required and with the sealing ring much tighter than required for conformance to regulation CFR 173.425(b)(1). However, it is utilized as a demonstration of the Omaha Public Power District's conservative corpor-ate policy to always be well within full compliance of all Federal regula-tions, pertinent State laws and industrially accepted safety standards.
Your letter states in the second paragraph:
"the drums had been inverted in apparent effort to circumvent regulatory requirements." Please be assured this is not accurate. As discussed during the meeting, our use of inverted drums is intended to further lower radiation levels during trans-port as an application of the "as low as reasonably achievable" ( ALARA) ra-diation protection concept. This is similar to the placement of the lowest radiation exposure drums near the transport tractor for driver exposure re-duction. At no tima has this District knowingly sanctioned deliberate eva-sion of any regulatory requirement either Federal, State or local. As a governmental subdivision of the State of Nebraska, Omaha Public Power Dis-trict has a public commitment to operate Fort Calhoun Station in an un-equalled manner of excellence for safety, efficiency and compliance.
In summary, the State of South Carolina performs a vital service to the en-tire nation for the land disposal of solid radioactive waste. Omaha Public Power District is very appreciative of this help and the opportunity to res-pond to the observations of your investigation and initial conclusion.
Your administration of this incident has been impartial and open. We have presented these additional facts and detail s to support our request for re-consideration and cancellation of the ap,arent violation reported.
Please contact ne if you need any furthc. clarification or infonnation.
Sincerely, R. L. Andrews Division Manager Nuclear Production RLA/FFF/rh
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ATTACHMENT 3 South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control J
Board 2600 Bull Street Moses H. Chrkson Jr Chairman p
Leonard W. Doualas. M.D VWrtran C&rnbia. S.C. 29201 y
Gerald A. Kaynard. Secretary y5 - w,. -
Barbara P. Nuessle g_
Oren L Brady. Jr.
R:bert S. Jackson. M.D.
Jarnes A. S ruilt. Jr.
P Q
William H. Hesace. M.D.
January 25, 1985 Mr.
R.L. Andrews Division Manager Nuclear Production Omaha Public Power District 1623 Harney Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 RE:
Department letter dated J anuary 2, 1985 to Mr. Allen B.
Bilau, Pt. Calhoun Station
Dear Mr. Andrews:
This is in response to your letter of January 22, 1985, concerning your request for reconsideration of the civil penalty and violation determined by the Department for a shipment of low-level ra'dioactive waste received at the Barnwell burial facility.
Based upon our further investigation of this matter, discussions with your staf f, and the results of their investigation as submitted in your letter, we are in agreement with your findings.
We therefore withdraw our assessment of the violation and corresponding civil penalty.
We appreciate your continued cooperation in these matters.
Very truly yours, i
n 0
ward G.
/
caly, Chief Bureau o' Radiological Health HGS : VM: kn cc:
Ms. Jennifer Peters, Esq.
DHEC Legal Counsel Mr. David M.
Reid, Exec. Asst.
Office of the Governor Mr...obert Troj anowski, USNRC R'.gion II Michael T.
Ryan, Ph.D.
Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc.
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