ML20115J102
| ML20115J102 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Neely Research Reactor |
| Issue date: | 05/22/1996 |
| From: | AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | |
| References | |
| REN-I-GANE-028, REN-I-GANE-28, NUDOCS 9607230459 | |
| Download: ML20115J102 (3) | |
Text
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uCCKu;r,ED US N.C ) gt, fhi ' reshuffled tt)g staff at ite nuclear resegrph reactor tolast i
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summer. Th y wanted
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2 g'N productivity. Results of the
'95 JUL 10 EO move have not been good.
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ByCharlesBeabreek Eachwevne, W rhr i
Almost ' unnoticed,' Georgia Tn!!r1Eletals last
- summer quietly reshumed the IFmember staff that i runs one of the largest nuclear research reactors in i j the ecentry, i ne move, approved by then-seting Tech Presi- ,
j dent Henry Bourne, was touted as a way to improte t l
both safety and productivity at the 24-year old cam- g pus reactor.
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< In fhet, the changes undereut the authority of '
the reactor's radiological safety omee, triggered the ,
, departure of an internationally recognized health
< physicist from a key reactor safety committee, and d
- stirred lingering resentment among reactor workers ,.
! that Tech ha6put " safety on the back burner." m Despite sesent of prior safety violations at the 5 megawatt reactor,the regional omce of the Nuclear M Regulatory Commission (NRC) acceded to the 4
- changes.
l Now, angered by an acident that contaminated C 4
i i the reactor building, concerned about lax safety 14 measures that allowed a contaminated worker toS, ride a MARTA bus home, and spurred by questions -
ftom NRC's Washington headquarters, the agency's --
regional omce is having second thoughts.
NRC omelais say the accident - an Aug.18 re-lease of radioactive cadmium that went unreported for four months - was the result of a pattsrn of
" sloppy management" that included at least -
25 safe-ty violations in the past year.
With irradiation experimenti at the ' reactor halt-ed indefinitely, NRC investigators this week began questioning reactor workers to'determing if there have been other unreported problems. An "enforee-ment conference" between Tech and NRC omelats is scheduled forfeb. 23 to discuss further disciplin-ary actions agahgt the school, which could include See REACTOR,Page 12A l
MELATED 00RN NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Oceket No. 80d6 0 - /2 A.) EXHIBIT NO Ef in ine rnatter of Afo.-f v t_e b O Staff O Applicant GNfitervenor O other h [ h459 9605220CK0500g0 EyTJentified a Received a Rejected Reporter _ GJ C u) q oate S/2-W9 6 witness AL
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The Nuclear pegulatory commission ordered Georgia Tech to halt irradiation experiments af-ter the agegcited numerous safetyyiolations._ . ,
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safety and employees who operate the reactor. radiological safe *y* and "wotsid pose an open invita- sty' action was takest '
( [ wo,.Karam m wt o blamed he .,s the reactor's abe,ed U,ci,radiation safety conse,.e.ec
,ower. were tuon to problems and could be a formula for dire
- w. maar,armi .s-enessa unnecessarily domeneerisq. and dwelled too long on Freem Tage 1A trivial problems, such as a hailway door being ined- NRC warna dnamarrina probimaa The Aug 18 incident was more seneut Around 4 vertently left open. p m. Downs opened a container holding a tapas Gnes of up to $5,000. "The place just could not be run emetently with Carter's warning was deirvered even as NRC gemstone, which had been irradiated to make it a Curtaniment of reartor activity, however, is al- att the confhets going on," said Karan 'The radia- was warning Tech that safet? problems at the reac- deeper shade of blue. Cadnaum was used as a best ready cosung the school. The suspended irradiaboa tion safety people did not discharge their duties la a ter were numerous. shield in the expenment, esperiments consututed only 20 percent of the reac- professional marmer They often used profanity and Dunng an inspection la April 1987, NRC em- Downs did not hamediately report the accident tor's time, but they generated much of the $350,000 were argumentative " eials found radioactive materials incorrectly ta- because he felt there had beca no contamination.
in outside revenue - Ehne private firnis, hospitals Karam says last year's staff reorgaatsstion, { beled, insumcient anonitonr4 of workers to deter- said Karant i and doctors - that Tech aceds to keep the reactor which put radiatsoa safety employees under his con- eine their exposure to radiation and inadequate ne first hint of the problem came on the ibliow-trol, was a:, effort to quell dissension among the guidelines to protect workers agatast contaminatson. ing afternoon, when a studen:+atployee was makmg i runairs routine radlauen cheets la the reactor buildmg f Curtailment of operttsons is rarely a form of staff, thereby improvtag safety and producthity. He ,e On May 4, Tech and the NRC net to discuss the punishment for a research reactor NRC usually en- now acknowledges that the move lhiled to esse the problems. Tech emetals gave apeary emeials details She found a higher-than-mormal contamination on i
forces sts safety regulations with administrative tensions. on the reorganization and pionised that by puthng the ground floor and called one of the health physe pressure and rnedest Rnet the radiatice safety emce mader Karam, he would cists.
In the aggregate, the NRC's actins reflect Safety talwa IsacIL arat, Sinerpe says be better able to control the arobleen A survey showed redletion levels at the top of mounting aabonal concera over sa aspect of nuclear
- NRC's Atlanta omce gav+ Tech verbal approval the reactor that were SW times higher than normal power that has received scant pubhe attenbon: tht Radiation health experts say that is beesume to proceed with the orgnaisa3ca, esatingent on full That evening, when workers we're " frisking" safety and secanty of the 60 small reactors that U.S. safety has taken a back seat to researett Paul IL approval later by agency o.Heinis in Washington. themselves for radiatsoa costantastion befbre going universities and pnvate Arms operate under federal Sharpe of the reactor's radiatica safety omee says The reorganisation was set f*arJuly L home, Downs found that his pants irere heavily con-heense. the reactor's managers have put "sufety on the back In response, Carter restgred "as a matter of con- taminated.
- Concerned over the threat of terrorism and burner" and are more " interested la the experi- science and principle" f sta 16s post as chairman of Decentaminatica of the building took three 8sys.
theft, for instance, NRC already has forced research meets - especially those which bring in money? the Radiation Protectica Crmuuttee - which the Karam said the Aspet lacident posed no heehh reactors to switch their fuel to towergrade urantum, De naiversity's eNorts to make Ehe reactor's re . reorganeration abolished. threat to employees or the public outside the butid-which cannot be used to make bomtm dietion safety emetals subordiante to the people Radiation safety workers, who now report to ing He said the con *==teneaan level to which Downs they are supposed to solice is nothing new. Karant, say actions since the staf reorpassabon was esposed would bejabout the same amount a hue of a tuTses of vinlehnom IAtters to theitTech President Dr. Joseph Pett4 make it clear that safety is taking a hack seat to re- person would be exposed to during an XM of a aearett brokea arm !
' The August incident that prompted NRC's en- show Dr. ThomasthatSteloon, a shmilar reorganisatica now vice was proposed prendent for reseereh " They say b/; that on July 29 Karam ordered them to However, Malcolm'Ernst, deputy director of (creed curtailment et the Weh reactor was only one at Tech, as early as 1973 - and also met with oppo- stop sting personal de ty lagtooks about activities at NRC's Atlanta omee, said that while there was ao of a stnag of violations at the facthty during the sition hora radiation health experts. the reactor. Karse acknowledges that personal log- evidence the Angost accident had any adverse past year. Agency ometals discovered numerous la a July 30, IM3, letter to Pett% Henry Neu- books often provide NRC tascectors with their first health effects, it showed that safeguards at Teeb's safety prublems there durtag routine inspecticas la mana, thea chairman of the school's radiolaccal indication of possible saftty violations, but he says reactor are lat.
February and April of 1987, but took no further ae- safety committee, warned that "esperience ladi- most of the actrettaes are so trivial they do act need No eNort was made, Ibr lastsace, to locate the
' against Teelt cates that users of ediatica are Requently inctised i jo be recorded. MARTA bus IMt Downs rode home. Downs himself Der didat flad out about the August accident to cut cornrs in their safety practices la order to *There has absolutely never been any effort on did act madergo a "whole body" radiation ecuat us-antilDee. le ~ four months a 't happened and a save time, effort, embarrassment, money? anyone's part here to comeromise safety," said til the NRC ordered it la January. Nor was his home weekreher NhC headquarts :s Wasaington had Pettit sever approved the reorganizaboa Karam. *We are running a safe reactor, although surveyed for radiation estil then - after NRC or-contactosLTech directly a.J &manded to know But Petut died on Segt 15,1996. and Bourne be- our record keepmg needs introvement" dered Tech to esake the surv=y.
more about the staff ebamps came actmg presidettt A few months laur, Stetson Also on July 29 Karam osdered anyone trho sus- No traces of radiation were found la his home
, Omcials at the NRC regional office in Atlanta, resurrected the idea of a reorganised reactor stall pected a safety v clataos to report the matter to him or in his boely. No onetwas surprised, since cadmi-who vertally approved the changes, say they had la- It was an unusual proposal The NRC requires, directly, either verbally or is a meno. He said he um>IIS has a radiometfie halfline of 53 hours6.134259e-4 days <br />0.0147 hours <br />8.763227e-5 weeks <br />2.01665e-5 months <br /> - baff tended ta esamine the chamms mere closely. De except in rare situations, that health physicists be would report the matter,if accessary, to a higher of its mess decays about every two days. la Gwe reorganisauos, however, took effect July 1. De re- ladependent of reactor managers to assure their au , authority. . months, any trace of- ~" had vaatsbed.
gicaat ofHee's Grut eNort to question Tech about the thority to suspend any procedures that violate safety That,leiact, is what he dat after the Aug 18 me- That is also the reassa no eWort was made to Jehanges came on Dec.16 - one week after the guidelimet eldent - to Dr. Bernd Kaha. Tech's radistica safety track deva the MARTA bus on which Downs rode to NRC's Washington headquarters worard Tech that Stelsea suggested dissolving the campus Radia . ofReer. But Karara acknowledges that usare than a survey it for contaminaties,'!4ea ofRetals said.
the reorganisation was contrary to federal staa- tion Protect ce Committee and placing the radialog- week passed before he was able to ten Kaha, who F NRC says that although the incident posed no_f dards, which require radiation safety workers to ital safety emce - bended then by Robert M. Boyd was out of town at the time the mishep was discov- threat to the public,it does ladicate that Tech does have direct access to top-level management. At - under Karam, whose center is the major user of ered. not have adegnate procedures to prevent radisuon
'a Tech, that is the school's presideal radioactive materials on the Tech campet Kaba reviewed reports or the incident and de- I --- of workers "and the spread of coa.
NRC spok_. a Sue Gegner said the Wasb Under the proposal, sa ;aded.4 safeguards cided not to report the matter to the NRC. [*mtamination away frous the reactor building" tagten ofRetals west directly to Tech because Real committee would retain its authority over reactor New that details of the incident are known, NRC Karam says Tech has lastituted changes to pre-approval of the staff reorganization required an esperimentt But there would be no direct lines of emetals say the new staff organization - and other vent similar accidenta, requiring that all irradiated armendsment te the reactor operettag license, which communication between the reactor's health physi- safety measures M 4; by Tech to 1987 - material be opened caly la specia!!y enclosed areas can be saade only by the Washington staf. cists, care empowered to intervene la safety mat- fhiled to prevent the accidret, which contaminated and making radiauca monitors more readily avail-Tech's reactor. housed la a 85fooHall white te-s, and the president of the university veterna reactor operator Bill Downs with radioac- able.
domed buildmg in the heart of the red 4l rick campus Boyd called the changes "inroasistent w'th ree- true cadmium-115. But Karam says he plans ao disciplinary actioc two aules from downtown Anasta, had sa " excel- ommendatsons of the Nuclear Regulatory Commin. The changes also thfled to prevent Downs, stiD against Downs, who is one of enly two ticensed nu-lent" safety inspectson record as late as July 1988, sion" clad la contaminated clothing. iros taking a MARTA clear reactor operators at 14clL He says Downs did accordmg to a teemo that month by Pettit Dr. Melvin Carter, a nationally renowned health bus home to his house on Cheshire Bridge Road. not violase any spectre procedures. He says the mis-l Dr. Ratib Karam, director of Tech's Neely No- physicist who was the chairman of the Radiatson Downs, according to Tech documents, was ta- hop was "as mausual event" because no one expect-
, ekmr Research Center, says most of the safety viola- Protection Committee, warned Bourne in a March volved ta a previous incident at the reactor la July ed the topes container to leak en excessrve a:aount I tions the reactor were cited for last February and 1987 letter that the plan was tantamount to the " fox 1985, in which he tapped a evench against a glase ot radieuom Ap-I were minor, mainly paperwort mestakes. He guarding the henhouse." sh6ekling a " hot cell" containing highly radioactrve Karam said the resetor will continue to be ased ld Dv in th face of eG and chippen the gics to trsta suelear engineertag stadents and conduct schewledged
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