ML20205L741

Ack Receipt of Informing NRC of Steps Taken to Correct Violations Noted in Insp Rept 70-0734/98-03 Issued on 990219.Reply Found Responsive to Concerns Raised in NOV

ML20205L741
Person / Time
Site:	07000734
Issue date:	04/09/1999
From:	Spitzberg D NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:	Edwards J GENERAL ATOMICS (FORMERLY GA TECHNOLOGIES, INC./GENER
References
70-0734-98-03, 70-734-98-3, NUDOCS 9904140278
Download: ML20205L741 (2)

Text

4 5 UNITED STATES a # "*%g% NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 5 - g a j REGloN IV k, 611 RYAN PLAZA DRIVE, sulTE 400 ARLINGTON, TEXAS 76011-8064 l

q g April 9, 1999 J. Edwards, Vice President i Genera! Council and Secretary General Atomics P.O. Pox 85608 j San Diego, CA 92186-9784

SUBJECT:

NRC INSPECTION REPORT 70-734/98-03 and NOTICE OF VIOLATION

Dear Mr. Edwards:

Thank you for your letter of March 18,1999, in response to our February 19,1999, letter and Notice of Violation conceming the NRC's confirmatory survey performed at your facility.

We have reviewed your reply and find it tesponsive to the concerns raised in our Notice of i

Violation. We will review the implementation of your corrective actions during a future j inspection to determine that full compliance has been achieved and will be maintained.

Sincerely, i

t D. Blair Spitzberg, Ph.D.

Chief, Fuel Cycle and' Decommissioning Branch Docket No.: 70 734 License No.: SNM-696 l cc w/ copy of ltr dtd 3/18/99:

Dr. Keith E. Asmussen, Director l

Licensing, Safety, and Nuclear Compliance General Atomics 3550 General Atomics Court San Diego, CA 92121-1194 Califomia Rac ation Control Program Director t

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CENERAL ATORNCS March 18,1999 696-3052 p ,. .,_ _

b VIA OVERNIGHT EXPRESS SERVICE MAR w. - .

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ATrN: Document Control Desk DNMS Washington, DC 20555

Subject:

Response to NRC Notice of Violation

Reference:

NRC Inspection Report 70-734/98-03 and Notice of Violation dated Febmary 19,1999

Dear Sir or Madr .:

Enclosed is General Atomics'(GA's) response to the Notice of Violation issued on February 19, 1999 (Reference). This response was prepared pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.201.

GA trusts you will fmd its response and co:Tective action measures to be appropriate and satisfactory. If you should have any questions concerning this response, please contact me at (619) 455-2823, or Mr. Brian Laney at (619) 455-4369.

Very truly yours, t

Dr. Keith E. Asmussen, Director i Licensing, Safety, and Nuclear Compliance I

Enclosure - as above cc: Regional Administrator, NRC Region TV Mr. Wayne Britz, NRC Regio,n IV

. 3550 GE N[RAL ATOMICS COURT, SAN LIE Go, cA 921211194 PO Box 85608, SAN OttGo, cA 92186 5608 f619) 4% 3000 k-9d? 2'O !Q %f.

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Attachment to GA L.etter No. 696-3052 March 18,1999 - Page 1 c,f 3 General Atomics' Response to the Notice of Violation / Inspection Report 70-734/98-03 During the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspection conducted on December 7-11,1998 and January 11-15,1999, a violation of NRC requirements was identified. The violation is restated below, followed by the General Atomics'(GA's) response.

VIOLATION:

Safety Condition S-1 of License SNM-696 autho:izes the use of the Site Decommissioning Plan dated October 11 and December 5,1996; April 18,1997; and January 15,1998.

Safety Condition S-16 of License SNM-696 states: " Release of equipment, facilities, or packages to the unrestricted area or to uncontrolled areas onsite shall be in accordance wis the attached " Guidelines for Decontamination of Facilities and Equipment Prior to Release for Unrestricted Use or Termination of  ;

licenses for Byproduct, Source, or Special Nuclear Material," dated April 1993. The guidelines for l 2

decontamination of beta / gamma emitters in the attached document are 5,000 dpm/100 cm average,15,000 dpm/100 cm2 maximum and 1,000 dpm/100 cm2 removable.

1 Section 6.1.1," Release of items and Equipment," of the Site Decommissioning Plan states, in part: "If the potential exists for contamination on inaccessible surfaces, the equipment will be assumed to be intemally contaminated unless (1) the equipment is dismantled allowing access for surveys, (2) appropriate tool or pipe monitors with acceptable detection capabilities are utilized that would provide sufficient confidence

. that no licensed materials were present, . ." Section 6.1.3, " Description of Final Radiation Survey Plan,"

states: "Once all identified affected areas are evaluated and cleaned up as 'necessary, a final radiation survey must be performed to demoastrate compliance with the release criteria."

By letter dated November 2,1998, the licensee requested the NRC to selease office areas of Building 21 to umestricted use and delete them from the license. To support this request, the licensee submitted with the letter the report," Final Radiological Survey Performed at General Atomics' Building 21 Unaffected Office Areas," dated November 1,1998. The November 2 letter stated in part, "The results of GA's extensive and comprehensive final radiation and contamination surveys, measurements, sampling, and analyses demonstrate conclusively that the unaffected office areas ofits Building 21 meet the NRC approved criteria for release to unrestricted use."

l Contrary to the above, a confirmatory survey perfonned by the NRC inspectors on January 13,1999 l identified contamination exceeding the release criteria in the office areas of Building 21 on an inaccessible j surface with potential to be internally contaminated. The contamination consisted of a " hot particle"in the  !

drain pipe of the Building 21 office areajanitor closet. The final survey report of the licensee showed no  !

surveys were performed from within this pipe as required. The particle was later analyzed by the licensee to measure 100,000 counts per minute on contact and to consist principally of Cesium-137, a beta / gamma  !

emitter.  ;

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l l Attachment to GA Letter No. 696-3052 March 18,1999 - Page 2 of 3 GA's RESPONSE:

(1) The reason for the violation. or. if contested. the basis for disputinsnhe violation:

This violation is the result of: 1) it being wrongly assumed that there was no real potential for

. contamination on the inaccessible surfaces of the subject drain pipe, and 2) a single " hot particle" l

contained in crud inside the drain pipe not being detected during GA's final survey.

I The drain pipe had been connected to a deep sink in ajanitor's closet located in the office area of GA's Building 21. The deep sink had been removed prior to the final survey. The person (s) conducting the final survey (s) of the subject drain pipe assumed that there was no real potential for contamine* ion on the l inaccessible inside surfaces of the pipe. This assumption seemed to be confirmed by the fact that no l reading abave background was observed when the survey instruments were placed up to the open end of the pipe extending from the wall. The detector was too large to be placed inside of the pipe. Subsequent to the final survey, a copper " cap" was installed on the end of the pipe. Considerable mechanical force (including pounding) and heat was applied in the process of installing 'he cap. It is suspected that the o physical action of installing the cap on the pipe caused the crud to be redistributed inside the pipe, leading to the particle being repositioned in a more detectable location within the pipe. The particle was subsequently detected by the NRC during their confirmatory survey.

(2)The corrective stens that have been taken and the results achieved:

I l On or about January 13,1998, the pipe section containing the contamination was removed, double bagged l and moved to the radiation controlled area in Building 21. Radiation levels were at background levels

! after the pipe section was removed from the area.

i On or about January 15,1999, GA's Director of Licensing, Safety and Nuclear Compliance assigned to Mr. Brian Laney, the task of investigating this incident and determining its cause. Mr. Laney issued a l memo documenting his findings and conclusion on February 2,1999. A copy of Mr. Laney's memo was

sent to Mr. Wayne Britz (NRC Region IV) by facsimile machine, and placed into the U.S. Mail, on l February 5,1999. GA considers Mr. Lancy's memo to be incorporated, by reference, into this response.

(The GA response to hem 1) above was based, in part, upon the findings documented in Mr. Lancy's memo.)

'the management and supervisory staff of GA's Licensing, Safety and Nuclear Compliance organization were reminded of the importance of maintaining the credibility of GA's final radiological survey reports by assuring that the necessary time and resources are committed to conducting thorough, accurate, and meaningful surveys.

All GA Health Physics personnel receive! a timely oral reminder of the importance of strictly following the commitment in GA's Site Decommissioning Plan which states, in part: "If the potential exists for contamination on inaccessible surfaces, the equipment will be assumed to be internally contaminated unless (1) the equipment is dismantled allowing access for surveys, (2) appropriate tool or pipe monitors with acceptable detection capabilities are utilized that would provide sufficient confidence that no licensed materials were present, ..." This was again re-emphasized to all Health Physics Technicians in writing by a f

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4 Attachment to G A Letter No. 696-3052 March 18,1999 - Page 3 of 3 memo from Mr. Paul Maschka, Acting Manager of Ilealth Physics, dated March 18,1999. Mr. Maschka's memo included a brief discussion of various means of surveying and sampling in order to have the requisite confidence that the pipe, or any other item being considered for release, does indeed meet the approved rekase enteria.

See also GA's response to item 1 above.

(3) The corrective stens that will be taken to avoid fuf ther violations:

GA believes this panicular violation to be an isolated incident resulting from a unique set of circum-stances. However, GA understands the need to be constantly on the alert for " hot particles," or other fonns of contamination, in unexpected places. Accordingly, GA will continue to be aware of the potential for

" hot particles" to be encountered during decommissioning activities and during the performance cf associated radiological surveys. GA will remain vigilant in monitoring / surveying for such particles.

Similarly, General Atomics will exercise renewed vigilance towrd meeting its commitment to assure that drain lines (as well as all other items) do indeed meet the criteria for release, or are removed and managed as low level waste.

Finally, GA has placed an order to purchase a small 0.9-inch diameter Nal detector to supplement its current inventory of detectors (e.g. a 2-inch diameter Nal detector) that are available for use in surveying inside drain pipes and/or other small spaces.

(4) The date when full compliance will be achieved:

General Atomics is in full compliance.

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