ML20206B449
| ML20206B449 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07001113 |
| Issue date: | 11/07/1988 |
| From: | Hughey C, Kahle J, Stoddart P NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20206B414 | List: |
| References | |
| 70-1113-88-17, IEIN-88-022, IEIN-88-22, NUDOCS 8811150450 | |
| Download: ML20206B449 (6) | |
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?1 UNITED STATES
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HUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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REGION 11 101 MARIETT A ST., N W.
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MON 0 6 W Report No.:
70-1113/88-17 Licentee: General Electric Company 1
Wilmingter s NC 28401 Decket No.:
70-1113 Licec'e No.:
SNM-1097 Facility Name: General Electric Company Inspection Conducted: September 26-30. 1988 Ud4d
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Inspectors: (
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/Cf$ C/B7 C. A. Hughey
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4 Approved by: e "w
J. B. Lahle. Section Chief Da~ te ' 51 gned Division of Radiaticn Safety and Safeguards SUPPARY Scope: This routine, unannounced inspection was conducted in 'he areas of radioactive waste managerent and radiological environmental rnenitoring.
Results: One violation was identified by the inspector - failure to surmit semiann Jal radiocctive effluent report for the peried of January through June i
1988, within 60 days af ter the end of the peried (Paragraph 5). The licensee, by the end of the inspection, was ir the process of taking adequate corrective actions to prevent recurrence; theref ore, no respense is required.
The licensee continued to rake progress toward incineration of the backlog of stored radioactive waste boxes and anticipated clearing the dlog by the end of CY 1988.
A new Envirerrental Program Hanspee had been assigned approximately t'vo renths prior to this inspection.
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REPORT DETAILS I
1.
Persons Contacted Licensee Ertployees
- B. Beane, Manager, HVAC Systems l
- T. Beckingham, Senior Facilities Engineer
- 0, Brown, Manager, *Jranium Rccycle Unit W. Cameron, Supervisor, Shop Operations
- P. Foleck, fenior Specialist Licensing Engineering
- 0. Hassler, )anufacturing Engineer. HV'#. Syste rs r gineer, Nuclear Safety S. Murray Senior e
- G. Peters, Manufacturing Engineer P. Stansbury, Senior Enginear, Nuclear Safety
- H. Strickler Senior Program Manager Environmental Protec: ion
- T. Winslow, Acting Manager, Regulatory Compitance
- J. Wolfe Senior Program Manager, Industrial Safety Other licensee employees contacted during this inspection included t
engineers, security force members, and office personnel, f
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- Attended exit interview j
2.
ActionOnPreviousInspectionFindings(92701) l (Closed) Inspector Follewup Item (IFI) 88-06 01:
Raview Results of Analyses of Samples From $1vdge Spreading Areas.
l During a previous 'nspection in this area (88-06, dated May 19,1988),the licensee comitted to sample ano analyze at least three r.nd0mly collected sludge samples from the old sewage treatment lagoon for gross alpha activity and uranium content.
The samples were collected June 8,1988, and analyzed as requested.
j As Dried Received At Oried At 105'C l
Sample ppu U 10$'C Ashed Alpha Beta I
No.
(Wet) ppm U ppm U (pct /g)
(pCi/g) 1 15 41 54 73 2 37 45 2 14 t
2 13 74 130 64 2 33 74 2 23 j
3 19 75 100 70 t 36 72 2 23 Since similar sludge samples had not previously been collected and f
analyzed from the old sewage treatment lageon over the past several years, l
no conclusions concerning rate of buildup as a possible effect of sludge-spreading could be drawn from the above data.
More samples l
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2 will be collected and analyzed at a frequency to be determined later.
This item is considered closed.
1 3.
Followup Of Information Notices (92701)
(Closed) Information Notice (IN) 88-22, Disposal of Sludge From Sewage Treatment Facilities, had been received by the licensee, reviewed for applicability and distributed to the appropriate personnel, license Condition Section 1.8.11, approved November 12, 1987, authorized the licensee to store uranium contaminated sanitary sewage treatment sludge ensite by spreading it on a former sanitary waste lagoon, which is a clay-lined diked area.
A NMSS safety evaluation report of November 12, 1987, found that the licensee's provision for sludge storage would have no adverse effects on the public health and safety or the environment.
On the basis of the above, the license condition met the concerns of IN 88-22 regarding the buildup of licensed radioactive material in sewage i
treatment sludge.
This item is considered closed.
4.
Gaseous Radioactive Waste Management (88075)
The inspectors, accompanied by licensee representatives, toured selected gaseous effluent stacks and their associated systems for treatment of gaseous effluents. All appeared to be in adequate operating condition.
At the time of this inspection, the licensee was in the process of installing and testing a computerized control system for air flow control and balancing of the plant HVAC system. The licensee demonstrated various capabilities of the new system, which were expected to contribute to a reduction in radioactive emissions to the environment. The initial use of portions of the new system was anticipated to be within four months of the date of this inspection.
No violations or deviatt;ns were identified.
C.
Semisnnual Effluent Rclease Reports (88045)
The inspectors reviewed the licensee's semiannual radioactive effluent release reports for the calendar years 1986, 1987, and the first half of 1988.
The release data is summarized in Attachment 1 of this report.
Since the first half of 1966, when the licensee had an unplanned release of uranium particulate aerosol (Report No. 70-1113/88-01 dated April 8, 1986), there had been a significant decreasing trend in uranium aerosol releases.
In inspection Report No. 70-1113/88-06, dated May 19, 1988, it was noted that the July-December 1987 liquid effluent release values had been a factor of 2.6 times the 6-month averages for January 1985 through June 1987; this had been attributed to cleanout of a clogged process dra.n line.
Liquid effluent releases for January-June 1988, had returned to concentration levels consistent with the January 1985 through June 1987
e' e
3 6-month averages.
Liquid and gaseous effluents for January-June 1988, were within regulatory limits.
l At the beginning of the inspection, the inspectors inquired as to the status of the semiannual effluent report for the first six months of 1988, since it had not been received by the NRC Region Office. The licensee was apparently not aware that the report had not been prepared and submitted until it was brought to their attention by the inspectors.
The report was prepared, signed, and submitted by the licensee on September 27, 1988.
During a subsequent review of procedure EP! N0. E-1.0, Environmental Permits and Reports, the inspectors noted that no responsibility had been assigned for the semiannual effluent report.
A draft revision of EPI No. E-1.0 had been initiated prior to the end of the inspection, and contained instructions and assigned report preparation responsibilities which were considered by the inspectors to be adequate to prevent recurrence of late reports.
10 CFR 70.59(a) requires each licensee authorized to possess and use special nuclear materials for processing and fuel fabrication, scrap recovery or conversion of uranitm hexafluoride to submit a report to the appropriate NRC Regional Office within 60 days after January 1 and July 1 of each year specifying the quantity of each of the principal radionuclides released to unrestricted areas in liquid and gaseous effluents during the previous six months of operation.
Because the report i
for the semiannual period of January-June 1988, was not submitted within 60 days of July 1,1988, a violation of 10 CFR 70.59 was identified.
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(0pened/ Closed) Violation (80-1113/88-17-01):
Failure to Submit Semiannual Effluent Report for the Period January Through June 1988 Within 60 Days After the End of the Period.
Prior to the end of the inspection, i
l the licensee provided adequate corrective measures to prevent a recurrence.
6.
Environmental Monitoring (88045)
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As discussed in Paragraph 9 of Inspection Report No. 70-1113/88-06, dated
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May 1?, 1988, an atmospheric contamination particle size program had been i
initiated early in 1988, in anticipation of exceedini, a control value of 3.45 E-15 uCi/cc for quarterly airborne uranium concentration.
The initial sampling under this program produced inconclusive results.
The trend turned downward in February 1988, had stayed below the action level and the licensee disco itinued the sampling program in March 1988.
The licensee had no current plans to continue the program since it was no
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longer required and technical personnel were heavily involved in other activities.
A permanent appointment to the invironmental Program Manager position had been made approximately two months prior to this inspection.
This appointment was to replace the previous manager who had retired as of January 1988.
A staff engineer had been temporarily in charge of the program during the interim.
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4 All required soil, air, surface water, sludge, nitrate waste stream, and groundwater samples appeared to have been taken ir accordance with the program set forth in Table 501 of Chapter 5, Part I, of the License Application.
No violations or deviations were identified.
7.
Solid Radioactive Waste Management (88035)
The inspectors and licensee representatives discussed the current status of the backlog of combustible radwAste boxes (See inspection Report No. 70-1113/87-12, dated September 22, 1987).
The licensee continued to reduce the back1cg of wooden boxes from the outside storage area.
Radwaste generation at the time of the inspection was at a rate of approximately three noncombustible metal boxes and twelve combustible boxes per week. Current combustible radwastes were being packed in cardboard boxes and incinerated immediately after a 60 day waiting period.
The backlog of wooden radwaste boxes stored in the outside storage areas had been reduced from 1684 boxes on January 4, 1988 to 776 boxes on September 26, 1988.
There were also 51 noncombustible metal radwaste boxes stored onsite to be shipped for burial as of September 26, 1988.
In a typical week, the licensee's incineration facility was processing approximately 20 boxes of the old wooden boxes from the outside storage area, along with approximately 20 per week of the newer cardboard boxes.
A licensee estimated that, assuming continued satisfactory operation of the incinerator, the backlog of wooden boxes from the outside storage area would be cleared by the end of 1988.
No violations or deviations were identified.
8.
Exit Interview The inspection scope and results were summarized on September 30, 1988, with those persons indicated in Paragraph 1.
The inspectors described the areas inspected and discussed in detail the inspection findings.
No dissenting comments were received from the licensee.
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ATTACitMENT 1 CE PLANT RELEASES, LIQUID AND CASE 005 EFFLUENTS 1986-1988 SOURCE: LICENSEE SEMI-ANNUAL EFFLUENT RELEASE REPORTS Jan-June Jul-Dec Jan-June Jul-Dec Jan-Jun 1988 1987 1987 1986 1986 Ca ses/ Pa rticula tes Ci Ci Cl Cl Cl U234 3.06 E-05 7.13 E-5 7.84 E-5 6.74 E-5 1.06 E-3 U235 1.99 E-06 4.65 E-06 5.11 E-6 4.40 E-6 6.86 E-5 U236 4.3 t-01 9.93 E-01 1.09 E-6 9.45 E-7 1.47 E-5 U238 1.02 E-05 2.59 E-05 2.84 E-5 2.37 E-5 3.26 E-4 Liquids U234 1.95 E-02
?.01 E-91 2.09 E-2 5.65 E-2 2.63 E-2 U235 1.21 E-03 6.06 E-03 1.36 E-3 3.69 E-3 1.71 E-3 U236 2.71 F-04 1.41 E-03 2.91 E-4 7.93 E-4 3.68 E-4 U238 6.48 r-03 3.67 E-02 7.57 E-3 1.99 E-2 9.22 E-3 J
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