ML20213C880
| ML20213C880 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 10/16/1986 |
| From: | Adamovitz S, Dan Collins NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20213C871 | List: |
| References | |
| CON-NRC-29-86-623 NUDOCS 8611100338 | |
| Download: ML20213C880 (5) | |
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U11TED STATES
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REGION 11 I#l j.
101 MARIETTA STREET, N.W.
t-ATLANTA, GEORGI A 30323
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PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL NRC/ STATE CONTRACTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING c
CONTRACT NUMBER:
29-83-623 CONTRACTOR: Commonwealth of Virginia DATE OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: October 15-16, 1986 CONDUCTED BY:
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ll-I-3 6 pt/ 5. S. Adamovitz, Radiation Specialist Date Signed REVIEWED BY:
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((e rt4 ti I-/6 D. M. Collins, Chief Date Signed Emergency Preparedness and Radiological Protection Branch SCOPE:
The appraisal was performed by a review of reports, correspondence, day-to-day contacts, and evaluation of the promptness and judgement exercised in the resolution of any unusual situations or problems which arise in the program.
The annual appraisal was culminated by a visit to the State laboratory to inspect facilities and equipment, review
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records, and discuss aspects of the program with State personnel. This report is prepared as a basis for contract renewal and any recommendations for program improvements.
8611100338 861104 PDR STPRG ESGVA PDR
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' COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA CONTRACT APPRAISAL AND REVIEW 0F THE ANNUAL REPORT On October 15 and 16,1986, 'a representative of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission met with representatives of the Commonwealth of Virginia's Bureau of Radiological Health and Bureau of Chemistry to review activities conducted under NRC Contract No. 29-83-623.
This contract provides for a cooperative program for measuring concentration of radioactivity and radiation levels in the environment around the following selected NRC licensed activities located within the Commonwealth:
North Anna Nuclear Power Station Surry Nuclear Power Station Babcock and Wilcox Naval Nuclear Fuel Division Attendance at this meeting is presented in Enclosure 1.
Overall Program Status This appraisal incorporated a review of the.1984 report. an inspection of the State Radiation Laboratory and a preliminary review of the State's performance under the 1985 and 1986 contracts.
The Commonwealth of Virginia. has met requirements for sample analysis but has not submitted the 1984 or 1985 annual reports on a timely basis.
Commonwealth personnel indicated the late reports were due to coordination difficulties with the licensees concerning data receipt.
. Specific problem areas are discussed in detail under Performance.
Staff The Environmental Monitoring Program is located in the Bureau of Radiological Health and is staffed by a total of three (3) individuals including the Bureau Director and two Radiological Health Specialists.
The Environmental Radiation Laboratory is located in the Bureau of Chemistry and maintains a staff of five (5) full time chemists and one part-time assistant.
Staffing has remained constant in the Environmental Monitoring Program and the Rad 1ation Laboratory since ' the latter,@act of 1984.
Management support and funding has been sufficient to carry out all requirements of the NRC contract..
Training During 1986, one chemist from the Bureau of Chemistry attended a semester
" Instrumental Analysis" course offered by the Virginia Commonwealth University.
Also during 1980, the Director of the Bureau of Radiological Health attended the NRC's_ Inspection Procedures _ Course.
During the appraisal, the laboratory supervisor inquired about the status of the Radiological Environmental Sciences Laboratory (RESL) course in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The RESL course was not offered during 1985 or 1986 to State personnel due to budget restrictions.
The Commonwealth has encouraged staff participation and would send staff members if the course was again available.
2 Performance The.NRC Environmental Monitoring Contract requires the Comonwealth of Virginia to submit an annual report including a summary of all analyses.
The annual report also includes comparisons of results of the Comonwealth and licensee environmental sample splits, and the results of the EPA cross-check program for the past year.
The 1984 CY report was received 181 days late and the 1985 CY report had not been received as of the date of this appraisal.
Comonwealth personnel indicated continuing problems with the timely receipt of licensee data caused the overdue reports.
The Comonwealth had repeatedly contacted the licensees by telephone and letters requesting the necessary analytical data. As indicated by the continuing late reports, the licensees have not provided the required inputs as requested. The NRC representative agreed to send letters to the licensee emphasizing the importance of the environmental monitoring program contract and listing the required sampling and analyses.
Followup conference calls and site visits would be initiated if licensee coordination with the Commonwealth did not improve.
For the 1984 report, several lower limit of detection (LLD) values for radioisotopes were routinely exceeded.
Typically, the LLDs were exceeded for isotopes having relatively short half-lives.
Discussions with laboratory personnel indicated a _large sample backlog in 1984 caused delays in sample analysis which subsequently resulted in the LLDs being exceeded.
This problem was rectified by February 1985. The large sample backlog was cleared and typical sample turnaround, including analysis and reporting, was two to th*ee weeks.
For the 1984 report, the split samples for North' Anna and Surry were not collected as splits as required by the contract.
Commonwealth personnel indicated sample collection coordination difficulties with the licensee caused, the problem. Although 1985 samples were still not splits, this situation had been rectified for 1986 and split silt samples were collected for the 1986 report.
The NRC TLD monitoring program was reviewed with Comonwealth personnel. There had been no problems with TLD receipt or changeout during the past year.
The NRC representative requested that the NRC TLD networks be checked against the network descriptions during the next changeout. Comonwealth personnel agreed to verify TLD locations'and provide updates as necessary.
Gross alpha results for Babcock and Wilcox (B&W) air particulate composites did not agree between the Commonwealth and the licensee.
The NRC representative requested that the - analytical results be verified and the discrepancy.
investigated.
Commonwealth personnel agreed to look into the matter and determine the cause of the differences.
Due to discrepancies between Comonwealth and licensee 1983 results for alpha analyses in B&W waste water composite splits, a triple split program was initiated at the end of 1984 One portion of the water was sent to the NRC for i
analyses.
A. review of the preliminary data for 1985 indicated agreement between the Comonwealth Laboratory and NRC.
The NRC representative requested that the triple' split be continued until the end of 1986. During the next appraisal, the l
p-3 1986 data would be reviewed, and if continued agreement was indicated, the triple split could be discontinued.
The NRC representative toured the Environmental Laboratory and counting facilities and discussed sample analyses and instrumentation with laboratory personnel.
Sample and instrument performance records were complete and readily available.
Laboratory personnel indicated that there had been no unusual equipment problems during the past year.
The NRC representative noted that the mixed ganna standards used for daily performance checks were several years old.
These standards no longer contained all certified isotopes due to isotopic' decay and needed replacement. A review of the quality control data for 1984, 1985, and 1986 indicated that a variety of samples were analyzed with good reproducibility and accuracy.
The Commonwealth of Virginia was reviewed against the criteria established by the NRC.
Tne overall performance of the program was determined to be good with the exception of the failure to submit the annual report on a timely basis.
Based upon the annual report and the onsite appraisal, continuation of the contract program is recommended.
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ENCLOSURE ~1 ATTENDANCE AT THE NRC COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA MEETING ON CCTOBER 15 AND 16, 1986 IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA Commonwealth of Virginia C. R. Price, Director, Bureau of. Radiological Health Carolyn Schrider, Radiological Health Specialist, Bureau of Radiological Health Jim deKrafft, Radiological Health Specialist, Bureau of Radiological Health William Burrel, Chemist 2, Bureau of Chemistry U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission S. S. Adamovitz, Radiation Specialist, Radiological Effluents and Chemistry Section, Emergency Preparedness and Radiological Protection Branch, Division of Radiation Safety and Safeguards M"
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