ML20234F316
| ML20234F316 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07003051 |
| Issue date: | 09/10/1987 |
| From: | Horn M, Swift J NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20234F246 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8709230089 | |
| Download: ML20234F316 (9) | |
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SEP 101987 LIMUF:MLH-DOCKET NO:- 70-3051 ,
APPLICANT: Transnuclear, Inc.
Aiken,. South Carolina
SUBJECT:
SAFETY EVALUATION REPORT, APPLICATION DATED MARCH 2, 1987, AND $UPPLEMENT_ DATED JULY'28, 1987, RE NEW LICENSE
Background
By letter dated March 2, 1987, Transnuclear, Inc., (TN) submitted a license application to receive, possess, store, and transfer special nuclear material (SNM) in the form of UF, at the Aiken, South Carolina facility. Additional
-information was submittUd on July 28, 1987.
' TN currently has a- South Carolina license authorizing the use of radioactive material' as contamination consisting of mixed fission and activation products upon surfaces or contained withih shipping casks and ancillary equipment.
Activities are limited to the decontamination, maintenance, and storage of various equipment and casks. \
The material.will exist in the form of " heels' in J: 1/2-ton cylinders. The cylinders are to be stored outside, but within the security fence, on timbers with blocking at each end of the timber to guard against . rolling. The area will be maintained under weed control.
Scope of Review .
The safety review of TN's application includes a review of the application dated March 2,1987, and additional infonnation submitted July 28, 1987.
The topics of review include an evaluation of the applicant's organization and f 1
. radiation safety. The application has been discussed with J. Potter, NRC '
Region II. As part of the review, the applicant's site was visited by staff on June 2, 1987.
Discussion of Review TN's application has demonstrated that they have the basic necessary technical staff with the proper qualifications to administer an effective and safe radio-logical safety program. The following sections contain a description of the applicant's organization and safety programs and the proposed license conditions ,
developed by the IMSB staff.
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1 SEP 101987 Transnuclear, Inc., SER 2 e
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Ocem CodUff 60&D FIGURE 1. FACILITY LAYOUT
o SEP 101987 Transnuclear, Inc., SER 3 i
Site 1
~ The TN facility is located at Aiken, SC. There is one butiding on the 4-acre f site. The building and 2 acres are surrounded by a 6-foot chain link fence.
A diagram of the facility is shown in Fig. 1. The storage area will be at the southern end of the fenced area. The storage area will be covered and compacted with a 4-inch layer of crusher-run gravel.
The terrain surrounding the facility is flat but well drained. The general area is located on the higher elevation of the east coast geological formation known as the " fall line." There is nothing on the surrounding country side that could adversely impact the storage of the cylinders.
Possession Limi,t_ss TN has requested the following nuclear material for their activities.
Material Form Amount UF 2,000 kgs UF Uranium enriched to less 6 6 than or equal to 5 percent in the U-235 isotope The requested material will exist in the form of " heels" in 21/2-ton cylinders (up to 20 kg UF percylinder). The cylinders are Type 308 cylinders. The applicationiskoreceive, possess, store,andtransfer,butnotprocessthe -
SNM at the Aiken, SC facility. The following conditions are recommended:
Authorized Use: For receipt, possession, storage, and transfer in accordance with the statements, representations, and conditions specified in the application dated March 2,1987, and supplement dated July 28, 1987.
Authorized Place of Use: The licensee's existing facilities at Aiken, South Carolina.
Organization ,
The onsite management consists of the Manager, Aiken Operation, and the Radiation Protection Engineer. The Manager reports to the Chief Engineer of Transnuclear in White Plains, NY. There is also a General Manager of ,
Operations at the Corporate Level.
TN has a safety review committee that meets in Aiken at least once a year. The comittee consists of the President Transnuclear, Inc., the Radiation Protection Engineer (RPE), and the Manager, Aiken Operations. Employees may submit items to be considered by the committee. The purpose of the committee is to review situations which may not have been specifically covered in an existing procedure, determine the need for a new procedure, and discuss methods for reducing radiation exposure, waste volume, etc.
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Transnuclear,;Inc. .. SER 4 : SEP 10 l1987-Technical-Qualifications Staff feels that the current person in the RPE position has the qualifications necessary to perform the job function. However, the applicant has not stated any minimum qualifications for the position to ensure that future RPEs will be qualified for the Radiation Safety Officer (RS0) function; therefore, the stafr M- . recommends the following condition:
~ The minimum technical qualifications for the function of RSO shall
- be a B.S. ~ degree in science or engineering and completion of a basic radiation safety course.
- Operating Procedures.
- All activities involving radioactive materials at the facility are performed in accordance with written procedures. These procedures will include the receipt, inspection, handling, storage, and shipment of UFg cylinders. These procedures have not yet been written so to ensure the procedures are in place prior to receipt of material, the following condition is recommended:
Procedures to cover receipt, inspection, handling, storage, and shipment of UF g cylinders as specified by Section 8 of the application shall be written and approved prior to receiving any' cylinders.
The operating procedures at the Aiken facility must be approved by the Manager, Aiken Operations, the Radiation Protection Engineer, and the Chief Engineer in White Plains, NY. Each individual operation will be conducted under' a -
specific radiation work permit. These permits may be standing permits for routine work of a repetitive nature on a long-tenn basis or special pennits for non-routine work.
Personnel Training Anyone working in a radiation control area must have satisfactorily completed a radiation and industrial safety training program or be escorted continuously by a Transnuclear employee who has completed the program. Training covers areas such as radiation protection basics, workers rights, risks from occupational exposure, contamination control, use of protective clothing, etc. Requalifica-tion is required annually. Testing requirements include both a written and a practical examination.
Radiation Safety The UF,as received will be in solid form and will be contained by the shipping cylindVrs. The cylinders will only contain the residual heels, with no more than.20 kg UF g per cylinder. The UF6remaining in the cylinders would have to be heated to about 175'F to generate a positive pressure within the cylinder, so leakage'to the atmosphere is not likely. In the unlikely event of a leak, the. tendency would be for the leak to be self-sealing by the hydrolyzed UF6*
SEP 101987 Transnuclear, Inc. , SER 5 In case of a broken valve, the applicant has wooden pegs available to insert into the valve cavity. To ensure fire safety, the area will be maintained under weed control. In addition, the fuel oil tank will be surrounded by an earthen levee to retain the tank contents in case of leakage. There are no other flammable materials stored in the area, therefore, there is no credible fire or explosion hazard.
The applicant states that receipt and shipment of the cylinders will be subject to dose rate and contamination level surveys in accordance with DOT regulations.
However, receipt and shipment must also be performed in accordance with NRC regulations, therefore, the following condition is recommended:
In addition to the applicable DOT regulations, the licensee shall comply with 10 CFR Fart 71 and 10 CFR 20.205.
Surveys are made to detect leakage or other changes in the storage area. The applicant states that the radiation contamination monitoring program will be expanded to include random monitoring of cylinders in storage. The application does not indicate any frequency, therefore, the following condition is recommended:
Smeer surveys of the valve and plug area of the cylinders shall be performed on a semiannual basis.
The staff is adding a condition which specifies criteria for the release of equipment and materials from the plant site or to uncontrolled areas onsite.
The condition reads as follows:
Release of equipment or materials for unrestricted use or from controlled to uncontrolled areas onsite shall be in accordance with the enclosed " Guidelines for Decontamination of Facilities and Equipment Prior to Release for Unrestricted Use or Tennination of Licenses for Byproduct, Source, or Special Nuclear Materials," dated August 1987.
Cylinders will be stored in rows as near to each other as they can safely be positioned. Cylinder valves will be protected by storing the cylinders with the valve ends facing one another and with each pair of cylinders in near con-tact. Cylinders will be stored no closer than 10 feet to a fence or roadway.
The only vehicles permitted inside the fenced general facility area are those necessary for the conduct of business. In addition to the driver, an individual will observe the operations of vehicles in the area and warn the driver if the vehicle approaches to within 10 feet of the UF6 storage area.
! All employees entering a Radiation Control Area are issued a self-reading dosimeter and a TLD badge. TLDs are read quarterly.
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7 Transnuclear, Inc. , SER 6 The U. S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office Safety Division (DOE), has notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of parallel cracks that were observed in and around the threads of 1-inch valves used in 30- and 48-inch diameter uranium hexafluoride cylinders. The cracks were observed in the valve threads of valves manufactured by Superior Valve Company. The affected lots were confirmed to be lots 16 through 22 inclusive. DOE is in the process of determining the reasons for the cracking and recommend that cylinders fitted with 1-inch valves in lots 16 through 22 not be filled, emptied, heated, or shipped until a determination of their safety is made.
NRC does not have objections to the use of 30- and 48-inch cylinders refitted with valves not in the affected lots but cautions that valves be thoroughly inspected before refitting and that valve changes be made using approved procedures.
Superior Valve Company fabricated about 4,500 valves in lots 16 through 22.
Of these, about 60 percent were designated for DOE use, and about 40 percent of the valves were procured by the private sector. The valves, fabricated from aluminum-rilicon-bronze alloy, have been in use for many years by industry for this application without incident. The defect observed by DOE is a parallel cracking of the 1-inch valve thread used to fit the valve to the cylinder. Valves in the affected lots, lots 16 through 22, can be identified by a lot number stamped in the body of the valve. Further identification of the valve and its applications may be found in OR0 651 Rev. 4, " URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE: Handling Procedures and Container Criteria."
To avoid unnecessary health and safety risks, staff has determined that valves identified as potentially defective should be identified and removed from service.-
The applicant has not requested authorization for any activities that would involve the removal of valves and will therefore, not be expected to remove defective valves if any are identified. In order to ensure that defective valves are identified, the following condition is recommended:
The licensee shall check all cylinder valves upon receipt and shall notify the Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards Branch, NRC Region II Office,if any of the cylinders are fitted with Superior Valve Company 1-inch valves manufactured in Superior Valve Company lots numbered 16 through 22.
Inventory f
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The number of cylinders will be verified on a monthly basis. The serial l numbers will be verified quarterly. The applicant does not plan to make any i independent measurements of the cylinder contents but will accept the shipper's l data for both receipt and transfer to another site.
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Transnuclear, Inc., SER 7 SEP 101987 I
Calibration The applicant has a range of radiation monitoring and measuring instruments.
Calibrations are performed on an annual basis by the manufacturer of the instrument, with the exception of the hi-volume air sampler which TN calibrates annually using a manufacturer's calibration kit. When used, portable instruments are checked for response each day. If any condition is noted that cannot be corrected, the instrument is declared to be out of calibration and is not used until calibrated.
Effluent. Control Only a small amount, if any, of radioactive waste (e.g., smear papers) is expected to be produced. Any waste that is produced will be properly stored onsite until it can be shipped to a licensed disposal facility. ,
There will not be any liquid or air effluent generated from the storage of the cylinders.
Nuclear Criticality Safety The applicant while not specifically requesting an exemption from the criticality monitoring requirements of 10 CFR 70.24 has provided a reason for the granting of such an exemption. The reason is that any combination of full cylinders in planar configuration, even when fully moderated, cannot be made critical except under incredible circumstances. The applicant's reason for the '
exemption is valid, and good cause exists for the exemption. The limited quantities of U-235 in each cylinder combined with physical spacing provided by the cylinders ensures subcriticality. Even if the mass limits were violated, optimum conditions of neutron moderation and physical spacing would be required for the cylinders to be in a critical situation.
This exemption is authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common defense and security and is otherwise in the public interest.
Accordingly, the following license condition is recommended:
The licensee is hereby exempted from the requirements of 10 CFR 70.24, j insofar as this requirement applies to the materials possessed under l this license. i i
Physical Security )
The Division of Safeguards and Transportation has reviewed TN's application to l store SNM at the Aiken facility. Based on their evaluation, the staff recommends i the following condition: {
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The licensee shall maintain and fully implement all provisions (
l of a Comission-approved security plan, as required by 73.67(c)(1),
! prior to actual possession of 10 kg or more of U-235.
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- .a SEP 101987 I l
Transnuclear, Inc., SER 8
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Environmental Protection There should be no adverse effect on the environment from the proposed action.
No effluent will be released from the site. The licensing of TN's activities is in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(xvi), and therefore, neither an Environmental Impact Statement nor an Environmental Assessment is warranted for [
this action.
Conclusion and Recommendations Upon' completion of the safety review of the licensee's application and discussion with Region II, the staff has concluded that the applicant has the necessary technical staff to administer an effective radiological safety program. Conformance by the applicant to their proposed conditions, as well as to those developed by the IMSB staff, should ensure a safe operation, a quick detection of unfavorable trends or effects, and result in corrective actions being taken.
Based on the discussion above, it is recommended that License No. SNM-1976 be issued for a 5-year period in accordance with the application and subject to the above recommended conditions.
Original Signed by Merri L. Horn Uranium Fuel Section -
Fuel Cycle Safety Branch Division of Industrial and Medical Nuclear Safety, NMSS OriBi nal SiSD'dN Approved by:
Jerry J. Swift, Section Leader Uranium Fuel Section rn n n 0FC: IMUF : F :IMS : :
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