ML20237L765

Forwards Safety Insp Rept 50-029/87-10 on 870615-19 & Notice of Violation.Circumstances Surrounding 870530 Exposure of Skin of Head of Individual Worker Reviewed.Hot Particle Not Removed Immediately

ML20237L765
Person / Time
Site:	Yankee Rowe
Issue date:	08/24/1987
From:	Martin T NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Heider L YANKEE ATOMIC ELECTRIC CO.
Shared Package
ML20237L768	List: IR 05000029/1987010 ML20237L765 ML20237L806
References
EA-87-154, NUDOCS 8708280240
Download: ML20237L765 (3)

See also: IR 05000029/1987010

Text

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D CJ

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AUG 2 41987

Docket No. 50-29

License No. DPR-3

EA 87-154

Yankee Atomic Electric Company

ATTN: Mr. L. H. Heider

Vice President of Operations

f 1671 Worcester Road

Framingham, Massachusetts 01701

'

Gentlemen:

Subject: NOTICE OF VIOLATION

(Inspection No. 50-29/87-10)

This refers to the special safety inspection conducted on June 15-19, 1987 at

the fankee Nuclear Power Station, Rowe, Massachusetts. The inspection report

is enclosed. The inspection was conducted to (1) review the circumstances

associated with an incident at your facility, which was identified by your

staff and reported to the NRC, involving the exposure of the skin of the head

of an individual worker from radioactive material in an amount in excess of the

regulatory limit, and (2) evaluate the status of your program for controlling

l exposures from small, radioactive particles, commonly referred to as " hot

particles," and to limit the spread of these particles both within and beyond

the radiological control areas. During the inspection, two violations of NRC

requirements were identified.

The violations, which are described in the enclosed Notice, include the over-

exposure and the failure to perform an adequate survey which could have pre-

vented the overexposure. These violations are of concern to the NRC because

the hot particle was detected on the individual's head on May 30, 1987, but was

not removed until June 2,1987. Your basis for the delay was an initial dose

rate estimate of 8 mrem /hr which led the supervisor to conclude that immediate

surgical removal was unwarranted. However, this initial estimate was incorrect

and the actual dose rate was closer to 100 mrem /hr. If the initial dose rate

estimate was closer to the actual dose rate, you indicated steps would have

been taken to immediately remove the particle, and the overexposure could

have been prevented. These violations demonstrate the importance of proper

evaluation of radiological incid~s.

Violation A described in the attached Notice of Violation, involving an

exposure in excess of the regulatory limit, is classified as a Severity

Level IV violation. As indicated in Supplement IV of the NRC Enforcement

Policy, significant violations of this type are normally classified as

Severity Level III. However, after careful consideration of the factors  ;

involved in this specific instance, we have classified this violation as j

'

Severity Level IV since the safety implications of this exposure are small

given the small area of skin that was exposed.

8708280240 870824

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, Yankee Atomic Electric Company 2 AUG 2 41987

You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions

specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your i

response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional j

actions you plan to prevent recurrence. After reviewing your response to this

Notice, including your proposed corrective actions and the results of future  ;

inspections, the NRC will determine'whether further NRC enforcement action is  :

necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.

In accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," Part 2,

Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a copy of this letter and its enclosure ,

will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room. l

The responses directed by this letter and the enclosed Notice are not subject

to the clearance procedures of the Office of Management and Budget as required

by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No.96-511.

Sincerely,

original aisnod DX3

{

homas T. Martin, Director

' ivision of Radiation Safety

,

and Safeguards

Enclosures: j

1. Notice of Violation i

2. Inspection Report No. 50-29/87-10 )

l

cc w/encls: '

N. N. St. Laurent, Plant Superintendent

J. E. Tribble, President

G. J. Papanic, Jr., Senior Project Engineer - Licensing

Public Document Room (PDR)

Local Public Document Room (LPDR)

Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)

NRC Resident Inspector

Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2)

0FFICIAL RECORD COPY CP PKG YANKEE R0WE REV 1 - 0002.0.0

08/19/87

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.

. Yankee Atomic Electric Company 3

bec w/encls:

Region I Docket Room (with concurrences)

Management Assistant, DRMA (w/o encl)

DRP Section Chief

M. Fairtile, LPM, NRR

Robert J. Bores, DRSS

SECY

J. Taylor, DEDO ,

J. Lieberman, OE j

W. Russell, RI

T. Murley, NRR j

D. Holody, RI =

S. Schinki, OGC

T. Martin, DEDRO

Enforcement Directors, RII-RIII

Enforcement Officers RIV-RV

E. Flack, OE

F. Ingram, PA

J. Bradburne, 0GPA

E. Jordan, AE0D

B. Hayes, 01

S. Connelly, 01A

D. Nussbaumer, SLITP

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