ML20249B373
| ML20249B373 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/11/1976 |
| From: | Roy G, Galen Smith, Thompson D NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| PNO-76-037, PNO-76-37, NUDOCS 9806220374 | |
| Download: ML20249B373 (2) | |
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av March 11, 1976 PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE IL
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--PNO-76-37 4
This preliminary notification constitutes EARLY notice of events ofe C-Jo POSSIBLE safety or public interest significance.
presented is as initially received without verification or evaluation Dk The information and is basically all that is known by OIE staff as of 10:00 a.m. on date of this notification.
IT SHOULD BE SPECIFICALLY NOTED THAT THIS NOTIFICATION MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT LATER MAY BE DETERMIN
_BE INACCURATE OR INCONSISTENT. AN OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENF NOTIFICATION OF AN INCIDENT OR OCCURRENCE (BLUE SHEET) SUBSEQUE WILL BE ISSUED IF WARRANTED.
Facility:
Nuclear Engineering Company,"Inc.(NECO), Beatty, Nevada Waste Burial Facility i
Subject:
RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL REMOVED FROM LICENSEE PREMISES This information supplements information contained in Notice No.76-04A issued by the Agreement and Export Branch on March 8, 1976.
On March 8, 1976, Region V (San Francisco) received information from IE:EQ that the State of Nevada was issuing an Order requiring NECO to cease operations at the Beatty, Nevada radioactive waste burial site.
The action was based on a report to the State from NECO to the effect that NECO employees had used a contaminated concrete mixer truck for mixing concrete at three locations in the town of Beatty. The concrete mixer is used for solidifying liquid waste containing byproduct materials at the Beatty site under the State of Nevada license. Three NECO employees have been dis-charged as a result.
The State of Nevada also has received all'egations that other potentially contaminated material or equipment may have been removed from the site.
The State of Nevada initiated an investigation on March /D,1976, to determine the validity of these allegations. The investigation will i.
include direct radiation surveys of those homes and locations specifically identified in the allegations and also door to. door ' radiation surveys of all other residences in Beatty, Nevada (estimated 200 homes). The presence of contaminated concrete in the town has been confirmed, and soma concrete has been cut up and transferred to the NECO burial site.
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The NRC license at the NECO Beatty site authorizes only operations k
involving waste containing Special Nuclear Material. The operations _
D1 under the NRC license involve only a small percentage of the total NECO activities at the Beatty site. An IE inspector and an IE investi-gator are at the Beatty site continuing the NRC investigation into the Possibility of NRC licensed material having been removed from the site, and continuing the review of the safety of NECO operations under the NRC license.
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March 11, 1976 Pega 2 PNO-76-37 NECO has informed Region V that there currently is no SNM authorized by the NRC license stored above ground at the Beatty facility. As a result of the State of Nevada Order, NECO has notified all of its customers to make no more shipments of radioactive vaste, including SNM waste, to the Beatty facility until the Nevada Order is rescinded. Any SNM waste which may be enroute at this time will be accepted and placed in the trench for burial at the Beatty site. These commitments have been confirmed in a letter from Region V, hand delivered to NECO on March 10, 1976.
The Office of Inspection and Enforcement is also initiating investigations at the other NECO sites under NRC license (Sheffield, Illinois and Richland, Washington) to determine whether the problem under investigation is site specific at Beatty or corporate wide.
The matter has received press attention in Nevada and California and a brief item appeared in the March 10 Washington Post.
Information concerning the State of Nevada Order was received by I&E from NMSS on March 8, 1976.
Contact:
GHSmith, IE x27261 CWRoy, IE x27353 DThompson, IE x27541 Distribution:
Chairman Anders Commissioner Mason S. J. Chilk, SECY Commissioner Gilinsky Commissioner Rowden G. F. Murphy, JCAE Commissioner Kennedy C. C. Kammerer, CA L. V. Gossick, EDO J. G. Davis, OIE J. A. Harris, PA B. C. Rusche, NRR J. La Fleur, ISP T. J. McTiernan, AIA K. R. Chapman, NHSS H.*K. Shapar, ELD Transmitted: P Bldg
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i PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION NOT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE 4. - -
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