PNO-II-99-020, on 990528,Region II Received Press Inquiries Re 990219 Event in Which Depleted U Ammunition Inadvertently Expanded on Live Impact Area of Vieques Island in Puerto Rico.Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Notified
| ML20207B575 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 03029462 |
| Issue date: | 06/01/1999 |
| From: | Fuller M NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| PNO-II-99-020, PNO-II-99-20, NUDOCS 9906020001 | |
| Download: ML20207B575 (1) | |
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June 1,1999 PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE PNO-II 020 This preliminary notification constitutes EARLY notice of events of POSSIBLE safety or public interest significance. The information is as initially received without verification or evaluation, and is basically all that is known by Region 11 staff (Atlanta, Georgia) on this date.
Facility Licensee Emeroency Classification U. S. Department of the Navy Notification of Unusual Event Crystal City, Virginia Alert i
Docket No. 030-29462 Site Area Emergency License No. 45-23645-01NA General Emergency X Not Applicable
SUBJECT:
PRESS INTEREST IN EVENT INVOLVING DEPLETED URANIUM l
AMMUNITION On May 28,1999, Region ll received press inquiries regarding a February 19,1999 event in which depleted uranium (DU) ammunition was inadvertently expended on the Live Impact Area (LIA) of the Vieques Naval Range, on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico. The range is a naval weapons firing range and is a restricted area. The NRC was informed of the event on March 5,1999, after it was identified.
During a training exercise, two U. S. Marine Corps Harrier aircraft expended 263 DU rounds. Each round contains 140 grams of DU in the form of a pencil shaped penetrator.
The LIA is located on the eastem tip of the island of Vieques and. covers approximately 2.5 square miles. Interviews with the Marine pilots isolated the affected area to a small portion of the LIA called the North Convoy. The LIA is guarded 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> per day and only a few 4
individuals are authorized access.
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A team of Navy Health Physicists was deployed to the area between March 10 and 19, 1999. The team performed visual and radiological surveys and determined that the l
penetrators were 10 to 20 feet apart along three distinct paths. A total of 57 penetrators were recovered. Due to dense vegetation in portions of the affected area, the search was
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suspended because of the possibility of unexploded conventional ordinance. The Navy plans to resume recovery operations in August 1999. The Navy will provide additional a
l information subsequent to this further work.
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Region 11 has been following the Navy's response to this incident and will continue to do so.
j The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has been notified. This information is current as of June 1,1999, at 11:00 am.
Contact:
Michael Fuller r
(404) 562-4714
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