IR 05000482/1987036

Insp Rept 50-482/87-36 on 871116 & 17.Violation Noted.Major Areas Inspected:Radiation Protection Program,Including Contamination Control

ML20234E532
Person / Time
Site:	Wolf Creek
Issue date:	12/17/1987
From:	Baer R, Murray B NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV)
To:
Shared Package
ML20234E510	List: IR 05000482/1987036 ML20234E506 ML20234E523
References
50-482-87-36, NUDOCS 8801110047
Download: ML20234E532 (4)

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1. $ b APPENDIX B ,,

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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

REGION IV

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NRC Inspection Report: 50-482/87-36 Operating License: NPF-42 Docket: 50-482  :=

~-L Licensee: Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (WCNOC)

P.O. Box 411 '

Burlington, Kansas 66839 Facility Name: Wolf Creek Generating Station (WCGS)

Inspection At: WCGS Site, Burlington, Kansas

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Inspection Conducted: November 16 and 17, 1987 (_

l Inspector: -

s ; it f 0f 8'7 R. E. Bler, Radiati6n Specialist, Facilities Date Radi'ological Protection Section Approved: k- lE l 11 lf'7 B. Mu raaf, Chief, Fachlities Radiological Date Protection Section '

Inspection Summary Inspection Conducted November 16 and 17,1987 (Report 50-482/87-36)

Areas Inspected: Special, unannounced inspection of the radiation protection program including contamination contro Results: Within the area inspected, one violation was identifie .

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-2-DETAILS Persons Contacted WCNOC

• G. D. Boyer, Plant Manager

• C. J. Hoch, Quality Assurance (QA) Technician L. M. Kline, Senior Health Physics Technician

• E. Lehmann, Technical Staff Engineer

• J. F. McMahon, Technical Training Supervisor

• M. Nichols, Plant Support Superintendent

• E. Parry, Quality Engineering Superintendent

• J. Pendergrass, Licensing Engineer

• K. R. Petersen, Licensing Supervisor

• W. J. Rudolph II, QA Manager

• R. Sims, Technical Staff Engineer C. L. Taylor, Acting Site Health Physicist

• G. Wedd, Environmental Management Supervisor

• M. G. Williams, Regulatory, Quality and Administration Superintendent

• Wood, General Counsel

• J. A. Zell, Nuclear Training Manager Others

• B. L. Bartlett, Resident Inspector, NRC M. Kinnen, Coffey County Deputy Sheriff H. L. Spiker, State of Kansas Department of Health and Environment C. Swartz, State of Kansas Department of Health and Environment  ;

• Denotes those individuals present during the exit interview conducted on November 17, 198 The NRC inspector also interviewed several other licensee and contractor health physics employee . Background Information On November 8,1987, a health physics (HP) technician released material consisting of ventilation ductwork, which was believed to have originated from the auxiliary building, from the facilities radiologically controlled area. This material did not indicate any detectable transferable radioactive material when checked by the smear wipe method. The HP technician had observed an increase in radiation levels at welded seams on the inside of the ductwork of approximately 150 to 200 counts per

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-3-minute (CPM) above background with a count-rate meter and pancake type Geiger-Muller (G-M) detector. The technician attributed this increase to n.turally cccurring tungster.-187 which had been found ia welding rod. A sample of the duct had been retained and was later, on November 9,1987, analyzed on a gamma spectrometer system and determined to contain trace (

quantitie, of the radienucides of cobalt-58 and 60, chrominum-51, and iron-59. The HP technician notifiea his supervisor of the findings and they immediately attempted to locate the material. The material had been cemoved from the WCGS site and discarded in the Coffey County landfill east of Burlington, Kansa The morning of November 10, 1987, the site health physicist directed HP technicians to go to the landfill and retrieve the ventilation ductwork, Construction personnel involved in the removal of the material from the containment building inventorud the material and confirmed that all (

material, except for two steel str:ips and a piece of angle iron, were

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accounted for. The licensee could not verify that the straps and angle iron were removed from the WCGS site. The licensee calculated the total activity of the retrieved ductwork to be 4.75 microcuries (uC1) and estimated the activity for those items not recovered to be 0.293 uC NOTE: The licensee had completed the radiological survey of the Caffey County landfill on November 30, 1987. The licensee recovered some 3-inch square "L" brackets which were determined not to be contaminated but did not recover any of the identified missing ductwork pieces at the landfil This reinforces the licensee doubts th:lt tha missing material was released from the WCGS sit . Inspection Findings The NRC inspector arrived at the WCGC site on the morning of November 16, 1987, and reviewed the circumstances and actions taken by the licensee relating to the ventilation ductwork inciden The NRC inspector, accompanied by the WCGS NRC resident inspector, plant support superintendent, and a HP technician went to the Coffey County landfill to observe whe*e the ductwork was retrieved and perform a confirmatory radiation survey of the are During the radiation survey, a plastic bug was found that indicated approximately 45 microroentgens per hour (uR/hr)

which corresponded to between 400 and 500 cpm on a pancake type G-M detector, the general background radiation level at the landfill was i observed between 7 and 10 uR/h Arrangements were made with the landfill operator to divert all new incoming trash to a separate area of the landfill trench while WCGS personnel retrieved the contents of the bag and performed additional radiation surveys of the are First indications were that the radiation was emanating from a bundle of rags which had been used for dye penetrant testing. The licensee later determined that there were two blue rags inside the bundle that were contaminated and the dye penetrant rags were radiologically clean. The

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-a-I licensee calculated the two blue rags to contain approximately 0.41 uCi of licensed radioactive materials. Examination of the contents of the i plastic bag revealed that the bag had originated from the WCGS site, came I from within the radiologically controlled area, and that the bag had been (

released from the WCUS site sometime after October 22, 158 l The licensee notified the state of Kansas, Department of Health and Environment, the NRC, county officials, and made a press release of the second finding of licenseu material at the landfill. The licensee also stopped the release of all dry waste from the radiologically controlled .

area of the plant and instituted a training program to retrain all HP l technicians who monitor materials being released in the procedures and '

methods of monitorin The Coffey County landfill trench was filled to a length of approximately 356 feet and 120 feet wide. The licensee agreed to perform radiation surveys of the landfill. The licensee also agreed to include the Coffey County landfill on their routine radiation survey schedul The landfill will be surveyed on a weekly basis to begin with and providing no additional licensed material is found af ter a period may be reduced to a monthly basi ;

Additional corrective actions to be taken by the licensee include:

A review of release criteria, procedures, techniques, limits, and locations to be monitore *

Interview individual HP technicians, cleaners, and supervisors to determine nature of the inciden *

Require each bag of trash being removed from the radiologically controlled area to be monitored by two individual Each bag of trash will have a tag or sticker attached to include the name of individuals who surveyed i CFR Part 20.301(a) states, in part, that no licensee shall dispose of licensed material except by transfer to an authorized recipient as provided in the regulation The NRC inspector stated that the disposal of licensed radioactive material in the Coffey County landfill is considered an apparent violation of 10 CFR Part 20.301(a) requirements (482/8736-01).

4. Exit Interview The NRC inspector met with the personnel identified in paragraph I at the conclusion vi the inspection on November 17, 1987. The NRC inspector summarized the scope and findings of the inspection.