ML18037A365

Forwards Rept Detailing Causes of 810708-09 Release of 5.3 Ci Liquid Radwaste Into Lake Ontario.Actions Taken to Reduce Frequency & Magnitude of Future Releases Discussed

ML18037A365
Person / Time
Site:	Nine Mile Point
Issue date:	10/30/1981
From:	LEMPGES T E NIAGARA MOHAWK POWER CORP.
To:	Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
NMP-3818, NUDOCS 8111040298
Download: ML18037A365 (10)

Text

REGULATORY rrORMATION DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM(RIDGEDACCESSIOV<

NBR:8111040298 DOC,DATEi 81/10/30NOTARIZED NOFACILt:50'-220 Nine-RilePointNuclearStation~Unit1rNiagara'owe

'AUTHl.N<ME.AUTHORAFFILIATION LEMPGES~,T.EI, Niagpra~Mohawk[Power~Corp.RECIP~VAMEIREC~IPSENT AFFILIAD'IOiV OfficelofNuclearReactorRegu1ationeDire'c teriDOCKE~T'05000220

SUBJECT:

-'orwards reotdetailing.causesof810708-09=-

releaseof5o3CiliquidradwasteintoLakeiOntario,Actionstaken<toreducelfrequencyImagnitudeoffutureireleasesdiscusse'd; DISTRIBUTION CODEi:C001SCOPXEGRECEaVED:Ltt'R ENCLSIZE:-TKTLEtEhviron,ReportAmendments 8RelatedCorrespondence,'OTES':

RECIPIENT I>CODE/NAMEi ACTlION:"

ORSi02Bc)18POLKpP.,04IINTERNALS ELD<NR<r/DE/WEB 06'RR'/8II/ElTSB08COPIESLTTRENCL<111110111111RECIPXENTIDCODE/NAMEI ORB02LA19ILE)15'RR/DE/HGEB

-VRR/DSI'/RAB0,9SIT'NAL<BR07COPIEBLiTYR~ENCL~112=111111EXTERNALS ACRSNRciPDRtNTIS20;02l33111LPDRNSIC'305I4,>yi36~"~~TOTALNU4iBER<OFCOPIESREQUIRED:

LiTTR20ENCL<19

NMP-9818NIAGARAMOHAWKPOWERCORPORATION NIAGARA"~MOHAWK300ERIEBOULEVARD.

WESTSYRACUSE.

N.Y.13202NAectolt, O)gceo$Nuclettlt, Revolt.Regulate.on

'UnitedS~mNuclealt.

Regulatolty Comm.Nasfungkon, OC20555Re,:OockWNo.50-220gee.Zvt,,NOVO3tga~l1OMillt%KLhaE20tl~g~~@gg'.rIIOnJuly8-9,1981,a(Celt.(ottltmod@o(lte$ueXingoutageandckuu.nga~p,acontltolled d&chaltge o$~tw.dltatLt',oa~ve uIatICe~ntoLake,Onkuu.oCo~ng5.9nuu'.eloccttltlted atCheN~neNLePmU~<1generating I%any.Enclosedheltein,L ncommence~hEnvironmental Tech.cal Speci(4'cation 2.4.1.h,LealtepoMdeta~ng(I)Ae~uo$4helteleaeeand(II)a~ehWkenColteduceChe$ltequency andmagnitude o$JLtultelt.eleaseg

.Mncelt.ely, Vie;Pltukdent Nuclealt.

'Gen~onTEL/jb/jmEncloattlt.el gII0'ISlIPDR040298811030SADOCK05000220..PDR elia<IJilS CAUSESOFTHERELEASEThefollowing

.conditions directlyorindirectly necessitated thereleaseofliquidradioactive wasteintoLakeOntarioinJuly1981:,1)TheinfluxoffloordrainwatersintotheRadwastefacilityduringthefirstweekofJuly1981exceededthestoragecapacityofthesystemandtheprocessing capabilities oftheNasteConcentrator.

¹11and¹12FloorDrainSampleTanks,theFloorDrainCollector

'ank,theNasteNeutralizer TankandtheNasteSurgeTankwereallfilledornearlyfilledwithhighcon-ductivity liquidwaste.2),Theperformance oftheRadwastedemineralizer wasunex-pectedlypoorduringthelatterpartoftheoutage,resulting inconsiderable

downtime, frequentresinregenerations andabacklogof"cleanwaste"(ie,radio-activeliquidwastewithaconductivity lessthan20pmhos/cm).

3)The'processing ofapproximately 500,000gallonsoftoruswaterintheearlypartoftheoutageyieldedahighin-ventoryoffiltersludgeandnecessitated additional resinregenerations.

4)Thecationtanklateralnetwork,anintegralpartoftheresinregeneration system,was-readjusted duringtheoutageandrequiredaboutoneweekdowntime.

Thisfurtherreduced'he frequency ofpermissible Radwastedemineralizer regen-erationsandtheassociated processing ofequipment drainwaters.5)Crosscontamination ofequipment drainsumpsinRadwasteBuilding229'levation withhighconductivity floordrain-filtersludgewatersfromRadwaste225'levation wasimmi-nentunlesspromptactionwastaken.InresponsetothebacklogofRadwastewatersnotedabove,severalactions,including liquidwastedischarge toLakeOntario,wereevalu-ated.Toprepareforapotential discharge, the50,000gallonNasteSurgeTank(onacontinuous recirculation mode)wassampledandisotopi-callyanalyzedonJuly7,1981.Finally,onJuly8,1981,condition

¹5notedabovedictatednoalternative recourseandthedischarge commenced..

Pertinent dataassociated withthereleaseislistedonTable¹1.Thedischarge conformed withall10CFR20andEnvironmental Technical Specifi-cationlimitsregarding nuclideconcentrations andquantities.

'll.ACTIONPLANNineblilePointtl.hasmadeaconscious effortinrecentyearsto,limitthedischarge ofliquidradioactive wasteintoLakeOntario.Forexample,inthe42monthperiodbetweenlate1977andJuly1981,lessthan2curiesofliquidwastewasdischarged.

Thisvalue,ontheaverage,represents only.about12'fthedesignobjective releasegoalof5curies/year (Environmental Technical Specifications

-Section2.'4).Despitepresentcapabilities tostaywellwithin10CFR20anddesignob-jectivedischarge, limitations duringnormaloperation, severalmeasuresarenowunderconsideration

(*),plannedforimplementation

(**)oralreadybeingimplemented

(***);whichshouldfurtherenhancethestation's commit-menttowardthe10CFRSOALARAconceptandreducethefrequency andmagnitude offutureliquidradioactive discharges.

1)Theprocessing offilter,sludgematerialthrougha-newlyinstalled phaseseparator therebyreducingconcentrator

-inputs(**).jfII2)Theprocurement oftwo3.argecapacity, semi-portable,

.standbydemineralizers XoruseduringRadwastedemineral-

'izersdowntimes,(iS necessary).

(*"*)3)Theinstallation ofanadditional 15gpmevaporator fortheprocessing ofhighconductivity waste.(**),4)5),Replacement oftheifasteSurgeTankwithanewtankoflargercapacity.

(*)Theinstallation ofeitherorbothanadditional storagetankandanadditional demineralizer intheRadwasteCom-plex.(*)

0I~P TABL'E1TankDischarge Rate(gpm)DilutionWaterFlow(gpm)BatchMPC(pCi/ml)302.11E51.9E-5ActivityConcentration inDischarge Canal(gCi/ml)7.4E-6~~MPCinDischarge Canal