ML20126B000
| ML20126B000 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 02700039 |
| Issue date: | 01/07/1980 |
| From: | Paul R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20126A746 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-92-71 27-0039-79-04, NUDOCS 8002290259 | |
| Download: ML20126B000 (7) | |
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..O U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COM,11SS10N OFFICE OT INSPECTION AND ENTORCEKENT REGION !!!
Report No. 27-39/79 04 Docket No. 27-39 License No. 13-10042-01 Licensee: Nuclear Engineering Company, Inc.
9200 Shelbyville Road, Suite $26 Post Office Box 7246 Louisville, KY 40207 Tacility Name: Nuclear Engineering, Shef field, IL Burial facility inspection At: Sheffield, Illinois inspection Conducted: November 6 and 26, 1979
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Inspectors: k. u( _/!7 b
, aay
- e. C . A . Ro> t e k B rae / ,' y
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Approved By: C Pap i l o, Chief [2 O Materials Radiological Protection Section 1 Inspection Summary hspection on November 6 and 26, 1979 (Report No. 2239/04)
Ageas inspected: Routine, unannounced inspection to determine compliance i with requirements, including: licensee action on previously identified enforcement matters, organizational changes, auditt., security program, independent measurments, permanent sample stations, physical tour of the site, training program, personnel exposure control - external, internal, air sample program, instruments - calibration, trench construction and status of water in trenches. The inspection involved twelve inspector-hours onsite by two hPC inspectors.
Results: Of the fourteen areas inspected, no apparent items of noncom-pliance were identified.
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DETAILS
- 1. Persons Contacted
- R. Moore, Facility Site Manager
- A. Amburst, Radiological Control and Safety Of ficer
- Denotes those present at exit interview.
- 2. General The purpose of this inspection was to determine if the licensee is conducting their Radiological Safety Program in accordance with their license requirements as stated in a letter to Mr. T. B. Couner, Va shington , D.C. from the USKRC dated April 23, 1979. The results of our inspection findings, discussed below, indicate the licensee is conducting their activities in accordance with those requirements.
- 3. Scope of Operations The records indicate that the last date of waste burial in Trench i4-A was April 8, 1978, and no radioactive waste had been buried at the Sheffield, Illinois facility since that time. Trenches 14 and 14-A were covered with back fill and no other burial trenches were open at the time of the inspections nor was any radioactive waste noted as being stored on the ground. The licensee has not received any radioactive material at the Sheffield site since March 8, 1979.
4 Licensee Action on Previous Enforcement Matters Special inspections were conducted during March 1979 and the in-spection findings were contained in Inspection Report No 27-39/79-02.
During that inspection, six items of noncompliance were noted. A Notice of Violation which set forth these items of noncompliance were sent to the licensee in a letter dated March 30, 1979. The licensee responsed 1979.
to the:e items of noncompliance in a letter dated April 25, The iten of noncompliance found during our April 12 and May 8, 1979 inspection was corrected as indicated in the licensee's letter to us dated June 28, 1978.
- 5. Organization The licensee's organizational structure and its responsibilities which pertain to the Sheffield, Illinois site are defined in the licensee's Radiological Controls and Safety for Burial Site Manual (RCS) and Site Operations Manual for Low Level RAD Waste Disposal at Sheffield, Illinois (SOM). These manuals were incorporated into the license by Amendment No. 11, dated January 6, 1977.
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The fo!!owing organirations; changes have been made since the in-spection conducted in July 1978. Dr. Thomas Baer, Vice President, is the Chief Radiological Control and Safety Officer and also the Vice President of Science and Licensing. Mr. Sid Vright is a Vice-President in Charge of Operations, Mr. David Buckner is a Vice President in Charge of Marketing and Mr. Walter Hpyshen is the Deputy Radiological Control and Safety Officer, No items of noncomplicance were identified.
- 6. Audits
- a. Quarte rly Audit '
The licensee's quarterly audit as _ described in Section 4 of the RCS and Section 2 of the SOM is implemented and records of the audits were reviewed for the second quarter of 1979. The re-port of the licensee's third quarter audit had not been sent to the Sheffteld site at the time of the inspection; however, there was a record to indicate the audit was performed on September 27, 1979.
- b. Site Inspections The licensee's quarterly site inspection requirements as des-cribed in the RCS and SOM were reviewed. Section 2.2.5 of the NCS requires that the Chief Radiological Control and Safety Officer spend a minimum of one to three days of every calendar quarter at the burial facility. These inspections were per-formed in each of the first three quarters of 1979.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
, 7. Security Program The licensee conducts a security program in accordanct with Section 4.0 of the SOM except for those changes that were negotiated between NRC and hTCO and documented in an agreement between both parties,
' dated April 23, 1979. The "Af ter Shif t and Weekend Log" was re-viewed through June 30, 1979. The results of this review indicated the security program is
- ing implemented.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
- 8. Instruments The licensee's radiation survey instruments which are used to perform surveys in accordance with the licensee's survey procedures-(SI-(04) are calibrated at approximately six month intervals.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
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- 9. Permanent Sample Stations The licensee's permanent sump, surface runof f and water sample stations records were examined. The licensee does all required weekly permanent sump, surf ace runof f and water sample stations monitoring.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
- 10. Trenrh Construction Records of as built specifications for cap depth, compaction, etc.
for Trenches 14 and 14A were done by Daily Associates in 1977 and 1978 and were sent to the Low Level Vast e Management Branch. The tests required by Section 8.3 of the SOM were completed by Daily and Associates and sent t o the State of Illinois and to KECO Headquarters.
I The results of these tests were sent to the Low Level Waste Management I Branch during the week of Norember 26, 1979.
- 11. Trainin.g uRetraining, and Instruction to Vorhers The licensce's training, retraining and instructions to worker 2 are described in the RCS and SOM as are all forms required for signature with reference to instructions and tests. Radiation workers requal-ification tests which were taken on April 11, 1979, were rev:.cwed and no problems were noted. The required retraining for certain t.uck drivers has been given since the last inspection.
No stems of noncompliance were identified.
- 12. Iersonnel l Radiation Protection - External The licensee's radiation monitoring and personnel monitor ng program as outlined in the RCS were reviewed during this inspection. The licensee uses monthly film badges for monitoring external whole body exposures for persons actively engaged in the program. The film badges are supplied by Landauer Company. The licensee maintains copies of Form AEC-5, AEC-4, State of Illinois Form RMA-1, and the reports f rom the film badge supplier. These records were reviewed for the third quarter, 1979. khole body exposures were minimal.
A review of the licensee's direct surveys for the period April 27, 1979 to the date of this inspection indicated that daily surveys are made of the maintenance shop area, office area, and change room, The records aboved no radiation levels were above background, No items of noncomplicance were identified.
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Personnel Radiation Protection Internal The licensee's bioassay program consists of performing urinalyses of all radiation workers on a quarterly frequency. This program in-cludes gamma isotopic, uranium, and tritium analyses. The licensee does not perform analyses for gross beta and gross alpha emitters.
Bioassay sample analysis records were reviewed for the second and third quarters, 1979. A review of these records indicate the ana-lyses were accomplished on a quarterly basis and no problems werc noted.
Whole body counts were performed on May 14, 1979 on truck drivers, the Site Manager and RSO. These counts indicated that no person had a body deposition above background.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
- 14. Air Sample Program Thelicenseetakesdailyairsamplesoftheyardoutsidethemajn building by drawing air through a sample tube at a rate of 5 ft / minute using a statienary pump inside the building. The results of these samples were reviewed to the date of inspection from April 1979 and tndicated concentrations below 10 CFR Part 20, Appendix B limits.
In addition, the licensee has taken tritium samples using a tritium bubbler sampler in the chemistry safety trailer. The records of these samples were reviewed from April 1979 to the date of this in-spection, and indicated no concentrations above background.
- 15. Water in Trenches 14-A and 25-C The licensee initated pumping of Trench 14-A and 25-C sumps on April 2 and March 28, 1979, respectively. The pumping continued until July 21, 1979, at which time both trenches were considered dry as determined by sounding on the three user pipes in Trench 14-A and taking sump water samples from Trench 25-C. The total quantity of water pumped from these two trenches was 2527 gallons which contained 71.79 millicuries of radioactivity and was transferred via a tank truck to Todd Shipping Company, Galveston, Texas (Texas Department of Public Resources, License No. 8-871) on August 3, 1979. The Radioactive Shipment Report showed the 71.79 millicuries of radio-active liquid consisted of the following:
Isotope Quantity in millicuries l
I Ilydrogen 3 64.1 l
- l. Cobalt 60 0.336 l
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.4 Strontuim 90 0.096 -
Cesium 137 0.041 Cesium 134 0.013 Manganese 54 -0.011 residual of all above isotopes 7.20 except strontium 90
- 16. Tour of the Twenty Acre Burial Site '
The inspectors toured the burial and chemical site during the in-spection and noted that no sink holes exist and that the integrity of the six foot fence surrounding the site was intact and being maintained.
During the tour it was noted that the empty 30 gallon barrels which were used to collect and store the liquid from Trenches 14-A and 25-C were on the licensee's dock within the fenced-in area. A sur- -
vey of these barrels indicated radiation levels ranging from 0.1 to 0,3 mR/hr. The surveys were made using an Eberline E-500B portable' survey meter, serial number 000698,which was calibrated on August 4, 1979. The barrels will be disposed of as radioactive waste _when one of the other of the licensee's vaste disposal sites is reopened..
Vipe tests taken on the exterior surface of several barrels indicated no loose contamination was present.
Soil crosion areas were observed near Trench No. 24 and Trench No. 25-C ranging in size f rom 1.5 feet wide and I to 3 feet deep near Trench No. 24 and 0.5 foot wide to 1 foot deep near Trench No.
25-C.
The erosion of these areas was noted on-the RCS audit of September 27, 1979. The licensee has made attempts at correcting these areas but they have not been completely successful due to heavy rains in the recent weeks prior to the inspection. The site manager pointed out that the areas which have been planted with grass seed on the site will help reduce the erosion areas and con-tinuous efforts will be made to correct the problem. Based on the sampling for liquid of the trenches near the erosion areas, it appears that the migration of water into the trenches (due to the erosion) has not occurred.
No items of noncompliance were identified.
t 17. Independent Measurements i
See Paragraph 16.
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,,' , 18. Management Exit Interview Those areas inspected during this inspection as outlined in the Details of this report were discussed with personnel (denoted by the asterisk in Paragraph 1) on November 6, 1979.
The following items were specifically discussed at this meeting:
- a. The previous item of noncompliance and licensee's corree-tive actions.
- b. The results of this inspection.
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