Information Notice 1985-92, Surveys of Wastes Before Disposal from Nuclear Reactor Facilities

Surveys of Wastes Before Disposal from Nuclear Reactor Facilities

ML031180130
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley, Millstone, Hatch, Monticello, Calvert Cliffs, Dresden, Davis Besse, Peach Bottom, Browns Ferry, Salem, Oconee, Mcguire, Nine Mile Point, Palisades, Palo Verde, Perry, Indian Point, Fermi, Kewaunee, Catawba, Harris, Wolf Creek, Saint Lucie, Point Beach, Oyster Creek, Watts Bar, Hope Creek, Grand Gulf, Cooper, Sequoyah, Byron, Pilgrim, Arkansas Nuclear, Three Mile Island, Braidwood, Susquehanna, Summer, Prairie Island, Columbia, Seabrook, Brunswick, Surry, Limerick, North Anna, Turkey Point, River Bend, Vermont Yankee, Crystal River, Haddam Neck, Ginna, Diablo Canyon, Callaway, Vogtle, Waterford, Duane Arnold, Farley, Robinson, Clinton, South Texas, San Onofre, Cook, Comanche Peak, Yankee Rowe, Maine Yankee, Quad Cities, Humboldt Bay, La Crosse, Big Rock Point, Rancho Seco, Zion, Midland, Bellefonte, Fort Calhoun, FitzPatrick, McGuire, LaSalle, 05000000, Zimmer, Fort Saint Vrain, Shoreham, Satsop, Trojan, Atlantic Nuclear Power Plant, Skagit, Marble Hill
Issue date:	12/02/1985
From:	Jordan E NRC/IE
To:
References
IN-85-092, NUDOCS 8511270325
Download: ML031180130 (5)

SSIN No.: 6835 IN 85-92 UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555 December 2, 1985 IE INFORMATION NOTICE NO. 85-92: SURVEYS OF WASTES BEFORE DISPOSAL FROM

NUCLEAR REACTOR FACILITIES

Addressees

All production and utilization facilities, including nuclear power reactors

and research and test reactors, holding an operating license (OL) or construc- tion permit (CP).

Purpose

The purpose of this information notice is to supplement the guidance of IE

Circular 81-07 as it applies to surveys of solid waste materials before

disposal from nuclear reactor facilities. It is expected that recipients

will review the information for applicability to their facilities. However, this information notice does not constitute NRC requirements; therefore, no

specific action or licensee response is required.

Description of Circumstance:

Some questions have arisen concerning appropriate methods of surveying solid

waste materials for surface contamination before releasing them as nonradio- active (i.e., as wastes that do not contain NRC-licensed material).

Discussion:

The need to minimize the volume of radioactive waste generated and shipped

to commercial waste burial sites is recognized by the NRC and industry. Some

nuclear power plants have initiated programs to segregate waste generated in

radiologically controlled areas. Such programs can contribute to the reduction

in volume of radioactive waste; however, care should be taken to ensure that

no licensed radioactive material is released contrary to the provisions of

10 CFR Section 20.301. In practice, no radioactive (licensed) material means

no detectable radioactive material.

In 1981, IE Circular 81-07 was issued by the NRC. That circular provided

guidance on the control of radioactively contaminated material and identified

the extent to which licensees should survey for contamination. It did not

establish release limits. The criteria in the circular that addressed surface

contamination levels were based on the best information available at the time

and were related to the detection capability of portable survey instruments

8511270325

IN 85-92 December 2, 1985 equipped with thin-window "pancake" Geiger-Mueller (G.M.) probes, which respond

primarily to beta radiation. Monitoring of aggregated, packaged material was

not addressed. In 1981, there was no major emphasis on segregating waste from

designated contamination areas. As a consequence, large volumes of monitored

wastes were not being released for unrestricted disposal. However, because

of recent emphasis on minimizing the volume of radioactive waste, current prac- tices at many nuclear power facilities result in large volumes of segregated, monitored wastes, containing large total surface areas, being released'as

"clean" waste.

When scanning surfaces with a hand-held pancake probe, there is a chance that

some contamination will not be detected. (See the papers by Sommers,' for

example.) There is the chance also that the total surface area will not be

scanned completely. Thus, when numerous items of "clean"-material (e.g.,

paper and plastic items) are combined, the accumulation of small amounts of

contamination that have escaped detection with the pancake probe may be detected

using a detector that is sensitive to gamma radiation (e.g., by using a sensi- tive scintillation detector in a low-background area). Such measurements of

packaged clean waste before disposal can reduce the likelihood that contaminated

waste will be disposed of as clean waste, then found to be contaminated after

disposal. (Some operators of sanitary landfills have begun to survey incoming

waste. for radioactivity using scintillation survey meters which in some cases

are supplemented by portable gamma-ray spectrometers.2)

In order to preclude the unintentional release of radioactive materials, a

good monitoring program likely would include the following:

1. Careful surveys, using methods (equipment and techniques) for detecting

very low levels of radioactivity, are made of materials that may be

contaminated and that are to be disposed of as clean waste. These

survey methods should provide licensees with reasonable assurance that

licensed material is not being released from their control.

2. Surveys conducted with portable survey instruments using pancake G.M.

probes are generally more appropriate for small items and small areas

because of the loss of detection sensitivity created by moving the probe

and the difficulties in completely scanning large areas. This-does not

preclude their use for larger items and areas, if supplemented-by other

survey equipment or techniques.

3. Final measurements of each package (e.g., bag or drum) of aggregated

wastes are performed to ensure that there has not been an accumulation

of licensed material resulting from a buildup of multiple, nondetectable

quantities (e.g., final measurements using sensitive scintillation

detectors in low-background areas).

-

-

IN 85-92 December 2, 1985 no specific

The foregoing does not constitute NRC requirements; therefore,notice. If you

action or written response is required by this information

Administrator

have any questions about this matter, please contact the Regional

of the appropriate NRC regional office or this office.,

-,, /S

Xrdan, irector

Divisioj Of Emergency Preparedness

and E ineering Response

Office of Inspection and Enforcement

Technical Contacts: John D. Buchanan, IE

(301) 492-9657 LeMoine J. Cunningham, IE

(301) 492-9664 Attachments:

1. References

2. List of Recently Issued IE Information Notices

Attachment 1 IN 85-92 December 2, 1985 REFERENCES

" Sommers, J. F., (a) "Sensitivity of Portable Beta-Gamma Survey Instruments,"

Nuclear Safety 16 (No. 4), 452-457, July - August 1975, (b) "Sensitivity of

Gand on-ChambEr Beta-Gamma Survey Instruments," Health Physics 28 (No. 6),

pp. 775-761, June 1975.

2 Anonymous, "LA Nuclear Medicine Community Improves Radiation Monitoring at

Landfills, " J. Nuclear Medicine 26 (#4), 336-337, April 1985.

Attachment 2 IN 85-92 December 2, 1985 LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED

IE INFORMATION NOTICES

Information Date of

Notice No. Subject Issue Issued to

85-91 Load Sequencers For Emergency 11/27/85 All power reactor

Diesel Generators facilities holding

OL or CP

85-58 Failue Of A General Electric 11/19/85 All power reactor

Sup. 1 Type AK-2-25 Reactor Trip facilities designed

Breaker by B&W and CE holding

an OL or CP

85-90 Use Of Sealing Compounds In 11/19/85 All power reactor

An Operating System facilities holding

an OL or CP

85-89 Potential Loss Of Solid-State 11/19/85 All power reactor

Instrumentation Following facilities holding

Failure Of Control Room an OL or CP

- Cooling

85-88 Licensee Control Of 11/18/85 All power reactor

Contracted Services Providing facilities holding

Training an OL or CP

85-87 Hazards Of Inerting 11/18/85 All power reactor

Atmospheres facilities holding

an OL or CP; and

fuel facilities

85-86 Lightning Strikes At Nuclear 11/5/85 All power reactor

Power Generating Stations facilities holding

an OL or CP

85-85 Systems Interaction Event 10/31/85 All power reactor

Resulting In Reactor System facilities holding

Safety Relief Valve Opening an OL or CP

Following A Fire-Protection

Deluge System Malfunction

85-84 Inadequate Inservice Testing 10/30/85 All power reactor

Of Main Steam Isolation Valves facilities holding

an OL or CP

OL = Operating License

CP = Construction Permit