ML052660245

Summary of the Category 1 Public Meeting Held on September 15, 2005, to Discuss the Findings of the Special Inspection Into the Loss of Special Nuclear Material at Humboldt Bay Power Plant

ML052660245
Person / Time
Site:	Humboldt Bay
Issue date:	09/23/2005
From:	Spitzberg D NRC/RGN-IV/DNMS/FCDB
To:	Jacobs D Pacific Gas & Electric Co
References
Download: ML052660245 (21)

Text

UNITED STATES N U C LEAR RE G ii iA i 6 RY 2 6 ivi ivi i3 3 i6 ii REGION IV 611 R Y A N PLAZA DRIVE, SUITE 400 ARLINGTON, TEXAS 76011-4aa~i September 23, 2005 Ms. Donna Jacobs Vice President Nuclear Services Pacific Gas and Electric Company Diablo Canyon Power Plant P.O. Box3 Avila Beach, CA 93424

SUMMARY

OF THE CATEGORY 1 PUBLIC MEETING HELD ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2005, TO DISCUSS THE FINDINGS OF THE SPECIAL INSPECTION INTO THE LOSS OF SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL AT HUMBOLDT BAY POWER PLANT

Dear Ms. Jacobs:

This refers to the meeting conducted at the Wharfinger Building, Eureka, California, on September 15, 2005. The purpose of this meeting was to present the findings of the special team inspection of the loss of special nuclear material at the Humboldt Bay Power Plant. A list of the meeting participants, the NRCs presentation slides and the Pacific Gas and Electric Companys presentation slides are enclosed.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRCs Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter and its enclosures will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRCs document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.qov/readinq-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room ).

Should you have any questions concerning this matter, we will be pleased to discuss them with you.

D. Blair Spitzberg, Ph.D., Chief Fuel Cycle and Decommissioning Branch Docket: 050-00133 License: DPR-7

Enclosures:

1. Meeting Participants

2. NRC Presentation Slides

3. PG&E Presentation Slides

Pacific Gas & Electric Company cc w/attachment:

Richard F. Locke, Esq.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company P.O. Box 7442 San Francisco, CA 94120 Roy B. Willis, Director and Plant Manager Pacific Gas and Electric Company Humboldt Bay Power Plant 1000 King Salmon Avenue Eureka, CA 95503 Chairman Humboldt County Board of Supervisors County Courthouse 825 Fifth Street Eureka, CA 95501 Law Office of Linda J. Brown, Esq.

300 Drakes Landing Road, Suite 172 Greenbrae, CA 94904 Regional Radiation Representative U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IX Office 75 Hawthorne Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Dr. Richard Ferguson Energy Chair Sierra Club California 1100 Ilth Street, Suite 311 Sacramento, CA 95814 Dr. James F. Davis, State Geologist Department of Conservation Division of Mines & Geology 801 K Street MS 12-30 Sacramento, CA 95814-3531 Ed Bailey, Chief Radiologic Health Branch State Department of Health Services P.O. Box 997414 (MS 7610)

Sacramento, CA 95899-7414

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Director Energy Facilities Siting Division Energy Resources Conservation &

Development Commission 1516 9th Street Sacramento, CA 95814 Gretchen Dumas, Esq.

Public Utilities Commission of the State of California 5066 State Building San Francisco, CA 94102 Redwood Alliance P.O. Box 293 Arcata, CA 95521 James D. Boyd, Commissioner California Energy Commission 1516 Ninth Street (MS34)

Sacramento, CA 95814 David Sokolsky Supervisor of Licensing Humboldt Bay Power Plant 1000 King Salmon Avenue Eureka, CA 95503 John Albers Radiation Protection Manager Humboldt Bay Power Plant 1000 King Salmon Avenue Eureka, CA 95503

Pacific Gas & Electric Company bcc (via ADAMS e-mail distribution):

OED0 M. Mitchell RIV Coordinator (16E15)

PNMS Mtg. Announcement Coordinator 0 NRC Participants JRS2 J. Strosnider, DINMSS MVF M. Federline, DDINMSS EWB E. William Brach, DISFPO JTG 1 J. Greeves, DIDWM MXT3 M. Thaggard DMG2 D. Gillen BSM B. Mallett, RA TPG T. Gwynn, DRA WAM W. Maier, RSLO VLD V. Dricks, RIV P A 0 CLC C. Cain, SMA, DNMS DBS B. Spitzberg, C:FCDB VHC V. Campbell, AC:NMIB JEW J. Whitten, C:NMLB JACI, CJG RA Secretaries DNMS Staff ADAMS:XYes No Initials:

X Publicly Available X Non-Sensitive DOCUMENT NAME: s:\dnms\ltrs-memos\HB Dublic meetina 2005.w~d RIV:DNMS:FCDB FCDB C:FCDB RLKellar

• EMGarcia h, I DBSpitzberg j2%

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09120105 0 9 l q 105 09/25/05

ENCLOSURE 1 PARTICIPANTS: NRC Leonard Wert, Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety D. Blair Spitzberg, Ph.D., Chief, Fuel Cycle and Decommissioning Branch Claudia Craig, Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Section John Hickman, Project Manager, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection (NMSS)

Victor L. Dricks, Public Affairs Officer Ray L. Kellar, Health Physicist Emilio M. Garcia, Health Physicist Barry Westreich, Chief, Security Oversight Section LICENSEE Donna Jacobs, Vice President Nuclear Services Roy B. Willis, Director and Plant Manager David Sokolsky, Supervisor of Licensing

Pacific Gas & Electric Company cc w/attachment :

Richard F. Locke, Esq.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company P.O. Box 7442 San Francisco, CA 94120 Roy B. Willis, Director and Plant Manager Pacific Gas and Electric Company Humboldt Bay Power Plant 1000 King Salmon Avenue Eureka, CA 95503 Chairman Humboldt County Board of Supervisors County Courthouse 825 Fifth Street Eureka, CA 95501 Law Office of Linda J. Brown, Esq.

300 Drakes Landing Road, Suite 172 Greenbrae, CA 94904 Regional Radiation Representative U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IX Office 75 Hawthorne Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Dr. Richard Ferguson Energy Chair Sierra Club California 1100 1 lth Street, Suite 31 1 Sacramento, CA 95814 Dr. James F. Davis, State Geologist Department of Conservation Division of Mines & Geology 801 K Street MS 12-30 Sacramento, CA 95814-3531 Ed Bailey, Chief Radiologic Health Branch State Department of Health Services P.O. Box 997414 (MS 7610)

Sacramento, CA 95899-7414

Pacific Gas & Electric Company Director Energy Facilities Siting Division Energy Resources Conservation &

Development Commission I516 9th Street Sacramento, CA 95814 Gretchen Dumas, Esq.

Public Utilities Commission of the State of California 5066 State Building San Francisco, CA 94102 Redwood Alliance P.O. Box 293 Arcata, CA 95521 James D. Boyd, Commissioner California Energy Commission 1516 Ninth Street (MS 34)

Sacramento, CA 95814 David Sokolsky Supervisor of Licensing Humboldt Bay Power Plant 1000 King Salmon Avenue Eureka, CA 95503 John Albers Radiation Protection Manager Humboldt Bay Power Plant 1000 King Salmon Avenue Eureka, CA 95503

ENCLOSURE 1 PARTICIPANTS: NRC Leonard Wert, Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety D. Blair Spitzberg, Ph.D., Chief, Fuel Cycle and Decommissioning Branch Claudia Craig, Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Section John Hickman, Project Manager, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection (NMSS)

Victor L. Dricks, Public Affairs Officer Ray L. Kellar, Health Physicist Emilio M. Garcia, Health Physicist Barry Westreich, Chief, Security Oversight Section LICENSEE Donna Jacobs, Vice President Nuclear Services Roy 6. Willis, Director and Plant Manager David Sokolsky, Supervisor of Licensing

ENCLOSURE 2 AGENDA

% 4 6:30-9:00pm

. Opening remarks - Leonard Wert, NRC

- Presentations of the Special Inspection findings by NRC Staff

- PG&E comments - Donna Jacobs, PG&E

- Questions and comments from members of the public

- Closing remarks

. Meeting adjourn Inspection Into the Loss of Special Nuclear Material at Humboldt Bay Power Plant Public Meeting September 15,2005 Eureka, CA D. Blair Spirzberg, Ph.D.. Chief, Fuel Cycle 8~

Decommissioning B m c h US Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Region IV (817) 860-8191 dbs@nrc.gov What is Special Nuclear Material (SNM)?

E The fissionable material in the fuel rods at Humboldt Bay B Small amounts in some incore detectors E Missing SNM at Humboldt Bay had been used in the reactor and therefore contained the highly radioactive fission byproducts E SNM must be tightly controlled and accounted for 1

ENCLOSURE 2 Fall 2003 inventory of spent fuel pool -fuel fragments found in fuel pool raises questions of accuracy of SNM inventory m Jan. 2004 - PGBE sla* re-evaluation of SNM inventory

= June 2004 - PGBE finds conflicting records concerning three 18 inch fuel fragments NRC informed m July 2004 - initial search phase m Sept. 2004- NRC announces Special Inspectionin a public meeting in Eureka, CA m Feb. 2005 -as resul! of PGBEs SNM invesligation. NRC notified of 1missing inlact incore detector and 3 partial incore de!ectors containing less than a gram of SNM llumtoldl Bny PowvPbni NRC5pod.l l ~ p a c t i r o Special Inspection Charter s Assess adequacy of PG&E's investigation a Assess PG&E's control of radiological materials s Assess accuracy of the SNM inventory s Verify records and conduct independent interviews s Assess radiological consequences s Complete Temporary Instruction on SNM Control and Accountability 5

Special Inspection Charter s Determine compliance with regulations s Assess the root causes s Conduct regular briefings Identify generic issues

= Document the inspection findings s Conduct a public meeting 2

Special Inspection Scplembcr 15. 2W5 Public Mecung Ermlio M Gxnr USNRC Rcgiao N Inspection Team Emilio Garcia (Team Leader)

Martha Williams I Glenn Tuttle

= Wayne Sifre I Tom McLellan I John Hickman 1Ray Kellar Special Inspection Site Visits

. November 2-4,2004

. December 7-10,2004

- January 6-13,2005

. June 20-24,2005 3

Project Reports I Interim Reports Feb 22,2005 (ML050610477)

I Final Report May 17,2005 (ML051530459)

I Inspection Report 2003-004 (ML040400007)

I Inspection Report 2004-001 (ML043100525)

I Interim inspection Report 50-133/2005-01 (ML050960069)

I Final Inspection Report 50-133/2005-02 (ML052310593)

Material Control & Accountability (MC&A)

Program m PG&Es current MC&A program meets regulatory requirements m PG&Es investigation into the missing material was complete and thorough Search E PG&Es search was thorough E Additional fuel fragments may be found in the future 4

Radioactive Waste Shipments 258 low level radioactive waste I

shipments 249 screened out 9 possible

+ 4 to licensed burial site in South Carolina

+ 5 to licensed burial site in Washingtor State I

NRC Conclusions on Shipment Scenarios m Pipe container never found m Missing material likely shipped to a licensed radioactive waste burial site Not likely segments shipped to another NRC Conclusions on Fuel Still in Pool B PG&Es metallurgical consultants concluded the 18-inch segments were broken but still in pool m NRC determined additional testing needed to reach same conclusion I5 5

I NRC Conclusions on Missing lncore Detectors I Likely shipped with radioactive waste to a licensed burial site in South Carolina or Washington State Theft or Diversion Theft or diversion of fuel was highly unlikely

- Radiological monitoring system and alarms

- Existence of material not well known

- Health hazard of handling material

- Technical Difficulties Risk Overall risk from the 18-inch fuel rods segments and incore detectors was minimal to the health and safety of the public, workers, or the environment.

6

Cause and Corrective Actions IW PG&E cause analysis 4 Followed procedures 4 Was thorough I Corrective actions 4 Comprehensive

+Addressed the causes identified Missed Opportunities IW The NRC identified several missed opportunities by PG&E to identify and act on the missing special nuclear materials HvrnboWlErylbvcrPhnl 20 NRCSmdallnmrclion Apparent Violations m 3 Apparent Violations identified:

I. Failure to keep records of the inventory, transfer or disposal of three 18-inch

2. Failure to establish, maintain, and follow written material control and accounting

3. Failure to conduct adequate physical inventories of all SNM in its possession These violations are being considered for escalated enforcement 7

NRC Enforcement Process Inspection exit meeting on Aug 16, 2005 t~ Written response due Sep 19,2005 No enforcement decision has been made n NRCs Enforcement Policy www.nrc.4ov select What We Do, Enforcement,then EnforcementPolicy NRC Enforcement Process Written response should include:

. Reason for the apparent violation

. Corrective steps that have been taken

. Corrective steps that will be taken

. Date when full compliance will be achieved 21 NRC Enforcement Process Number and characterization of violations may change

- NRCs letter to PG&E will be publicly available from ADAMS 1 NRC enforcement decision typically within 45 days of licensees response 8

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