IR 05000264/1978002

Insp Rept 50-264/78-02 on 780503-04.No Noncompliance or Deviations Identified.Areas Inspected:Radwaste Mgt & Radiation Protection Program,Including Qualifications, Audits,Training,Equipment & Instruments

ML20136H397
Person / Time
Site:	Dow Chemical Company
Issue date:	06/06/1978
From:	Fisher W, Hiatt J NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III)
To:
Shared Package
ML20136C633	List: IR 05000264/1974001 IR 05000264/1976003 IR 05000264/1977001 IR 05000264/1977003 IR 05000264/1978002 ML20136C627 ML20136G988 ML20136H011 ML20136H026 ML20136H041 ML20136H172 ML20136H183 ML20136H228 ML20136H275 ML20136H316 ML20136H379 ML20136H410
References
FOIA-85-483 50-264-78-02, 50-264-78-2, NUDOCS 8508200297
Download: ML20136H397 (5)

Text

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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT

REGION III

Report No. 50-264/78-02 Docket No. 50-264 License No. R-108 Licensee: Dow Chemical U.S.A.

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1803 Building

' Midland, MI 48640 Facility Name: TRIGA Reactor Inspection At: TRIGA Reactor Site, Midland, MI Inspection Conducted: May 3 and 4, 1978 Inspector: J. W. Hiatt D /Ub VJ b& ,

Approved By:

wy.c. W. L. Fisher, Chief /a-/- jj 6./ 0/ M Fuel Facility Projects and Radiation Support Section Inspection Summary Inspection on May 3 and 4, 1978 (Report No. 50-264/78-02)

Areas Inspected:

Routine, unannounced inspection of radwaste managet.ent

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and radiation protection program, including: qualifications; audits; training; procedures; instruments and equipment; exposure control; posting, labeling, and control; surveys; notifications and reports; records of effluents; effluent control instrumentation; and solid radwaste. The inspection involved 11 inspector-hours onsite by one NRC inspecto Results: No items of noncompliance or deviations were identifie _

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DETAILS '

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. Persons Contacte_d Dr. G. L. Kochanny, Jr., Research Manager,1602 Building Dr. O. V. Anders, Reactor Supervisor j

, D. L. Barsten, Health Physicist , l C. Vaughn., Jr. ,' Research Industrial Hygienist i

'All of the above attended the exit interview

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The inspector also talked with other' licensee personnel, including senior reactor operators and industrial hygienist * s General This inspection, which began at 8:05 a.m. on May 3,1978, was con '

ducted to examine the routine operational radiation protection and radwaste management programs. An initial tour of the facilit at 11:45 a.m. included visual observation of instruments and equipment, posting, labeling, and access controls. During this tour and subsequent visits to the reactor area, radiation surveys wero made by the inspector; tio abnormal radiation readings or con-tamination levels were detected. The inspector also observed sample

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loading, irradiation, and removal from the reacto No problems were noted. ,

s ! Qualifications '\

4 s The reactor health' physicist is a member of the Industrial Hygiene Offic In January 1978 Mr. Dennis Barsten was assigned as the

reactor health 'physidist, . replacing Mr. Ray Olson. Mr. Barsten has an M.S. in Health Physics and .has previously worked for Oak Ridge'

National Laboratory. Additional health physics coverage lp avail-able from the Industrial Hygiene staf )

No items of noncompliance were identifie .. ' - T Licensee Audits' s

.The-inspector reviewed minutes of Reactor Operations Committee and Radiation Hazards Committee meetings held in CY 1977 and 1978 ( to date. ' Hemb'ership requirements and meeting frequenetca were as

' -stated in the Technical Specifications (T.S.).. No significant radiation protection or radwaste problems were note ,

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! 5. ' Training I

All members of the reactor staff are licensed operators who receive both radiation protection training and training under 10 CFR 19.12 as_part of their licensing process. Requalification training is conducted yearly. Outside of the reactor staff, no other individuals frequent the reactor are No items of noncompliance were identified.

% Radiation Protection Procedures

Procedures required by the technical specificatione regarding ,

calibration of the continual air monitor and the area radiation [

monitor are contained in the licensee's " Calibration Logbook." t The inspector noted that the procedures consist mostly of tables and applicable dat'a but contain no formal instructions. This does not present a major problem, because staf f turnover is j small and, based on discussions with reactor personnel, the cali- ,

bration methods appear to be well understoo '

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l Portable instrument calibration procedures maintained by the ;

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Industrial Hygiene Office were reviewed; no problems were  !

note No items of noncompliance were identified.

, Instruments and Equipment-

/ Portable Survey Instruments

• • The licensee maintains operable and calibrated instruments ;

capable of detecting beta and gamma radiation. A review of j records indicates that the instruments were calibrated semi-annually in 1977 and had been calibrated in March 197 , Area Radiation Monitor i

Due.to recurrent malfunctions, the area monitor originally installed at the facility has been replaced. At the time of the inspection, the installation of the new monitor had j not been approved by the Reactor Operations Committee.

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L Until approval is obtained, a portable NMC detector, set to

alarm at 2 mR/hr, is being used to fulfill the T.S. require-men The portable unit was also used during periods of t

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maintenance on the replaced monitor.

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During facility tours, the inspector noted that, as required ]

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by the T.S., when the alarm setpoint was exceeded an audible alarm was actuated. A review of records indicates the area monitor was checked and calibrated within the T.S. required frequenc ~

! Continuous Air Monitor (CAM)

Records indicate that the CAM was calibrated and that the j alarm setpoints were checked within the required T.S. fre-

==ne-m quency. The inspector verified that an audible alarm was initiated when the setpoint was exceede ~

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No items of noncompliance were identified in the above area . Exposure Control External Exposure The licensee's vendor film badge reports, which are equivalent to Form NRC-5, were reviewed for the period April 1977 through February 14, 1978. The greatest whole body and skin doscs received by reactor personnel in CY 1977 were 420 mrems and 440 j

mrems, respectively.

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Self-reading dosimeters are _ used as needed (e.g., during fuel inspections).

No problems were noted, Internal Exposure

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The licensee has no routine bioassay program and relies on the CAM and contamination swipe tests to define any problems'.

A review of records indicated that no problems had been encountere . Posting and Labeling The licensee's compliance with posting and labeling requirements specified in 10 CFR 19.11 and 10 CFR 20.203 were reviewed. No problems were note . Materials The licensee stated that any radluactive material received is surveyed by the Industrial Hygiene Office. Records indicate that no material was received by the TRICA Facility during 197 .

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11. Surveys .

Quarterly contamination surveys are made by the Industrial Hygiene Office. A review of the results for 1977 indicated only low level  !

contamination near the sample removal port. In mid-1977 the licensee i placed plastic around this area to help prevent contaminating the floor and to expedite cleanups.

Arca radiation surveys are not routinely performed, as radiation l 1evels in the area do not normally fluctuate. However, each sample

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is surveyed upon removal from the reactor. During the tours, the inspector performed radiation surveys and found no levels above

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5 mR/hr.

l No items of noncompliance were identifie . Notifications and Reports Discussions with licensee representatives indicate ghat during 1977 and 1978 to date there were no problems regarding compliance with 10 CFR 19 and 10 CFR 20 notification and reporting requirement . Radwaste Management Liquid Radwaste No radioactive liquid effluents are released from the reacto Any liquids generated are collected and transferred to the Industrial Hygiene Office for solidification and disposa About ten gallons of distilled water are added to the reactor pool each week to replace water lost via evaporatio Gaseous Radwaste

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I The licensee has no gaseous effluent monitor. An evaluation of the theoretical amount of Ar-41 released is made in i Section H.5 of the Safety Analysis Report. The evaluation l assumes continual operation of the rabbit system, while in fact the system operates about one hour per wee .

Particulate gaseous effluents are measured by the CA No significant particulate activity was note Solid Radwaste Solid radwaste is transferred to the broad Byprodact Material License (21-00265-06) for shipment to a licensed disposal agency. The last shipment was made in August 197 i 8944 L _ _ _ _ - - - . - _ - - - - - - _ - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -