ML20197J397

Responds to 860320 Request for Info Concerning Hot Spot Found in Waste Disposal Bldg at Former Gulf-United Nuclear Corp Site.Nrc Site Insp Conducted on 851015 & Addl Decontamination Performed.Safety Not Threatened

ML20197J397
Person / Time
Site:	07000903
Issue date:	05/02/1986
From:	Martin T NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Young R HARLEM VALLEY ALLIANCE, WINGDALE, NY
Shared Package
ML20197J402	List: ML20197J397 ML20197J417 ML20197J441 ML20197J446
References
NUDOCS 8605200026
Download: ML20197J397 (2)

Text

o MAY 0 21986 Mr. Robert Young Member, Harlem Valley Alliance P. O. Box 920 Wingdale, New York 12594

Dear Mr. Young:

I am pleased to respond to your letter of March 20, 1986 to Tom Murley, in which you requested information regarding the " hot spot" found in the Waste Disposal Building at the former Gulf-United Nuclear Corporation site (currently known as the Nuclear Lake Site), in Pawling, New York.

An NRC inspection was conducted at the site on October 15, 1985 as a result of a letter received from the Conservation Advisory Board-Town of Pawling.

Radiation surveys were made during that inspection and the presence of ra-diation levels up to five mrem per hour was confirmed. For your information, I am enclosing a copy of the bRC inspection report that documents the results of those radiation surveys. _

Subsequent to the inspection, an NRC contractor, Oak Ridge Associated Univer-sities (0RAU), was directed to perfonn additional decontamination of the Waste Storage Building.

On February 28, 1986, ORAU personnel performed cleanup operations on the hot spot that prompted your inquiry and the other areas identified by our inspector on October 15, 1985. Following their decontamination efforts, the ORAU personnel conducted a radiation survey of the entire building, looking for areas reading in excess of natural background levels (0.01 - 0.016 mrem /hr or 10 to 16 uRem/hr). Two such areas were identified, both involving fixed contamination. One of these areas read 0.12 mrem /hr (120 uRem/hr) on contact. As noted in the enclosed ORAU report, that area was not accessible for decontamination because it was located under a building support structure.

The other area, on the western edge of the hole in the concrete floor described in the enclosed reports, read 0.045 mrem /hr (45 uRem/hr) on contact.

ORAU personnel did not reduce the remaining areas to background levels because of the inaccessibility of one of the areas and because of a breakdown of their equipnent while cleaning the other area. Because the equipment could not be repaired at the site, and because the residual radiation in that area was insignificant, it was decided that further cleanup work was not warranted.

860520002686050h03 PDR ADOCK 07000PDR C

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Mr. Robert Young MAY 0 21986 While these remaining spots do exhibit slightly elevated radiation levels, they are well within the NRC criteria (maximum of 1,000 uRem/hr) for release t

for unrestricted use by the public. Accordingly, it is our view that any radioactivity that remains in the Waste Storage Building will not pose a safety hazard to individuals using the fomer plant site as a rest stop while traveling the Appalachian Trail. For your information, it is our understanding that the National Park Service has contracted ORAU to perform additional radiation surveys at the Pawling site in the near future.

Thank you for your interest in this matter.

Sincerely, l m t pn sincd 3I:

y: , 9. ' c'; ^'

~

Thomas T. Martin, Director Division of Radiation Safety and Safeguards

Enclosure:

1. NRC Region I Inspection Report No. 70-903/85-02

2. Letter, Oak Ri.dge Associated Universities to J. Roth, NRC Region I, dated March 11, 1986 cc(w/encis):

National Park Service, Appalachian Trail Project Office Public Document Room (PDR)

Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)

State of New York bcc (w/ encl):

Region I Docket Room (Docket No.70-903)

W. T. Crow, NMSS J. Kinneman, RI J. Berger, ORAU J. Roth, RI P. Lohaus, RI

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