IR 05000029/1988019

Insp Rept 50-029/88-19 on 880909.No Violations Noted.Major Areas Inspected:Circumstances Surrounding Waste Shipments 88-15 & 88-16 from Licensee Facilities to Barnwell,Sc

ML20155F032
Person / Time
Site:	Yankee Rowe
Issue date:	09/30/1988
From:	Joseph Furia, Pasciak W NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:
Shared Package
ML20155F028	List: IR 05000029/1988019 ML20155F024
References
50-029-88-19, 50-29-88-19, NUDOCS 8810130101
Download: ML20155F032 (4)

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U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

REGION I

Report N /88-19 Docket N License No. OPR-3 Priority _,

Category 1 Licensee: Yankee Atomic Electric Company 1671 Worcester Road framingham, Massachusetts 01701 Facility Name: Yankee Nuclear Power Station Inspe: tion At: dowe, Msssachusetts Inspection Conducted: September 9, 1988

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Inspector J Furia,'N*iRadfation Specialist f'30

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Approved by: bV. . c e= <- - 9 7* 8 W. J. Pa iak, Chief Effluents Radiation bate 6 Protection Section, DRSS Inspection Suman : Inspection on September 9, 1988 (Report No. 50-29/88-19)

Areas Inspected: Reactive inspection of the circumstances surrounding waste shipments 84-16 and SS-16 frota the licensee's facilities to Barnwell, South Carolin Results: Within the areas reviewed, no violations or deviations were noteri.

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1.0 Persons Contacted

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Daring the coarse of this inspection, the following personnel were contacted or interviewed:

1.1 Licensee Personnel

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"T Henderson, Assistant Plant Superintendent

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• R, Mellor, Technical Director

• G. Babineau, R4diation Protection Manager

• M. VanDala, Radiation Protection Engineer 1.2 NRC Personnel C. Carpentar, RI f

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"Denotes those present at the exit meeting on September 9, 1988 l 2.0 _ Purpose j The purpo:e of this reactive inspection was to examine the circumstances j surrounding the arrival of two waste shipments at Barnwell, South ,

o C.rolina with external non-fixed radioactive contamination levels in i

) excess of those set forth in 10 CFR 71.87(i). Towards this end, the

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j inspector reviewed records of the waste shiprrents in question, and

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subsequent actions taken by the license .0 Chronology of Events  !

3.1 Receipt and Loading of Shippp g Casks f

Two shipping casks, Chem-N. clear Systems, Inc. (CNSI) Model 3-55 (NRC ,

Certification Number USA /5805/8], Serial Numbers 3-55-1 and 3-55-2, [

were rtceived at the Yankee Nuclear Power Station on August 8, 1989 7 and August 11, 1988, respectively. Both cesks were determined to t have external non-fixcd radioactive contamir,ition levels in excess of !

the Station procedural limit of 1000 dpm/100cm2, beta gamma. Cask (

3-55-1 was decontaminated prior to use on August 8, 1988. Tnis cask i was placed in the spent fuel pool after first being washed down with I

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demineralized water and a liner loaded with radioactive waste inserte The cask was sealed and removed from the pool en August, 19, 1938, j and again washed down with demineralized water prior to transfer to j the South Decon Building (SDB). Cask 3-55-2 was decontaminated prior i to use, and after following the same procedures that were used for '

cask 3-55-1, was loaded and removed from the spent fuel pool on  !

August 23, 1938, and transferred to the 50 i l

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3.2 Oecontamination Efforts Cask 3-55-1 upon arrival in the 508 on August 19, 1988 was surveyed and wipe tested. B(tween August 19 and August 23, the cask was ~

decontaminated initially by scrubbing with pads and radwash and later by the use of demineralized water and rags. The decontamination was performed by CNSI personnel, with wipe test sample analysis performed .

j by the licensee. CNSI conducted the dicontamination under a generic

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procedure which had been approved by the licensee. The procedure

contained no specific instructions on materials or methods to be used in decontaminating the casks, or to evaluate and/or minimize

"weeping". Duririg the decontamination effort, it was noted by !

licensee personnel that the cask was "weeping" non-fixed radioactive ;

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contaminatio !

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Wipe test results show that during one seven hour period, the

contamination level on the cask rose from less than 1000 dpm/100 cm2

] to 4600 dpm/100 cm2 . The licensee had discussions with CNSI concerning i this "weeping" and stated that CNSI was not concerned with the "weeping" i j rate and CNSI told the licensee that the cask would be decontaminated i to less than 1000 dpm/100 cm2 prior to shipment and that it would not

, "weep" sufficiently to violate 10 CFR 71.87 criteria prior to arrival

in Barnwell, South Carolin This cask left the licensee's facility d

on August 24, 1988. Cask 3-55-2 arrived in the 508 on August 23, 1988

! and was decontaminated in the same manner as cask 3-55-1. This cask (

i also shewed evidence of "weeping" prior to shipment on August 26, l 1938,

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3.3 Receip3 at Barnwell i South Carolina >

Cask 3-55-1 arrived at Barnwell, South Carolina on August 26, 1938

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at 0855 hours0.0099 days <br />0.238 hours <br />0.00141 weeks <br />3.253275e-4 months <br />. The cask was surveyed by CNSI on August 29, 1988 at !

1100 hours0.0127 days <br />0.306 hours <br />0.00182 weeks <br />4.1855e-4 months <br />. Non-fixed contamination levels ranged as high as 61,000 I dpm/100 cm2 (beta gamma).

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$ Cask 3-55-2 arrived at Barnwell on August 28, 1938 at 0950 hours0.011 days <br />0.264 hours <br />0.00157 weeks <br />3.61475e-4 months <br /> and

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was surveyed by CNSI on August 25, 1980 at 1300 hours0.015 days <br />0.361 hours <br />0.00215 weeks <br />4.9465e-4 months <br />. Non-fixed !

r contamination levels ranged as high as 122,000 dpm/100 cm2 (beta gamma). (

', CNSI contacted the State of South Carolina on August 29, 1988, and I

I 1 notified the licensee on August 30, 1988 of the contamination levels :

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on the casks. The licensee tent personnel to both Columbia and Barnwell, (

i South Carolina on August A , 1988 and September 6, 1938, to examine *

I the casks and discuss the situation with the State of South Carolina and CNSI. As part of the September 6, 1933 visit, the licensee undertook to determine the efficiency of the CNSI wipe testing method. Based !

upon this efficiency determination, the allewable level of non-fixed i

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radioactive contamination, while calculated to be greater than the regulatory limit of 22,000 dpm/100 cm2 (beta gamma), it remained below the 122,000 dpm/100 cm2 determined for the rear o' cask 3-55-2. Cask 3-55-1 was unavailable for use in an efficiency determinatio During the inspection, the inspector discussed with the licensee's

< personnel the need to carefully review contractor's procedures to ensure adequacy of information. In the area of decontamination of shipping containers, specific procedures for scrubbing and washing I casks snould be provided. In using casks which are loaded in the spent fuel pool, procedures to evaluate cask "weeping" together with i

control limits on rates of "weeping" must be utilized. Licensee i j personnel indicated to the inspector that in +?e future, more

detailed procedures would be required fru

t, ;oe contracto .0 . Exit Interview The inspector met with licensee representatives denoted in Section 1.0 at the conclusion of the inspection on September 9,1988. The inspector summarized the scope of the inspection and the inspection findings. At 1 J no time during the inspection were written materials given to the ;

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licensee by the ir.specto '

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