Press Release-III-02-021, NRC Dispatches Inspector to Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station Following Discovery of Radioactive Particles Off-Site

Press Release-III-02-021: NRC Dispatches Inspector to Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station Following Discovery of Radioactive Particles Off-Site

ML021190210
Person / Time
Site:	Davis Besse
Issue date:	04/17/2002
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-III-02-021
Download: ML021190210 (3)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 801 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov No. III-02-021 April 17, 2002 CONTACT: Victor Dricks (301) 415-8204 E-mail: vld@nrc.gov NRC DISPATCHES INSPECTOR TO DAVIS-BESSE NUCLEAR POWER STATION FOLLOWING DISCOVERY OF RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES OFF-SITE The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing an incident in which microscopic radioactive particles were recovered from four individuals, their clothing, residences and hotel rooms after leaving the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ohio.

Radiation protection personnel at the Davis-Besse plant were notified on March 22 by the Oconee nuclear facility in South Carolina that discrete radioactive particles were found on a workers sleeve. The worker was undergoing in-processing for work at the Oconee facility, and had last worked at Davis-Besse.

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company operates the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant near Oak Harbor, Ohio. The licensees investigation to date has determined that a total of 13 discrete particles were recovered from four individuals, their clothing, residences and hotel rooms in Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. The individuals had worked on steam generators at Davis-Besse, which shut down in mid-February for a refueling outage.

A senior health physicist from the NRCs Region III Office in Lisle, Il., has been dispatched to the Davis-Besse plant to assess the possible dose consequences to the four contract employees who visited Davis-Besse before traveling to other sites and to evaluate the licensees investigation into the matter. FirstEnergy is attempting to determine how the particles were transported off-site.

Preliminary dose calculations by the licensee indicate no adverse health effects are expected to either the workers or members of the public from the tiny particles. The particles are believed to be byproducts of the fission process with relatively low levels of activity.