ML20043D260
| ML20043D260 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Westinghouse |
| Issue date: | 05/20/1990 |
| From: | Decker T, Marston R NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20043D257 | List: |
| References | |
| 70-1151-90-04, 70-1151-90-4, NUDOCS 9006070306 | |
| Download: ML20043D260 (9) | |
Text
. UNITED STATES A Ming'o NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMissif>N 4
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MAY 2 31990 Re 70-1151/90-04 Licensee: Westinghouse Electric Corporation Coninercial Nuclear Fuel Division Columbia, SC 29250 Docket No.:
70-1151 (Fuel Division)
License No.: SNM-1107 Facility Name: Westinghouse Electric Corporation Inspection Conducted: April 30 - May 4,.1990 Inspector:
5Mho h'.~Y.~)fa rs ton Date Signed-Accompanying Personnel:
A. Datta, Headq arters (NMSS) 1 Approvod by:
W<M [
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d'/O 9d Thomas P~~bscreE~~ChTer" ~
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Radiological Effluents and Chemistry Section-Emergency Preparedness and Radiological Protection Branch
' Division of Radiation Safety and Safeguards
-SUWARY Scope:
i iThis routine, unannounced inspection was conducted in the areas of radiological
' liquid anil gaseous effluents, radiologi_ cal environmental monitoring, and
-quality control.
.Results:
o In the areas inspected, no violations or deviations were identified.
The licensee's control of radioactive effluents was evidenced by the continuing decrease in gaseous effluents.
The gaseous effluents continued a slow l
decrease.
The liquid effluent releases had continued to decrease at a high rate through the first half of 1989, then showed a strong increase during the last half of 1989.
The licensee had started an investigation to determine the cause, but had -no results at: the time of this inspection.
The environmental monitoring program continued to be adequate. The monitoring
.was done at required frequencies and the analytical results did not indicate l_
any anomalies.
The inspector closed out an Inspector Followup Item (IFI) involving determination of self absorption in particulate filters which had become wet.
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'V REPORT DETAILS 1.
Persons Contacted Licensee Employees
- R. Allen, Manager, Chemical Process Engineering
- J. Berry, Manager, Integral Fuel Burnable Absorber Manufacturing
- R. Fischer, Senior Engineer, Regulatory Engineering
- D. Goldbach, Jr., Manager, Waste Recovery and Disposal
-*W. Goodwin, Manager, Regulatory Affairs
- J. Heath, Manager, Regulatory Operations
- J. Hooper, Regulatory Engineer, Regulatory Engineering 1
+
- E. Keelen, Manager, Manufacturing
- R. Koga, Plant Manager E. Reitler, Manager, Regulatory Engineering
- J. Spangler, Manager, Facilities Engineering
- E. Steck, Manager, Conversion and Scrap Reprocessing-
- L. Turner, Lead Supervisor, Waste Recovery and Disposal
- Attended exit interview 2.
Audits (88035,88045)
L License Application, Section 3.1.4.3, states that Radiation Protection Audits shall be performed in accordance with a written plan at least monthly during operations.
The inspector reviewed the Monthly Summary Effluent and Environmental Monitoring Reports for May through December 1989 to determine compliance with the requirements of the License Application, Section 3.1.4.3.
The Report' included comparisons of liquid K
effluents to the river to NPDES and Radiological limits, and comparisons of environmental air samples and gaseous effluent samples to _ their.
respective limits.
Elevated Total Suspended Solids were noted in the liquid releases in the June report, and elevated gross alpha levels were noted in the scrap recovery exhaust in the December report.
License Application, Section 3.1.4.5 states that the Radiation Protection Component shall perform quarterly data audits of environmental quality to assure that chemical and radiological effluents and environmental concentrations are within license and permit conditions.
The inspector reviewed the Audit of Effluent Program, dated February 16, 1990, and Audit-r of Environmental' Program, dated February 15, 1990 to determine compliance to the License Application, Section 3.1.4.5.
No findings were identified in either audit.
The inspector determined through the above reviews that the audit programs were conducted in accordance with the License Application. No violations or deviations were identified.
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3.
Procedures (88035,88045,84844)
License Application, Section 3.2.1.1, states that written procedures
~ describing general radiation protection requirements shall be maintained and followed.-
License Application 3.2.1.2, Measurement Control Procedures, states that the necessity for and application of instruinenta-tion shall be established by the Radiation Protection Component.
The inspector selectively reviewed Regulatory Affairs Procedures and Regulatory Operations Operating Procedures (listed in Attachment 1) to determine that the License Application requirements were met.
The Procedures were adequate for the purposes for which they had been written. No violations cr deviations were identified.
4.
Liquid and Gaseous Effluents (88035)
Title 10 CFR 20.106 specifies liquid and gaseous effluent release concentrations, and the License Application, Section 3.2.3.6 requires that.
the release of gaseous effluents shall be in compliance with 40 CFR 190.
The inspector reviewed Gaseous Effluent Calculations and Seven Day Effluent Air Summaries for the period from June 4, 1989, through February 25, 1990, for the 38 effluent stacks to verify compliance with the gaseous effluent limits. The review showed that the gaseous effluents remained within limits. The inspector reviewed the results of the monthly liquid effluent composite for the period from June 1989, through February 1990 to determine compliance with the limits.
The composite had been analyzed for gross alpha, gross beta, gamma spectroscopy, and uranium isotopic.
The results showed that the liquid releases were well within the specified limits.
The results of the above reviews showed that the licensee maintained effluents'well within-the specified limits.
No violations or deviations were identified.
5.
Reports (88035, 88045) a.
ALARA Report License Application, Section 3.1.2.5.1 specifies requirements and contents for the Semiannual ALARA Report. The inspector reviewed the ALARA Report for the six month period ending June 30, 1989 to verify compliance with the requirements.
The Report showed significant effluent trends, discussed cleanup of liquid and gaseous effluents, doses due to effluents at the site boundary and nearest residence, and a summary of internal auctits and NRC inspections in the effluent and environmental areas.
The inspector also reviewed the ALARA Report for the second half of 1989.
Trends and anomalies were discussed, including the increase in radioactive content of liquid a
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3 effluent during the last half of 1989. Audits were also discussed as were effluent trends for the past five years.
The Reports were done in:accordance with the requirements and should have been valuable to management in determining trends and problem areas.
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Effluent Release Reports 10 CFR 70.59 requires the licensee to submit a report to the NRC Region II office within 60 days after January 1 and-July 1 of each year specifying the quantity of each of the principal radionuclides I
released to unrestricted areas in liquid and gaseous effluents during l
the prcvious six months of operations.
10 CFR 20.106(g) requires licensees engaged-in uranium fuel cycle operations to be subject to 40 CFR 190 which limits the annual whole body dose to any member of the public to 2L millirem (n: rem).
The inspector reviewed the effluent reports for 1989, and discussed the reports with licensee representatives.
The effluent information l
presented in Table A was obtained from current and previous effluent and ALARA reports.
TABLE A EFFLUENT
SUMMARY
FOR WESTINGHOUSE ACT:VITY' RELEASED (MICROC_U_Rl_ESJ 1986 1987 1988 1989 Gaseous Effluents 1,505 1,399 1,442 1,228 Liouid Effluents 111,171 57,164
'34,544 53,933 Gaseous effluents showed a slowly decreasing trer,d over the past few years.
The liquid effluents, after showing a significantly decreasing trend over the past few years, showed a strong increase (almost double) during.the second half of 1989 over the first half.
A licensee representative stated that an investigation was underway to determine the cause.
The reports had been written and submitted in accordance with requirenents. No violations or deviations were identified.
6.
Radioactive Waste Monagement (88035)
Cleanup Systems The License Application, Section 1, describes components and processes of the plant. The inspector and a licensee Senior Engineer toured the plant,
4 examining components of the liquid and gaseous radwaste processing system to determine operability and conformance to the systems descriptions. The Senior Engineer stated that most of the liquid cleanup was done in the processes and elsewhere in the building.
A combination of filtering, chemical action, and settling ponds were used to remove uranium and other material from the-waste stream prior to release.
The Safety Evaluation Report, Vll.C.1 states that all potentially contaminated air is passed through HEPA filtration prior to release, and that some gaseous streams are subjected to other methods of cleaning, such as wet scrubbers and disentrainment chambers, in addition to final HEPA filters.
The Safety Evaluation Report, VII.B.3 states that the maximum differential pressure for HEPA filters is eight inches of water for negative pressure systems, and four inches of water for recirculating positive pressure systems.
The proper operation of these filter systems is determined by inplace DOP testing of final HEPA filters and by monthly testing of all recirculating systems by either 00P testing or air i
sampling.
Regulatory Operations Operating Procedure 05-037, Filter System Leak Test, requires that the HEPA filter leak test efficiency measure greater than 99.95 percent.
The inspector reviewed the Filtration System Pressure Status forms for January 1990 to verify that daily pressure tests were done of operating filter systems, and that filters were changed and DOP tested when required.
The records showed that the program was conducted as required.
No violations or deviations were identified.
7.
Environmental Monitoring (88045)
License Application 2.7.1 specifies requirements for the licensee's environtrental program.
Regulatory Operations Operating Procedures06-003, Ambient Environmental Air Monitoring for Radioactivity, and 06-006, Collection oft 6u'tTnEYeikly~and MonTTily~Tni/iFonitiestil Samples, specify
~d'eitsilFd76quWithints - for tTie envir6nmiMil'irichTihring program.
The inspector and a licensee Senior Engineer toured the environmental sampling po nts to verify location, adequacy, and calibration of instruments. The d
inspector observed that the sampling points were placed as described in the License Application and Procedures, that the air samplers were calibrated, and that the sampling equipment was operating, adequate and calibrated.
The inspector reviewed the Ambient Environmental Air Monitoring Data Summary Log for June through December 1989 to verify that requirements had been met.
This log chowed the results of the weekly analyses of the environmental air samples.
The samples were collected at required frequencies and the levels were below the environmental Maximum Permissible Concentrations '(MPCs).
The inspector reviewed the records of analysis of other environmental l
media to verify compliance.
Records were reviewed for surface water and I
wells for monthly samples for April 1989 through February 1990, for
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5 semiannual soil and vegetable samples, and for annual fish and sedinent samples. Samples were taken and analyzed at the required frequencies, and analyzed for the required paraneters.
The inspector reviewed the Westinghouse Comnercial Nuclear Fuel Division Environnental Data Summary, SNM-1107, 1984-1989.
This docunent provided summaries of liquid and gaseous effluents and environmental analyses for the 1984-1989 period, and provided easily readable trend information.
The environmental monitoring program was conducted in accordance with i
requirements and no significant trends were apparent from the data.
No violations or deviations were identified.
8.
Measurement and Quali.ty Control (88035, 88045, 84844)
License Application Section 2.2.4 requires that laboratory assay instruments used for alpha measurement shall have the capability to detect alpha levels as low as 0.1 MPC.
License Application 3.2.1.2 requires that laboratory alpha counting equipment shall be calibrated at least semiannually and a source check and background determined daily.
A
-voltage plateau and proper operating voltage shall be determined each quarter.
The inspector toured the lab and discussed the measurement program with.
the Manager, Regulatory Operations to determine the-laboratory capability and operability of the equipment.
The lab was equipped with seven gas proportional counting systems. One was calibrated for beta counting only, the others were calibrated for alpha.
The Manager stated that the plant was in the process of upgrading older equipment, and that one-new Kurz Calibrator had been received.
The Calibrator was used to check flow on the effluent stack flow meters and the environmental air samplers.
A system was being established to readout counts from the instruments to a r
Personal Computer, then to the plant computer._ The inspector reviewed instrument packages for alpha gas proportional counters No. 1, No. 2, and 3
No. 6.
The records showed that voltage plateaus, operating voltages, and efficiencies were determined quarterly as required.
Backgrounds and source checks were run on each shift, with the check source being alternated for each check. The inspector determined through these reviews that-the requirements were met.
No violations or deviations were identified.
9.
FollowupItem;(92701)
(Closed) IFI 70-1151/89-04-01:
Review the results of tests for possible alpha self-absorption by filter wetting.
The inspector discussed this problem with a licensee Senior Engineer and reviewed a letter, dated May 3, 1990,
Subject:
Self-Absorption Factor Verification, which described a test whereby twe samples from roof stacks were selected, counted in the normal manner, then leached and dissolved in concentrated nitric acid.
Aliquots of the samples were dried on planchets and counted I
to determine the self absorption factor.
The results gave a self
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t absorption factor of 0.28.
The factor already in use by the licensee was 0.32, so no significant change had occurred.
10.
Exit Interview (30703)
The inspection scope and results.were summarized on May 4,1990, with those persons indicated in Paragraph 1.
The inspector described the areas inspected and discussed in detail the results listed.above.
One Inspector Followup Item was closed (Paragraph 9), and the licensee's programs-were found to be conducted in accordance with the requirements.
The inspector observed that after consistently falling for several years, the liquid radiological effluents showed a sharp increase during the last half of 1989.-
Licensee representatives stated that an investigation was being conducted.
Proprietary information is not contained in this report.
Dissenting comments were not received from the licensee.
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ATTACHMENT I Procedures reviewed by the inspector:
Regulatory Affairs Procedures RA-100, Preparation and Revisions of Regulatory Affairs Procedures, Revision 4 RA-102, Plant Inspection Program for Regulatory Compliance, kevision 1 RA-202, Health Physics Reviews, Revision 3 RA-209, Low-Level Radioactive Weste Audit Plan, Revision 4 RA-210, Radioactivity Airborne Investigations, Revision 4 RA-211, Low-Level Radioactive Waste Responsibilities, Revision 5 RA-219, ALARA Program Statistical Analyses, Revision 0 RA-400, NPDES Permit Program, Revision 3 RA-401, Environmental Control Requirements Mandated By 10 CFR 20 Revision 2 RA-503, Calculation of Total Uranium Nuclide Activity Level for Purposes of Transaction Documentation Revision 3 Regulatory Operstions Operating Procedures01-025, Calibration of Tennelec LB 5100, Automatic Sample Counters, Revision 4 01-026, Tennelec Background and Efficiency Operation, Revision 2 01-028, Calibration. of Rotometers, Flowmeters, and Verification of, Revision 1 05-003, Analysis and Release of Uranium Solutions, Revision 6 05-004A, Determining Alpha Activity of a Water Sample, Revision 5 05-016 Weekly and Monthly Measured Discards Report, Revision 4 05-037, HEPA Filter System Leak Test, Revision 2 06-001,
'HPDES Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Effluent Sample Collection, Revision 10
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, ~.m ATTACHMENT I 2
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06-002, Roof Effluent Air Sampling and Counting, Revision 6 06-003, Ambient Environmentel Air Monitoring for Radioactivity, Revision 4
e 06-004, Determination of Gaseous Fluoride Using Calcium 0xide Papers, 1th' Revision 3 0;06-006, Collection of Routine Weekly and Monthly Environmental Samples, Revision 4 06-007 Two-Inch Well Sampling, Revision 2 i
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