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Event Notification Report for April 10, 2007

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Operations Center

Event Reports For
04/09/2007 - 04/10/2007

** EVENT NUMBERS **


43275 43277 43288 43291 43292 43294

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General Information or Other Event Number: 43275
Rep Org: LOUISIANA RADIATION PROTECTION DIV
Licensee: LAFAYETTE GENERAL MEDICAL CENTER
Region: 4
City: LAFAYETTE State: LA
County:
License #:
Agreement: Y
Docket:
NRC Notified By: JAMES PATE
HQ OPS Officer: PETE SNYDER 		Notification Date: 04/04/2007
Notification Time: 12:02 [ET]
Event Date: 04/03/2007
Event Time: [CDT]
Last Update Date: 04/04/2007
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
AGREEMENT STATE
 Person (Organization):
CHUCK CAIN (R4)
MICHELE BURGESS (FSME)
ILTAB (e-mail) ()

This material event contains a "Less than Cat 3" level of radioactive material.

Event Text

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - STOLEN PALLADIUM SEEDS

The State of Louisiana received a report from a licensee representative that 101 Palladium 103 seeds, with a total activity of 132 millicuries, were stolen. The seeds were stolen from a truck at 2235 Highway 178 in Sunset, LA. The seeds had been accepted by the licensee from the shipper and were going to transported to the hospital by the licensee representative.

The licensee notified the Louisiana State Police and local law enforcement and is following up on the incident.

* * * UPDATE ON 4/4/07 AT 1630 EDT FROM PATE TO SNYDER * * *

The following information was received via e-mail from the State of Louisiana:

At the time of the theft the truck was parked at the residence of the licensee's Radiation Safety Officer (RSO). The RSO contacted the St. Landry Parish Sheriff and the Louisiana State Police. The seeds were in the vehicle on the rear seat inside a red, padlocked, metal tool chest labeled as radioactive material. The approximate dimensions of the tool chest are 1.5 to 2 feet long and 8 to 10 inches wide. The seeds were contained in seven plastic sleeves that were attached to the inside of one stainless steel container that was inside another stainless steel container.

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has dispatched three inspectors out to search the area where the sources were stolen with instrumentation. "If the Palladium sources were piled together outside of their shielded containers, this would result in a radiation exposure roughly 16.6 [millirem/hour] at one foot.

"[The RSO] has stated that the facility will be notifying the public by television and newspapers."

Notified R4DO (C. Cain) and FSME EO (D. Rathbun).


THIS MATERIAL EVENT CONTAINS A "LESS THAN CAT 3" LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

Sources that are "Less than IAEA Category 3 sources," are either sources that are very unlikely to cause permanent injury to individuals or contain a very small amount of radioactive material that would not cause any permanent injury. Some of these sources, such as moisture density gauges or thickness gauges that are Category 4, the amount of unshielded radioactive material, if not safely managed or securely protected, could possibly - although it is unlikely - temporarily injure someone who handled it or were otherwise in contact with it, or who were close to it for a period of many weeks.

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General Information or Other Event Number: 43277
Rep Org: UTAH DIVISION OF RADIATION CONTROL
Licensee: UTAH POWER AND LIGHT COMPANY
Region: 4
City: PRICE State: UT
County:
License #: UT 1800163
Agreement: Y
Docket:
NRC Notified By: GWEN GALLOWAY
HQ OPS Officer: PETE SNYDER 		Notification Date: 04/04/2007
Notification Time: 19:43 [ET]
Event Date: 03/02/2007
Event Time: 13:30 [MST]
Last Update Date: 04/04/2007
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
AGREEMENT STATE
 Person (Organization):
CHUCK CAIN (R4)
DENNIS RATHBUN (FSME)

Event Text

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - FIXED LEVEL GAUGE SOURCE FAILURE TO RETRACT

The following information was reported to the NRC via facsimile:

The Utah Division of Radiation Control was initially notified by telephone on March 3, 2007 at about 10:20 am MST by the licensee's consultant that a source of a fixed level gauge at the Hunter Power Plant near Castle Dale, Utah failed to retract into the safe shielded position. The gauge is a Texas Nuclear Model 5197, Serial Number 1305 level gauge containing 100 millicuries of Cs-137. The licensee contacted their service consultant who discovered that the handle on the gauge was bent. The consultant indicated that it appeared that someone had attempted to turn the handle on the gauge without pulling the button. This act had apparently bent the handle. When the licensee had attempted to close the device properly, the bent handle did not allow the drive cable to align properly with the source to retract it.

This incident is being tracked by the State as Utah Report ID No. UT-07-0002.

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General Information or Other Event Number: 43288
Rep Org: WISCONSIN RADIATION PROTECTION
Licensee: ST. VINCENT HOSPITAL
Region: 3
City: GREEN BAY State: WI
County:
License #:
Agreement: Y
Docket:
NRC Notified By: PAUL SCHMIDT
HQ OPS Officer: PETE SNYDER 		Notification Date: 04/06/2007
Notification Time: 12:27 [ET]
Event Date: 04/04/2007
Event Time: [CDT]
Last Update Date: 04/06/2007
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
AGREEMENT STATE
 Person (Organization):
LAURA KOZAK (R3)
DENNIS RATHBUN (FSME)

Event Text

IMPROPER APPLICATOR LENGTH LEADS TO WRONG DOSE

"St. Vincent Hospital, (Green Bay, Wisconsin) notified [the state of Wisconsin] of a medical event by telephone, on April 5, 2007. The medical event occurred on April 4, 2007 and involved an HDR unit. Initial information indicated an incorrect length of catheter was used during the treatment. A [state] inspector was dispatched to the facility on April 6, 2007.

"On April 4, 2007, a patient was scheduled for a single-fraction interstitial treatment using a Varian Vari-Source HDR unit containing 6.24 Curies of Iridium-192. The patient was to receive 900 centigray to the vagina. An incorrect applicator length (100 cm) was input into the treatment plan. The actual applicator length was 120 centimeters. The source is believed not to have entered the patient's body during treatment. The authorized user and the patient were notified, and the patient will return for retreatment on April 12. The licensee is performing their own investigation into the event, including a reenactment of the event."

A "Medical Event" may indicate potential problems in a medical facility's use of radioactive materials. It does not necessarily result in harm to the patient.

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Power Reactor Event Number: 43291
Facility: COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION
Region: 4 State: WA
Unit: [2] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [2] GE-5
NRC Notified By: RYAN STOUT
HQ OPS Officer: JOHN MacKINNON 		Notification Date: 04/09/2007
Notification Time: 04:26 [ET]
Event Date: 04/08/2007
Event Time: 22:32 [PDT]
Last Update Date: 04/09/2007
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(2)(i) - PLANT S/D REQD BY TS
 Person (Organization):
CHUCK CAIN (R4)

Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode
2 N Y 95 Power Operation 85 Power Operation

Event Text

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION REQUIRED SHUTDOWN

"Energy Northwest is reporting initiation of a planned shutdown of Columbia Generating Station Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.72(b)(i), 'The initiation of any nuclear plant shutdown required by the plant's technical specifications.' This plant shutdown is undertaken prior to 1032 PDT on 4/9/07 which is the expiration of the completion time of Technical Specification Limiting Condition for Operation 3.8.7 Required Action C. This plant shutdown is undertaken due to complications from recovery of the failure of a backup power supply to power converter E-IN-2A/2B reported in event notification # 43290."

The NRC Resident Inspector was notified of this event by the licensee.

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Power Reactor Event Number: 43292
Facility: DAVIS BESSE
Region: 3 State: OH
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] B&W-R-LP
NRC Notified By: THOMAS PHILLIPS
HQ OPS Officer: JOHN KNOKE 		Notification Date: 04/09/2007
Notification Time: 15:17 [ET]
Event Date: 04/09/2007
Event Time: 07:30 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 04/09/2007
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(3)(xiii) - LOSS COMM/ASMT/RESPONSE
 Person (Organization):
SONIA BURGESS (R3)

Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode
1 N Y 100 Power Operation 100 Power Operation

Event Text

SEISMIC MONITORING SYSTEM OUT OF SERVICE

"On April 9, 2007, at approximately 0730 hours, the keyswitch for the Seismic Monitoring System was discovered in the off position, rendering the Seismic Monitoring System unavailable. The system has apparently been in this configuration since March 29, 2007, when deficiencies were found during routine calibration checks. The ability to declare an Unusual Event per Emergency Action Level 8.A.1 would not be significantly hampered by this event, because this declaration would be based on either personnel feeling an earthquake, or detection via the Seismic Monitoring System. However, the unavailability of the Seismic Monitoring System could potentially hamper the operators in determining the magnitude of an earthquake in order to determine if it reached Operating Basis Earthquake levels or Safe Shutdown Earthquake levels. Therefore, this could potentially hamper the declaration of an Alert or Site Area Emergency, respectively, per Emergency Action Levels 8.A.2 or 8.A.3. Therefore, this event is being considered reportable per 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(xiii), as it results in a loss of emergency assessment capability. Compensatory measures are being established to obtain an off-site source of thus information in a timeframe that can support timely declaration of an emergency."

The licensee will notify the NRC Resident Inspector.

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General Information or Other Event Number: 43294
Rep Org: FAIRBANKS MORSE ENGINE
Licensee: FAIRBANKS MORSE ENGINE
Region: 3
City: BELOIT State: WI
County:
License #:
Agreement: Y
Docket:
NRC Notified By: DOMINIC DEDOLPH
HQ OPS Officer: MARK ABRAMOVITZ 		Notification Date: 04/09/2007
Notification Time: 20:30 [ET]
Event Date: 04/09/2007
Event Time: [CDT]
Last Update Date: 04/09/2007
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
21.21 - UNSPECIFIED PARAGRAPH
 Person (Organization):
JAMES TRAPP (R1)
CHARLES R. OGLE (R2)
SONIA BURGESS (R3)
THOMAS FARNHOLTZ (R4)
TABATABAI (E-MAIL) ()
VERN HODGE (E-MAIL) ()

Event Text

PART 21 NOTIFICATION - DIESEL CAM ROLLER BUSHING FAILURES

"The [fuel pump] cam roller bushing part number 16100527 (and part number 16600336 for the kit containing cam roller bushings) for the Fairbanks Morse Engine Opposed Piston engine Emergency Diesel Generator shipped prior to August 2001 may be made from an incorrect material that is too soft for the application.

"The subject emergency diesel generator would not have been able to achieve its maximum load rating and therefore not have been able to perform its intended function."

The potentially affected plants are:
Alabama Power/Farley
Arkansas Power
Amergen /GPU/TMI
Constellation/BG&E
Detroit Edison/Fermi
Dominion/Millstone
Vepco
Georgia Power/Hatch
Vermont Yankee
Exelon/PECO - Limerick/Peach Bottom
FPL/NMC/IES/Duane Arnold
NMC Prairie Island/Northern States
Progress Energy (CP&L)
SCANA/South Carolina Electric and Gas
Electronuclear (Electrobras)

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Thursday, March 29, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012