| U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Operations Center Event Reports For
09/11/2007 - 09/12/2007 ** EVENT NUMBERS ** |
 | General Information or Other | Event Number: 43618 | Rep Org: CALIFORNIA RADIATION CONTROL PRGM
Licensee: ENGINEERING REMEDIATION RESOURCES GROUP, ERRG
Region: 4
City: CONCORD State: CA
County:
License #: GENERAL
Agreement: Y
Docket:
NRC Notified By: KENT PENDERGAST
HQ OPS Officer: BILL HUFFMAN | Notification Date: 09/06/2007
Notification Time: 18:06 [ET]
Event Date: 09/04/2007
Event Time: 06:23 [PDT]
Last Update Date: 09/06/2007 | Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
AGREEMENT STATE
| Person (Organization):
TROY PRUETT (R4)
JACK DAVIS (FSME)
ILTAB VIA E-MAIL ()
MEXICO VIA E-MAIL ()
|
| This material event contains a "Less than Cat 3" level of radioactive material. | Event Text AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - CALIFORNIA - THEFT OF TWO THERMO-NITON ANALYZERS
The State provided the following information via email:
"Two XRF Analyzers possessed under a general license by Engineering Remediation Resources Group (ERRG) were stolen from the cab of a truck parked overnight in San Francisco, California at Grove and Masonic. The serial numbers of the stolen Analyzers are 7497 and 7706. These devices contain 40 mCi of Cadmium-109 each. The police and the company from which the Analyzers were rented, Thermo-Niton in Boston, MA, have been notified. The cases for the Analyzers were found broken open about a block away from the location of the parked truck. All the equipment for the Analyzers was missing as well. The employees of ERRG, a soil gauge licensee (RML# 6739-07), have been retrained on maintaining the security of radioactive material in their possession. ERRG has agreed to offer a reward for the return of the Analyzers in a local newspaper. A 30 day reporting requirement was chosen because of the low exposure rate of Cadmium-109 and the unlikely possibility of opening the devices to get at the radioactive material. The energy of the X-Rays from Cadmium-109 are 22.1 Kev, 24.9 Kev and 88.0 Kev."
CA State Report No.: 090407
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.
This source is not amongst those sources or devices identified by the IAEA Code of Conduct for the Safety & Security of Radioactive Sources to be of concern from a radiological standpoint. Therefore is it being categorized as a less than Category 3 source |
| General Information or Other | Event Number: 43620 | Rep Org: CALIFORNIA RADIATION CONTROL PRGM
Licensee: UNKNOWN
Region: 4
City: BREA State: CA
County:
License #: UNKNOWN
Agreement: Y
Docket:
NRC Notified By: BARBARA HAMRICK
HQ OPS Officer: BILL HUFFMAN | Notification Date: 09/06/2007
Notification Time: 19:38 [ET]
Event Date: 09/06/2007
Event Time: 08:30 [PDT]
Last Update Date: 09/06/2007 | Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
AGREEMENT STATE
| Person (Organization):
TROY PRUETT (R4)
JACK DAVIS (FSME)
| Event Text AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - CALIFORNIA - STRONTIUM 90 SOURCE OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN FOUND
The licensee provided the following information via email:
"On September 6, 2007 at approximately 8:30 a.m., [REDACTED] the Brea Olinda Landfill notified RHB-Brea that a radiation alarm had been set off from a transfer truck carrying a load of waste from Taormina (CVT). The maximum reading at the surface of the truck was 0.29 mr/hr. A DOT exemption (CA-CA-07-32) was issued and the truck was allowed to return to Taormina. At approximately 1:55 p.m. an RHB inspector arrived to survey and identify the waste. The item recovered appeared to be a Sr-90 eye applicator. The dose rate was approximately 100 mr/hr at approximately 1 foot from the open source and approximately 10 mr/hr at 1 foot behind the plexiglass shield that comprised part of the handle, with a background of 13 microR/hr. The source was collected by RHB, and is in safe storage, pending an investigation as to its origin. RHB intends to work with a local manufacturer and distributor to quantify the source and determine the model and serial number. The source did not appear to be compromised.
"Since a typical Sr-90 source is between 30 milliCuries and 100 milliCuries, and the criteria for an abnormal occurrence for a Sr-90 source is 81 milliCuries, we are unable to determine if this incident is an abnormal occurrence at this time. " |
| General Information or Other | Event Number: 43621 | Rep Org: NC DIV OF RADIATION PROTECTION
Licensee: BUNNELL-LAMMONS ENGINEERING, INC.
Region: 1
City: ASHEVILLE State: NC
County:
License #: 011-1252-1
Agreement: Y
Docket:
NRC Notified By: LEE COX
HQ OPS Officer: BILL HUFFMAN | Notification Date: 09/06/2007
Notification Time: 22:29 [ET]
Event Date: 09/06/2007
Event Time: 14:00 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 09/07/2007 | Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
AGREEMENT STATE
| Person (Organization):
TODD JACKSON (R1)
JACK DAVIS (FSME)
ILTAB (VIA E-MAIL) ()
|
| This material event contains a "Less than Cat 3" level of radioactive material. | Event Text AGREEMENT STATE- NORTH CAROLINA - UNAUTHORIZED REMOVAL OF PORTABLE NUCLEAR GAUGE
The licensee provided the following information via email:
"N.C. Radiation Protection Section was notified on 06 Sept. 2007 at 6:15 p.m. by the NC Emergency Operations EOC Warning Point of a call from the RSO for Bunnell-Lammons Engineering, Inc. (NC Radioactive Material License #011-1252-1). The RSO reported a missing employee in a white '02-'04 Chevy Silverado truck with 'BLE' logo on the doors. Secured in the truck's bed was one Model 3450 portable moisture density gauge (Serial No. 922). The gauge contained two sealed sources: (1) Cesium-137, approx.9 millicuries, and (2) Americium-241:Beryllium, approx. 44 millicuries.
"The BLE employee was caught sleeping at the job site (Biltmore Town Square in Asheville, NC) at around 2:00 p.m. on 06 Sept. 2007. When the supervisor returned to the site at 4:00pm the same day to check on the employee, the employee, truck, and gauge were missing.
"After RPS discussed the situation with the licensee, BLE contacted local law enforcement reporting a larceny of the truck and the radioactive material. A description of the employee and truck was given.
"The Radiation Protection Section is monitoring the event and will continue to update NRC and other contacts as appropriate.
"N.C. Radiation Protection has not received any media attention as of this report. No press release has been issued."
* * * UPDATE ON 9/7/2007 AT 07:46 FROM LEE COX TO MARK ABRAMOVITZ * * *
The State provided the following information via email:
"I [Lee Cox] received a call at 07:35 from BLE RSO [DELETED] that at 07:25 this morning the employee showed up at the job site like nothing ever happened. The gauge was taken in possession by company representatives at that time in which they indicated it was still secured in the locked case with the source handle lock still in place. The RSO indicated that the gauge would be taken out of use so that a leak test of the sources could be conducted and would not be put back into operation until the results are known. The company will contact all local law enforcement of the situation and will continue to investigate this incident. Disciplinary action of the employee (most likely resulting in termination) will occur swiftly this morning."
Notified the R1DO (Jackson), FSME (Zelac) and ILTAB (Sandler).
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. |
| General Information or Other | Event Number: 43629 | Rep Org: INDIANA STATE DEPT OF TRANSPORATION
Licensee: INDIANA STATE DEPT OF TRANSPORATION
Region: 3
City: INDIANAPOLIS State: IN
County:
License #: 13-26341-01
Agreement: N
Docket:
NRC Notified By: FRANK THOMAS JOHN
HQ OPS Officer: JOHN KNOKE | Notification Date: 09/11/2007
Notification Time: 10:53 [ET]
Event Date: 09/10/2007
Event Time: 08:30 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 09/11/2007 | Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
20.2201(a)(1)(i) - LOST/STOLEN LNM>1000X
| Person (Organization):
SONIA BURGESS (R3)
CINDY FLANNERY (FSME)
ILTAB email ()
|
| This material event contains a "Less than Cat 3" level of radioactive material. | Event Text STOLEN TROXLER GAUGE
On the morning of 09/10/07 the licensee [DELETED] was getting ready to calibrate a Troxler Moisture Density Gauge (Model 3440). The gauge (s/n 22678) was in the back of the company truck on the calibration block. The employee left the truck for 3-5 minutes to use the restroom and when he returned the gauge was gone. The sources in the Troxler gauge are Am-241/Be (40 mCi), and Cs-137 (8 mCi). The employee contacted his supervisor, who in turn contacted the State police (Report # 52-44047). Within 90 minutes the gauge was found in a vacant lot about a mile from the job site. The gauge was checked and found undamaged with the sources in the safe position. No one saw who might have taken the gauge from the truck.
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. |
| Power Reactor | Event Number: 43633 | Facility: KEWAUNEE
Region: 3 State: WI
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] W-2-LP
NRC Notified By: TIM BUNKELMAN
HQ OPS Officer: JASON KOZAL | Notification Date: 09/11/2007
Notification Time: 20:33 [ET]
Event Date: 09/11/2007
Event Time: 14:39 [CDT]
Last Update Date: 09/11/2007 | Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(3)(v)(C) - POT UNCNTRL RAD REL
| 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 AUXILARY BUILDING SPECIAL VENTILATION AND SHIELD BUILDING VENTILATION SYSTEMS INOPERABLE
"At 1439 the Control Room received a Condition Report that identified an unanalyzed condition associated with the Auxiliary Building Special Ventilation and Shield Building Ventilation Systems which resulted in declaring this equipment inoperable. The issue was recirculation flow from Auxiliary Building Special Ventilation back to the Auxiliary Building added additional area heat gain resulting in exceeding the design capacity for the area fan coil units. Technical Specification LCO was entered per TS 3.6.c requiring a reactor shutdown within 12 hours. At 1654 Engineering provided information that if the control switch for Auxiliary Building Special Ventilation Train A was maintained in the off position, the area heat load was within the capacity of area fan coil units. This was completed and both trains of Shield Building Ventilation and Auxiliary Building Special Ventilation Train B was returned to operable. Technical Specification requirements to shutdown were exited. The plant remains in a 7 day Action Statement per TS 3.6.c with Auxiliary Building Special Ventilation Train A inoperable.
"This event is reportable under 10CFR50.72(b)(3)(v)(C), 'Any event or condition that at the time of discovery could have prevented the fulfillment of the safety function of structures or systems that are needed to control the release of radioactive material.' "
The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector. |
| Power Reactor | Event Number: 43634 | Facility: COOPER
Region: 4 State: NE
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] GE-4
NRC Notified By: STEVEN JOBE
HQ OPS Officer: JOE O'HARA | Notification Date: 09/11/2007
Notification Time: 22:58 [ET]
Event Date: 09/11/2007
Event Time: 15:09 [CDT]
Last Update Date: 09/11/2007 | Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(3)(v)(D) - ACCIDENT MITIGATION
| Person (Organization):
CLAUDE JOHNSON (R4)
|
| 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 LOSS OF SAFETY FUNCTION - BOTH EDG'S UNAVAILABLE
"This report is being made pursuant to 10CFR50.72(b)(3)(v)(D) Any event or condition that at the time of discovery could have prevented the fulfillment of the safety function of SSCs that are needed to mitigate the consequences of an accident.
"Diesel generator #2 (DG2) was inoperable and unavailable for planned maintenance. This was day 2 of a 7 day shutdown LCO. At 1449, Diesel Generator #1 (DG1) was declared inoperable and unavailable at 1509, due to malfunction of the day fuel oil day tank high level shutoff solenoid valve. With both DGs unavailable, the required safety function was not maintained. At time 1645, DG1 was restored to an available status by repairing the diesel fuel oil day lank high level shut off solenoid. At this time DG1 is able to perform the safety function. DG1 was declared operable at 2129."
While recovering the DG2 from planned maintenance, the operators were refilling the DG2 day tank and noticed the level increasing in the DG1 day tank. The operators determined that a mechanical failure of the float occurred in the DG1 solenoid valve. The valve should have remained shut to preclude overfilling the tank. The safety function of the valve occurs on a loss of power. On a loss of power, the solenoid valve fails open to allow the tank to be filled.
The NRC Senior Resident Inspector has been notified. | |