Event Notification Report for April 29, 2022

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - GROUNDWATER CONTAINING URANIUM IDENTIFIED DURING EXCAVATION

The following was received from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality via email:

"On April 18, 2022, EnergySolutions personnel reported a strong fuel smell coming from a recent excavation associated with a new facility under construction. The excavations for sumps extended into the groundwater and were not included on the conditionally approved plans. The smell triggered an investigation where groundwater samples were collected for both chemical and radiological analysis. One sample indicated a concentration of 12,000 pCi/L of uranium (preliminary findings). The presence of uranium in the groundwater was unanticipated. Subsequently, the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control has communicated to the licensee to characterize the nature and extent of the contamination. The Division is waiting for additional information from the licensee."

Event Report ID No.: UT220003

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - DAMAGED PORTABLE GAUGE

The following was received from the state of Kansas via email:

"On 4/21/22 during the course of an inspection of the facility, the State of Kansas discovered that an incident involving one of their portable gauges occurred on 7/21/2021. This incident was never reported to Kansas and was discovered through the inspection process.

"Licensee Kansas State University (# 38-C011-01) had a Campbell Pacific Nuclear model 503 portable gauge (serial number 50505) damaged while being used in a field at the Hutchinson, Kansas field research station. The gauge contained 50 mCi of AmBe. The gauge was run over when the student who was using the gauge under the oversight of the local RSO [Radiation Safety Officer] (unknown at this time if the local RSO was present at the site) backed a vehicle over it. At this time Kansas has not been able to determine if the student left the gauge unattended for a brief time or if the student did not properly secure the gauge into the vehicle and it fell out. The gauge was inspected immediately after the incident, and it was found that, though the gauge shielding appeared to be intact, the shipping case was damaged. Immediately following the incident, the student contacted their Primary Investigator (PI), who is a university instructor overseeing the student's project, to inform him of the incident, but it was reported that the PI asked if it was urgent and the student said no. The gauge was discovered damaged by the PI a week later on 7/28/2021.

"Upon discovery, the PI reported that he ordered a new shipping case and ordered leak tests. The leak tests were performed on 7/29/2021 and did not show damage to the source. The damage to the gauge housing was on the opposite side of the machine from the source and did not interfere with the source's insertion or retraction. Because of this, the licensee stated that they decided it was not reportable to Kansas. An investigation is underway to determine what steps were taken by the licensee, including possible repairs to the unit. Follow-up information will be provided as it is obtained."

UNPLANNED CONTAMINATION EVENT

The following information was provided by the licensee via email:

"The plant is in a safe configuration. NRC Region II re-exited an inspection on April 26, 2022 from an inspection which was conducted March 21st through the 24th. During this exit, an event was reclassified as a Non-Cited Violation for failure to report an event. As a result, UUSA [Urenco-USA] is reporting this event as a 24-hour Report per the NRC's inspection.

"On February 28, 2022, water was discovered on the floor of the Liquid Effluent Collection and Transfer System (LECTS) room. The water was leaking from the slab tanks berm into the non-Radiological Controlled Area floor. The area was conservatively and promptly roped off and signage was posted. Radiological readings in the area were taken and found to be less than background and the the spill was cleaned up that day.

"Historical issues are being reviewed and will be added to this notification per the NRC's position shared with UUSA.

"This issue has been entered in UUSA's corrective action program as EV 149668 and 149975."