Event Notification Report for November 24, 2000

TORUS TO DRYWELL VACUUM BREAKER OPENED FOR APPROXIMATELY 4 MINUTES.

At 1232 CT on 11-24-00, Reactor Building Closed Cooling Water (RBCCW) temperature control valve failed open due to the feedback arm vibrating off of the controller.

RBCCW temperature dropped from 70 degrees to 50 degrees and caused drywell temperature and pressure to lower. Drywell temperature decreased from 136 to 132 degrees and drywell pressure decreased from 15 to 10.5" of water column.

Drywell pressure lowering caused T2300F400C (Torus to Drywell vacuum breaker) to open for approximately 4 minutes. After pressure stabilized, the vacuum breaker closed.

This event only altered containment parameters, and the reactor was not affected.

The feedback arm was reinstalled. RBCCW temperature and containment parameters were restored to normal.

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

SYNCOR TRUCK CARRYING TECHNETIUM-99M INVOLVED IN ACCIDENT.

At approximately 1300 hours ET time today, 11/24/00, a SYNCOR Radiopharmaceutical truck was involved in a one vehicle accident near Harpersfield, Ohio, which is located in Ashtabula County. The truck hit an icy patch on the road and the truck flipped over. The SYNCOR truck was carrying two ammo boxes containing Technetium-99m. One ammo box contained 158 millicuries of Tc-99m and the other ammo box contained 441 millicuries of Tc-99m. The driver of the truck was not injured but was transported to an area hospital as a precaution. The local fire department on scene determined that the boxes were not damaged and their surveys around the outside of the truck did not show any abnormal radiation readings. SYNCOR Corporation Pharmacy out of Oakwood Village, Ohio, dispatched personnel to the scene. When they arrived they performed contamination surveys of the ammo boxes and the vehicle and determined that the packages were not damaged.

The ammo boxes were labeled "Radioactive White 1"

Ohio State report number assigned to this event is 00-044.

OVEREXPOSURE TO EXTREMITIES (HANDS/FINGERS)

Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) for Law Environmental located in Dorado, Puerto Rico reported the following event which occurred today, 11/24/00, around 1445 hours ET.

The RSO and another individual were performing a source exchange on a Sentinel Technology model number 660B Iridium-192 (Ir-192) Radiography camera. They were performing a source exchange, replacing their old Ir-192 source with a new Ir-192 source without realizing that the old source had not been retracted. One person had his hand on the guide tube and the other person unplugged the guide tube. The RSO said that their fingers were approximately 0.25" (material between fingers and source) from the Ir-192 6.3 (or 6.03) -curie source for about 30 seconds. The combined calculated total extremity dose to both person hands (fingers) is 628 Rems. The RSO had not calculated the whole body dose to himself and the other person at the time of the event notification.

The original source strength of the radiography camera was 115 curies as of January or February of this year.