Event Notification Report for June 24, 2004

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - TRACTOR TRAILER LEAKING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

The following was sent via facsimile from the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources:

"At approximately 1:00 PM on June 24, 2004 the NC Radiation Protection Section received notification of an ongoing radiological event in Henderson County NC. A tractor trailer truck carrying Uranium Nitrate Hexahydrate Solution was identified as leaking material at a reported 10-20 drops per hour. The leak was discovered at a DMV weigh station and appropriate action has been taken including response by local Haz Mat Teams. Radiological readings at the site have been reported as a maximum of 0.3 mr/hr and the background was reported to be 0.03 mr/hr. The spill is considered isolated and contained and the highway remains open. No contamination of individuals is suspected. The ongoing event is being investigated by multiple organizations including State Law Enforcement, NC Radiation Protection Section, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, local Haz-Mat teams and others. The responsible party -the shipper- has dispatched a response team from Knoxville, TN and is expected to be on site by approximately 3:00 PM on June 24 to begin corrective action and recovery procedures."

NC Incident No. 04-22.

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THIS IS NOT A NEW REPORT.

This event report was originally withheld from public release under the NRC's policy for protecting sensitive unclassified information. The NRC has reevaluated this policy and is now making this event report available to the public with suitable redactions.
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REMOVABLE SURFACE CONTAMINATION GREATER THAN THE LIMITS

Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) received a shipment of natural uranium [DELETED] from CAMECO [DELETED]. When the receipt survey was begun, one of the 55-gallon drums was found to be contaminated on the bottom. The survey result was 455 disintegrations per minute (DPM)/100 square centimeters. [The limit is 220 DPM/100 sq cm.] Access to the drum was restricted by placing it into a roped off area.

The remaining drums are being surveyed. [DELETED] drums were received and four have been surveyed. Access to all of the drums has been restricted until they are surveyed.

Since the contamination was found after the delivery truck had been released, the consignor has been notified of the event and has been requested to check the truck for contamination.

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector and the State of Tennessee.

* * * RETRACTED ON 7/1/04 AT 1641 EDT FROM GILBERT ROSENBERGER TO GERRY WAIG * * *

"Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc. (NFS) wishes to withdraw the Notification of an Event which was made on June 24, 2004 at 1852 hours. The event number was #40840.

"The immediate event notification was made because NFS' procedure required an immediate notification in the event a package was received and was found to be contaminated in excess of 220 DPM/100 square centimeters of alpha activity. This procedure was intended to implement the requirements of 10 CFR 20.1906(d)(1).

"The material involved in this event was natural uranium, which is a low toxicity alpha emitter as defined by 49 CFR 173.403. 49 CFR 173.443, which is referenced by 10 CFR 71.87(i) which in turn is referenced by 10 CFR 20.1906(d)(1), gives the non-fixed radioactive wipe limit for this material as 22 DPM/square centimeter. This limit converts to 2,200 DPM/100 square centimeters of alpha activity, which is considerably more than the 455 DPM/100 square centimeters of alpha activity which precipitated this incident. A repeat survey confirmed this contamination level and found no other elevated shipping packages.

"To prevent a recurrence of this notification, NFS is revising procedure NFS-HS-A-50, rev. 12 to provide a differentiation between alpha emitters and low-toxicity alpha emitters.

The licensee has notified the NRC Resident Inspector (via email and voice mail) and the State of Tennessee.

Notified R2DO (Carolyn Evans) and NMSS EO (Scott Moore).

* * * UPDATE 05/11/08 BY J KOZAL* * *

THIS IS NOT A NEW REPORT.

This event report was originally withheld from public release under the NRC's policy for protecting sensitive unclassified information. The NRC has reevaluated this policy and is now making this event report available to the public with suitable redactions.