Event Notification Report for May 20, 2005

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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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CONCURRENT REPORT UNDER PART 70 APPENDIX "A" FOR OFFSITE NEWS RELEASE

"This concurrent report is being made to the NRC as a result of [the below stated] press release that was made by BWX Technologies. Inc in response to recent information that has been published and broadcast by local media. This [local media] information has the potential to mislead the public into thinking that BWXT manufactures nuclear weapons at its owned and operated facilities in Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana.

"The [below stated] press release was provided to the Lynchburg News & Advance which is a local newspaper, and the following central Virginia television stations: WSET (Lynchburg), WSLS (Roanoke), and WDBJ (Roanoke). The press release was provided to these agencies at approximately 1500 on May 20, 2005.

PRESS RELEASE:

"Recent information that has been published and broadcasted by local media regarding BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) has the misfortunate potential to mislead the public in thinking that BWXT manufactures nuclear weapons at its owned and operated facilities in Virginia, Ohio, and. Indiana. At these facilities, BWXT does not manufacture nuclear weapons nor will the nuclear materials processed at these facilities be utilized in nuclear weapons. BWXT does not have any plans, and is not in any discussions with the Government, to conduct nuclear weapons manufacturing at these facilities, nor does BWXT plan to pursue this business area for these sites.

"For more than 50 years, facilities at these locations have supported other national defense programs for the Department of Energy. In addition, the Virginia facility produces research and test reactor components for laboratories, colleges and universities nationwide. [It] converts enriched uranium for commercial use in support of the fissile material disposition program, and supplies uranium targets for use in the production of medical isotopes."

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

* * * UPDATE ON 05/11/08 BY H. Crouch * * *

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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DEVIATION FROM INTEGRATED SAFETY ANALYSIS, AND A 24 HOUR NOTIFICATION - BULLETIN 91-01 CRITICALITY CONTROL

"Facility
Westinghouse Electric Company, Commercial Fuel Fabrication Facility, Columbia, SC, low enriched PWR fuel fabricator for commercial light water reactors.

"Time and Date of Event
May 20, 2005, 1840 hours.

"Reason for Notification
During a routine filter change-out in a HVAC recirculation filter housing, maintenance mechanics detected an excessive amount of material buildup on the filters and contacted the ventilation engineer. Human performance training at the plant has engendered a heightened awareness for process upsets or unusual conditions in all plant personnel.

"The ventilation engineer examined the filter housing beneath the filter array and discovered a minor build up of powder in the corners of the housing. This caused him to contact the Nuclear Criticality Safety function. The ventilation engineer and the NCS engineer had samples pulled from the powder and filters to confirm the absence of uranium. The system was believed to serve hoods where entrainment of uranium was not credible, i.e. hoods that contained only sintered pellets, not powder in any form. The samples from the filters returned results in a range from 3.5 to 50 weight percent uranium (average 19 weight percent).

"This notification [Deviation from Integrated Safety Analysis] is made in accordance with Appendix A [(b)(5)(i)] to Part 70 - Reportable Safety Events. Events to be reported to the NRC Operations Center, (b) within 24 hours of discovery, (5) An occurrence of an event or process deviation that was considered in the Integrated Safety Analysis and : (i) Was dismissed due to its likelihood.

"As Found Condition
The samples from the filters returned results in a range from 3.5 to 50 weight percent uranium (average of all samples for filters was 19 weight percent). An approximate mass of material mass held up in the filters is 119 kg. Based on the average weight percent uranium, the mass of uranium held up in the filters was 22.6 kg, which is less than a critical mass for spherical fully reflected UO2 and water system. The system was already shut down for filter replacement.

"Summary of Activity
The entire functional area that the system serves was shut down immediately. A team of process experts, system experts, NCS specialists, maintenance personnel, and management was immediately formed to determine the source of the uranium in the system.

"Conclusions
At no time was the health or safety to any employee or member of the public in jeopardy. No exposure to hazardous material was involved. The Incident Review Committee (IRC) has determined that this is a safety significant incident in accordance with governing procedures. A causal analysis will be performed."