Event Notification Report for December 09, 2005

STOLEN SEALED CALIBRATION SOURCE - 2 MILLICURIES OF AM-241

"The North Carolina Radioactive Materials Branch was notified at 16:00 [EST] today [12/12/05] of the theft of an Am-241 sealed calibration and reference source from a Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. (N.C. Radioactive Materials License No. 068-0895-1) service vehicle. The theft occurred on 09 December 2005 between 21:30 and 23:00 in Statesville, NC.

"The information for the missing source is as follows:
Isotope: Am-241
Activity: 2 millicuries
Make: AEA Technology
Model: AMC.P3
Serial No.: 0182LX

"The theft occurred at a restaurant parking lot in Statesville, NC. The source was contained within a locked tool-box stored inside of the locked service vehicle. The passenger side window was broken and the toolbox was taken, along with other items, from the vehicle.

"The licensee notified the Statesville, NC police department [Report No. 05-4284] and the police have conducted a preliminary investigation into the break-in/theft. The licensee has drafted a press release and is offering a $1,000 reward for the return of the source.

"The Radioactive Materials Branch continues to monitor the situation and will update the NRC when new information becomes available."


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.

TRIP OF A STARTUP BUS BREAKER RESULTS IN START OF EMERGENCY DIESEL GENERATORS

"At 0901 on December 9, 2005, a trip of the 10 Startup Bus Breaker occurred at Limerick Generating Station in the 220 KV substation. This de-energized one of the required offsite sources and the associated 10 Startup Bus and 101 Safeguard Bus, causing a valid actuation signal for the D11, D13, D22 and D24 Diesel Generators. All diesels started and their associated 4 KV buses swapped to the 201 Safeguard Bus as required. The cause of the 10 Startup Bus Breaker trip is under investigation. Units 1 and 2 remain at 100% power."

No safety related loads were lost. The diesel generators were still running at the time of the call but, the licensee was shutting down the diesels per procedure.

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

RCS PRESSURE BOUNDARY LEAKAGE IDENTIFIED

"At 1450 hours on 12/5/05, Unit 2 entered abnormal operating procedure 18004-C 'RCS Leakage' due to increasing containment atmospheric radiation levels as identified on 2RE2562A. Per procedure, an RCS leak rate determination was commenced and completed as of 1629 hours, 12/8/05 (identified = 0.032gpm, unidentified = 0.254gpm, total = 0.286gpm). While making preparations for a containment entry for leakage inspection, a second leak rate [determination] was completed at 2020 hours, 12/8/05 (identified = 0.070gpm, unidentified = 0.267gpm, total = 0.337gpm). At 2240 hours, 12/8/05, the team performing the containment leak inspection reported no leakage identified outside the bioshield. Another leak rate [determination] was completed at 0245 hours, 12/9/05, the team performing the containment leak inspection reported that by using a robotic camera, water was observed coming down the inside wall of the bioshield in the area of loop 2. At 0433 hours, 12/9/05, a shutdown of Unit 2 was initiated to allow further investigation / repair of the RCS leak inside containment. Unit 2 was placed in Mode 3 at 1313 hours, 12/9/05. At 1544 hours, 12/9/05, the containment leak inspection team reported pressure boundary leakage at a welded connection where a 3/4 inch bypass line is welded to the RCS loop upstream of the RHR loop suction valve 2HV8701B. [Plant Vogtle personnel are] presently preparing to commence shutdown to Mode 5 for repair of the leak."

Technical specification 3.4.14 applies and requires no pressure boundary leakage. The plant is currently removing decay heat by steaming from the steam generators through the steam dump valves to the condenser. All safety related electrical buses are available. Emergency diesel generators are available and in standby.

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

* * * UPDATE RECEIVED BY PHONE ON 12/12/2005 AT 13:50 FROM JIM POLICKOSKI TO ABRAMOVITZ * * *

Two corrections were communicated. The date of the initial event was "at 1450 hours on 12/8/05." The technical specification quoted is changed to 3.4.13.

Notified the R2DO (Henson).

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - LOST MOISTURE DENSITY GAUGE

The licensee provided the following information via facsimile:

"On December 9, 2005 approximately between 11:50 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. [the gauge operator] lost a Nuclear Gauge (Troxler Moisture Density Gauge, Model 3430, s/n 35182, 8 millicuries Cs-137 and 40 millicuries Am-241:Be).

"[The gauge operator] was out at Del Webb Somersett, Village 8 to perform compaction tests with the Nuclear Gauge. [The gauge operator] arrived on the job-site and parked his truck at the intersection of Hidden River Way and Del Webb Parkway. He got his equipment ready to so he could begin to test the soil compaction. He took the gauge out of the safety box, and left it in the bed of his truck with the tailgate down.

"The contractor, ran into rock while excavating, and it was taking longer than normal to lay the pipe backfill. On and off for the next two hours [the gauge operator] watched from his truck. Lunchtime rolled around and the gauge operator left the jobsite for lunch. He did not put the gauge back in the safety box, or put his tailgate back up.

"This is the route that [the gauge operator] took to go to lunch. He took Del Webb Parkway East to Somersett Parkway. He took Somersett Parkway all the way to Mae Anne. After turning left onto Mae Anne he drove to KFC located in the Wal-Mart complex near McCarran Blvd. He went through the drive-thru at KFC, got his lunch and drove back to the job-site by the exact same route. When back on Del Webb Parkway he ran over a piece of steel and got out of his truck to see what he ran over. When he got out, he saw that the tailgate was down on his truck and that the gauge was gone. This was approximately 12:15 p.m. When [the gauge operator] saw the gauge was gone he got in his truck and retraced all of his steps looking for the gauge. He did not find it. The workers on the job site were asked if they had seen the gauge and no one had."

The licensee notified the Reno Police Department and Washoe County Sheriff's Department.

Event Report ID NV-05-006.

* * * UPDATE TO ABRAMOVITZ RECEIVED VIA FAX AT 10:04 ON 12/12/05 * * *

"The gauge has been found and is now in the possession of the licensee. Some gauge electronics appeared to be missing, but the source appears to be intact. The gauge has been leak tested." Nevada has updated the Event Report ID Number from NV-05-006 to NV-05-009.

Notified NMSS (Morell), R4DO (Johnson), and TAS (via E-mail).

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.