Event Notification Report for July 21, 2006

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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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MEDIA INQUIRY

This report is being made to the NRC as a result of a media inquiry from the Lynchburg News and Advance. [The reporter] was asking about the Society of Concerned Scientists report on a leak that occurred at the BWXT site in 2000. She asked what BWXT does to prevent such things from occurring. The Manager of Communications indicated that BWXT follows regulatory guidelines given to us so that our systems function safely and in compliance.

The licensee will notify the NRC Resident Inspector.

* * * UPDATE 05/11/08 BY P. SNYDER * * *

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.

MANUAL REACTOR TRIP DUE TO SPARKS FROM UNDER MAIN GENERATOR

"At 1031 hours on July 21, 2006, the reactor operator manually tripped the reactor from 100% power resulting in turbine trip and actuation of auxiliary feedwater. This is reportable under 10 CFR 50.72(b)(2)(iv)(B). 31 Reactor Coolant Pump tripped after the reactor trip. All other systems operated as expected. Steam is being condensed by the condenser. The reactor was tripped due to an abnormal condition under the main generator; electrical arcing/sparking was observed. The reactor will remain shutdown until the cause of the arcing/sparking is identified and corrected."

There was no indication of fire but the fire brigade was called out. The observed arcing and sparking from underneath the main generator secured after the turbine trip.

All control rods fully inserted on the reactor trip. The electric plant is in a normal shutdown lineup and the EDGs are operable. The unit is stable and Unit 2 was not affected.

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector and the New York Public Service Commission.

* * * UPDATE PROVIDED BY DON CROULET TO JEFF ROTTON AT 1416 EDT ON 07/21/06 * * *

Licensee reported the AFW actuation as a Specified System Actuation per 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(iv)(A).

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

Notified the R1DO (Kinneman)

FLORIDA AGREEMENT STATE NOTIFICATION OF MEDICAL EVENT

The State provided the following information via email:

"The RSO [Deleted] of Florida Hospital called. Florida Hospital in Ormond Beach (873 Sterthaus Ave, Ormond Beach, FL 32174) had a medical misadministration.

"They were using a HDR (Nucleotron Microselectron Classic, 8 Ci Ir-192 activity) to deliver vaginal treatment of 500 cGy per fraction. A typical patient gets 3-5 fractions. The delivery tube was 18.5 cm too long resulting in the source being outside the patient. The RSO indicated that the dose to the prescribed area was zero. [Due to the patients position, it was determined that] the dose to the skin is probably not too high.

"The Medical Physicist [MP] [deleted] has not yet determined what the skin dose estimate would be.

"[The MP] discovered the mistake after observing a treatment. The mistake happened because two different types of applicators are used. One has a longer tube than the other. The tubes were mixed up, which resulted in the misadministration. At least one patient is affected by this and maybe as many as 4 others. The MP believes that using film recorded for each treatment, the hospital can determine how many and which patients are affected.

"The treating physician has been notified, the referring physician and the patient have not.

"The State of Florida Bureau of Radiation Control will investigate."

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL IDENTIFIED IN ARC FURNACE ASH

The State provided the following information via email:

"On Friday, July 21, 2006, a truck containing electric arc furnace (EAF) dust departed the LeTourneau, Inc. facility at 2400 South McArthur Blvd., Longview, TX. The dust is commonly referred to as K061 waste and is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste that is a normal byproduct of steel production. A gate monitor alarmed at the Horsehead Resource Development Company, Inc. (Horsehead) in Rockwood, TN, indicating the possible presence of gamma emitting radioactive elements contained in the truck. An alarm of this type is typically associated with the melting of a volatile radioactive source.

"The truck was returned over the weekend of July 22 - 23, 2006 to the LeTourneau facility in Longview, TX, where it was isolated. On Monday July 24, 2006 LeTourneau obtained the services of a consultant to identify the material in the truck. Surveys of the truck by LeTourneau, on the morning of July 25, 2006, indicated the presence of Cesium-137 in the K061 waste. Cs-137 is a byproduct material that is commonly used in sources and devices that are distributed under both general and specific licenses for various industrial applications.

"After determining that the K061 in the truck was contaminated with Cs-137 a full survey of the furnace facility was performed and samples collected to quantify the activity of Cs-137. Radiation survey of the facility determined that exposure level in the facility ranged from 50 µR/hr to 3000 µR/hr. Highest readings were in the ash hopper and silo. LeTourneau does not believe that there were any significant doses to their employees or public due to the location of the highest reading. LeTourneau plans to have result for the samples collected before the end of the week.

"LeTourneau notified the State immediately after determining that the K061 was contaminated with Cs-137."

The state is investigating this incident.

Texas Incident No.: I-8353