Event Notification Report for September 27, 2007

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - TROXLER GAUGE DAMAGED IN HIGHWAY ACCIDENT

The State provided the following information via email:

"The Arkansas Department of Health received notification on September 27, 2007 at 11:00 p.m. a Troxler 4640B, Serial Number 1574 portable gauge was struck and damaged by a pick up truck. The gauge contains a 9 mCi, Cesium-137 source, Serial number 75-6810.

"The incident occurred on Highway 412 near Springdale, Arkansas. The gauge was being used during highway construction. The authorized user was struck and killed during this incident.

"The Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) was contacted and arrived at approximately 12:00 a.m. to assess the scene. The source rod along with part of the shielding was separated from the main part of the gauge. A wipe test was taken and the field survey of the wipe indicated that the source had not been ruptured. The RSO partially shielded the source by returning it to the base plate and placed the source rod back with the gauge in the transport case. The gauge was then transported to the licensee's permanent storage area.

"Arkansas Department of Health personnel arrived at the licensee's facility at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, September 28, 2007. Department personnel gathered information about the incident and then conducted surveys of the gauge. It appears that the gauge shielding had been cracked and possibly compromised. The highest radiation reading was 35 Mr/hour on contact of the left end side of the gauge.

"The licensee has been in contact with the manufacturer for possible disposal options."

* * * UPDATE PROVIDED BY STATE (STEVE MACK) TO JEFF ROTTON AT 1032 EST ON 12/12/07 VIA EMAIL * * *

The State provided the following information via email:

"The Arkansas Department of Health, Radioactive Materials Program, has received documentation of the receipt and disposal on November 2, 2007 of the gauge involved in this incident by a licensed recipient [CPN of Concord, California, CA License # 1100-07]."

Notified R4DO (Bywater) and FSME EO (Burgess)

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - RADIOGRAPHY SOURCE WILL NOT RETRACT INTO CAMERA

"At 1030 hours the licensee reported that a Sentinel model 676AE (S/N AE1017) radiography camera with a 69 Ci Co-60 source (Make 424-13; S/N 2612) failed to retract to the safe position. After several attempts to retract the source and after a close inspection of the crank device, the Agency was notified and advice sought for authorized personnel who could safely retrieve the source. At 1400 hrs., the RSO had made arrangements with the manufacturer to provide a team equipped to deal with the emergency. The licensee is authorized for fixed site radiography for the facility that he owns. Due to Increased controls, surveillance will be maintained by additional security personnel until the retrieval team is on-site, either late tonight or early tomorrow, Friday 09/28/07."

Texas event report: I-8445

* * * UPDATE RECEIVED VIA E-MAIL FROM RAY JISHA TO MARK ABRAMOVITZ AT 1139 ON 9/28/07 * * *

"Update, @ 0800hrs., Friday, September 28, 2007. The RSO for Matrix Metals called to report that the manufacturer's specialist arrived on the scene at ~2230hrs last night, Thursday, September 28, 2007 and the source was retracted to the save position within 20 minutes. As the source was in a shooting bay at this fabrication facility, no significant public or personnel exposures occurred. The RSO for the licensee and another authorized user remained at the facility to ensure constant surveillance as per IC requirements. Upon a more thorough inspection of the camera by the manufacturer's representative, a few mechanical issues were determined to be in need of further investigation so the device and source are being over packed today and returned to the manufacturer. A full report from the licensee will be filed" [with the state of Texas].

Notified the R4DO (Johnson) and FSME (Wastler).

TEMPORARY LOSS OF SMOKE DETECTOR FUNCTION

"At 0012 CDST, on 9-27-07 the Plant Shift Superintendent (PSS) was notified that an alarm was received for the C-333 Unit 6 Cell 4 UF6 Release Detection (PGLD) System. Operators responded and found that the READY and MANUAL lights for this system were not illuminated. This PGLD System contains detectors that cover C-333 Unit 6 Cell 4 and Section 2 of the cell bypass piping. At the time of this alarm, some areas of Section 2 of the cell bypass were operating above atmospheric pressure. TSR 2.4.4.1 requires that at least the minimum number of detector heads in each defined section of the cell bypass are operable during steady state operations above atmospheric pressure. With the Unit 6 Cell 4 PGLD system inoperable, only 2 of the required 3 heads in Section 2 of the cell bypass were operable. This PGLD System was declared inoperable, TSR LCO 2.4.4.1.C.1 was entered and a continuous smoke watch was put in place within one hour. Maintenance investigated and determined that two detector heads had shorted to ground which caused this alarm. Engineering has determined that the system would not have been able to perform its intended safety function when this alarm came in. The shorted heads were replaced and the GLD System was declared operable at 0350 hours on 9-27-07 following repairs and testing. This event is reportable as a 24 hour event in accordance with 10CFR 76.120(c)(2)(i). This is an event in which equipment is disabled or fails to function as designed when: a.) the equipment is required by a TSR to prevent releases, prevent exposures to radiation and radioactive materials exceeding specified limits, mitigate the consequences of an accident, or restore this facility to a pre-established safe condition after an accident; b.) the equipment is required by a TSR to be available and operable and either should have been operating or should have operated o demand, and c.) no redundant equipment is available and operable to perform the required safety function."

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

INVALID EMERGENCY DIESEL GENERATOR START

"This telephone notification is being made under 10 CFR 50.73(a)(2)(iv)(A) in lieu of an LER submittal, pursuant to NUREG-1022, Section 3.2.6.

"At 0512 on 09/27/07 the 'A' Diesel Generator (DG) was being restored to its normal lineup following a maintenance run. During restoration per Station Operating Procedure SOP-306, an under instruction Operations trainee inadvertently pressed the 'Emergency Start' pushbutton instead of verifying the 'Emergency Start' status light was clear as required by Step 2.4.b of the procedure. This resulted in a start of the 'A' DG in the emergency mode. Following an equipment walk down, the 'A' DG was then secured at 0518.

"This inadvertent start of the 'A' DG was determined to be an invalid actuation since it was not the result of a valid signal nor an intentional manual actuation. This inadvertent start was complete, in that the DG started and ran, however; the bus was not required to be loaded and the output breaker did not close. Although inadvertently actuated, the 'A' DG started successfully and would have been able to function in the emergency mode if it had been required."

The licensee notified the NRC Resident Inspector.

LOST ELECTRON CAPTURE DETECTOR

On 6/20/07, a previously manufactured electron capture detector was returned to the New Castle, DE facility because it was not able to reach its final shipment destination. The detector was stored in an area for returned shipments containing radioactive materials. On 9/27/07 the licensee attempted to locate the device for proper dispositioning but could not find it. The licensee ensured that employees knew the description and labeling of the box. The licensee then conducted a search of the entire building but was unable to locate the device.

The device contained a 15 millicurie Ni-63 source.

As part of their corrective actions the licensee ensured that the employees were trained in their responsibilities concerning this type of material. In the future the licensee plans to increase the frequency of periodic training.

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.