Event Notification Report for December 23, 1999

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT INVOLVING A VEHICLE ACCIDENT CARRYING TECHNETIUM-99M

The Ohio Bureau of Radiation Protection (BRP) received a notification concerning an accident involving a Syncor truck in Seneca County, Ohio. The truck is on fire, and there is a possible fatality involved. The truck was being used to deliver technetium-99m to area hospitals and used to pick up waste. The report indicates that waste containers are strewn across the highway. Emergency Medical and Fire Department personnel have responded, and the highway patrol was en route to the scene. The Ohio BRP is sending a team to the accident site, which is located about 100 miles from their offices. Syncor is also sending representatives to the accident site.

* * * UPDATE AT 1145 EST ON 12/23/99 FROM MIKE SNEE TO FANGIE JONES * * *

Two Ohio BRP representatives, the radiation safety officer from the Syncor facility in Holland, Ohio, and an Ohio Public Utility Commission HAZMAT expert are on the scene as well as personnel from the state police and the county emergency management agency. The Ohio BRP has received the following updated information on the accident:

The accident involved a head on collision of two vehicles, and both vehicles are currently located on the side of the road. The accident resulted in both drivers being killed. A county coroner is en route the scene, and the scene has been cordoned off by the state police. The accident occurred on state route 635 and county road 38 in Seneca County, Ohio. The cause of the accident is under investigation. The weather in the area is currently clear and cold with no snow on the ground.

There were 12 ammo boxes (which were used to transport radioactive materials) in the Syncor truck. Two boxes had doses (technetium-99m) that had yet to be delivered. Both of these boxes were intact and have been recovered. Approximately eight ammo boxes broke open and were scattered around the scene. These boxes contained waste material (most of which had already decayed or had significantly decayed). Most of the boxes have been recovered. However, there are a few lead pigs that were inside the ammo boxes that opened up, and there are some syringes on the scene that have not yet been recovered. One of the ammo boxes was in the fire and burned up. The lead pigs in this box were charred, but both were intact. This box has also been recovered. Therefore, the radioactive hazard at the scene is very minimal. The Ohio BRP representatives at the scene plan to continue searching the area for any other syringes or radioactive material that may still be on the ground. At the time of this update, recovery efforts for the radioactive material had stopped in order to allow for removal of the drivers from the vehicles.

The NRC operations officer notified the R3DO (Ring), NMSS (Cool), and IRO (Miller).

(Call the NRC operations officer for contact information.)

DURING PERFORMANCE OF THE CABLE SPREADING ROOM (CSR) HALON SYSTEM SURVEILLANCE, APPROXIMATELY ONE-HALF OF THE CSR FIRE DAMPERS FAILED TO CLOSE.

During performance of surveillance test PT-EM19, "Cable Spreading Room (CSR) Halon System," approximately one-half of the CSR fire dampers (FD-02, 03, 06 and 07) failed to close on a Halon fire suppression system actuation. Damper closure upon Halon system actuation is required to ensure that a proper concentration of Halon is achieved in the CSR to suppress a fire. With the dampers not fully closed, Halon concentration cannot be ensured as described in the Fire Protection Program Plan. Damper closure by other means such as heat was not affected by this condition. Appendix R safe shutdown capabilities were not affected. The apparent cause of this failure was incorrect wiring which has been corrected. Subsequent attempts to close these dampers via Halon system actuation were successful, but investigation into the source of the incorrect wiring is ongoing. This surveillance is performed every 24 months. After the surveillance test was performed last time, a modification was performed on the Transformer Deluge System. The wiring problem which caused only one-half of the dampers to close came from the Transformer Deluge System. The licensee is investigating the cause of this wiring problem.

The NRC Resident Inspector was notified of this event by the licensee.

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - ABANDONED WELL LOGGING SOURCE

"Date of Occurrence: 12-23-99.

"Description of Source: Am241Be sealed source Gulf Nuclear model: 712A, serial number:
635B, physical form: Solid, quantity: 20Ci.

"Well Operator: Colorado Energy Minerals, Inc.

"Well Name: UPRC Baur 17-1

"Surface Location: NW NE 600' FNL 2000' EEL Sec-17, Twp-9N, Rge-64W.

"Results of efforts to seal and immobilize the source: The source is at the bottom of the hole with 100' of red cement above. A used drill bit has been cemented in as a deflector in one of the uphole plugs.

"Description of attempted recovery: It was discovered the source was in the hole without the protection of the pad carrier. It was verified with a gamma ray to be on the bottom of the hole. Fishing was attempted via the wireline with a magnet since the holder was magnetic. These attempts were hampered by steadily deteriorating hole conditions and fill on top of the source. Fishing attempts involving use of the drilling rig and pipe were ruled out due to the possibility of source rupture from the extreme weight of the drill string. When the fishing attempts proved unsuccessful it was determined to cement the source in the hole. A final gamma ray was ran to assure the source was at the bottom of the hole and the well was plugged as outlined above. Note: The well was a dry hole and the well was plugged with cement plugs at various depths and the deflector cemented in one of these plugs.

"Depth of the source: 4420'"