Event Notification Report for December 5, 2000
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Operations Center
Event Reports For
12/04/2000 - 12/05/2000
** EVENT NUMBERS **
37565 37566 37567
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|General Information or Other |Event Number: 37565 |
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| REP ORG: ILLINOIS DEPT OF NUCLEAR SAFETY |NOTIFICATION DATE: 12/04/2000|
|LICENSEE: ILLINOIS DEPT OF NUCLEAR SAFETY |NOTIFICATION TIME: 17:06[EST]|
| CITY: ROCKFORD REGION: 3 |EVENT DATE: 12/01/2000|
| COUNTY: STATE: IL |EVENT TIME: 10:00[CST]|
|LICENSE#: AGREEMENT: Y |LAST UPDATE DATE: 12/04/2000|
| DOCKET: |+----------------------------+
| |PERSON ORGANIZATION |
| |MICHAEL PARKER R3 |
| |LARRY CAMPER NMSS |
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| NRC NOTIFIED BY: JOE KLINGER | |
| HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON | |
+------------------------------------------------+ |
|EMERGENCY CLASS: N/A | |
|10 CFR SECTION: | |
|NAGR AGREEMENT STATE | |
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EVENT TEXT
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| BARE UNMARKED 8 MILLICURIE CESIUM-137 SOURCE FOUND IN SCRAPYARD. |
| |
| On December 01, 2000, around 1000 CT the Illinois Department of Nuclear |
| Safety was notified by Joseph Behr Metals, Inc., that a bare 8 millicurie |
| Cesium-137 source had been discovered after their truck portal monitor had |
| alarmed. Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety immediately sent personnel to |
| the site. The area around the Cesium-137 was secured and the source was leak |
| tested, doubled bagged, labeled, and locked in a secure facility at the site |
| by Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety personnel. Joseph Behr Metals, |
| Inc., will have the source properly disposed of in the very near future. |
| |
| The source is unmarked and it looks like it has been through a shredder and |
| nobody came in contact with or was exposed to the source. The source appears |
| to have belonged to a Moisture Density gauge. |
| |
| The Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety has placed the 8 millicurie |
| Cesium-137 on their orphan source list. |
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|General Information or Other |Event Number: 37566 |
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| REP ORG: WA DIVISION OF RADIATION PROTECTION |NOTIFICATION DATE: 12/04/2000|
|LICENSEE: ZIPPER ZEMAN ASSOCIATES |NOTIFICATION TIME: 20:43[EST]|
| CITY: CENTRALIA REGION: 4 |EVENT DATE: 11/19/2000|
| COUNTY: STATE: WA |EVENT TIME: 22:00[PST]|
|LICENSE#: WN-I-507-1 AGREEMENT: Y |LAST UPDATE DATE: 12/04/2000|
| DOCKET: |+----------------------------+
| |PERSON ORGANIZATION |
| |BLAIR SPITZBERG R4 |
| |LARRY CAMPER NMSS |
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| NRC NOTIFIED BY: TERRY FRAZEE | |
| HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON | |
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|EMERGENCY CLASS: N/A | |
|10 CFR SECTION: | |
|NAGR AGREEMENT STATE | |
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EVENT TEXT
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| STOLEN CPN GAUGE RECOVERED |
| |
| An authorized user was working at a temporary job site on Saturday, November |
| 18 and stayed overnight at a local motel to continue work the next day. The |
| authorized user secured a CPN model MC-1 portable gauge, serial number |
| MD81104670, containing 10 millicuries of cesium-137 and 50 millicuries of |
| americium-241/beryllium into its locked case. The locked case was then |
| chained and locked into the canopy covered bed of a 1988 Toyota four-wheel |
| drive pick-up. The pick-up was last seen at 10 PM on Saturday night. At 9 |
| AM Sunday, November 19, the authorized user discovered that the pick-up had |
| been stolen. The theft was reported to the Centralia police, the licensee |
| and the Department emergency line (206 Nuclear). |
| |
| On November 27, the pick-up truck was found abandoned in an apartment |
| complex in Puyallup, WA. The canopy was gone, the rear slider window was |
| broken and the stereo and speakers had been removed along with the portable |
| gauge. A pipe bomb was discovered under the front seat and destroyed by the |
| Washington State Patrol bomb squad. |
| |
| On December 3, in response to complaints from neighbors, police in Bonney |
| Lake, WA investigated a suspected meth lab in a trailer park. While there, |
| officers spotted a bright orange carrying case in one of several junk piles |
| and noted the labels indicating it contained radioactive material. The |
| Department's emergency line was called. Staff from the Department retrieved |
| the CPN gauge on December 4 and determined that it was intact and still in |
| its locked carrying case. The gauge is being held by the Department until |
| the licensee picks it up. |
| |
| What is the notification or reporting criteria involved? WAC 246-221-240 |
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|Power Reactor |Event Number: 37567 |
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| FACILITY: OCONEE REGION: 2 |NOTIFICATION DATE: 12/04/2000|
| UNIT: [1] [] [] STATE: SC |NOTIFICATION TIME: 20:51[EST]|
| RXTYPE: [1] B&W-L-LP,[2] B&W-L-LP,[3] B&W-L-L|EVENT DATE: 12/04/2000|
+------------------------------------------------+EVENT TIME: 20:25[EST]|
| NRC NOTIFIED BY: NEIL CONSTANCE |LAST UPDATE DATE: 12/04/2000|
| HQ OPS OFFICER: JOHN MacKINNON +-----------------------------+
+------------------------------------------------+PERSON ORGANIZATION |
|EMERGENCY CLASS: N/A |EDWARD MCALPINE R2 |
|10 CFR SECTION: | |
|ADAS 50.72(b)(2)(i) DEG/UNANALYZED COND | |
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+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|UNIT |SCRAM CODE|RX CRIT|INIT PWR| INIT RX MODE |CURR PWR| CURR RX MODE |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|1 N N 0 Refueling |0 Refueling |
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EVENT TEXT
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| BORON FOUND ON REACTOR HEAD THERMOCOUPLE NOZZLE. |
| |
| On November 25, 2000, at approximately 1500 hours, during a routine visual |
| inspection, engineering identified a small amount (about 1 cup) of boron |
| accumulation at the interface between the outside of the reactor vessel head |
| and an unused reactor head thermocouple nozzle. The source of the boron |
| could not be concluded. Unit 1 has eight unused thermocouple nozzles that |
| were used during original startup. Oconee Units 2 and 3 do not have these |
| nozzles. |
| |
| On December 4, 2000, at 2025 hours, a preliminary review of the eddy current |
| test results from the subject unused thermocouple nozzle indicated that the |
| source of the observed boron was most likely from a degraded pressure |
| boundary associated with this thermocouple nozzle. In addition, a video |
| inspection of the reactor head revealed trace amounts of boron around three |
| (3) additional thermocouple nozzles and one (1) control rod drive nozzle. |
| Leakage of this magnitude would not typically be detectable during |
| operation. |
| |
| A failure investigation team has been formed to evaluate this condition. |
| |
| The NRC Resident Inspector was notified of this event by the licensee. |
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Page Last Reviewed/Updated Thursday, March 25, 2021
Page Last Reviewed/Updated Thursday, March 25, 2021