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    |
+------------------------------------------------+                             |
| 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    |
+------------------------------------------------+                             |
| NRC NOTIFIED BY:  TERRY FRAZEE                 |                             |
|  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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| 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    |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
|                                                |                             |
+-----+----------+-------+--------+-----------------+--------+-----------------+
|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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