Event Notification Report for December 14, 2020

EN Revision Imported Date: 2/11/2021

EN Revision Text: CHARGING PUMP AND BORATION FLOWPATHS SIMULTANEOUSLY INOPERABLE

"At 1240 EST on 12/14/20, it was determined that all Unit 4 Charging Pumps and Boration Flowpaths were simultaneously inoperable.

"This condition is being reported pursuant to 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(v).

"The NRC Resident Inspector has been notified."

* * * RETRACTION ON 2/10/2021 AT 1210 EST FROM DAVID STOIA TO BETHANY CECERE * * *

"On 1/21/21 a past operability review was completed that assessed the event reported on 12/14/20. The evaluation concluded that the condition did not render any Unit 4 Charging Pump or all boration flowpaths inoperable, and that the 8-hour notification submitted on 12/14/20 was not required. This notification is a retraction of EN #55036.

"The NRC Site Resident has been notified of the EN #55036 retraction."

Notified R2DO (Miller).

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - SOURCE ROOM DOOR INTERLOCKS FAILED TO FUNCTION

The following information was received from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control via email:

"The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control was notified on 12/16/20 that a piece of equipment was disabled or failed to function as designed when the equipment is required by regulation or license condition to prevent exposures to radiation and radioactive materials exceeding regulatory limits, or to mitigate the consequences of an accident. The licensee reported that the electrical interlocks at the remote afterloader room entrance failed to function from 12/14/20 until 12/17/20. The source in the remote afterloader unit is a Varian Medical Systems, Inc. Model GammaMed 232, Ir-192 source, with a reported activity of 8.5 Curies. The remote afterloader unit is a Varian Medical Systems, Inc. Model GammaMedplus iX. As of 12/17/20, the licensee is reporting that the electrical interlocks at the remote afterloader room entrance is now operable and functioning as designed. This event is still under investigation by the licensee and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control."

No overexposures were reported as a result of the failed interlocks.

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - LOST SOURCE

The following was received from the Georgia Radioactive Materials Program, (the Program) via e-mail:

"The Program received a voicemail on January 11, 2021, from the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) notifying us of missing radioactive material. The package, containing 500 microCi of P-32, was scheduled for delivery on December 14, 2020 to the licensee. Because of COVID, [common carrier] did not use electronic signatures and just documented that the package was received by the warehouse attendant, specifically by their name. However, the warehouse attendant who monitors incoming packages, stated the package was never received by him.

"The warehouse attendant is trained to stage packages containing radioactive material separate from the other incoming packages and to notify the Radiation Safety Office of the delivery. The licensee has searched through the warehouse in hopes of finding the package but has been unsuccessful. They have also contacted [the common carrier] on several occasions; however [the common carrier] claims the package was delivered. The licensee has informed [the common carrier], to begin again using electronic signatures at the time of delivery. The licensee is within the 30 day reporting requirement and will follow-up with a detailed report within the next day."

Georgia Incident Number: 34

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. For additional information go to http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1227_web.pdf

DISCOVERY OF AFTER-THE-FACT UNUSUAL EVENT - INADVERTENT RELEASE OF ARGON-41 GAS

At 0336 EST, operators declared an Unusual Event due to elevated radioactivity levels observed at the facility's ventilation stack. The elevated levels were due to a release of Argon-41 gas caused by a failure of the facility's fan system. This failure caused the Argon gas to be released to the ventilation stack into the atmosphere. The reactor was operating at 19.5 MW at the time of the incident and was shutdown when the ventilation stack set point was reached. Facility personnel secured the offsite gas release and verified no fission product release occurred. The Unusual Event was terminated at 0422 EST.