Event Notification Report for December 22, 2023

PART 21 - AIR START VALVE (BENT BOTTOM STEM)

The following is a summary of the information provided by Fairbanks Morse Engine via email:

Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant (PINGP) was conducting a planned replacement of emergency diesel generator air start solenoid valves when it discovered that the bottom stem appeared to be bent and observed air leakage. PINGP returned five valves to Fairbanks Morse, and they returned them to the manufacturer, ASCO. ASCO reassembled one valve and confirmed there was air leakage through the valve. The leakage path was from the air supply port to the exhaust port when the valve was in the de-energized normally open state. ASCO functionally tested the remaining four valves and found a second valve that also leaked.

ASCO and Fairbanks Morse have implemented corrective actions to address this issue. Fairbanks Morse will notify PINGP and Limerick Generating Station.

Affected plants with potentially defected parts: Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant and Limerick Generating Station.

Point of Contact:
Martin Kurr
Quality Assurance Manager
Fairbanks Morse
608-364-8247
Martin.Kurr@fmdefense.com

Fairbanks Morse Notification Report Number: 23-01

AGREEMENT STATE - CONTAMINATED PACKAGE

The following information was provided by the California Department of Public Health, Radiation Health Branch (RHB) via email:

"On 12/22/2023, the [University of California, San Francisco] notified RHB that a shipment of F-18 radioactive materials received from SOFIE CO FKA ZEVACOR PHARMA [license number: CA-RML 7131-43] was contaminated. The licensee reported that their contamination wipe tests ranged from 65,000 counts per minute (cpm) to over 100,000 cpm per 300-centimeter squared wipe area using a wipe counter with an efficiency of 25 percent. This amount exceeds the non-fixed radioactive contamination limits specified in Department of Transportation regulations 49 CFR 173.443 of 240 cpm per cm squared for beta and gamma emitters and is reportable under 10 CFR 20.1906(d)(1). RHB is in contact with SOFIE and will be investigating this matter further."

AGREEMENT STATE REPORT - LOST SOURCE

The following report in part was received via email from the Maine Radiological Control Program [MRCP]:

"The licensee service manager contacted MRCP by phone on December 22, 2023, to report that a source could not be accounted for during a monthly source inventory. The service manager reported that the missing source had been observed in the service area of the licensee's facility in Windsor, ME, approximately two weeks before the inventory identified it as missing. The missing source had been removed from a customer's machine and replaced with a new source. The missing source is an 8 mCi Ni-63 source with serial number 09-6700 from Isotope Products Laboratories, Valencia, CA. The source was still in its sealed form inside the detector housing which is assembled with tamper-proof screws. Once the source was determined unaccounted for in the monthly inventory, a team of licensee employees searched the entire facility, spending in excess of 20 man-hours trying to locate it. The licensee's best assumption is that the missing source may have been accidentally disposed of during a recent shop cleaning. MRCP conducted a site inspection on January 2, 2024, to gather information regarding the incident. A licensee service technician was able to trace the waste stream which is routinely deposited in a dumpster and is then transported to the Waterville, ME, transfer station. As of January 19, 2024, the missing Ni-63 source remains lost."

Maine Event Report Number: ME 2023-002

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