Bulletin 79-19: Packaging of Low-Level Radioactive Waste for Transport and Burial
SSINS: 6820
Accession No:
7908070515
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
August 10, 1979
IE Bulletin No. 79-19
PACKAGING OF LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE FOR TRANSPORT AND BURIAL
Description of Circumstances:
Low-level radioactive waste is that waste which can be transferred and
shipped to one of three waste burial facilities which are located in and
licensed by the Agreement States of Nevada, South Carolina, and Washington.
On July 10, 1979, the Governors of the three states notified NRC Chairman
Hendrie of the serious and repeated disregard for rules governing the
shipments of low-level radioactive wastes to these burial facilities.
Examples of violations of Agreement State, DOT and NRC rules follow:
Improperly packaged uranium fines igniting packaged liquid scintillation
vials in combustible waste is believed to have caused a fire and destruction
of a truck at the Beatty, Nevada burial facility on May 14, 1979.
On July 2, 1979, three of twelve steel containers shipped to the Beatty
burial facility were found to be leaking radioactive material. The material
was described on the bill of lading as being a solid inorganic salt
(evaporator .concentrates solidified with urea formaldehyde) from a reactor
facility. The Governor of the State of Nevada ordered the drums to be
shipped out of the state and the burial facility was temporarily closed.
On July 30, the first shipment into the reopened Beatty facility contained
free liquid in "solid" material. The radioactive contents were sand filters
used at an insitu leaching process at a uranium mill.
Forty-three shipments with sixty-three deficiencies were observed during the
package inspection program between April 10 and July 5, 1979, by the
Agreement State of South Carolina, at the Barnwell, S.C. burial facility.
The shipments were from reactor, medical, industrial and military
facilities.
On June 28, 1979, the Federal Highway Administration issued a Notice of
Violation to a reactor facility proposing a $10,000 fine for truck
contamina-tion resulting from improper closures on 55-gallon drums of LSA
material and for improper loading of the drums on the vehicle.
These are a few examples of shipments of radioactive material to burial
facilities which did not fully meet NRC, DOT and Agreement State
requirements which were developed to protect the health and safety of the
public. The Governors of the three States with licensed burial facilities
haVe indicated that if the situation is not rectified, they may have to
initiate actions which would deny use of the three burial sites by
violators.
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IE Bulletin No. 79-19 Page 2 of 3
August 10, 1979
Sources of Information:
The DOT regulatory requirements can be found in 49 CFR Parts 170-179. The
NRC regulatory requirements can be found in 10 CFR Parts 19 to 71. The NRC
regulatory requirements for Agreement State licensees in non-agreement
states are in 10 CFR Part 150. Copies of the regulations may be purchased
from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C. 20402.
Information about licensing requirements for NRC packages can be obtained
from the NRC Transportation Branch (301-427-4122). Information about DOT
packaging and transport requirements can be obtained by calling the DOT
Office of Hazardous Materials (202-426-2311).
Action To Be Taken By Licensees:
To assure the safe transfer, packaging, and transport of low-level
radioactive waste, each licensee is expected to:
1. Maintain a current set of DOT and NRC regulations concerning the
transfer, packaging and transport of low-level radioactive waste
material.
2. Maintain a current set of requirements (license) placed on the waste
burial firm by the Agreement State of Nevada, South Carolina, or
Washington before packaging low-level radioactive waste material for
transfer and shipment to the Agreement State licensee. If a waste
collection contractor is used, obtain the appropriate requirements from
the contractor.
3. Designate, in writing, people in your organization who are responsible
for the safe transfer, packaging and transport of low-level radioactive
material.
4. Provide management-approved, detailed instructions and operating
procedures to all personnel involved in the transfer, packaging and
transport of low-level radioactive material. Special attention should
be given to controls on th,e chemical and physical form of the
low-level radioactive material and on the containment integrity of the
packaging.
5. Provide training and periodic retraining in the DOT and NRC regulatory
requirements, the waste burial license requirements, and in your
instructions and operating procedures for all personnel involved in the
transfer, packaging and transport of radioactive material. Maintain a
record of training dates, attendees, and subject material for future
inspections by NRC personnel.
6. Provide training and periodic retraining to those employees who operate
the processes which generate waste to assure that the volume of
low-level radioactive waste is minimized and that such waste is
processed into acceptable chemical and physical form for transfer and
shipment to a low-level radioactive waste burial facility.
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IE Bulletin No. 79-19 Page 3 of 3
August 10, 1979
7. Establish and iMPlement a management-controlled audit function of all
transfer, packaging and transport activities to provide assurance that
personnel, instructions and procedures, and process and transport
equipment are functioning to ensure safety and compliance with
regulatory requirements.
8. Perform, within 60 days of the date of this bulletin, a
management-control led audit of your activities associated with the
transfer,packaging and trans port of low-level radioactive waste.
Maintain a record of all audits for future inspections by NRC or DOT
inspectors. (Note: If your have an established audit function and have
performed such an audit of all activities in Items 1-6 within the past
six months, this audit requirement is satisfied.)
9. Report, in writing within 45 days, your plan of action and schedule
with regard to the above items. In addition, provide responses to the
three questions below. Reports should be submitted to the Director of
the appropriate NRC Regional Office and a copy should be forwarded to
the NRC Office of Inspection and Enforcement, Division of Fuel Facility
and Materials Safety Inspection, Washington, D.C. 20555.
Provide answers for 1978 and for the first six months of 1979 to the
following questions:
1. How many low-level radioactive waste shipments did you make? What
was the volume of low-level radioactive waste shipped? (Power
reactor licensees who report this information in accordance with
Technical Specifications do not need to respond to this question.)
2. What was the quantity (curies) of low-level radioactive waste
shipped? What were the major isotopes in the low-level radioactive
waste? (Power reactor licensees who report this information in
accordance with Technical Specifications do not need to respond to
this question.)
3. Did you generate liquid low-level radioactive waste? If the answer
is `yes,' what process was used to solidify the liquid waste?
Licensees who do not generate low-level radioactive waste should so indicate
in their responses and do not need to take other actions specified in the
above items.
Approved by GAO, B180225 (R0072); clearance expires 7-31-80. Approval was
given under a blanket clearance specifically for identified generic
problems.
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