Information Notice No. 88-34:Nuclear Material Control and Accountability of Non-Fuel Special Nuclear Material at Power Reactors

                                  UNITED STATES
                          NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                      OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
                              WASHINGTON, DC  20555

                                  May 31, 1988


Information Notice No. 88-34:  NUCLEAR MATERIAL CONTROL AND ACCOUNTABILITY 
                                   OF NON-FUEL SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL AT 
                                   POWER REACTORS


Addressees:

All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power 
reactors.

Purpose:

This information notice is being provided to alert addressees to recent 
inspection findings at several reactor facilities involving the failure to 
properly account for non-fuel special nuclear material (SNM) possessed under 
the facility license.  This failure may have, in part, been as a result of the 
licensees' misunderstanding of the SNM regulations in 10 CFR Part 70 which 
require control of all SNM, not just SNM bearing fuel materials.

It is expected that recipients will review the information for applicability 
to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate, to avoid similar 
problems.  However, suggestions contained in this information notice do not 
constitute NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action or written response 
is required.

Description of Circumstances:

During several recent material control and accounting inspections at power 
reactor facilities, licensee controls and accounting practices for non-fuel 
type special nuclear material have been found to be inadequate.  Specifically, 
the licensees did not have adequate inventory records and they were not con-
ducting adequate inventories of gram and milligram quantities of SNM in item 
form.  These items consisted of both incore and excore detectors that contain 
SNM.  

On the basis of initial findings, affected licensees were issued notices of 
violation or given specific time constraints to comply in those cases where 










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licensees met the NRC enforcement criteria for licensee-identified violations.
In either case, the salient findings to date have disclosed that certain 
licensees had not:

(1)  established, maintained, or followed written material control and 
     accounting procedures to account for non-fuel SNM in their possession

(2)  maintained adequate records of the initial receipt or current inventory 
     of non-fuel SNM

(3)  developed adequate inventory procedures or maintained adequate perpetual 
     inventory records, including traceability of items to ultimate disposal

(4)  inventoried non-fuel SNM within the 12-month prescribed frequency

(5)  reported non-fuel SNM inventories on Form DOE/NRC 742, "Material Balance 
     Report" for those items containing more than 1 gram of U-235 that had 
     been received, via Form DOE/NRC-741, "Material Transaction Report"

(6)  staffed or trained their organization responsible for the control and 
     accountability of SNM in an adequate manner

(7)  reported the loss of or inability to find non-fuel SNM items in a timely 
     manner

(8)  controlled access (physically or administratively) to non-fuel SNM items 
     in either cold or irradiated storage

These deficiencies are considered violations of 10 CFR 70.51(b)-(d), 70.52(a), 
and 74.13.  

Discussion:

While the NRC requirements for the SNM bearing fuel materials have generally 
been met, some licensees have not exercised an adequate level of control over 
non-fuel SNM.  These identified deficiencies indicate that licensees need to 
maintain appropriate administration and oversight of non-fuel SNM control 
activities.  It is suggested that each power reactor licensee review the 
content of this information notice with its engineering and accountability 
staff as appropriate to ensure that the requirements for non-fuel SNM are 
being met.  

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No specific action or written response is required by this information notice.
If you have any questions about this matter, please contact one of the techni-
cal contacts listed below or the Regional Administrator of the appropriate 
regional office.




                              Charles E. Rossi, Director
                              Division of Operational Events Assessment 
                              Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation


Technical Contacts:  Gregory A. Todd, RII
                     (404) 331-2797

                     Nancy E. Ervin, NRR
                     (301) 492-0946


Attachment:  List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
.                                                            Attachment
                                                            IN 88-34 
                                                            May 31, 1988 
                                                            Page 1 of 1

                             LIST OF RECENTLY ISSUED
                            NRC INFORMATION NOTICES 
_____________________________________________________________________________
Information                                  Date of 
Notice No._____Subject_______________________Issuance_______Issued to________

87-61,         Failure of Westinghouse       5/31/88        All holders of OLs
Supplement 1   W-2-Type Circuit Breaker                     or CPs for nuclear
               Cell Switches                                power reactors. 

88-33          Recent Problems Involving     5/27/88        All Agreement 
               the Model Spec 2-T                           States and NRC 
               Radiographic Exposure                        licensees 
               Device                                       authorized to 
                                                            manufacture, 
                                                            distribute or 
                                                            operate radio-
                                                            graphic exposure 
                                                            devices and source
                                                            changers. 

88-32          Promptly Reporting to         5/25/88        All NRC material 
               NRC of Significant                           licensees. 
               Incidents Involving 
               Radioactive Material 

88-31          Steam Generator Tube          5/25/88        All holders of OLs
               Ruptube Analysis                             or CPs for 
               Deficiency                                   Westinghouse and 
                                                            Combustion 
                                                            Engineering 
                                                            designed nuclear 
                                                            power plants. 

88-30          Target Rock Two-Stage         5/25/88        All holders of OLs
               SRV Setpoint Drift                           or CPs for nuclear
               Update                                       power reactors. 

88-29          Deficiencies in Primary       5/24/88        All holders of OLs
               Containment Low-Voltage                      or CPs for nuclear
               Electrical Penetration                       power reactors. 
               Assemblies 

88-28          Potential for Loss of         5/19/88        All holders of OLs
               Post-LOCA Recirculation                      or CPs for nuclear
               Capability Due to                            power reactors. 
               Insulation Debris Blockage 

88-27          Deficient Electrical          5/18/88        All holders of OLs
               Terminations Identified                      or CPs for nuclear
               in Safety-Related                            power reactors. 
               Components 
_____________________________________________________________________________
OL = Operating License
CP = Construction Permit 
 

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