Regulator sets out corrective actions for fabrication plant

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has outlined corrective actions to be completed before Westinghouse's nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Columbia, South Carolina can resume some of its uranium processing operations following the discovery of a build-up of uranium in a plant component.

Plant employees discovered an accumulation of uranium-bearing material in a scrubber system, which is designed to remove unwanted material from a number of plant processes, during an annual maintenance shutdown in May. The NRC ordered an augmented inspection of the facility after further analysis found the amount of uranium was higher than anticipated and potentially exceeded limits for the section of the scrubber involved. There were no actual safety-related consequences as a result of the buildup, but the "potential for such consequences may have existed," the NRC said.

The Confirmatory Action Letter sent by the NRC to the facility on 11 August was prompted by the findings of the still-ongoing inspection and acknowledges the actions that Westinghouse has already ndertaken or committed to undertake. These include shutting down the affected system, performing a root cause analysis of the event, reviewing and revising safety culture, updating maintenance and management procedures, installing physical modifications to the system, personnel training, and a review of other potentially affected systems. Westinghouse must also retain an external nuclear criticality safety expert to oversee criticality safety functions at the site at Columbia to assist in the oversight of nuclear criticality safety functions until all corrective actions identified in the root cause analysis have been completed.

NRC Region II administrator Cathy Haney said the commitments would greatly reduce the likelihood of such incidents in the future. "Westinghouse management has cooperated fully and has assured us of their commitment to these corrective actions and continued safe operations," she said.

According to Westinghouse's event report filed with the NRC on 14 July and updated on 31 July, the accumulated material was found to contain 87 kg of uranium. The licensed limit for the scrubber section involved is 29 kg of uranium.

The scrubber process will remain in a safe shutdown mode until investigations and corrective actions are completed.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News