Protecting People and the EnvironmentUNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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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May 31, 1988
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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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May 31, 1988
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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