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I-98-22

February 26, 1998

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has sent a Radiation Specialist to the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant to look into a release of radioactive material to the environment. The plant, which is in Lacey Township, N.J., is operated by GPU Nuclear, Inc.

GPU has told the NRC that on Tuesday (February 24) the company began an internal investigation to look into a long-standing potential release pathway for tritium to the environment through an isolation condenser vent. The isolation condenser is used under certain conditions to cool reactor coolant by using water from either the demineralized water tank (tritium-free water) or the condensate storage tank (slightly contaminated) to remove the heat.

The demineralized water or the condensate water is then steamed to the atmosphere. During normal operation, a valve prevents reactor coolant from flowing through tubes in the condenser. However, in this case, one of the unit's isolation condensers had a leaky valve, which allowed reactor coolant to flow through the system, and caused small amounts of water from the slightly contaminated condensate storage tank to slowly steam to the atmosphere. The valve has been leaking through for a number of years.

Based on worst case assumptions, GPU says its analysis suggests that for all of 1997, about 30 curies of tritium may have been released through this pathway. The projected dose from all airborne effluents is about 0.04 millirem per year, including this tritium. For perspective, the dose from background radiation is about 360 millirem per year from all sources. The dose from a chest x-ray is about 40 millirem. In 1996, Oyster Creek reported it had released a total of 10 curies of tritium, excluding this pathway.

The NRC radiation specialist and the resident inspectors are looking into why the valve was leaking, and why the company used water from the condensate storage tank for this system under normal conditions. NRC will also review GPU's dose calculations. The NRC inspectors are accompanied by a representative from the State of New Jersey.

An inspection report detailing the inspector's findings will be issued in about 30 days.