University Spill

[William V Lipton <liptonw@dteenergy.com>]

The attached, NRC, "Preliminary Notification" shows the importance of
promptly reporting spills.  What was probably a minor spill on a
university campus resulted in widespread contamination, apparently
because it went unreported.  The fact that the users apparently thought
that it had been adequately cleaned up, when they did not even have rp
instruments, indicates a fundamental misunderstanding.

I suggest that all RSO's, RPM's, and DOE operational hp's look at their
training programs, procedures, and informal communication, to be sure
that their users understand the importance of promptly reporting a
spill, no matter how minor it may seem.

The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
It's not about dose it's about trust.

Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com


PRELIMINARY NOTIFICATION OF EVENT OR UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE PNO-II-00-028

This preliminary notification constitutes EARLY notice of events of
POSSIBLE safety or public interest significance. The
information is as initially received without verification or evaluation,
and is basically all that is known by Region II staff in
Atlanta, Georgia on this date.

 Facility
                                              Licensee Emergency
Classification
 Florida State University
                                              Notification of Unusual
Event
 (An Agreement State Licensee)
                                              Alert
 Tallahassee, Florida
                                              Site Area Emergency
                                              General Emergency
                                           X
                                              Not Applicable


Subject: Radioactive Spill

On July 21, 2000, State officials advised the Region of a radioactive
spill, which occurred on July 6, 2000, in a radiation
laboratory assigned to the Chemistry Department, Florida State
University, Tallahassee, Florida. Preliminary information
gathered by the University's Radiation Safety Officer indicates that
there was a spread of contamination, both inside and outside
of the building, to include the vehicle and residence of one of the
staff members.

University officials, including the Radiation Safety Officer, were not
aware of this event until July 17, 2000, and subsequently
the University notified the State of Florida on July 20, 2000.

On July 6, 2000, while physically removing radioactive material from a
radiation laboratory in the Chemistry Department,
located in the Hoffman Teaching Laboratory, a spill occurred during the
movement of a glove box which was situated on a
wheeled dolly. The laboratory staff attempted to conduct clean up
operations, but did not have any instrumentation to conduct
radiation surveys. The staff apparently assumed that their clean up
efforts were successful, and did not report this event to the
Radiation Safety Office. The isotope and quantity of material has not
yet been fully determined; however, the material appears
to be an energetic beta emitter and presumed to be strontium-90 (Sr-90).

On July 21, 2000, State officials were dispatched to the University and
initiated a detailed investigation of this event.

Currently, no media interest has been expressed in this event.

Technical assistance was offered by the Region, but was declined by the
State. State officials will continue to keep Region II
informed of the results of their investigation.

This information is current as 1:00 p.m. EDT, July 21, 2000.

 Contact:
                                  R. Trojanowski
                                  (404)562-4427

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