[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
RE: More on St Lucie incident
<<"The dose is expected to be kept as low as reasonably achievable, and in
this incident we're not sure that's what occurred," said Len Wert, an
Atlanta-based branch chief for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission who
supervises NRC inspectors at Florida's nuclear plants.>>
Now we see the danger in putting ALARA into Federal Regualtions! The
regulator is not talking in terms of "unplanned events" or "a breakdown in
work controls", but immediately jumps to the worst-case measurement
standard; a regulatory violation for doses that "could have been lower".
(and the investigation is not even complete yet...)
You have all heard it before...ALARA is, and should always be, a standard of
professional excellence. ALARA is a philosophy that can never be adequately
regulated and enforced, but it can be abused. The abuse damaages the
credibility of everyone involved.
My rambling thoughts only.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Harry Anagnostopoulos, CHP
Senior Health Physicist
SAIC
9921 St. Charles Rock Rd.
St. Ann, MO 36074
(314) 429-9340 x22
-----Original Message-----
From: Norman Cohen [mailto:ncohen12@comcast.net]
Sent: Monday, October 14, 2002 10:09 AM
To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu; NRC CONCERNS
Subject: More on St Lucie incident
Workers exposed in reactor incident
By Deborah Circelli, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 12, 2002
HUTCHINSON ISLAND -- Federal officials are reviewing
an
"unexpected" incident Sunday at the St. Lucie Nuclear
Plant in which 28
workers were exposed to radiation.
Employees of Florida Power & Light Co. and outside
contractors inhaled
radioactive particles during maintenance and
refueling of Unit One at the
two-unit plant on Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie
County, FPL said.
"The dose is expected to be kept as low as reasonably
achievable, and in
this incident we're not sure that's what occurred,"
said Len Wert, an
Atlanta-based branch chief for the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission
who supervises NRC inspectors at Florida's nuclear
plants.
Two workers were pressure-cleaning beneath the top
part of the reactor --
known as the reactor vessel head -- when radioactive
particles were
released into the air, FPL said. The reactor houses
the nuclear fuel.
The utility said it expected some contamination to be
released, which is why
the two workers, who were located on the lowest level
of the containment
building, were wearing protective respiratory
equipment.
But FPL officials said they did not expect the
radioactive particles to travel
upward 62 feet to where other employees, who were not
wearing
protective gear, were working in the building, which
is 230 feet tall.
Sunday marked the first time at the St. Lucie Nuclear
Plant that the vessel
head was pressured-cleaned before it was tested for
cracks. In August, the
NRC ordered 69 of the nation's 103 nuclear reactor
facilities to test certain
reactor heads after inspections revealed corrosion
and cracks at two plants
in South Carolina and Ohio last year and this year.
The two workers who were pressure-cleaning were not
exposed.
Twenty-eight other workers inhaled what FPL called
"very low" levels of
radiation, in the 1- to 2-millirem range. Radiation
is measured in rems; the
annual exposure limit for nuclear workers, according
to the NRC, is 5 rems.
It takes 1,000 millirems to equal 1 rem.
"It is not unusual or unexpected to have some
exposure to the workers in
the containment building during every refueling
outage," said Rachel Scott,
FPL spokeswoman.
No one was injured or had any negative health impact,
Scott said.
Everyone on Earth is exposed to about 300 millirems
of radiation every
year from natural sources, she said.
But the NRC said the incident was "unexpected" and
"not desirable."
Commission officials did not know Friday whether any
similar incidents
have been reported at other plants.
"Anytime there is unexpected or unplanned exposure,
that is something that
piques our interest," said Roger Hannah, NRC
spokesman. "That is
something you don't want to see occur."
The NRC agrees preliminary findings show the exposure
was "well within"
the federal limits, but it tis still trying to
determine if FPL followed all federal
guidelines.
FPL is also investigating to see what measures can be
put in place to
prevent a similar problem when cleaning work is done
at Unit Two and the
Turkey Point plant near Homestead next year, Scott
said. FPL, a subsidiary
of Juno Beach-based FPL Group, operates the St. Lucie
and Turkey Point
plants.
Rick Curtis, a worker at the plant and president of
the local International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union, has been
approached by several
employees who were worried about exposure. He said he
is trying to gather
information from management to ease employee
concerns.
"I'm not aware of what the errors were or how
significant the
contaminations were," Curtis said.
deborah_circelli@pbpost.com
Copyright © 2002, The Palm Beach Post. All
rights reserved.
By using PalmBeachPost.com, you accept the terms of
our visitor agreement. Please read it.
Contact PalmBeachPost.com | Advertise w
>
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/saturday/martin_stlucie
_d37a0a3c2727b03e0043.html
>
> -
>
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/