On May 23, 2022, at approximately 4:22 a.m., a Westinghouse employee performed a routine transfer of contents from one tank to another without testing the tank for possible uranium concentration. When the transfer occurred, the operators did not recognize that the tank contents had changed due to a tank wash process, following the last recorded tank sample result previously tested on May 18, 2022.
Subsequent sample results showed the uranium concentration was well below the required administrative Items Relied on for Safety (IROFS) limit at the time of the transfer. An active engineered control was also available to stop the transfer had the uranium content been above the administrative limit.
On May 23, 2022, at approximately 9:25 a.m., a Uranium Recovery and Recycling Services (URRS) team manager evaluated the transfer. They contacted a Westinghouse Criticality Engineer to report that the transfer had occurred without the test results required by procedure. Per our Corrective Action Program procedures, we reviewed the tank test results, performed calculations to determine risk, and discussed actions taken by the operators.
The test results determined there were no safety impacts due to the event. The tests performed on the tank contents showed the tank contents and levels met IROFS requirements at the time of the transfer. The event impacted no equipment, the plant is in a safe condition, and no safety limits were exceeded.
More importantly, there was no release or impact on the environment, the local community or to the CFFF employees. The issue was self-identified by CFFF employees and reported to the NRC as required by regulation and will result in an NRC inspection.
The tank transfer process is currently on hold, pending procedure reviews and implementation of additional safety controls.
A 24-hour event notification was made to the NRC per 10 CFR Part 70 Appendix A (b)(2), "Loss or degradation of items relied on for safety that results in failure to meet the performance requirements of 10 CFR 70.61." This week, the event report is expected to be made publicly available on the NRC web page.
