The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week began inspecting two recent incidents at Westinghouse Electric’s Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina.
The event involved the May 12 discovery of leakage from a waste-transport carrier at the plant and a July 12 incident in which a drum of radioactively contaminated material pressurized and ignited. Neither event resulted in injuries or radioactive contamination.
The NRC is speaking to personnel who were involved in the incidents and collecting more details, as well as observing the areas where the fire and leak occurred. The agency has not yet issued any reports or directives on either situation, according to NRC spokesman Joey Ledford. He said that neither incident met the criteria for immediate action, meaning they could be addressed during the agency’s regularly scheduled inspections of the facility.
The 550,000-square-foot Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility has been producing nuclear fuel for power plants since operations began in 1969. About 15 inspectors from the federal regulator visit the site five or six times per year. They analyze security, material control, and worker accountability. Areas where fuel fabrication is conducted are reviewed every calendar quarter, in addition to the regular inspections.
“Our inspections regularly review what the licensee has done in terms of corrective actions to ensure the incidents don’t recur,” Ledford said. “We examine each area where an incident has occurred, interview the appropriate people on the licensee staff and review NRC regulations to see if there were any violations.”
But even before the two incidents, growing concerns over safety and environmental risks at the plant led the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to enter into a consent agreement with Westinghouse. The agreement, signed on Feb. 28 of this year, is intended to ensure the company better monitors air and water contaminant releases and better implements its in-house safety regulations.
In May, Westinghouse notified the NRC following the discovery of a leaky roof on a multimodal carrier just outside of the company’s facility in Hopkins, S.C., about 15 miles southeast of Columbia. The carrier at the time housed a drum of uranium. When rainwater leaked through the carrier into the drum, trace amount of uranium leaked out. The uranium was going to be recovered from solid waste material within the drum.
The company removed the drum and two other suspect vessels that might have also leaked., and took them inside the facility. Officials eventually confirmed the other two drums had not leaked. There was no threat to workers or the environment, Ledford said.
Two months later, a chemical reaction within a drum that had just been sent to storage caused the lid to pop off and ignition of some of the contents, which included laboratory waste and contaminated mop heads, filters, and other “wet recoverable material.” Firefighter personnel extinguished the barrel, though the fire was already dying down on its own, according to NRC reports.
The NRC will issue reviews on both incidents within 30 days of completion of its investigations.
The South Carolina DHEC was made aware of both situations, but the NRC has direct oversight of the Columbia plant. However, DHEC did approve a soil sample plan following the leaky carrier discovery, spokeswoman Laura Renwick said in an email. The state agency is conducting the analysis and is waiting on the first results, which will provide measurements on contamination on the grounds around the incident site. There is no set schedule for the first results to be submitted.
The plant has experienced several environmental and safety setbacks over the years. In both 2008 and 2011, for example, leaks in its contaminated wastewater line, which sends the material to disposal, caused pollution to test wells that sit adjacent to the plant, according to The State newspaper in Columbia. Last year, The State also reported that a uranium solution also leaked through a hole in the floor in another part of the plant.
Also, in July 2016, the NRC shut down the fabrication facility for three months due to safety concerns over a ventilation scrubber, which is used to remove unwanted pollutants. The scrubber had significant uranium accumulation, prompting a safety concern. Westinghouse addressed the issue, submitted a lessons learned report to the NRC and received approval to restart operations at the facility in October of that year.
These various issues prompted DHEC’s consent agreement with Westinghouse. The agreement outlines expectations for the company, including deadlines to submit work and safety plans and requirements to stick to those plans. It also commits DHEC not to take any civil action against Westinghouse as long as the company “remains in material compliance with the substantive obligations set forth.”
Renwick added that, on June 18, Westinghouse submitted a copy of its remedial investigation work plan, which was mandated in the consent agreement. The plan addresses “environmental contamination (to groundwater, soil, sediment or surface water) as well as improve procedures for communicating any future discoveries,” she wrote in an email.
Westinghouse was contacted for comment, but did not respond.
