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Information Notice No. 83-16: Contamination of the Auburn Steel Company Property with Cobalt-60
SINNS No. 6835 IN 83-16 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555 March 30, 1983 Information Notice No. 83-16: CONTAMINATION OF THE AUBURN STEEL COMPANY PROPERTY WITH COBALT-60 Addressees: All material licensees. Purpose: A recent event at a licensed facility which manufacturers steel rods for reinforcement makes it necessary to stress the importance of control of licensed material as a means of protecting the health and safety of the general public. It is expected that recipients will review this information notice for applicability to their facilities. Description of Circumstances: The Auburn Steel Company, Auburn, New York, manufactures steel rods for concrete reinforcement. These rods are made by melting a "charge" composed, primarily of scrap steel and then ladling the melted steel into a casting machine for continuous casting of the rods. On February 21, 1983, a level gauge responded abnormally after a charge was ladled into the casting machine. The shield on the gauge was then closed but, the radiation monitor continued to respond abnormally. Subsequent measurements with a Geiger counter indicated radiation emanating from some recently cast rods and from a batch of molten steel. The Auburn Steel Company informed the New York Department of Health about the incident. Independent measurements taken by New York State Health Inspectors at the site showed that the steel contained approximately 4.2 x 105 picocuries per gram of Cobalt-60 (Co-60) distributed over more than 100 tons of steel. It is estimated that the contamination resulted from the addition of 25 curies or more of Co-60 to the scrap steel. Additional measurements taken at the facility showed the following levels of contamination: 700 picocuries ger gram of Co-60 in a dust sample from the ventilation system, 2900 picocuries per gram of Co-60 in a dust sample from inside the plant, and 540 picocuries per gram of Co-60 in a composite sample of wipes near the outlet vent of the ventilation system located on the plant roof. The origin of the Co-60 is not known; however, we assume the source was introduced into the scrap steel outside the Auburn facility. The company has had to shut down production pending decontamination efforts at the facility. The cost of decontaminating the plant is estimated at 1.2 million dollars. . IN 83-16 March 30, 1983 Page 2 of 2 Discussion: It appears that this incident may have resulted from a lack of control of licensed material. Such material must alway be under the control of the licensee and secured against unauthorized removal to assure that the health and safety of the public is protected. Therefore, we suggest that you review those provisions of the regulations and your license that deal with control of licensed materials and reporting lost or stolen material. If you are licensed to possess a Co-60 source we suggest you conduct an inventory of your sources, being careful to review all receipt and transfer records to confirm receipt or disposition. In the event any source is not accounted for, you should report that fact immediately to the NRC pursuant to 10 CFR 20.402. No written response to this notice is required. If you need additional information, contact the appropriate NRC Regional Office. James M. Taylor, Director Division of Quality Assurance, Safeguards, and Inspection Programs Office of Inspection and Enforcement Technical Contact: C. Yaczko 301-492-8463 Attachment: List of Recently Issued Information Notices
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