http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/sep/11/nuke-fuel-producer-warned-of-problems/

By Andrew Eder

Federal regulators had warned an East Tennessee nuclear fuel producer about safety problems in a fuel facility before a potentially deadly uranium spill occurred there, according to a newly released document.

A performance review of Nuclear Fuel Services of Erwin, Tenn., detailed numerous problems in the plant’s operations from January 2005 to February 2006.

The spill — in which about 9 gallons of highly enriched uranium had two chances to reach “criticality,” an uncontrolled release of radiation — happened in March 2006. No one was hurt in the incident, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission considered it significant enough to include in a report to Congress earlier this year of “abnormal occurrences.”

The performance review was made public last week after the NRC changed a policy that had kept information on Nuclear Fuel Services and other fuel facilities from the public.

Many of the problems noted in the report occurred in the plant’s blended low enriched uranium (BLEU) processing operations, where the company “downblends” weapons-grade uranium into low enriched uranium for use in commercial nuclear reactors, including TVA’s Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.

The March 2006 spill happened in the BLEU processing facility, and the report states that Nuclear Fuel Services’ efforts to improve safety in the facility “have either not been implemented or were not effective.”

The report makes an indirect reference to the spill, which occurred after the reporting period, noting that the “continuing problems appear to confirm the findings of this (report).”

An NRC critic said the report was an example of the agency’s “disconnect” in finding problems at the facility but taking no meaningful enforcement actions against Nuclear Fuel Services.

“The NRC has with one hand wagged its finger at the company, and told the company how it needed to correct its operationsand then nothing happened,” said Linda Modica, a Jonesborough, Tenn., resident who chairs the Sierra Club’s national radiation committee.

Roger Hannah, an NRC spokesman in Atlanta, disagreed with the characterization of the agency as negligent and said it has been actively involved in trying to improve safety at the Erwin facility in recent years.

“We take safety at NFS seriously just as we do at all NRC-licensed facilities,” Hannah said.

The NRC added a second resident inspector to the facility in response to safety problems in recent years. The agency issued an order in February detailing actions for Nuclear Fuel Services to improve its “deficient safety culture,” although it levied no fines against the private company.

The company has touted operational improvements made in recent months, and a more recent performance review found fewer problems at the Erwin plant than in the past.

“It was obvious to both the NRC and to senior NFS management that a significant effort would be necessary to address the safety issues identified in the March 2006 Licensee Performance Review,” company spokesman Tony Treadway said in a statement. “The most recent LPR covering the period of October 2006 through July of 2007 clearly proves that improvements have been made.”

But the performance review also notes that during the review period, the plant did not start up or expand new process lines.

“As a result, there were fewer operational challenges and opportunities for NRC to adequately evaluate the effectiveness of your efforts to improve performance,” NRC Regional Administrator William Travers wrote.

The NRC has scheduled public meetings on Monday in Erwin to discuss Nuclear Fuel Services’ performance, the first open meetings on the facility since April 2004.

The first meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the Nuclear Fuel Services Training Center in Erwin. The second meeting will be at 6 p.m. at Erwin City Hall. NRC officials will be on hand to answer questions.

Separately, the NRC has received six requests for a public hearing on a change to Nuclear Fuel Services’ license that resulted from the March 2006 spill. A panel of three administrative judges is considering those requests.

Business writer Andrew Eder may be reached at 865-342-6318.

Related documents
PDF: August 2007 performance review of Nuclear Fuel Services from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
PDF: March 2006 performance review of Nuclear Fuel Services from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission