NRC won’t fine Areva NP for violation

By Bryan Gentry

Published: June 30, 2008

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not fine Areva NP for a violation earlier this year when Areva shipped equipment to Tennessee carrying a radioactive “hot spot” exceeding regulatory limits.

In a June 13 letter, an official from the commission told Areva NP’s site manager that he had been authorized to not propose a civil penalty, though violations like this one can carry fines starting at $32,500.

Areva’s corrective actions and lack of recent serious violations played into that decision.

Susan Hess, spokeswoman for Areva, said company officials had been confident their safety record and response to the incident would work in their favor.

“We are very happy that they decided not to implement the fine,” Hess said.

Also, the commission has given a vote of confidence to some of Areva’s safety measures. A routine inspection of the company’s Mt. Athos Road facility in April did not find violations, and the commission decided to decrease its scrutiny over the plant.

The NRC will discuss Areva’s performance over the past year — including the April inspection and the February violation — in a July 24 meeting in Lynchburg.

The “hot spot” violation occurred in February when Areva shipped some fuel cleaning equipment from its Mt. Athos Road facility to the Watts Barr Nuclear Plant in Tennessee.

The power plant’s employees discovered a spot on the equipment emitting 10 times the radiation allowed for such a shipment.

The spot later registered at a lower rating in tests by Areva.

After conducting an inspection later in February, the NRC concluded that the particle did not pose a threat to the public or the environment because of its size and position on the equipment.

The NRC held a meeting on May 28 to discuss the incident, which was then termed an “apparent violation.”

Areva officials explained there that they were training employees more effectively to find the particles. Also, they began using closed trailers, instead of flatbeds, to ship equipment.

After that meeting, the commission officially rated the violation at severity level three, according to a letter from Luis Reyes, regional administrator for the NRC.

Severity level one is the most serious and level four is the least, said Ken Clark, NRC spokesman.

But Reyes’ June 13 letter, available on the NRC’s Web site, emphasized that the violation was still significant.

“In this case the risk was more than minimal,” stated the letter, available on the NRC’s Web site. “In addition, the potential consequences could have been far greater under less favorable circumstances.”

The base fine for severity level three violations is $32,500.

In his letter, Reyes said Areva’s safety record was taken into consideration. The company has not been subject to “escalated enforcement” in the past two years.

However, the severity level three violation puts the company under escalated enforcement, meaning future violations could result in fines, the letter said.

Reyes said in the letter that not issuing a fine in this instance should encourage quick corrective action.

Hess said the NRC’s decision to not issue a fine, as well as the positive results from an April safety inspection, reflects Areva’s priority with safety.

“The review showed that AREVA NP continued to conduct its activities safely … (and the review) did not identify specific areas needing improvement,” said a June 9 letter from Joseph W. Shea, director of the NRC’s Division of Fuel Facility Inspection.

Clark said the exact time and location have not been set for the July 24 meeting to discuss Areva’s past year’s performance.