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Career Path => Radiation Safety => Topic started by: S T I G on Jan 10, 2014, 05:53

Title: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: S T I G on Jan 10, 2014, 05:53
1) What is the worst radiological screw up you have ever witnessed on the job?
2) What did you learn, if anything?

(try and keep it fairly short if you can)
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: RDTroja on Jan 10, 2014, 05:57
death,...

Damn... beat me by a minute
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: S T I G on Jan 10, 2014, 06:46
I slightly altered the question..
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Marlin on Jan 10, 2014, 07:34
   I think that would be a bent control rod. The rod was not properly disconnected and when the upper internals were lifted and movement to the storage stand started it bent not allowing the upper internals to be moved. This was a CE plant where the Internal Core Instrumentation stored position is in the upper internals. RDTroja I believe you were also at that outage. If you have not been in the containment it is hard to relate dose in the R/hr range on the polar crane catwalk during the lift and movement of the internals to it's storage stand. I went in with one of the early crews trying to unlatch it but it was just the crane operator and another Rad tech on the walkway during the lift and movement.

   Lessons learned were primarily for operations on control rod unlatching. Not much choice on how to handle the move after additional attempts to unlatch the rod as is.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: S T I G on Jan 10, 2014, 07:39
That's a good one! Thanks Marlin!
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: UncaBuffalo on Jan 10, 2014, 07:49
What are the rules...did we have to actually be at the scene?  Or was on site good enough?

The worst that comes to mind that I was actually there for was pipe-end decon during an SGRP.  They lost their blast head ventilation (which they had assured us would immediately stop the shot-blast machine)...and then didn't even bother telling us they were having problems.  We found out quickly enough...when our CAM alarmed...and the CAM on the refuel floor alarmed...and the CAM in the AUX bldg hallway alarmed...and...

As far as just being on site?  During a S/G sleeving outage they dropped the >50 R/hr 'honing' (think vacuum filter that has been catching the fine dust generated by running a bottle brush up a generator tube) filter from the refuel floor to the basement.  I was outside containment both (yes, BOTH - they didn't learn very fast) times this happened.  The first time it wasn't TOO bad because the bag around the filter maintained some integrity...although the tech who was standing right there got the largest body burden I'd seen up to that point.  The second time, the bag exploded, too, and we had minus eighth air all the way out in the access trailer.  It was 'interesting' to do D&D in that quadrent when we tore the place down.

There's another 'war stories' thread in here somewhere, but...
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Marlin on Jan 10, 2014, 08:11
   If it is one that I witnessed from start to stop it would have to be a reactor head movement. I was standing on the refuel floor of containment (minding my own business) when I suddenly felt a high wind that started at my feet that moved up to my waist. I looked around to see what the heck it could be then looked up, the reactor head was being moved from the head stand and had passed over one of the ventilation units that exhausted straight up into the underside of the reactor head. I visualized massive ingestion and huge airborne but as it turned out the containment only hit 0.25 mpc (before DAC) and I showed no ingestion later on the body counter. Apparently dilution is the solution for pollution.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Old HP on Jan 10, 2014, 11:58
1.   Three Mile Island   (first 4 months after the accident)

2.  Lesson learned, "Do Not Volunteer" to work a plant with ruptured fuel and 6" of primary water in the aux. building.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: gerald.rood on Jan 11, 2014, 09:37
Pressurizer relief tank (PRT) had been drained and the valve left open to the reactor coolant drain tank. (RCDT)
Hydrogen migrated upward from the RCDT into the PRT.
HPT ascended a scaffold to reach the manhole at the top of the PRT, and raised an air sampler by rope.
HPT lowered the running air sampler into the PRT to obtain a sample.
“Rapid hydrogen burn” occurred within the PRT, shredding the HPT’s raingear coat, and nearly occurred knocking him 30 feet to the concrete.
Lessons Learned:
1.    Your instrumentation is not intrinsically safe.
2.   Communication, communication, communication.
3.   There is a God.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: UncaBuffalo on Jan 11, 2014, 11:37
What are the rules...did we have to actually be at the scene?  Or was on site good enough?

The worst that comes to mind that I was actually there for was pipe-end decon during an SGRP.  They lost their blast head ventilation (which they had assured us would immediately stop the shot-blast machine)...and then didn't even bother telling us they were having problems.  We found out quickly enough...when our CAM alarmed...and the CAM on the refuel floor alarmed...and the CAM in the AUX bldg hallway alarmed...and...

As far as just being on site?  During a S/G sleeving outage they dropped the >50 R/hr 'honing' (think vacuum filter that has been catching the fine dust generated by running a bottle brush up a generator tube) filter from the refuel floor to the basement.  I was outside containment both (yes, BOTH - they didn't learn very fast) times this happened.  The first time it wasn't TOO bad because the bag around the filter maintained some integrity...although the tech who was standing right there got the largest body burden I'd seen up to that point.  The second time, the bag exploded, too, and we had minus eighth air all the way out in the access trailer.  It was 'interesting' to do D&D in that quadrent when we tore the place down.

There's another 'war stories' thread in here somewhere, but...

I missed the lesson-learned part of the question, so...

On the first:  Fail-Safes sometimes don't.

& second:  Don't get so focused on one aspect of the job that you do something stupid on another part.  A hook on a rope & pulley system was our standard way of moving waste from the basement to the refuel floor.  The focus was on dose reduction, so a 'shepherd's hook' was made to lift the bagged filter from the rope hook.  Long-handled tools...your standard ALARA friend, right?  Unfortunately, on two occasions this led to HUGE contamination & airborne issues when filters were dropped and broken.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: x6655 on Jan 11, 2014, 07:52
Duane Arnold Recirc pipe replacement in 1978/79.  They welded in the pipe, when they tried to start up found that they had left a 10 lead plugs in the line.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: S T I G on Jan 11, 2014, 08:42
this is all good stuff guys thank you
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: thenukeman on Jan 11, 2014, 09:05
1. Person  burned  to  death.  I  was  on  the emergency response team.        2.  I  told  management  we  need  to come  in early  to  set  up  a pump of a tank  full  of  strontium.  The  management  would  be  useless  watchers as we  set up. Management  said  no  come  in regular time in July in TN  and  we  would  be  pumping  in a containment  hut.  Well  since it  was  so hot for  safety  we  had to do  the  final  hook up  with  4  different  people  doing  15  minute   jumps.  Would  you  know  that  it  did  not  get  hooked   up right(  should  have  been  a one  person job  done  in  the  morning) The   line  broke off  the  flange  and  sprayed  strontium 90   all  around  the  containment.  Fortunately no  one  was  in there.   (  I was  also  scolded  about  the containment but  w as  grudgingly  allowed  to  put it  up.)
3.  A  company  I was  checking I told  to  change  their  RWP  because  it was  poorly  written  and should  have at  least  3  things, Current  conditions,  hold  points  and   a  final  survey.  Well I  get  called later.  They  tell me  a employee  walked  into  their  office  and  set  off  a  frisker. (  He  is  now  in TN  but  has  shipped waste  from SC)  I  was  told  that  there  was  a 100  mr an  hr  hot  spot  in SC  in  a  hospital.  Old  Cesium  sources were  crushed ( did  not  fit  the  right  pig  so  they  just  smashed  them  in another  pig, Unfortunately  (Old)  they  disintegrated.  Crapping  up  the  hospital,  the  person (yes  internally  also)  and  container,  Then  crap  up the  vehicle while   driving  then   crap up  his  house,  then  crap  up his  facility,  This   cost them  in  fines  and  clean up. They  said  from  now  on  they  will  survey a  facility   they  leave  and  have  a person  watch  them  survey  to  insure  it   was   not  crapped  up.  Also state  conditions  and  hold  points,  Nice.
4.  Numerous  incidents,  a  boat  trailer  was crapped  up  with cesium  found at a scrap  yard, 20  mr/hr contact.  Brass at  a  scrap  yard  with  radioactive zinc  and  cobalt.  Copper  with  Radioactive cobalt  and    silver.  100   R  an  hour contact radium source  found at  a bridal  shop  that  was  put  in  backwards  in  the  pig, (  Fully exposed  not  shielded) (Nasopharyngeal  source) doctor died  years  ago  and  no  one  knew  what it  was,   Funny  a  spit  bottle  reading  200  mr/hr contact from I-131 thyroid  ablation, Last  2  found  by  a  fellow  HP.      
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: RDTroja on Jan 11, 2014, 09:57
Setting off a stick of dynamite in the bottom of a Steam Generator Channel Head after a cycle with fuel problems.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: UncaBuffalo on Jan 11, 2014, 10:05
Setting off a stick of dynamite in the bottom of a Steam Generator Channel Head after a cycle with fuel problems.

Explosive sleeving?  ...or...?
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: RDTroja on Jan 11, 2014, 10:10
Explosive sleeving?  ...or...?

Explosive plugging... bad Boilermaker.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: thenukeman on Jan 11, 2014, 10:36
Does  a nuke  simulator count? I  call  this a  almost  screw up.
Well  the  Army  made  nuke  simulators  by  digging a  50  foot  ditch putting  2  sticks  in the  ends  of  the  ditch  and  wrapping detonation cord  20 times  around the sticks.  A  600 gallon  fuel  truck  would  fill up  55  gallon drums  with   gas.  We  would put  2.5  tubs  of  thickener  in each  drum  and then  we  would pour this  into  the  ditch. Flares  would  be  wrapped  with the  det  cord. at  the end  of the  ditch.    The time  fuse would  be cut  for  10 minutes.  After  several  these  went of  I felt comfortable and let  my   Sergeants  cut  and  measure this.  They usually   went off   within  10  seconds  of  the  10 minutes.  Well  one  time it  did not  go off.  I waited  20 minutes still no  boom.  Being  the safety officer I  was  responsible  to go  down range  to see  why there   was  no  mushroom  cloud.   We  discussed  this and  then  there  was  a boom  at  about  25  minutes.  I decided  then  I would  always  watch the  det  cord end  being  cut  off  to  insure  no moisture  build up  and I would watch  it be  measured after  the end cut off for each  shot.  No  more  problems.

I also  learned  my  Colonel  was  inaccurate when  he told me  it  would  always be  a good  nuclear  day  with  a  Nuclear  Fusion  star (The  Sun)  and  no  Mushroom  clouds in  the  sky.  I wanted  to  see  the  mushroom  so I did  not  have  to see  why  there  was  no  mushroom.   So   No  mushroom  equals not  a  good day for  me.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: GLW on Jan 12, 2014, 08:38
Quote

from: GLW on Jan 10, 2014, 05:54
death,...


Damn... beat me by a minute

OBE

Overcome By Edit
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: SCMasterchef on Jan 13, 2014, 08:08
A real staff on-shifter 1979, 3-Mile and the few months following.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: GLW on Jan 13, 2014, 09:08
Does TMI count as radiological or operational?

A person could postulate it is both.

Yet, in our line of work, most operational SNAFU's have a high potential for prompting radiological challenges.

I would contend the root SNAFU is operational, the radiological challenges are collateral damages and do not distinctly qualify as radiological screw ups.

I'm just saying,...as I see it,... TMI is no Mr. Chips (yes I know Mr. Chips was set up for failure),... [coffee]

Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Marlin on Jan 13, 2014, 11:30
(yes I know Mr. Chips was set up for failure),... [coffee]

   Not so much set up as it was a sign of the times. There was a shortage of techs at the time and inexperienced techs with little technical training was normal at many plants. "Mr Chips" was trying to be very conscientious and failed to recognize the difference in actual to indicated contact dose rate. He went farther than some of the techs would have to take care of his work crew and inadvertently received elevated exposure to his extremities. I was a lead tech on that project and had the opportunity to talk to him while he was going through all the critiques, I did and do think highly of him I suspect if he is still swinging a meter he is doing an exceptional job.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: spentfuel on Jan 13, 2014, 12:26
Watching a couple house tech sent to survey a "vent duct" to try and determine why QA's PD was offscale during fuel movement observations in the SFP.  Turns out the vent duct was the transfer tube and seems when they built the plant they forgot to install any shielding around it.

lesson learned don't mess with spent fuel and just cause your told something don't blindly believe it

sf
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Old HP on Jan 13, 2014, 11:43
The "vent duct"  story sounds like a later version of the Trojan OE of 1978 when an HP and an Operator each received @ 25R while monitoring dose rates near the transfer canal. The HP from that day forward called Teletectors  fence posts.  All you new generation HPs will never experience off scale pencil dosimeters.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: S T I G on Jan 14, 2014, 02:05
The "vent duct"  story sounds like a later version of the Trojan OE of 1978 when an HP and an Operator each received @ 25R while monitoring dose rates near the transfer canal. The HP from that day forward called Teletectors  fence posts.  All you new generation HPs will never experience off scale pencil dosimeters.

That's one experience I don't mind not having.  ;)
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: RadRooster on Jan 14, 2014, 06:22
Cavity decon with pressure washers while the equipment hatch and personnel door were both open causing a "cyclone" type wind. Didn't witness it but relieved the crew that was there and dealt with the aftermath.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: spentfuel on Jan 14, 2014, 12:26
Quote
The "vent duct"  story sounds like a later version of the Trojan OE of 1978 when an HP and an Operator each received @ 25R while monitoring dose rates near the transfer canal. The HP from that day forward called Teletectors  fence posts.  All you new generation HPs will never experience off scale pencil dosimeters.

Kinda correct but it was two house RP techs.  At Trojan back then they were RadChem so one was actually a chemistry tech just sent along to help drag a meter. The doses that were initially reported were around 24 and 22 Rem at least from what I recall.  Since nobody knew it was the transfer tube the two were standing about 6 feet from the tube when they heard a rattling noise as they looked around to try and determine the source of the noise, the Chem tech who had a R02 saw it peg and then the HP saw the teletector peg and then go to zero.  I think the whole thing took about 45 seconds before the fuel assembly passed and they took off.  When someone finally put two and two together they were both white as a sheet and the Chem tech was not very happy at all.  Sent for medical evaluations in an effort to cya and the blood test all came back normal.

sf





sf
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Marlin on Jan 14, 2014, 01:06
Kinda correct but it was two house RP techs.  At Trojan back then they were RadChem so one was actually a chemistry tech just sent along to help drag a meter. The doses that were initially reported were around 24 and 22 Rem at least from what I recall.  Since nobody knew it was the transfer tube the two were standing about 6 feet from the tube when they heard a rattling noise as they looked around to try and determine the source of the noise, the Chem tech who had a R02 saw it peg and then the HP saw the teletector peg and then go to zero.  I think the whole thing took about 45 seconds before the fuel assembly passed and they took off.  When someone finally put two and two together they were both white as a sheet and the Chem tech was not very happy at all.  Sent for medical evaluations in an effort to cya and the blood test all came back normal.

sf

He was a Foreman during the 1980 Trojan outage I was at and I believe I was told there were detectable changes which is consistent with standards then. Blood changes were detectable at 5 Rem acute exposure with a baseline blood sample and 25 Rem without a baseline blood sample. Been a while I could be wrong.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Old HP on Jan 14, 2014, 04:02
Thanks for the updated info on Trojan. I had read the OE when it occurred in 1978 and then in late 1979 I left TMI for a fun filled 4 week adventure  to Trojan when they had a number of admin. overexposures. Back in those days some plants welcomed the experience that road techs had to offer. 
Anyway while at Trojan I became friends with the (at that time Chem. Tech) that was holding the Teletector when the fuel assembly passed. Then as stated earlier with pencil dosimeters they did not know their exposures until their TLDs were read.  I seem to recall 23R and 27R but what is a few R between friends?
 
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: x6655 on Jan 14, 2014, 07:49
I started my nuclear career at Trojan, the day after this happened.  It was my 27th birthday.  Trojan was a great place to work.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Marlin on Jan 14, 2014, 08:05
Trojan was a great place to work.

Concur, even though we were vacuuming fuel pellets off of the spent fuel pool floor in 80. Met my current "BossLady" there and she still hasn't thrown me out after 33 years.  ;)
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Ewghost on Dec 13, 2015, 01:00
actually there were three chemrad techs involved in the transfer canal fiasco at trojan but the third was short and couldn't get overall the wall so he received a lot less dose.  if i remember was about 5 rem.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Jr8black3 on Dec 15, 2015, 11:16
30+ years I seen all sides of it..I want to give a big ^5 out to all the HP's that jabbed me in the head with a teletector and say WTF..Now being a HP, I shake my head almost everyday, Im like really how stupid can ya be? Pre-job briefs don't seem to sink in. When your supervision and management won't support ya, your screwed..Way I look at it is ya fix stupid..Trust me I have tried...
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: SloGlo on Dec 15, 2015, 12:36
..Way I look at it is ya fix stupid..

lemme no when yew start giving lessons, isle sine up for at least a bachelors degree worth.   ;)
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Jr8black3 on Dec 15, 2015, 07:38
Slo here is my lesson who cares???? Bad thing is I always do... 8) :D
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Randy Redmond on Jan 10, 2019, 11:03
Dang! I was the tech in the crane. 1500 mrem/hour in the crane cab.  Had to leave the crane when I reached 825 mrem.  Wasn't anything I could help the crane operator with anyway.  There was another couple of people (Harry Underwood RIP) and a spotter somewhere on the pressurizer house.  Fun times.

   I think that would be a bent control rod. The rod was not properly disconnected and when the upper internals were lifted and movement to the storage stand started it bent not allowing the upper internals to be moved. This was a CE plant where the Internal Core Instrumentation stored position is in the upper internals. RDTroja I believe you were also at that outage. If you have not been in the containment it is hard to relate dose in the R/hr range on the polar crane catwalk during the lift and movement of the internals to it's storage stand. I went in with one of the early crews trying to unlatch it but it was just the crane operator and another Rad tech on the walkway during the lift and movement.

   Lessons learned were primarily for operations on control rod unlatching. Not much choice on how to handle the move after additional attempts to unlatch the rod as is.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Al Eidson on Jan 10, 2019, 12:09
Randy, remember when the inspection rig fell into vessel at Oconee 2. I'll never forget the look on that B&W techs face. All that along with the SG tube rupture and mrad on TB basement and LHRA on TB demins plus the HRA around pond on the hill. Things were quite different then.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Marlin on Jan 10, 2019, 09:32
Dang! I was the tech in the crane. 1500 mrem/hour in the crane cab.  Had to leave the crane when I reached 825 mrem.  Wasn't anything I could help the crane operator with anyway.  There was another couple of people (Harry Underwood RIP) and a spotter somewhere on the pressurizer house.  Fun times.


I understood that you used a SIT tank as a shadow shield during the movement. Fun times  8)
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Randy Redmond on Jan 11, 2019, 12:14
RE: Oconee - 10 mrem/hour beaver and highly contaminated frogs in the TB basement.  After several days of smear, decon, smear, I quit screening bags of smears....bad move.  Sent Carole O'Shaughnessy some smears reading 50 mrad…………….needless to say she wasn't happy after placing them on her tennelec :-)
GOOD TIMES
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: joebeats on Jan 11, 2019, 12:28
1980 finding 2mrem/hr on the beach at San Onofre, with kids playing in the sand.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Bonds 25 on Jan 11, 2019, 02:29
Callaway. During initial installation, the (very thick) cables from the TLD (Temporary Lifting Device) for removing Steam Generators came crashing down from atop the polar crane onto the refuel floor, smashing the front windshield of the temp crane and sprawling out all over the floor like spaghetti.  Amazing nobody was killed. I was told the hydraulics were installed backwards or something to that extent. 
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: tagline on Jan 11, 2019, 07:58
Callaway. During initial installation, the (very thick) cables from the TLD (Temporary Lifting Device) for removing Steam Generators came crashing down from atop the polar crane onto the refuel floor, smashing the front windshield of the temp crane and sprawling out all over the floor like spaghetti.  Amazing nobody was killed. I was told the hydraulics were installed backwards or something to that extent. 

I remember that. I was in the brief the day before when we were discussing welding the plates over the Hot/Cold legs area which had been cut off. The welding was to be performed while the SG was suspended by the TLD. A welder told the Mammoeut female engineer that all their training instructed them to "never work under a suspended load". The Eng. replied "the TLD will NEVER fail, it is impossible". That statement was proven wrong the next morning.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Bonds 25 on Jan 11, 2019, 11:52
EXACTLY !!!.....I was going to go into more detail including that but I decided not to. I was also at that brief.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Marlin on Jan 12, 2019, 11:49
EXACTLY !!!.....I was going to go into more detail including that but I decided not to. I was also at that brief.

"Less is more"   ;)
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: tagline on Jan 12, 2019, 04:15
EXACTLY !!!.....I was going to go into more detail including that but I decided not to. I was also at that brief.

We worked side by side that Outage.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Nuclear NASCAR on Jan 13, 2019, 08:50
Callaway. During initial installation, the (very thick) cables from the TLD (Temporary Lifting Device) for removing Steam Generators came crashing down from atop the polar crane onto the refuel floor, smashing the front windshield of the temp crane and sprawling out all over the floor like spaghetti.  Amazing nobody was killed. I was told the hydraulics were installed backwards or something to that extent. 

I remember the sick feeling I got when I heard about that when I came in the next day hearing about it in the pre-shift brief...
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: shehane on Jan 15, 2019, 04:17
Coming in on night shift to Waterford @1997 and finding a large portion of the area inside the protected area was posted as a contamination area.  Seems someone misjudged and over flowed the spent fuel pool and it ran out under a roll up door to the outside.  Let it be know that it was fine when I left and I was no where near the plant when it happened.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Marlin on Jan 18, 2019, 11:04
The hiring of back to back crazy RPM's at Indian Point. xxxxx, who quits every job and xxxxxxx, the furthest thing from being a team builder.


7. Peoples name's: It's a bad idea to use them, they lead to law suits. Some names are already censored because of this. Don't use names in stories or messages that could in any way be taken wrong.

https://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,4700.0.html
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: scotoma on Jan 18, 2019, 11:49
So many screwups, so little time. Conn Yankee 1989 operated 461 days straight. Set a world record for continuous operation and also continuous operation with failed fuel. Primary coolant activity was over 30 uc/ml (>3E+1)and the sample bottles were HiRad for several days after S/D. Mostly Iodine and Xenon.The A/S from S/G breach was high rad and oozed through the protective wrap and crapped up the MCA. CR tech didn't select bkgnd subtract and they thought there was iodine everywhere. We wore respirators in street clothes even though we couldn't take a protection factor. They already had an alpha problem, and this didn't add much to it because the fuel failure was pinholes and allowed gases to escape but retained solid material. I wasn't there for their previous events - ruptured fuel in the late 70s, ruptured PRT rupture disc in '85 that released reactor coolant to the stack, release of several hundred contaminated concrete blocks to several homes and businesses. Stay tuned for more thrilling stories from places like IP2, Yankee Rowe, Ginna, et. al. Back in the day when the term "radiological controls" was only a concept.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Al Eidson on Jan 18, 2019, 12:07
ANO 1st refuel they damaged a new fuel assembly trying to load into core and sent it back to spent fuel pool and removed from pool and laid it on floor with no notification of HP at all. Shift supervisor told HP supv he could send an HP tech up if he was going to help decon, if not , don't send one.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: ipregen on Jan 18, 2019, 12:17
IP2 core barrel lift maybe 2005 or 2006. After briefing with the operating experience at Wolf Creek about lifting the barrel with low water, the SDRO gave the order to lift the barrel with low water. Lots of exposure and loss of his license. Followed by the explanation to the NRC that we did everything we could to prepare but at game time the operator didn't want to wait for the water, he wanted to finish the barrel move on his shift.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: homer7g on Apr 01, 2019, 10:55
2-3 years ago some poor schmuck fell off an IVVI platform into the reactor cavity during an RFO.  He was fine - took a bath and got 5 mrem dose.  The bigger problem was that it was caught on one of the RP cameras and some moron took video of it on their cell phone and posted it to social media. 
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Brett LaVigne on Apr 09, 2019, 02:18
Decommissioning Humboldt Bay was basically like cleaning up a collection of 50+ years of radiological screw ups. What did I learn? That in the earliest days of commercial nuclear power, we were not very good at it. Oh yeah... And don't have a concrete spent fuel pool in one of the most earthquake prone area's of the world. ;-)
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: RFaunt on Apr 11, 2019, 09:27
2-3 years ago some poor schmuck fell off an IVVI platform into the reactor cavity during an RFO.  He was fine - took a bath and got 5 mrem dose.  The bigger problem was that it was caught on one of the RP cameras and some moron took video of it on their cell phone and posted it to social media. 

Sounds like CC last Feb/Mar. I knew it had reached peak 2018 when a resident NRC inspector asked if I had seen the video because it was sent to him.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: TVA on Apr 11, 2019, 02:50
Ok how does a guy actually fall in?

Nearest I ever saw was an engineer who actually crawled over a refueling crane rail because he wanted to look at something.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: Marlin on Apr 11, 2019, 03:01
Ok how does a guy actually fall in?

Nearest I ever saw was an engineer who actually crawled over a refueling crane rail because he wanted to look at something.

I saw a man with an artificial leg trip and partially enter the fuel pool my initial impression was shock believing he was highly contaminated. Frisked out clean before decon of him and his artificial leg. Other than divers I have never seen anyone fully submerged in a fuel pool either.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: GLW on Apr 11, 2019, 03:58
Ok how does a guy actually fall in?





(https://media.tenor.com/images/67b8e3d263d84d4f7407eb7d8185a72e/tenor.gif)
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: nowhereman on Apr 11, 2019, 07:38
I was a contractor HP for the CY outage of 1989, quite the eye opening experience. Common phrases used by house mouse's were piggyback beta and "everyone is crapping up the alpha meters "and  we are going to pull  them out of containment...ok, so we get to the SOP and "you are not bringing those smears out here". Then watching the house S/G lead on video in the S/G skirt going up the ladder in a lab coat, gloves and rubber boot covers ...no socks ..bare skin from his ankles...he left a trail of devastation for the next 10 years. heard he was delivering  mail now...
Btw, I think I remember "the air sample"  was 4000mpc ?  Probably the most obtuse thing was that we had extra days off before the outage so that CY could run longer to make that record run...haha
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: scotoma on Apr 12, 2019, 09:34
Yankee Rowe late 1980s. They knew they had failed fuel. They were doing the fuel offload, picked up an element. While they were moving it, the top of a fuel pin fell off and rolled acres the cavity floor leaving a black trail behind. After draining the cavity, the Cavity Drain Line got up to 175 R/hr......Okay, I have to admit that this isn't the worst screw up I have witnessed, but it is notable.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: hamsamich on Apr 12, 2019, 08:16
Calvert cliffs decided to re-machine (can you say sawzall) the new thimble support plate IN THE Refuel Pool after they realized it was off quite a bit.....  More than one RP tech said bad idea, FME bad.  They said...oh no, we got this.  5 extra days of FOSAR equals how much $$$ ???   It was hard to see the bottom of the pool in some parts with all the shavings....wow. Hard to make this stuff up.  1986?  no 2006.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: retired nuke on Apr 13, 2019, 11:15
A single fuel pin (in 4 pieces) is approximately 1R/hr at about 40 ft in air - Palisades 1993
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: ipregen on Apr 16, 2019, 11:47
A single fuel pin (in 4 pieces) is approximately 1R/hr at about 40 ft in air - Palisades 1993
Ah, the fun times at Palisades with the subsequent fuel fleas. In spite of that I did enjoy working there.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: gerald.rood on Apr 25, 2019, 05:53
Lowering an air sampler into the top manway of the pressurized to collect a pre-entry air sample. Drain valve to the RCDT was open and allowed hydrogen back into the pressurized. The “rapid burn” blew off the tech’s rain gear. He did not fall 40 feet from the scaffold but had a look on his face I will never forget. Outside of CMNT it sounded like being on the inside of a tenor drum  - loudest sound level I’ve ever experienced.
Title: Re: Worst screw up you have ever witnessed?
Post by: TVA on Apr 27, 2019, 01:59
The outage after Fermi started Hydrogen Water Chemistry no one considered H2 might remain in the FW piping. Guys grinding on the pipe hit a pocket