State Agency Program Reports to the Texas Radiation Advisory Board Fourth Quarter 2010 November 6, 2010 I. Texas Department of State Health Services II. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality III. Texas Railroad Commission Section I. Department of State Health Services (DSHS) General Program Information The 2010 Texas Radiation Regulatory Conference was a great success. There were more than 500 attendees, and the evaluation responses were very positive. Retired DSHS employee Pete Myers and his wife, Karen, are to be commended for the volunteer work that they did to make the conference successful. Radiation Safety Licensing Branch Radioactive Material Licensing Group The Group is working to initiate and provide licensees with information and support in response to Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) request for National Source Tracking System (NSTS) users to use the online access for NSTS transactions. A letter will be sent to NSTS licensees offering assistance. The Industrial Radiographer (IR) Certification Program has to date issued more than 1,500 radiographer trainer authorizations on certification cards. The schedule of Industrial Radiography testing dates for calendar year 2011 has been sent to IR licensees. Number of tests was decreased from 24 to 21 due to decrease in demand. The Group is continuing to address licensee s current financial assurance levels as needed. This was previously performed during the licensee s technical renewal. The radioactive material licensing group is fully staffed. Radiation Machine Source Group The Radiation Machine Source Group (RMSG) staff continues to prepare for the implementation of the Laser Hair Removal (LHR) Registration Program. We are accepting applications for laser hair removal training programs and certifying entities only. Registration for laser hair facilities and individuals is pending. Ms. Tracie Miller has accepted the Environmental Specialist III (ES III) position for the Laser Hair Removal Program. The remaining three ES III positions are in the interview process.
These positions will include the responsibilities of reviewing registration applications for facilities and individuals, reviewing procedures for training programs, and certifying entities and issuing certificates. A new Group Manager (Health Physicist II) position was approved and has been posted. The person selected for this position will supervise the Laser Program. Radiation Policy, Standards, and Quality Assurance Group (PSQA) Barbara Taylor has been hired as the Radiation PSQA Group Manager effective October 1, 2010. PSQA staff members have completed the laser hair removal regulations mandated by HB449. The rules were adopted and published August 27, 2010. The rule went into effective on September 1, 2010. PSQA staff members continue to take comments of draft rules to implement new fluoroscopy and CT initiatives in current rule and to develop new rules for electronic brachytherapy. Numerous comments have been received on this draft rulemaking. The department conducted a stakeholder meeting on September 3, 2010, for further discussion and comments. The department hosted the NRC Licensing Procedures course and the NRC MARSAME course in September and the NRC Well Logging course in October. Hosting these courses typically allows us to have more staff members participate in the course than if the course were held elsewhere. This helps us get more DSHS staff trained in a more timely manner. Chris Myers has been instrumental in handling the logistics for the courses. Radiation Inspection Branch Radioactive Materials (RAM) Inspections Group There are currently 3 RAM Inspector vacancies due to recent resignations. Two vacancies are located in Houston and one is in Beaumont. One of the Houston vacancies has been exempted from the hiring freeze and is currently being advertised. The other vacancies are moving through the exemption request process. Inspections are being performed on schedule, and every effort is being made to ensure that NRC s inspection priorities are met while vacancies are being filled and new inspectors are trained. Texas inspection priority system is more conservative than NRC s, and the Department may not be able to remain current based on the State s system during this period. Mammography and Report Inspections Group The Mammography Group is at full staff. The second Remote Inspector position was filled in October, and he is currently in training. All certified mammography systems in Texas were inspected during FY10. Sixty-eight mammography inspections have been completed for FY11. No mammography inspections are past due as of the date of this report. In May, the FDA requested information for the annual review of Texas status as an FDAapproved certifying body for mammography. The results of their review are scheduled to be ready for discussion in November. A second request came in July, when the FDA requested a
copy of all records related to ten specific inspections completed during the contract year. The reviewer s preliminary response regarding those ten inspections indicates no major issues with the data or our compliance with the FDA s inspection procedures. A total of 1,509 remote inspections were issued for FY10. One thousand ninety-four of those have been completed and closed. The program is currently waiting on responses from the remaining 415 registrants. X-ray Inspections Group The X-ray Group has two vacancies for X-ray Inspector positions; one in Houston and one in Arlington. Interviewing and hiring are expected to take place during November. Presently, we have one inspector working out of the Austin office who is still in training. During the 2010 Regulatory Conference held in Austin on September 2 3, 2010, a special session for service companies and assemblers of X-ray equipment was held. The session was well attended with good feedback. Environmental Monitoring Group Incident Investigation Program On September 20, 2010, the Agency received a phone call from one of our licensees that their radiography crew in Orange had been approached by an individual who first identified himself by name as an agency inspector with the State of Texas and a few minutes later said he was the Radiation Safety Officer for the City of Orange. The individual approached the radiation barrier marker but did not attempt to cross it (the crew had not started testing yet). He was hostile in his words and actions, and the crew was suspicious. He asked one of the radiographers for his state card. In response, the radiographer asked for the individual s credentials. The individual told him he didn t need to see them. While the other radiographer was contacting the licensee s office by phone, the individual left the site on a bicycle. Local law enforcement was not called at the time of the incident because the radiographers did not feel the security of the source was being compromised. The licensee had an idea who the individual might be and, during investigation, the radiographers identified the individual from a photo the Agency provided. The individual had worked for the licensee approximately ten years prior. The individual is a certified radiographer and has been for over 25 years. The Agency has contacted the Criminal Investigations Unit of the of the Orange County Sheriff s Office. Agency legal counsel has been contacted to determine an appropriate course of action. South Texas Project (STP) A Federal Emergency Management Agency- (FEMA-) evaluated exercise is scheduled for October 27, 2010. The exercise is designed to test STP, local, and State jurisdictions response to a scenario involving a release of radioactive fission products from a nuclear reactor. FEMA will evaluate the offsite activities in response to the scenario-driven events.
Siren upgrade: STP has submitted an updated request for FEMA approval of new sirens to be installed around the ten-mile emergency planning zone (EPZ). Once approved, the old sirens will be removed and donated or salvaged for use by other organizations. Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant A walk-thru reception center drill was demonstrated on August 03, 2010, in Cleburne, and the FEMA-evaluated exercise was August 18, 2010. The final FEMA After Action Report (AAR) indicated no deficiencies or areas requiring corrective action (ARCA), but it contained seven planning issues to be addressed by local jurisdictions. DSHS, in cooperation with Comanche Peak and the City of Cleburne, is currently addressing these planning issues. A medical drill (MS-1) was conducted on September 14, 2010, at the Lake Granbury Medical Center in Granbury, and the draft report received showed no deficiencies, ARCAs or planning issues. In addition, contained in the FEMA report was recognition for Best Practices for the hanging of a contaminated waste bag in the ambulance from the overhead hand rail. This allowed the emergency medical service (EMS) crew to slide the waste bag from the front to the back of the rear ambulance area without having to reach across a patient to drop gloves and other possibly contaminated waste into the waste bag. A Combined Functional Drill was conducted on September 22, 2010, and included approximately 15 participants located primarily in the emergency operations facility (EOF). This drill was designed to prepare onsite emergency response organizations for possible radiological events and to demonstrate proficiency during evaluated exercises. During the onsite debrief, DSHS identified a few coordination issues concerning PAR notification and concurrence by DSHS. Comanche Peak is presently upgrading their sirens with the required battery back-up power systems. They have completed the installation for the five-mile EPZ, and they are in the process of working on finishing the upgrade for the entire ten-mile EPZ. Pantex Plant DSHS hosted a tabletop meeting with local city and county emergency management personnel from Armstrong, Carson, Potter, and Randall counties in the panhandle region on October 6, 2010. The tabletop identified personnel and equipment needs and training required for a two-day Pantex exercise scheduled for June 22 23, 2011. A majority of Pantex operations resumed after the July 2010 flood, which was classified a 2000-year event. Pantex is receiving approximately $60 million in funding to repair the damage from the flood. Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Staff supporting the WIPP program participated in public meetings in Kermit, Monahans, and Andrews on August 24 26, 2010. The meetings were initiated by the Department of Energy (DOE) to provide information on a proposed route change for transuranic waste shipments to the WIPP site near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The current route along IH-20 departs the interstate at US-285 and continues through New Mexico to the WIPP site. Recently, sink
holes have been detected in New Mexico along the existing route. DOE is proposing to move the route to depart IH-20 at Big Spring, Texas, and follow State Highway 176 to Andrews, south along State Highway 115, then west on State 128 into New Mexico and on to the WIPP Site. New Inspection Positions We received approval in early October to hire five new inspectors (Environmental Specialist IVs), one new manager (Health Physicist II), and one inspector/trainer (Health Physicist I). These positions are primarily to implement the new Laser Hair Removal Program and to help us keep pace with the growth of registrants in Texas. We are developing our organizational plans and posting documents for these positions at this time. Section II. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal: On September 10, 2009, the Executive Director of the TCEQ granted, signed, and issued to Waste Control Specialists LLC (WCS) a radioactive materials license that authorizes the near-surface disposal of Class A, B, and C low-level radioactive waste from the Texas Compact and federal mixed hazardous and low-level radioactive waste from the federal government. On January 12, 2010, an amendment application was filed requesting facility design changes, modification of construction plans, and changes to environmental monitoring. There are several preconstruction conditions currently being reviewed by TCEQ related to the pending amendment application and a requirement for TCEQ written approval prior to the commencement of construction that is also currently under consideration. On June 1, 2010, WCS submitted an initial Compact Waste Disposal Rate Application to TCEQ. This submission is currently under review to determine an equitable allocation of the disposal cost that can be charged to the compact waste generators, and the establishment of a rate of return and the fee schedule based on radioactive, physical, and chemical properties of each type of low-level radioactive waste and in accordance with Texas Health & Safety Code, Chapter 401. TCEQ has extended a period for comments from the public from November 2, 2010, to November 16, 2010, on the process for development of a rate schedule to be recommended by the TCEQ Executive Director. All comments should be sent to radmat@tceq.state.tx.us or mailed via USPS to TCEQ Radioactive Materials Division, P.O. Box 13087, MC-233, Austin, Texas 78711. By-Product Material Disposal: TCEQ continues to evaluate WCS s submittals and responses to the requirements of operational license conditions. TCEQ reviews of compliance reports and the results of environmental monitoring programs are ongoing. Current environmental measurements are focused on variable groundwater levels in wells around the by-product material disposal site footprint and the effectiveness of the monitoring program. Such data are important for understanding the impacts of infiltration on designed structures, like the disposal site cap. TCEQ and its contractors have conducted additional electromagnetic verification studies to provide information on Office of the Attorney General (OAG) groundwater. In cooperation with site inspectors, TCEQ monitors photographs of WCS site conditions, especially when significant
weather events occur. In response to license conditions requiring management of surface water (limiting infiltration), WCS has committed to renovating site drainage ditches. Uranium Mining: Two name change amendments have recently been completed: COGEMA Mining, Inc., R03024, was changed to Uranium One USA, Inc., R03024 on March 4, 2010; and Everest Exploration, Inc., R03626, was changed to South Texas Mining Venture, L.L.P. (STMV), R03626, on July 14, 2010. There was one recent license termination: Everest Resources, R06046, July 14, 2010. There are three pending new uranium license applications currently under review: RGR Hobson Project; Uranium Energy Corp (UEC) Goliad Project; and the Signal Equities Brevard Project. A contested case hearing on injection well permits for in situ mining for the UEC Goliad project took place during May 2010. In September 2010, a proposal for decision was issued by the Administrative Law Judge for the case. A TCEQ decision is still pending. The Signal Equities Brevard Project received an Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit from TCEQ for in situ uranium mining on August 5, 2010. Applications for TCEQ radioactive materials license, authorization of Production Area 1, and for permitting Class I waste disposal wells for this site are pending. TCEQ is also reviewing the well completion report from the recent construction of a permitted Class I waste disposal well for the STMV Palangana Project to enable the start up of mining operations and associated wastewater management at that site. TCEQ staff members have performed confirmatory surveys as part of the process to release areas for unrestricted use at STMV s Tex-1 and Mt. Lucas sub sites. Uranium One has made good progress with reclamation activities, and TCEQ confirmatory surveys are on schedule. The TCEQ-designated project manager for IEC reclamation is making progress in preparing for reclamation activities through contract(s) on the abandoned site. Work is moving ahead on closure for all three legacy Title II uranium impoundment sites: the ACL application from RGR is ongoing; ConocoPhillips is repairing subsidence in its cap; and ExxonMobil has acquired adjacent property so that it can complete characterization of groundwater and surface impacts. TCEQ has accepted UT-BEG s recent contract document Geological and Geographical Attributes of the South Texas Uranium Province, which will be used as a reference document for future uranium license application reviews. TCEQ has been working on making available a radiation safety officers course for in situ mining uranium facilities that will satisfy the four-week, specialized training requirement in the regulations for early 2011. Waste Processing and Storage: Two licenses, WCS and NSSI, are currently under renewal. WCS response to the first Notice of Deficiency (NOD) for the renewal of license R04971 was received on August 27, 2010, and is being reviewed. NSSI's response to the first NOD for the renewal of the license R01811 was received on September 10, 2010, and is being reviewed. There are pending WCS amendment requests to allow receipt and storage of depleted uranium waste from the Savannah River Site and to further extend the term of storage of mixed waste from the EPA Safety Light Federal Superfund Site. The storage beyond licensing terms of Studsvik waste was subject of a July 2010 TCEQ notice of violation and is being addressed by a compliance agreement with the TCEQ Office of Compliance and Enforcement.
Buried Waste: TCEQ continues to work to close the historical buried radioactive waste sites that exist under TCEQ jurisdiction in Texas. The reclamation of the Federated Metals State Superfund Site in Houston is nearing completion. TCEQ Radioactive Materials Division staff completed review of remediation activities performed by EnergySolutions for the release of the 14.7-acre southern impacted area at the Federated Metals Site. TCEQ completed a Decommissioning Confirmation Report for the Federated Metals State Superfund Site that verifies completion of the regulatory requirements for the southern portion of the site listed under Title 30, Texas Administrative Code (30 TAC) Chapter 336, Decommissioning Standards. The Radiological Closure Work Plan for the Production Area of the Federated Metals State Superfund Site, prepared by EnergySolutions, LLC, February 2010, lists twelve areas requiring additional remediation for the northern portion of the site. The Iso-tex disposal area is currently being decommissioned. Groundwater contains tritium contamination. Hydrogeological characterization (i.e., nearby wells, well logs, geology, and hydrology) of the site was completed by consultant Bruce Darling in May 2010 and includes information on groundwater at the site based on an investigation of the well logs from nearby private water wells. TCEQ staff is awaiting submission of the decommissioning plan that incorporates this information. The work plan for the Pearland-Manvel site investigation has been submitted and reviewed. The site investigation and assessment has been completed. As part of the site investigation, six groundwater monitoring wells were installed along the perimeter. Sample results from the wells indicated americium-241 (Am-241) at 19 pci/l in one monitoring well and chlorobenzene above residential levels in another well. In addition, the consultant performed a complete site survey and identified six areas with radiological contamination. The TCEQ requested that four additional wells be installed outside the property line in the right-of-way to determine if any offsite migration had occurred. TCEQ staff is currently reviewing the consultant response to comments on QA/QC issues related to sample results of the samples taken from the four additional monitoring wells. On November 4, 1958, a fire onboard a B-47 taking off from Dyess AFB caused a crash southwest of the Dyess AFB flight line. The plane carried a full load of fuel and one nuclear weapon, which caused an explosion on impact of the fuel and conventional high explosives (HE) in the nuclear weapon. The site was remediated at the time of the accident. Recently, the private crash site has been the focus of further remediation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) prepared two study documents, which provided results from a recent site investigation. TCEQ has reviewed the reports and provided comments to which the USACE has responded. The TCEQ is now in the process of reviewing the USACE s response. Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs): TCEQ s work with the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) to amend the MOU between the two agencies is complete. The amended MOU was adopted by the RRC Commissioners vote on August 10, 1010, and adopted by reference in TCEQ rules by the TCEQ Commissioners on September 29, 2010.
Section III. Program Report for the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) At conference on August 10, 2010, the Railroad Commission adopted amendments to 16 Tex. Admin. Code 3.30, relating to the MOU between the RRC and the TCEQ. The rules became effective on August 30, 2010, and can be found at http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/rules/rule.php. Staff continues to work on the draft MOU between the RRC and the DSHS. This MOU will implement and coordinate the requirements of the agencies for licensing and permitting programs and clarify each agency s jurisdiction over radioactive materials and naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) wastes associated with oil and gas activities. The latest draft was circulated in October and discussed on November 5, 2010. On October 12, 2010, the RRC adopted the proposal to repeal the existing regulations at 16 Tex. Admin Code 11.131-11.139 relating to uranium exploration and adopted corresponding new rules to implement House Bill 3837 (80th Regular Session). The effective date of the new rules is November 1, 2010. The rules can be found at http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/rules/proposed.php.