Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurrences - Fiscal Year 2016 (NUREG-0090, Volume 39)

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Publication Information

Manuscript Completed: May 2017
Date Published: May 2017

Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001

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Abstract

Section 208 of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended (Public Law 93-438), defines an "abnormal occurrence" (AO) as an unscheduled incident or event that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) determines to be significant from the standpoint of public health or safety. The Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-66) requires that the NRC report AOs to Congress annually.

This report describes three events involving NRC licensees that the agency identified as AOs during fiscal year (FY) 2016 based on the criteria defined in the report's Appendix A, "Abnormal Occurrence Criteria and Guidelines for Other Events of Interest." One AO occurred at an NRClicensed fuel cycle facility. The other two AOs were medical events as defined in Part 35 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) "Medical Use of Byproduct Material."

In addition, this report describes eight other AOs: six medical events as defined in 10 CFR Part 35; one event involving radiation exposure to an embryo/fetus; and one radiography operations event that occurred in Agreement States and were identified as AOs during FY 2016 based on the criteria defined in Appendix A. Agreement States are those States that have entered into formal agreements with the NRC, pursuant to Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA) (Public Law 83 703), to regulate certain quantities of AEA material at facilities located within their borders. Currently, there are 37 Agreement States.

Appendix A to this report presents the NRC's criteria for identifying AOs, as well as the guidelines for selecting "other events of interest." Appendix B, "Updates of Previously Reported Abnormal Occurrences," provides updated information for one event that was previously identified in the FY 2015 "Report to Congress on Abnormal Occurrences." The NRC identified one event during FY 2016 that met the guidelines for inclusion in Appendix C, "Other Events of Interest." Appendix D, "Glossary," contains definitions of terms used throughout this report. Appendix E, "Conversion Table," presents conversions commonly used when calculating doses.