nuclear-news

The information notice below was in 1999, but the problem remains with the topic showing up in the US NRC “DRAFT 10 CFR Part 21 Reporting of Defects and Noncompliance, Meeting with the Industry and Stakeholders March 16, 2016“, where they note that a HEPA filter failure may mean that radioactive discharges are less filtered than usual, leading to higher levels of exposure to radiation by the public and environment (20 times or more greater than allowed by the US EPA).

Click to access ML031040519.pdf

In March of 2016 the USNRC states: “High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters and/or dust collection systems on airborne effluent stacks. The equipment failure of a HEPA or a dust collection system on a high-flow airborne effluent stack could result in a release of licensed material“. [i.e. more Radioactive Discharges than legally allowed] “If the equipment failure is unidentified due…