United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs

Washington, DC 20555

Phone 301-415-8200 Fax 301-415-2234

Internet:opa@nrc.gov

No. 97-183 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Thursday, December 18, 1997)

NRC NOTIFIES USERS OF AMERSHAM MODEL 660

OF POTENTIAL PROBLEMS, COMPENSATORY MEASURES

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has notified users of Amersham Corporation’s

Model 660 radiography devices of problems found during transportation safety testing of the

devices.

The advisory -- known as an Information Notice -- outlines compensatory measures that

should be taken, until the devices are re-designed and re-tested, to ensure that they will be

resistant to transportation accidents and fires.

Radiography devices are used in industrial applications to detect flaws in dense metal

objects, such as pipes. The devices, which contain nuclear material, serve as their own

transportation packages. They must meet NRC testing requirements designed to show the

packages’ ability to withstand hypothetical accident conditions.

Amersham, which is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, holds several NRC

certificates of compliance for radioactive material transportation packages.

An NRC inspection in June identified problems regarding Amersham’s performance of

the required tests. Later that month the NRC issued a Confirmatory Action Letter to

Amersham, documenting the company’s agreement to suspend fabrication of all NRC-certified

transportation packages; to notify all users of questions raised by NRC regarding the packages;

to conduct retesting; and to advise users of any administrative controls needed for packages

already in use, pending completion of Amersham’s retesting.

In October, Amersham performed the required retests of the Model 660 packaging. The

test sequence consisted of a 30-foot free drop, a 40-inch drop onto a puncture bar and a fire

test. Because of damage sustained in the drop and puncture tests, the radiation shielding in

one test unit was partially exposed during the subsequent fire test. As a result, the test unit no

longer provided sufficient shielding to meet the post-accident limits specified in NRC regulations

for the amount of radiation detectable on the exterior of the package.
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The Information Notice sets out the following additional controls for Model 660 series

packages:

-- The package may be transported in a private vehicle if it is properly secured within a

box attached to the vehicle. The package must be properly blocked, braced and supported to

prevent shifting of the device within the box during transport.

-- The package may be transported in a private vehicle or by a common carrier in a

container that is not attached to the vehicle. In this case the container must be a steel box of

welded construction or a steel drum. The package must be properly blocked, braced and

supported to prevent the device from shifting within the steel box or steel drum during transport.

In addition, the steel box or drum must be blocked, braced and secured against movement

within the vehicle.

Amersham’s certificate of compliance has been revised to reflect these additional

controls, which are temporary measures pending the development and testing of more

permanent package design modifications.

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