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. 98-40 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Thursday, March 19, 1998)

NRC ISSUES LETTER TO SIEMENS NUCLEAR DIVISION

CONFIRMING ACTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION PACKAGES

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a Confirmatory Action Letter to

Siemens Power Company’s Nuclear Division in Richland, Washington. The letter

confirms that Siemens will take actions to ensure that packages used to transport

radioactive materials are in compliance with NRC regulations and certificates.

The company holds an NRC license to fabricate fuel for nuclear power plants

and three NRC certificates of compliance for transportation packages. The packages,

which include inner steel containers, are used to ship fuel in the form of uranium

powder, pellets, rods and assemblies.

During a February 23 to 27 inspection at the Siemens facility in Richland, the

NRC identified several safety concerns with the packages in the areas of design

control, corrective action programs and conformance controls.

NRC found that Siemens used “Model SP-1" transportation packages that were

out of compliance with the requirements of the certificate for that package. The

certificate contains design requirements considered by NRC to be important for safe

use. Those packages not fabricated in accordance with the certificate are not

authorized for use.

The NRC also found that Siemens accepted and used components received

from other suppliers for the Model SP-1 and two additional package designs without an

adequate inspection. Detailed receipt inspections of such components are necessary

to ensure that the as-built package meets certificate of compliance design

requirements.

As a result of the NRC inspection, Siemens sent a letter to the NRC on March 9

agreeing to take compensatory actions to correct the deficiencies. The NRC

Confirmatory Action Letter to Siemens confirms that the company will take the following

actions:
(1) Before shipping any transportation packages, Siemens will inspect all

transportation packages and components to verify compliance with requirements of the

certificate and NRC regulations. Any packages found to be out of compliance will be

identified as nonconforming and will be either re-worked or scrapped. Siemens will

perform these inspections using qualified persons, calibrated equipment and approved

procedures. Acceptable completion of the inspections will be independently verified by

Siemens quality or inspection staff, and approved by Siemens’s Vice President of

Manufacturing and Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs.

(2) By April 30, Siemens will develop a plan to assess the implementation of its

quality assurance program and determine the root cause of deficiencies in the

company’s transportation package program. The plan, which will be submitted to the

NRC for approval, will include objectives and milestones for accomplishing the quality

assurance program assessment and root cause analysis. The root cause analysis will

be performed by an independent external organization. It will address the effectiveness

of management oversight and organizational structure in implementing the quality

assurance program, and will determine why transportation package components that

were out of compliance with design requirements were not identified as nonconforming

items and removed from use. The quality assurance program assessment will include a

review of the Siemens receipt inspection process that should verify that procured

components meet design requirements.

(3) Siemens will submit the results of the quality assurance program assessment

and root cause analysis, the proposed corrective actions and the schedule for

completion to the NRC.

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