Stichting Laka

Event Report Forms (ERFs) are filed to the IAEA. Sometimes there are multiple event reports, updating the rating, the event description. Here you only see the latest event report

ERF send date: Mon, 28-08-1995
ERF description: Waterford 3 was operating at 100% power when an off-site chemical release occurred at an ammonia storage fertilizer plant located less than a mile away. The ammonia releases were small. Intermittent and directed away from the Waterford 3 plant by the prevailing winds. Although no ammonia was detected at the WAterford 3 site, operators manually initated emergency recirculation of the control room ventilation in response to the releases.
Five people who were driving to work at the Waterford 3 site became ill after passing through the plume. The five workers were treated at a local hospital and released. Local officials established roadblocks to isolate the affected area and unnecessary Waterfod 3 site personnel were sent home. The releases were confirmed to be terminated approximately ten hours after the occurrence of the initial release. There was no radioactive release, and Waterford 3 remained operating at 100% throughout the event.
Background:
On 20 July 1995, Waterford Unit 3 was operating at 100% power when an off-site chemical release occurred at an ammonia storage fertilizer plant, located less than a mile from Waterford 3. The fertilizer plant normally uses a flare to burn ammonia periodically as it is released. Periodic venting of the anhydrous ammonia tank was utilized to control tank pressure when the flare extinguished. The ammonia releases were small, intermittent and downwind of the Waterford 3 site. Although no ammonia was detected at the Waterford 3 site, operators manually intitated emergency recirculation of the control room ventilation in response to the releases.
Five people who were driving to work at the Waterford 3 site became ill after passing through the ammonia plume. The five workers were treated at a local hospital and released. Local officials established roadblocks to isolate the affected area, and unnecessary Waterford 3 site personnel were sent home. The releases were confirmed to be terminated approx. then hours after the occurrence of the initial release. Waterford 3 remained operating at 100% power throughout the event. There was no radioactive release associated with this event.
Rating Basis:
The event is rated "level 0, below scale" in accordance with Paragraph III - 2.10 of the INES user's manual. This paragraph describes the rating of events due to the occurrence of external hazards. For this event, safety systems remained fully available to mitigate the consequences of potential initiators. Although there was not an automatic initiation of any safety systems, the control room ventilation system was manually placed in the emergency recirculation mode by the operators.
ERF rating date: 01-08-1995
ERF contact person: R.J. BARRETT
ERF address: United States
ERF affiliation: USNRC, EMERGENCY RESPONSE BRANCH, OFFICE FOR ANALYSIS AND EVALU

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