Nuclear agency to discuss “apparent violations” at Babcock & Wilcox

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a public meeting to discuss what it calls “apparent violations” that occurred at the Babcock & Wilcox Company’s Mt. Athos facility in July.

The conference will be held at 1 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the NRC’s Region II offices in Atlanta.

In July, a B&W Nuclear Operations Group employee discovered the cooling reservoir of a saw in the Mt. Athos facility contained a mixture of oil and uranium.

A low-level emergency was declared for a few hours while employees investigated the reservoir and determined that there was not enough uranium present to cause a nuclear reaction.

A special inspection team of the NRC cited four apparent violations related to the July incident, according to an investigation report.

However, it also said that the company’s handling of the situation was “adequate.”

The meeting on Nov. 6 is known as a “predecisional enforcement conference.”

The NRC calls these meetings to discuss issues with companies that handle nuclear materials before deciding whether to charge a fine or take other corrective actions.

The agency held a similar meeting with Areva NP officials in 2008 to discuss a shipment of equipment that had contained radioactive material that the company had not detected.

After the conference, Areva received no fine for that incident.