Texas Instruments (State of Massachusetts)

This site description was provided by the cognizant Agreement State, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) makes no claim regarding the validity of the information provided. See our Site Disclaimer for more information.

1.0 Site Identification

Type of Site:	Complex Decommissioning Site
Location:	Attleboro,MA
License No.:	20-17067-02
Docket No.:
License Status:	Unknown
Project Manager:	Kim Conway (NRC Decommissioning Contact)

2.0 Site Status Summary

Texas Instruments (TI) conducted uranium operations from 1952 to1981, and manufactured one product with Ra-226 in the 1950's. Prior to Massachusetts becoming an Agreement State in 1997, TI satisfactorily remediated the site of by-product material (i.e., Uranium), thus, the license was terminated by the NRC in 1997. At that time, one building - Building 1 - was found to contain small amounts of Ra-226 in the floor, which would require remediation if the building was sold to another entity, or prior to the building being demolished. The Ra-226 found in the floor of Building 1 was from the manufacturing of toggle switches for use on U.S. Navy submarines. TI placed the Ra-226 bead onto each toggle switch so that the switch would glow in the dark. It is unclear who made Ra-226 beads and shipped them to TI. In late 2006, TI sold it's Attleboro site to Bain Capital, who then formed a new company - Sensata Technologies - but TI is still responsible for the Ra-226 cleanup. As of May 2008, Texas Instruments is assessing the extent of contamination in preparation for a decommission submission plan to be approved by the Massachusetts Radiation Control Program. Cleanup to dose based standard of < 10 mrem/yr TEDE.

3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues

4.0 Estimated Date For Closure

Page Last Reviewed/Updated Thursday, March 29, 2012

Texas Instruments to pay feds $15 million for Shpack cleanup

Texas Instruments to pay feds $15 million for

Shpack cleanup

BY RICK FOSTER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF | Posted: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 1:25 am

Texas Instruments has agreed to reimburse the federal government $15 million as part of a consent

decree covering costs of removing radioactive contamination from the former Shpack landfill on the

Norton-Attleboro line.

According to the agreement, the Dallas-based company will pay the Army Corps of Engineers within 15

days. Texas Instruments did not acknowledge any liability as part of the settlement.

At least $70 million has been spent on the years-long cleanup, according to papers filed in connection

with the lawsuit.

Texas Instruments could not be reached Tuesday for a statement regarding the settlement.

The consent decree was filed Nov. 8 in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Texas Instruments, which merged with Metals and Controls in 1959, worked with radioactive materials at its Attleboro plant from 1959 to 1981, according to the complaint filed by the Justice Department.

The suit claimed that the company arranged for disposal of radioactive Uranium-234, -235 and -238 at

the Shpack site stemming from nuclear fuel operations at the Attleboro plant, in part from contracts with

the former U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and other, commercial, entities.

Radium-226 used in making items such as thermostats and circuit breakers also was found, according to the document.

The Schpack landfill, which was used by businesses as well as residents, was found by the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission in the 1970s to be contaminated with radiation, according to the Justice

Department complaint.

Court documents also said a survey found electrical components, a sign identified as coming from Texas Instruments and ashes from uranium-containing zirconium chips dumped by the company.

In 2009, according to the complaint, Texas Instruments and 10 other potentially responsible parties

signed a consent degree to address chemical contamination at the site.

The Army Corps of Engineers spent several years removing radioactive materials from the site.

It began the operation in 2005 and completed digging in July 2011.

The excavation included more than 50,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil, and more than 35,000 cubic yards of radioactive soil was shipped to a storage site in Clive, Utah.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is now undertaking removal of chemical contaminants from

the site. Well inspection and surveys of the parcel are expected to begin next month.

Excavation of the chemical contaminants are expected to begin in the spring, and could be completed in 2014.

The 9.4-acre Shpack site straddles the Norton-Attleboro line, with six acres in Norton and 3.4 acres in

Attleboro.

The Norton side of the site operated as a landfill from 1946 to 1975. The Attleboro side operated from

1946 to 1965.

Texas Instruments agrees to pay $15 million to the U.S. government to help clean up the Shpack landfill superfund site in Massachusetts

By Sheryl Jean

Texas Instruments Inc. has agreed to pay $15 million to the federal government to cover part of the cost of cleaning up radioactive contaminants at the Shpack landfill superfund site in Massachusetts.

The Dallas-based chipmaker did not acknowledge any liability for nuclear material found at Shpack as part of a lawsuit settlement filed last week in U.S. District Court in Boston.

“Although TI vigorously disputes the United States’ claim … TI would prefer to focus its resources on manufacturing semiconductors for a wide variety of electronics applications, rather than litigate against the U.S. government for what likely would have been several years,” said TI spokeswoman Whitney Jodry.

TI and a predecessor company (Metals and Controls Inc.) worked with radioactive materials in nuclear fuel operations under contracts with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission at the site on the border of Attleboro and Norton from the 1950s through 1981, according to the lawsuit. 

In 2009, TI and 10 other “potentially responsible parties” signed a consent decree with the U.S. government to address chemical contamination at the site, but later that same year, TI filed a complaint alleging that liability for disposal of radioactive materials relating to its AEC work is subject to indemnity by the U.S. Department of Energy. That case will be dismissed as a result of the consent decree.

A survey by the U.S. Energy Department found radioactive contaminants, primarily radium and uranium, on the site, according to the suit. Court documents also said Radium-226, which is used to make thermostats and circuit breakers, was found.

The U.S. Justice Department filed suit against TI on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will receive the $15 million

Metals and Controls Corp. workers who fell ill may be eligible for benefits

Metals and Controls Corp. workers who fell ill may be eligible for benefits

By Gerry Tuoti, Staff Writer
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jan 28, 2010 @ 11:37 PM

People who worked with radioactive materials at the former Metals and Controls Corp. — including those from Taunton — and were diagnosed with certain types of cancer may be eligible for up to $150,000 in compensation and benefits under a federal program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor.

“Essentially, this program is designed to provide compensation and medical benefits for workers who became ill as a result of working in the atomic weapons industry,” Department of Labor spokesman Ted Fitzgerald said.

Metals and Controls’ Attleboro facility, which was later acquired by Texas Instruments, employed people from across the Taunton area in the 1950s and 60s. The plant created uranium foils for reactor experiments and fuel components, built complete reactor cores for the Naval Reactors program, and fabricated uranium fuel elements for experimental and research reactors.

Former employees who worked there for at least 250 days between 1952 and 1967 and have one of 22 specific types of cancer may be eligible for benefits or compensation. If the employee is no longer living, his or her qualified survivors, including spouses, children, parents, grandparents or grandchildren, may also be eligible for compensation.

The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act, which provides compensation for people who became ill due to working in the nuclear industry, recently extended coverage to former Metals and Controls employees.

Former employees or survivors can get additional information about the program or make an appointment for assistance with filing a claim by calling the Labor Department’s resource center.

Former Texas Instruments workers may be eligible for benefits

Former Texas Instruments workers may be eligible for benefits

By Staff reports
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jan 21, 2010 @ 01:41 PM

The U.S. Department of Labor is notifying all former Metals and Controls Corporation (also known as Texas Instruments) workers who worked for the company between 1952 and 1967 about a new class of employees added to the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act’s Special Exposure Cohort. The act provides compensation and medical benefits to workers who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. Survivors of
qualified workers may also be entitled to benefits.

A worker who is included in a designated Special Exposure Cohort class of employees, and who is diagnosed with one of 22 specified cancers, may receive a presumption of causation under the EEOICPA. The new SEC class of former employees includes all atomic weapons employees who worked at Metals and Controls Corporation in Attleboro from Jan. 1, 1952, to Dec. 31, 1967, for at least 250 workdays occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with workdays within other classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort.

For additional information about the new Special Exposure Cohort relating to Metals and Controls Corporation or to schedule an appointment for contact Attorney Gail Balser at (508) 409-8280 or go to her website at www.ticancervictims.com to make an appointment for a free initial consultation.