ML100890633
| ML100890633 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000131 |
| Issue date: | 03/30/2010 |
| From: | Spitzberg D NRC/RGN-IV/DNMS/RSFSB |
| To: | Washko A US Dept of Veterans Affairs, Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System |
| References | |
| IR-09-001 | |
| Download: ML100890633 (4) | |
See also: IR 05000131/2009001
Text
March 30, 2010
Mr. Al Washko
Medical Center Director
Department of Veterans Affairs
Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System
4101 Woolworth Avenue
Omaha, NE 68105
SUBJECT:
NRC INSPECTION REPORT 050-00131/09-001 AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION
Dear Mr. Washko:
Thank you for your letter dated March 1, 2010, in response to our Inspection Report and Notice
of Violation dated February 5, 2010. We have reviewed your reply and find it responsive to the
concerns raised in our Notice of Violation. We will review the implementation of your corrective
actions during a future inspection to ensure that full compliance has been achieved and will be
maintained.
On March 29, 2010, a member of my staff, Robert Evans, Senior Health Physicist, contacted
Daniel McVicker, Electronics Technician, of your staff to discuss your response to Violation D
and the Unresolved Item. Violation D involved your failure to comply with 10 CFR 50.54(q)
requirements. In your response letter, you stated that you had applied for an exemption from
this regulation by letter to the NRC dated January 14, 2010. Since you have requested an
exemption from this regulation, and in consideration that all fuel, fission chambers, and
significantly radioactive startup sources have been removed from your site, no specific action is
required at this time with regards to your emergency plan pending NRCs review and response
to your exemption request.
In addition, one unresolved item was identified during the inspection involving your possible
possession of polonium-beryllium sealed sources. An unresolved item is a matter about which
more information is required to determine whether the issue in question is an acceptable item, a
deviation, a nonconformance, or a violation. You provided additional information about one
polonium-beryllium sealed source still in your possession. Based on the half-life of polonium
and the age of the source, we understand that the source has decayed to a negligible
radioactivity level. Also, your staff conducted a records review and visually observed the
components currently being stored in the reactor pool. Based on these reviews and
observations, your staff believes that your facility does not possess any additional sealed
sources.
The license allowed you to possess up to 8 curies of polonium-beryllium sealed sources and up
to 4 curies of americium-beryllium sealed sources. However, we are still unclear about how
many sealed sources you previously possessed under the license. For example, the Annual
Operating Report for 2003, submitted to the NRC by letter dated March 23, 2004, stated that
americium-beryllium sources were transferred to the Department of Energy on July 24, 2003,
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMM ISSION
R E GI ON I V
612 EAST LAMAR BLVD, SUITE 400
ARLINGTON, TEXAS 76011-4125
Department of Veterans Affairs
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but the report does not state how many sources were actually transferred. Further, your
Request for License Termination letter dated September 21, 2004, Section 1.4, states that all
licensed radioactive sources were removed and properly disposed, with the exception of
americium-beryllium and polonium-beryllium sources. The Request for License Termination
letter was submitted to the NRC after the annual report for 2003 was submitted to the NRC,
suggesting that you were still in possession of two or more sealed sources at that time.
In summary, the docket file records that we reviewed did not clearly provide an accounting of
the sealed sources you had received, including which sources were transferred and disposed,
and which sources were still in your possession. Therefore, you are requested to provide the
following information to the NRC before we can close Unresolved Item 050-00131/0901-04:
A listing of all sealed sources received, including receipt date, source type, source
holder, source activity, and serial number, if known
A listing of all sealed sources transferred or disposed, including date of transfer and
disposal and serial number, if known
A listing of sealed source(s) still in your possession, by serial number if possible
A clarification of Section 1.4 in the Request for Termination Letter, specifically, to clarify
whether the statement that you possessed multiple sealed sources at that time was
accurate or whether this Section requires updating
Please provide the NRC with the requested information within 30 days of the date of this letter
so we can continue or review of this matter. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's
"Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response will be made available
electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRCs
document system (ADAMS), accessible from the NRCs Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-
rm/adams.html. To the extent possible, your response should not include any personal privacy,
proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the Public without
redaction. However, if the information has to be withheld in accordance with the requirements
of 10 CFR 2.390, please clearly state this request for withholding in the cover letter of your
response.
Should you have any questions concerning this letter, please contact Mr. Robert Evans, Senior
Health Physicist, at (817) 860-8234 or the undersigned at (817) 860-8197.
Sincerely,
/RA/
D. Blair Spitzberg, PhD, Chief
Repository & Spent Fuel Safety Branch
Docket: 050-00131
License: R-57
Department of Veterans Affairs
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cc w/Reply to a Notice of Violation dated 03/01/2010:
Mayor Jim Suttle
City of Omaha
Office of the Mayor
1819 Farnam Street
Suite 300
Omaha, NE 68183
Julia Schmitt, Manager
Radiation Control Program
Nebraska Health & Human Services Regulation and Licensure
P.O. Box 95026
Lincoln, NE 68509-5026
Marc Rupinta
Department of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Avenue, NW (12B1)
Washington, DC 20420
Debra Romberger, MD
Associate Chief of Staff/Research
Department of Veterans Affairs
Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System
4101 Woolworth Avenue
Omaha, NE 68105
Gary E. Williams, Interim Director
Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
National Health Physics Program
2200 Fort Roots Drive
North Little Rock, AR 72114
Department of Veterans Affairs
- 4 -
bcc w/enclosure:
Art Howell, D:DNMS
Chuck Cain, DD:DNMS
Jack Whitten, C:DNMS/NMSB-B
Blair Spitzberg, C:DNMS/RSFS
Ted Smith, FSME/DWMEP/DURLD
Cassandra Frazier, RIII/DNMS/MLB
Patricia Pelke, RIII/DNMS/MLB
Robert Evans, NMSB-B
Fee Coordinator, DRMA
DRAFT: S:\\DNMS\\!NMSB-B\\RJE\\VA-Omaha NOV Response.doc
FINAL: R:\\_DNMS
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
T=Telephone E=E-mail F=Fax
Yes No
SUNSI Rev Complete
Reviewer Initials:
RJE
Publicly Avail.
Yes No
Sensitive Value:
RIV:DNMS:RSFS
C:RSFS
RJEvans
DBSpitzberg
/RA/
/RA/
03/23/10
03/30/10