ML20236Q165
| ML20236Q165 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/10/1998 |
| From: | Miller H NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Bodman M AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20236Q167 | List: |
| References | |
| REF-QA-99990001-980710 99990001-98-02, 99990001-98-2, EA-98-163, NUDOCS 9807200041 | |
| Download: ML20236Q165 (5) | |
Text
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k UNITED STATES
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMIS810N n
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REGloN 1 0,
475 ALLENoALE ROAD g*****
KING oF PRUsslA, PENNSYLVANIA 19406-1415 July 10,1998 l
Ms. Marie Bodman, President Breitling USA, Inc.
2 Stamford Landing Stamford, Connecticut 06902
SUBJECT:
NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTIES
- $26,400 AND DEMAND FOR INFORMATION (NRC Inspection Report No. 999-90001/98-002) l
Dear Ms. Bodman:
This letter refers to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspection conducted at your facility in Stamford, Connecticut, on March 10,1998, during which the NRC found that you had possessed, used (repaired) and distributed from your facility, between 1989 and 1998, j
more than 70,000 timepieces (watches) (containing up to 3.1 millicuries of tritium per timepiece) without an NRC license authorizing such activities. The inspection wa1 conducted after the NRC contacted you in February 1998 following notification from the State of l
Connecticut that such activities may have been occurring at your feci:ity. Previously, on March 6,1998, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Action Lctier (CAL), which confirmed your commitment to cease such distribution until the NRC issued a license authorizing such use.
You submitted an application for an exempt distributbn license with the NRC Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) on March 14,1998, and NMSS issued a license on i
March 27,1998. In addition, you submitted an application for a possession license with the l
NRC Region I office on March 15,1998, and a license was issued on March 20,1998.
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in a letter dated April 6,1998, the NRC forwarded to you the related inspection report. In that j
letter,. the NRC informed you that you r.ould either respond in writing to the results of the inspection, or request a predecisional enforcement conference. On April 16,1998, Mr. Keith Brown of your staff contacted the NRC and requested a predecisional enforcement conference to discuss the apparent violations, their causes, and your corrective actions.
The predecisional enforcement conference was held with him on May 7,1998. A copy of the j[j predecisional enforcement conference report was forwarded to you by separate correspondence on May 14,1998.
Based on the inspection findings and the ir. formation you provided at the predecisional enforcement conference, the NRC has determined that two violations of NRC requirements occurred. The violations are described in the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice), and the circumstances surrounding the violations are described in detailin the subject inspection report. The violations involve the possession and use, as well as distribution, of NRC licensed material without possessing NRC licenses authorizing these activ! des. Furthermore, since you received the timepieces (watches) from your parent compr;iy in Switzerland and distributed them to jewelry shops in the United l
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99990001
j Breitling USA, Inc.
2 States, you did not qualify for the exemption set forth in 10 CFR 30.15(a) regarding such activities. The NRC is principally concerned that for an extended duration you operated your business outside the regulatory framework established to assure that the possession, use, and distribution of radioactive materials does not adversely affect public health and safety.
Because you operated outside the regulatory framework, the NRC was unable to conduct inspections of your facility to determine whether the methods and controls you established for possessing, using, and distributing radioactive materials were in accordance with regulatory requirements established to protect public health and safety. In fact, during the inspection, the NRC identified contamination at your facility, although the amount of contamination was low and was subsequently cleaned.
The NRC is also concerned that your company had strong indications, beginning in early 1997, that you needed an NRC license, as Mr. Brown indicated at the predecisional enforcement car.farence.
Mr. Brown also steted that in November 1997, your ;"2 rent company in Switzerland, raised questions regarding regulation of tritium in the United States, and you Fought advice kom your staff, your in-house attorney, and an independent contractor as to whether you needed cn NRC license. Although Mr. Brown admitted that he was informed by those parties that you probably needed an NRC license, he also stated that Breitling decided, given the holiday season, not to contact the NRC at that time, for fear that it could shutdown your business. Instead, another consultant was retained to confirm that an NRC license was needed. Furthermore, despite ali of the indications that an NRC license was required, action was not taken to obtain a license until after the NRC inspection on March 10,1998. The failure to act sooner to either obtah an NRC license, or contact the NRC to determine if a license was needed, constitutes, at a reinimum, careless disregard of NRC requirements, which is considered willful within the context of the NRC Enforcement Policy. In the NRC's view, your company either made a conscious decision to remain in violation of NRC regulatory requirements to obtain economic benefit, or chose to carelessly disregard NRC regulatory requirements and not contact the NRC to determine whether NRC licenses were required.
Given the importance of assuring that possession and use, as well as distribution of radioactive material, is properly controlled, and given the willful nature of the violations by senior individuals in your organization, the violations are classified at Severity Level ll in accordance with the " General Statement of P>Iicy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions" (Enforcement Policy), NUREG-1600.
Civil penalties are assessed according to the Civil Penalty Assessment Factors in Section VI.B.2 of the NRC Enforcement Policy, which allows for consideration of discretion to ensure that the proposed civil penalty reflects the 6gnificance of the circumstances and conveys the appropriate regulatory message. After coresidering the regulatory significance of the violations, which included the inability of the NRC ta conduct inspections of your activities, the duration of the violations, the costs of maintainng NRC licenses which you avoided during the period of noncompliance, and your failure to f romptly contact the NRC once you had indications that the need for a license was likely, the NRC has determined, in accordance with Section Vll.A.1.(a) of the Enforcement Policy, that it is appropriate to exercise enforcement discretion in this case and issue separate civil penalties in the amount of $13,200 for each of the two violations, resulting in a cumulative civil penalty of $26,400. The NRC arrived at the $13,200 amount for each civil penalty by tripling the base civil penalty amount of $4,400 for a Severity Level 11 violation listed in Tables 1 A and ? B, Base Civil Penalties, of the Enforcement Policy.
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1 Breitling USA, Inc.
3 In determining the amount of the civil penalty, recognition was given for corrective action.
The NRC recognizes that you eventually initiated comprehensive corrective action, described 1
- at the conference, which included: (1) applying for an NRC license; (2) ceasing distribution of the materials; and (3) maintaining your operations in a shutdown condition until your license was issued. Consideration was also given to the length of time during which the NRC was unable to carry out its statutory responsibility. Between 1989 and 1998, Breitling USA, Inc.
distributed approximately 70,000 timepieces containing byproduct material without a license l
l in violation of NRC regulations. However, since the statute of limitations period for assessing
' civil penalties is only five years'(28 U.S.C. 2462), the NRC only considered the period l
between August 1993 and March 1998 for purposes of determining the amount of the civil l.
penalty.
Therefore, to emphasize (1) the importance of conducting NRC activities only after receiving l
an NRC license, and adhering to'the terms and conditions of that license, and (2) the
. significance of willful violations, I have been authorized, after consultation with the l
Commission to issue the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed imposition of Civil Penalty l
(Notice) in the amount of $26,400 for the violations described in the enclosed Notice. I also note that due to a recent revision to the Enforcement Policy issued on May 13,1998, the NRC would have considered a much larger civil penalty had the violations continued past May of 1998 (see Table 1 A-Base Civil Penalties, item c, of the Enforcement Policy).' in addition, issuance of this Notice constitutes escalated enforcement action that may subject you to increased inspection effort.
i You are required to respond to this letter and enclosed Notice, and you should follow the instructions specified in the enc;osed Notice when preparing your response. The NRC will use your response, in part, to determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
in addition to the civil penalty, given the willful nature of your' failure to contact the NRC once you had indications that a license was probably needed, the NRC is also issuing a Demand for information to you, pursuant to sections 161c,161o,182 and 186 of the Atomic Energy Act l
of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.204 and 10 CFR 30.32(b), in order for the Commission to determine whether your license should be modified, suspended or revoked, or other enforcement action taken to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements. In response to this Demand, you are required to submit to James Lieberman, Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, within 30 days of the date of this Demand for information, in writing and under oath or affirmation:
I (1)
The reasons why Breitling's licenses should not be revoked; (2)
The reasons why the NRC should have confidence that Breitling will comply with regulatory requirements in the future and not engage in willful violations of those requireinents.
Effective May 13,1998, the base civil penalty for a Severity Level I violation was i
changed from $5,500 to $11,000 for large material users.
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l Breitling USA, Inc.
4 After reviewing your response, the NRC will determine whether further action is necessary to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR). To the extent possible, your response should not include any personal privacy or proprietary information so that it can be placed in the PDR without redaction. If personal privacy or proprietary information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, then please provide a bracketed copy of your response that identifies the information that should be protected and a redacted copy of your response that deletes such information. If you request withholding of such material, you must specifically identify the portions of your response that you seek to have withheld and provide in detail the bases for your claim of withholding (e.g., explain why the disclosure of information will create an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or provide the information required oy 10 CFR 2.790(b) to support a request for withholding confidential commercial or financial information).
Sincerely, Hubert J. Miller h
Regional Administrator Docket No. 999-90001 License No. N/A
Enclosure:
Notice of Violation and Proposed imposition of Civil Penalties cc w/ encl:
State of Connecticut
Breitling USA, Inc.
I DISTRIBUTION:
f PUBLIC l
SECY CA LCallan, EDO l
AThadani, DEDE i
JLieberman,OE HMiller, RI FDavis, OGC CPaperiello, NMSS DCool, NMSS Enforcement Coordinators RI, Ril, Rill, RIV BBeecher, GPAiPA GCaputo, 01 DBangart, OSP HBell, OlG TMartin, AEOD DScrenci, PAO-RI NSheehan, PAO-Ri OE:Chron OE:EA DCS LAS:DNMS (RI)
Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
NUDOCS LTremper, OC 4
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