ML24052A107
| ML24052A107 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/08/2023 |
| From: | Office of Public Affairs Region I |
| To: | |
| References | |
| News Release-I-23-011 | |
| Download: ML24052A107 (1) | |
Text
No: I-23-011 September 8, 2023 CONTACT: Diane Screnci, 610-337-5330 Neil Sheehan, 610-337-5331 NRC to Conduct Predecisional Enforcement Conference with Virginia Firm to Discuss Apparent Violations Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of a Dulles, Virginia, company Sept. 14 to discuss apparent violations associated with radiological controls required during nuclear medicine packaging operations and a related worker overexposure. The controls deficiencies and overexposure took place at Sofie Co.s Kansas City, Missouri, site, which is a facility within the NRCs jurisdiction.
The in-person meeting will take place from 1-3 p.m. at the NRCs Region I Office, located at 475 Allendale Road in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. It will be open to the public. The public can also participate via a toll-free teleconference line.
During the predecisional enforcement conference, company representatives will be able to elaborate on what happened and provide additional information regarding the event and related issues. They will also be able to address other programmatic concerns identified during NRC inspections, prior to the agency making its final enforcement decision. In addition, company representatives will discuss corrective actions, both taken and planned, to address the issues and prevent a recurrence.
The NRC identified three apparent violations. One stems from a failure by the company to ensure that one of its employees did not exceed an NRC annual occupational radiation dose limit.
The overexposure occurred while the nuclear pharmacy technician was packaging doses of a radioactive drug at the Kansas City site for shipment to other licensed facilities. In addition, the NRC determined that Sofie did not ensure that a different employee was wearing proper radiation monitoring equipment while handling radiopharmaceuticals, nor restrict access to an area with certain radiation levels at the Sofie site in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Sofie notified the NRC that it has taken corrective actions to address the issues identified.
Among other things, the company took measures to ensure the individual, who was not harmed, did not receive additional exposure to radiation.
NRC staff will issue a final decision, which will be publicly available, after considering all relevant information.