Press Release-I-98-017, NRC to Discuss Apparent Shipping Violation with Delaware Firm

Press Release-I-98-017, NRC to Discuss Apparent Shipping Violation with Delaware Firm

ML003710675
Person / Time
Issue date:	02/18/1998
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region I
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-I-98-017
Download: ML003710675 (1)

Text

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406 Fax: 610/337-5241 Internet: dps@nrc.gov or nas@nrc.gov I-98-17 February 18, 1998

Contact:

Diane Screnci (610/337-5330) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Neil A. Sheehan (610/337-5331)

NRC TO DISCUSS APPARENT SHIPPING VIOLATION WITH DELAWARE FIRM An apparent violation of Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements by a Delaware company will be the subject of a meeting between agency officials and representatives of the firm on Tuesday, February 24. The predecisional enforcement conference is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in the Division of Nuclear Materials Safety Conference Room at the NRC Region 1 office in King of Prussia, Pa.

The meeting will be open to the public for observation.

During an inspection last September 15 at the Tru-Tec Division of Koch Engineering Company, in Newark, Del., NRC inspectors found that employees failed to examine or test all closure devices before each shipment of packages containing radioactive material. This inspection occurred after an empty package from Tru-Tec that had originally contained three cesium-137 sources arrived at a Federal Express facility in Wilmington, N.C., on the morning of August 28. The sources were found and retrieved later in the day at a Federal Express facility in Memphis, Tenn.

The decision to hold a predecisional enforcement conference does not mean that the NRC has determined a violation has occurred or that enforcement action will be taken. Rather, the purpose is to discuss apparent violations, their causes and safety significance; to provide the licensee with an opportunity to point out any errors that may have been made in the NRC inspection report; and to enable the licensee to outline its proposed corrective action.

No decision on the apparent violations will be made at this conference. That decision will be made by NRC officials at a later time.