Press Release-IV-18-012, NRC to Conduct Special Inspection at Providence Alaska Medical Center

Press Release-IV-18-012: NRC to Conduct Special Inspection at Providence Alaska Medical Center

ML18226A155
Person / Time
Issue date:	08/13/2018
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region IV
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-18-012
Download: ML18226A155 (1)

Text

No: IV-18-012 August 13, 2018

Contact:

Victor Dricks, 817-200-1128 NRC To Conduct Special Inspection at Providence Alaska Medical Center The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a special inspection at the Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska, to review potential overexposures to some staff there.

NRC issued an $11,600 fine to the facility in April for three violations of NRC requirements that involved the administration of radioactive yttrium-90 to a patient on June 14, 2017. Company officials did not contest the violations and committed to take corrective actions.

On June 25 and 26, NRC inspectors visited the facility and identified concerns related to the licensees radiation dosimetry program, including apparent failures by some staff to wear dosimeters to measure their radiation exposures; apparent failures by management to investigate abnormal dosimetry results; and an apparent failure to assess cumulative exposures to staff who worked at other medical facilities where they may have been exposed to radiation. Based on the limited information available to the NRC, at least three staff members at Providence Alaska Medical Center may have received exposures in 2016 and 2017 in excess of NRC limits.

A three-member NRC inspection team will spend about a week at Providence Alaska Medical Center evaluating its radioactive control programs. An inspection report documenting any findings will be made publicly available within 45 days of the end of the inspection.