ML14127A026

Letter to D. E. Moncton U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Investigation Report No. 1-2013-004 and Notice of Violation

ML14127A026
Person / Time
Site:	07100164, MIT Nuclear Research Reactor
Issue date:	05/15/2014
From:	Joseph Donoghue NRC/NMSS/SFST
To:	Moncton D Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Love E
Shared Package
ML14127A030	List: ML14126A509 ML14127A026
References
1-2013-004, EA-13-170
Download: ML14127A026 (3)

Text

May 15, 2014 EA-13-170 Dr. David E. Moncton, Director Nuclear Reactor Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology 138 Albany Street Mail Stop NW 12-208 Cambridge, MA 02139

SUBJECT:

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION INVESTIGATION REPORT NO. 1-2013-004 AND NOTICE OF VIOLATION

Dear Dr. Moncton:

This letter refers to an investigation the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC) Office of Investigations initiated on December 12, 2012, and completed on July 12, 2013. The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether employees at Massachusetts Institute of Technologys (MIT) Nuclear Reactor Laboratory failed to follow requirements governing packaging and transportation of radioactive material. The investigation examined activities conducted under MITs NRC license as they related to safety and compliance with the Commissions rules and regulations and with the conditions in the license.

Based on the results of this investigation, the NRC has determined that two Severity Level IV violations of NRC requirements occurred. These violations were evaluated in accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy and are cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice).

The current Enforcement Policy is included on the NRC's Web site at (http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/enforcement/enforce-pol.html). The violations are being cited in the Notice because MIT delivered for transport NRC-licensed material even though this action was not authorized by the general license provided to MIT through Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 71, Subpart C. Specifically, MIT did not comply with NRC Certificate of Compliance (CoC) No. 9341 in that the package did not conform to the CoC drawing. In addition, MIT did not prepare the package for shipment in accordance with Chapter 7 of the application as codified in the safety analysis report (SAR) for CoC 9341.

The NRC has determined that MITs substitution of a non-compliant part is of low safety significance (NRC staff review of MITs 71.95 report concluded the substitution was acceptable) and that potential adverse consequences were not likely. However, MITs actions in unilaterally evaluating, procuring, and shipping the package using a non-compliant part prevented the NRC from reviewing whether the change might adversely affect public safety.

The NRC has concluded that information regarding the reason for the violations, the corrective actions taken and planned to correct the violation and prevent recurrence, and the date when full compliance will be achieved, is already adequately addressed on the docket in your response letter dated February 21, 2014. Notwithstanding, the NRC shall perform a follow-up inspection at a later date in order to verify implementation of your corrective actions. Further,

D. Moncton 2 you are required to submit a written statement or explanation pursuant to 10 CFR 2.201 if the description therein does not accurately reflect your corrective actions or your position. In that case, or if you choose to respond, clearly mark your response as a "Reply to a Notice of Violation in NRC Investigation No. 1-2013-004 and EA-13-170," and send it to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and marked Open by Addressee Only, within 30 days of the date of this letter transmitting this Notice of Violation (Notice). You may contact Robert Temps at 301-287-9190 if you have any questions.

If you choose to respond, your response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Therefore, to the extent possible, the response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the Public without redaction.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Joseph Donoghue, Acting Chief Rules, Inspections, and Operations Branch Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket Nos. 07100164, 50-00020 License No. R-37

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation

D. Moncton 2 you are required to submit a written statement or explanation pursuant to 10 CFR 2.201 if the description therein does not accurately reflect your corrective actions or your position. In that case, or if you choose to respond, clearly mark your response as a "Reply to a Notice of Violation in NRC Investigation No. 1-2013-004 and EA-13-170," and send it to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and marked Open by Addressee Only, within 30 days of the date of this letter transmitting this Notice of Violation (Notice). You may contact Robert Temps at 301-287-9190 if you have any questions.

If you choose to respond, your response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Therefore, to the extent possible, the response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the Public without redaction.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Joseph Donoghue, Acting Chief Rules, Inspections, and Operations Branch Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket Nos. 07100164, 50-00020 License No. R-37

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation Distribution:

R. Zimmerman, OE T. Marenchin, OE C. Bassett, NRR N. Hilton, OE M. Lombard, SFST G. Bowman, NRR J. Wray, OE J. Donoghue, SFST M. Clark, OGC M. Mullen, RI/OI R. Temps, SFST DOCUMENT NAME: G:\ \ SFST\Enforcement\MIT\NOV.doc ADAMS Package No.: ML14127A030 LTR - ML14127A026; NOV - ML14126A509 X Non-Sensitive X Publicly Available X SUNSI Review/

Sensitive Non-Publicly Available OFFICE NMSS NMSS NMSS NMSS OE OGC NAME E. Love R. Temps J. Donoghue M. DeBose T. Marenchin M. Clark DATE 05/07/2014 05/07/2014 05/15/2014 05/08/2014 05/14/2014 05/13/2014