Press Release-IV-07-005, - NRC Proposes $13,000 Fine for Accurate NDE and Inspection, LLC

Press Release-IV-07-005 - NRC Proposes $13,000 Fine for Accurate NDE and Inspection, LLC

ML070800316
Person / Time
Issue date:	03/21/2007
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region IV
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-IV-07-005
Download: ML070800316 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive - Suite 400 Arlington, TX 76011-4005 No. IV-07-005 March 21, 2007

Contact:

Victor Dricks E-Mail: opa4@nrc.gov Phone: 817-860-8128 NRC PROPOSES $13,000 FINE FOR ACCURATE NDE & INSPECTION, LLC The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a fine of $13,000 against Accurate NDE & Inspection, LLC, of Broussard, La., for violating NRC requirements.

In a March 20 letter to the company, Bruce S. Mallett, Administrator of the NRCs Region IV office in Arlington, Texas, said that as a result of an NRC inspection, the agency determined that the company violated NRC requirements for the possession and use of radioactive materials.

The violations occurred between Dec. 18 - 20, 2005, when a worker failed to wear required radiation monitoring equipment while using a device containing radioactive Iridium-192 and failed to maintain proper controls over the device after use on an offshore oil platform. The company also failed to provide complete and accurate information to the NRC regarding the event.

NRC discussed the violations, their significance, the root cause and the companys corrective actions during an enforcement conference with the company on Feb. 14. In setting the proposed fine, the normal base civil penalty of $6,500 was doubled because the violations were willful, the company did not identify them, and initial efforts at corrective action were not sufficient to prevent recurrence.

These three violations are also significant because willfulness was associated with each of them, Mallett said. Willful violations are of concern to us because the NRC must rely on licensees and its employees to comply with NRC requirements even when the NRC is not present.

The company has 30 days to either pay the proposed fine or challenge it and 10 days in which to request alternative dispute resolution. The NRCs letter, its enclosures and the companys response will be made available to the public through the agencys public electronic reading room at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html . Help in accessing these documents is available from the NRC Public Document room at 1-800-397-4209.

NRC news releases are available through a free list serve subscription at the following Web address:

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html . The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.