Information Notice 2023-05, Discontinuation of U.S. NRC Recognition of the American Board of Radiology'S Certification Processes
| ML23304A144 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 11/30/2023 |
| From: | Russell Felts, Kevin Williams Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, NRC/NRR/DRO/IOEB |
| To: | |
| References | |
| IN-2023-05 | |
| Download: ML23304A144 (5) | |
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS
WASHINGTON, DC 20555-0001 November 30, 2023 NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 2023-05: DISCONTINUATION OF THE U.S. NUCLEAR
REGULATORY COMMISSIONS RECOGNITION OF
THE AMERICAN BOARD OF RADIOLOGYS
CERTIFICATION PROCESSES
ADDRESSEES
All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) medical use licensees and NRC master
materials licensees. All Agreement State Radiation Control Program Directors and State Liaison
Officers.
PURPOSE
The NRC is issuing this information notice (IN) to inform addressees about the discontinuation
of the NRCs recognition of the American Board of Radiology (ABR) certification processes and
to remind addressees about the existing pathways for authorization under Title 10 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 35, Medical Use of Byproduct Material. The NRC
expects that recipients will review the information for applicability to their facilities and consider
actions, as appropriate. Information contained in this IN are not new requirements and no
specific action or written response is required. The NRC is providing this IN to the Agreement
States for their information and for distribution to their licensees, as appropriate.
DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES
Recently, the ABR, a major specialty board recognized by the NRC, informed the NRC of its
intention to stop maintaining NRC recognition and requested that the NRC stop recognizing its
certification processes after December 31, 2023. The ABR requested the discontinuation in a
letter to the NRC dated April 6, 2022 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System Accession No. ML22091A272). The ABR issues NRC-recognized certificates to many
individuals (including physicians, physicists, and radiation safety officers (RSOs)). Its NRC-
recognized certificates enable individuals to become authorized and listed as Authorized Users
(AUs), Authorized Medical Physicists (AMPs), and Radiation Safety Officers (RSOs) or
associate RSOs on medical use radioactive materials licenses using a board certification
training pathway in accordance with criteria outlined in 10 CFR Part 35.
The NRC has recognized the ABRs certification processes (with certificates that include
authorized individual designations, i.e., AU-Eligible, AMP-Eligible, and RSO-Eligible), since
2005 and will discontinue this recognition as requested. After December 31, 2023, the NRC will
no longer recognize certification processes offered by the ABR as complying with the NRC
training regulations in 10 CFR Part 35. Any ABR certificates issued after December 31, 2023, will not be acceptable for authorization for medical use through the board certification pathway.
This discontinuation is the result of ABRs request and is not a result of NRC-identified
insufficiencies in the certification processes. The NRC staff will update the Specialty Board
ML23304A144 Certifications Recognized by NRC Under 10 CFR Part 35 public website
(https://www.nrc.gov/materials/miau/med-use-toolkit/spec-board-cert.html) and will share the
termination letter and associated supporting information with the public and the medical
community through the NRC medical list server (https://www.nrc.gov/materials/miau/med-use- toolkit.html#mls) and the NRC Medical Uses Licensee Toolkit website
(https://www.nrc.gov/materials/miau/med-use-toolkit.html).
The regulations in 10 CFR Part 35 continue to offer an alternate training pathway for
individuals affected by the ABRs discontinuation and who may seek to become authorized
individuals on an NRC or Agreement State license or permit in the future. The NRC is not
undertaking any rulemaking to revise the existing training and experience requirements as a
result of the ABRs decision.
BACKGROUND
The ABR is one of the NRC-recognized specialty boards listed on the Specialty Board
Certifications Recognized by NRC Under 10 CFR Part 35 public website, with certification
processes for certain specialty areas that meet the NRCs training and experience requirements
under 10 CFR Part 35. On April 24, 2002, the NRC published in the Federal Register (FR) (67 FR 20249) a final rule to 10 CFR Part 35 that provided, among other things, a pathway for
physicians to become authorized users if certified by a medical or specialty board whose
certification process is recognized by the Commission. On March 30, 2005 (70 FR 16335), the
NRC also published a final rule, 10 CFR Part 35Medical Use of Byproduct Material
Recognition of Specialty Boards, that provided, among other things, the updated criteria that
specialty boards must meet to be recognized by the NRC or the Agreement States.
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) Office Procedure MSST-70-03, Procedures for Recognizing, Monitoring, and Terminating the Certification Process of Specialty
Boards, dated January 7, 2021 (ML20351A389), provides guidance to the NRC staff and
Agreement States on how to request and evaluate applications from specialty boards to
determine whether their certification processes satisfy the requirements for recognition. The
procedure also provides instructions on posting recognized board certifications on the NRC
Medical Uses Licensee Toolkit website.
On March 30, 2022, the ABR hosted a webinar to share information about its decision to
discontinue its NRC recognition and stop including individual authorization designations for AUs, AMPs, and RSOs on ABR certificates issued after December 31, 2023. The recording of the
session as well as answers to frequently asked questions are available on the ABR website
(https://www.theabr.org/blogs/authorized-user-eligibility-webinar-recording-and-faqs-available).
The NRCs Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) Subcommittee on
Training and Experience for All Modalities reviewed and evaluated the impacts of the ABRs
request to discontinue NRC recognition. The subcommittee provided its feedback and
recommendations in a report presented to the full committee during the ACMUI 2022 Fall Public
Meeting on December 5, 2022. The report was unanimously approved by the full committee
during its public meeting on May 15, 2023. The subcommittee report (ML23136A459) and
transcripts from the meeting can be accessed on the ACMUIs website
(https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acmui/meetings/2022.html). On September 12, 2023, the NRC held a public meeting on the ABRs decision to eliminate its
NRC-recognized certification processes and discontinue or stop issuing all NRC-recognized
ABR certificates after December 31, 2023. The NRC staff also responded to questions and
provided information on how affected individuals seeking to become authorized individuals in
the future can apply for authorization. The meeting summary (ML23283A056), meeting
transcript, and NRC staff presentation can be accessed on the NRC Medical Uses Licensee
Toolkit website.
DISCUSSION
The NRCs regulations require that individuals complete training and meet experience criteria to
be authorized for the medical use of byproduct material and to independently fulfill the
radiation-safety-related duties of an authorized individual. The regulations in 10 CFR Part 35 provide three main pathways for individuals seeking to become authorized and listed on a
medical use radioactive materials license to satisfy the training and experience requirements
and be initially approved and listed as an authorized individual for uses identified on a license:
(1) approval of an individual who is certified by a medical specialty board that has a
certification process recognized by the NRC or an Agreement State as meeting the
NRCs requirements for training and experience, also known as the board certification
pathway;
(2) approval based on an evaluation of an individuals training and experience, including
completion of hours of classroom and laboratory training and hours of supervised work
experience (including patient casework), as well as a preceptor written attestation; also
known as the alternate training pathway; and
(3) approval based on previous identification as an authorized individual on an NRC or
Agreement State license or permit.
The regulations in 10 CFR Part 35 provide a training pathway through NRC-recognized
specialty boards for possible identification on a license as an authorized individual, by which a
recognized board reviews and approves the individuals training and work experience. Once a
boards certification process for a specialty area meets the NRC training and experience
regulations in 10 CFR Part 35 and is recognized by the NRC or relevant Agreement State, a
licensee may submit a licensing action request for any individual certified by that recognized
specialty board to become an authorized individual on a radioactive materials medical use
license, and NRC and Agreement State license reviewers may grant these approvals.
Additionally, the NRC requires that an individual meet the provisions of 10 CFR 35.59, Recentness of training, which require that an individual must have (1) completed their training
and experience within 7 years preceding the date of the application or (2) had related continuing
education and experience since completion of the required training and experience. This means
that individuals who have received the ABR certificates with AU/AMP/RSO-Eligible designations
before December 31, 2023, can use those certificates to obtain authorized individual status
through the board certification pathway, if authorized individual status is requested within
7 years from the certificates date of issuance.
The NRC staff maintains the Specialty Board Certifications Recognized by NRC Under
10 CFR Part 35 public website that lists the specialty boards and specialty areas recognized by
the NRC. As part of the NRC recognition process, the specialty boards submit a sample
certificate for each recognized specialty area. Recertification certificates are not recognized or used in this process. This website also provides samples of board certificates to allow license
reviewers to compare the sample certificates to the certificates submitted as part of a licensing
action.
Effective January 1, 2024, the ABRs certification processes and certificates will no longer be
recognized by the NRC or Agreement States, and the NRC Specialty Board website and the
ABR sample certificate effective dates will be updated to reflect the new recognition status and
date of discontinuation. Individuals with valid NRC-recognized ABR certificates issued before
December 31, 2023, may use these certificates to request authorization through the board
certification pathway. Individuals with ABR certificates that are not NRC recognized have the
option to seek authorization through an alternate NRC training and experience pathway as
provided for in 10 CFR Part 35. This alternate training pathway is for individuals without an
NRC-recognized certificate to have their training documentation reviewed and approved directly
by the NRC or Agreement States to allow for possible authorization. Potential applicants are
reminded of the importance of maintaining appropriate documentation to facilitate the approval
process for becoming an authorized individual.
CONTACT
This IN requires no specific action or written response. If you have any questions about the
information in this notice, please contact the technical contact listed below or the appropriate
regional office.
/RA/ /RA/
Kevin Williams, Director Russell Felts, Director
Division of Materials Safety, Security, Division of Reactor Oversight
State, and Tribal Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards
Technical Contact:
Maryann Ayoade, NMSS
(301) 415-0862 Email: Maryann.Ayoade@nrc.gov
Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public website, www.nrc.gov, under NRC Library/Document Collections.
ML23304A144 EPIDS No. L-2023-GEN-0011 OFFICE Tech Editor NMSS/MSST/MSEB NMSS/MSST/MSEB NMSS/MSST/MSEB OE OCIO
NAME JDougherty MAyoade CValentin-Rodriguez CEinberg JPeralta DCullison
DATE 11/02/2023 10/31/2023 11/01/2023 11/07/202311 11/14/2023 11/17/2023 OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOEB NRR/DRO/IOLB NRR/DRO/IOEB NMSS/MSST NRR/DRO
NAME PClark IBetts LRegner KWilliams R Felts
DATE 11/06/2023 11/21/2023 11/29/2023 11/30/2023 11/30/2023