ENS 48702
ENS Event | |
|---|---|
06:00 Jan 15, 2013 | |
| Title | Agreement State Report - Assistant Radiographer Exceeded Annual Exposure Limit |
| Event Description | The following was received from the state of Oklahoma via email:
On January 15 [the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality] was informed by the RSO for AIT [Advanced Inspection Technologies] that one of their radiographer assistants had exceeded the 5 R limit for exposure during calendar year 2012. This individual consistently had higher exposures than other employees at AIT and had failed to turn in his badge at the end of April, 2012, instead continuing to wear it through May. This resulted in a reading of 1075 mR on the April report, but this also included the month of May. His May badge was not used and showed a dose of only 19 mR when processed. This situation was discussed with the RSO during their routine inspection in June. At the end of October the assistant again failed to turn in his badge and wore it through November. At the beginning of October, his cumulative dose for the year was 4580 mR. The badge was sent in for processing at the end of November and Landauer contacted the licensee on January 15, 2013 to inform him that the exposure on the October badge was 1282 mR. This put his 2012 total at 5864 (the unused November badge showed 2 mR). The RSO submitted a written report of this incident to us [State of Oklahoma] on Jan. 22, 2013. On January 23, [the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality] spoke with the radiographer who the assistant radiographer worked with most often. The radiographer [was asked] if there had been any incidents which might have caused the high doses the assistant radiographer had received. The radiographer replied that there had been no 'major' incidents that he was aware of. [The radiographer was] then asked about any minor incidents and the radiographer replied that 'two or three times' they had retracted the source into the exposure device, however when they approached the device, their rate alarms went off (these are required to be set to alarm at a dose rate of 500 mR/hr). They then cranked the source out again and again tried to retract it, which was successful. The fact that they got close enough to the source to encounter a 500 mR/hr radiation field indicates that they were not performing the post-exposure surveys required by 10 CFR 34.49(b). The radiographer [was then asked] if he had reported these incidents to the RSO to which he replied that in all cases he had checked the direct-reading dosimeters of he and the assistant radiographer's and found that they indicated a dose of 10 mR or less. Therefore, he decided not to report them. He also stated that the need to keep up with the work load played a role in his decision. The radiographer could not remember specific dates or locations where this had occurred. On January 28, 2013, [the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality] spoke with the RSO again and informed him of the conversation with the radiographer. The RSO professed to have no knowledge of the 'incidents' described by the radiographer. The RSO [was requested] to perform another investigation into this incident, specifically focusing on whether this was an isolated incident or if this was representative of the overall culture at the facility, and that enforcement action [would be deferred] pending the results of his investigation. The RSO agreed to this stipulation. It should be noted that AIT is, in general, one of [the] better licensees when it comes to compliance with [the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality] regulations. Investigation into this incident is continuing. As the over-exposure did not occur within a period of 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> as stipulated by 10 CFR 20.2202(b)(1), [the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality] is treating this as a reportable event under 10 CFR 20.2203(a)(2). |
| Where | |
|---|---|
| Advanced Inspection Technologies Tulsa, Oklahoma (NRC Region 4) | |
| License number: | Ok-27588-02 |
| Organization: | Ok Deq Rad Management |
| Reporting | |
| Agreement State | |
| Time - Person (Reporting Time:+322.53 h13.439 days <br />1.92 weeks <br />0.442 months <br />) | |
| Opened: | Kevin Sampson 16:32 Jan 28, 2013 |
| NRC Officer: | Charles Teal |
| Last Updated: | Jan 28, 2013 |
| 48702 - NRC Website | |
Advanced Inspection Technologies with Agreement State | |
WEEKMONTHYEARENS 519602016-05-25T16:18:00025 May 2016 16:18:00
[Table view]Agreement State Agreement State Report - Radiography Truck Accident ENS 506512014-11-10T06:00:00010 November 2014 06:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State - Potential Radiographer Over-Exposure ENS 487022013-01-15T06:00:00015 January 2013 06:00:00 Agreement State Agreement State Report - Assistant Radiographer Exceeded Annual Exposure Limit 2016-05-25T16:18:00 | |