On November 4, 2003, an individual entered a
high radiation area without contacting radiation protection personnel for a briefing on the dose rates in the area, despite verbal and posted instructions to the contrary. Dose rates within the room were as high as 250 millirems per hour at 30 centimeters from the source of radiation. The licensee was alerted to the situation when the individual's electronic dosimeter alarmed because the dose rate setpoint was exceeded. The occurrence was a violation of
Technical Specification 5.7.1.e. The violation involved the act of a low-level individual; however, the licensee failed to promptly provide information concerning the violation to appropriate NRC personnel, in accordance with Section VI.A.1.d(1) of the
NRC Enforcement Policy. Therefore, the finding could not be treated as a noncited violation
The failure to contact radiation protection personnel for a briefing on radiation dose rates prior to entering a
high radiation area is a performance deficiency because it resulted in the licensee's failure to meet a requirement in its technical specifications. Because there are willful aspects of the violation, it is subject to traditional enforcement. The willful aspects notwithstanding, the inspector used the
Occupational Radiation Safety Significance Determination Process described in Manual Chapter 0609, Appendix C, to analyze the significance of the finding. The inspector determined that the finding was of very low safety significance because it did not involve (1)
ALARA planning and controls, (2) an
overexposure, (3) a
substantial potential for overexposure, or (4) an impaired ability to assess dose. The finding was entered into the licensee's corrective action program as SMF-2003-3594, and the individual was appropriately disciplined. This finding also had crosscutting aspects associated with human performance.
