[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 64 (Thursday, April 3, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15940-15941]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-8543]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 030-13027, 030-21073, 030-22274; License Nos. 12-00722-06,
12-00722-13, 12-00722-14 and EA 97-059]
Department of the Army, U.S. Army Armament and Chemical
Acquisition and Logistics Activity Rock Island, IL; Confirmatory Order
Modifying License (Effective Immediately)
I
Department of the Army (also known as TACOM-ACALA, Army, and
Licensee) is the holder of NRC License Nos. 12-00722-06, 12-00722-13,
and 12-00722-14 issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or
Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30. The licenses authorize
possession of up to 1.5 million curies (55.5 PBq) of tritium, 25 curies
(0.93 TBq) of americium-241, and 1000 curies (37 TBq) of nickel-63 for
use in self-luminous fire control devices, in chemical agent detectors,
and in chemical agent monitors. The licenses authorize use and storage
of these devices at Army, Marine, and Navy installations throughout the
United States. The licenses were initially issued on June 23, 1977, May
23, 1984, and May 3, 1985, respectively, and each is currently due for
renewal or in the renewal process.
II
The licenses identified in this Order were inspected by the NRC on
several occasions between June 1992 and March 1997. Most of the
inspections were conducted as a result of reported events and,
therefore, the inspections were limited in scope and direction. As a
result of the NRC inspections conducted between June 1992 and August
1995, 22 violations were identified and two civil penalties totaling
$32,500 were proposed and paid.
This Order is being issued because of significant deficiencies in
the Licensee's ability to manage its licensed activities, to ensure
compliance with NRC requirements, and to promptly correct problems
identified through its own internal audits. Based upon results of the
December 9, 1996, through March 6, 1997, NRC inspection, NRC has
concluded that continued programmatic defects exist, such as extensive
loss of control of licensed material and poor communication between the
Rock Island radiation protection officer (RPO) and other Department of
Defense installations. By its own self-assessment, which was conducted
in December 1995, the Licensee identified a major program weakness in
that many of the RPOs responsible for licensed activities are
unfamiliar with the license conditions. As of February 1997, this
weakness had not been corrected. Furthermore, based upon the NRC
inspection findings, the Rock Island radiation safety officer did not
provide adequate oversight of licensed activities, including ensuring
that corrective actions for identified deficiencies either at Rock
Island or at the other installations were fully implemented. Therefore,
information is needed to determine how TACOM-ACALA, based on its
placement in the overall Army organizational structure, intends to
control licensed activities being performed at other Licensee
installations and at other Department of Defense installations.
The purpose of this Order is to confirm commitments made by the
Licensee as described in Section IV.
III
By letter dated February 14, 1997, the NRC described to the
Licensee the NRC's understanding of the commitments the Licensee plans
to implement. The Licensee subsequently consented to the issuance of
this Order in accordance with the conditions described in Section IV
below, by a waiver signed on February 28, 1997. The Licensee agreed
that this Order is to be effective upon issuance and to waive its right
to a hearing in the matter of this Order only. Implementation of these
commitments will provide enhanced assurance that sufficient resources
will be applied to the radiation safety program, and that the program
will be conducted safely and in accordance with NRC requirements. The
content of this Order is applicable only to License Nos. 12-00722-06,
12-00722-13, and 12-00722-14.
I find that the Licensee's commitments as set forth in Section IV
are acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these commitments
public health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the
foregoing, I have determined that public health and safety require that
the Licensee's commitments be confirmed by this Order. Based on the
above and the Licensee's consent, this Order is immediately effective
upon issuance.
IV
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 81, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 186
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 30, it is hereby ordered,
effective immediately, that license nos. 12-00722-06, 12-
[[Page 15941]]
00722-13, and 12-00722-14 are modified as follows:
A. The Army shall retain the services of an independent individual
or organization (consultant) to perform a full assessment (audit) of
the Army's radiation safety program conducted under License Nos. 12-
00722-06, 12-00722-13, and 12-00722-14. The consultant shall be
independent of the Army's organization and shall be experienced, or
qualified, in evaluating the effectiveness of the management and
implementation of a radiation safety program, specifically including
the program for material control and accountability. The audit shall
determine the Army's compliance with all NRC requirements, and the
status of completion of all commitments to which the Army committed in
response to NRC enforcement actions issued since January 1, 1992.
B. Within 30 days of the date of the Order, the Army shall:
1. Submit to NRC Region III the audit plan for NRC review and
approval prior to implementation; and
2. Provide in writing answers to the following specific questions
concerning implementation of the Army's NRC-licensed activities:
a. How will the Army ensure that each local and installation
Radiation Protection Officer for licensed activities maintains an
awareness of, and compliance with, all NRC requirements that are
applicable to that locale or organization?
b. How will the Army ensure that effective training of all users of
licensed material is provided prior to the individuals' use of licensed
material?
c. How will the Army ensure that notifications and reports are made
to ACALA and subsequently to the NRC as required by NRC requirements or
license conditions?
d. How will inspectors from ACALA gain access to bases or
facilities possessing licensed material to conduct unannounced
inspections of base or facility implementation of regulatory
requirements?
C. Within 60 days of the date of NRC's approval of the audit plan,
the Army shall:
1. Complete the audit of NRC requirements and the review of Army
commitments; and
2. Ensure that the consultant submits to NRC Region III the results
of the audit and the review, including the deficiencies identified, at
the same time the consultant provides the results to the Army.
D. Within 90 days of the date of NRC's approval of the audit plan,
the Army shall:
1. Contact other service branches or organizational units that use
byproduct material licensed to the Army, including the Marine Corps,
National Guard, Reserve units, and Navy to ensure that all events
reportable to the NRC are identified;
2. Perform a complete root cause analysis for those known events
that were reportable to the NRC that occurred since January 1, 1995, to
determine the root cause of the events and to identify corrective
action to prevent recurrence of such events at any locale or
installation for which the licenses are valid; and
3. Provide to NRC Region III a report of the results of Provisions
D.1 and D.2 above.
E. Within 150 days of the date of NRC's approval of the audit plan,
the Army shall:
1. Develop, and submit to the NRC for approval, a schedule to
implement corrective action for each deficiency identified as a result
of completing Provisions C and D above;
2. In cases where the audit concludes that the Army is currently
unable to meet certain commitments or requirements, provide the reason
for such current inability, a description of the corrective action
planned to ensure that the commitments or requirements will be met, a
schedule for completion of the corrective action, and a basis as to why
the NRC should not take further enforcement action for the continued
failure to comply with NRC requirements; and
3. In cases where deficiencies are not scheduled for correction,
explain why you disagree with each deficiency or otherwise are not
taking corrective action.
F. Within 30 days of the date of completion of all corrective
actions, provide to the NRC a report describing all deficiencies and
corrective actions taken to prevent recurrence.
G. For the purpose of the Order, the Army shall send the audit
scope, results of the audit, its program for implementing corrective
actions, and the response to the questions in Provision B.2, to Mr. A.
B. Beach, Regional Administrator, at NRC Region III, 801 Warrenville
Road, Lisle, Illinois, 60532-4351.
H. If, for any reason, a date specified in the above conditions
cannot be met, the Army will contact, in writing, Mr. Roy Caniano at
the address in Provision G above.
The Regional Administrator, Region III may relax or rescind, in
writing, any of the above conditions upon a showing by the Licensee of
good cause.
V
Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other
than the Licensee, may request a hearing within 20 days of its
issuance. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to
extending the time to request a hearing. A request for extension of
time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of Enforcement,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555, and include
a statement of good cause for the extension. Any request for a hearing
shall be submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, ATTN: Chief, Docketing and Service Section, Washington,
D.C. 20555. Copies also shall be sent to the Director, Office of
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C.
20555, to the Assistant General Counsel for Hearings and Enforcement at
the same address, to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region III, 801
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532-4351, and to the Licensee. If
such a person requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with
particularity the manner in which his interest is adversely affected by
this Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.714(d).
If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely
affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order should be
sustained.
In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions
specified in Section IV above shall be final 20 days from the date of
this Order without further order or proceedings. If an extension of
time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions
specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a
hearing request has not been received. An answer or a request for
hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness of this order.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 26th day of March 1997.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James Lieberman,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 97-8543 Filed 4-2-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P