[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