[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 42 (Monday, March 3, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11448-11450]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4025]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 150-00017]


In the Matter of: Accurate NDE and Inspection, LLC, Broussard, 
LA; General License Pursuant to: 10 CFR 150.20, EA-06-281; EA-07-289; 
Confirmatory Order (Effective Immediately)

I

    Accurate NDE and Inspection, LLC (Accurate NDE or Licensee) is the 
holder of a general license pursuant to 10 CFR 150.20 issued by the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission). This general 
license was granted to Accurate NDE at various times during calendar 
years 2005, 2006, and 2007.

II

    An NRC inspection was conducted at an Accurate NDE temporary job 
site located on an oil and gas platform in offshore Federal waters 
within the Gulf of Mexico on December 20, 2005. Following that 
inspection, an investigation was initiated on January 17, 2006, by the 
NRC's Office of Investigations (OI) to determine whether a radiographer 
and a radiographer's assistant, employed by Accurate NDE, willfully 
violated NRC regulations.
    Based on the results of the NRC inspection and OI investigation, 
the NRC determined that three violations of NRC requirements occurred. 
The violations involved: A failure to secure an industrial radiography 
exposure device containing licensed material, as required by 10 CFR 
20.1801 and 10 CFR 20.1802; permitting an individual who did not wear a 
direct reading dosimeter, an operating alarm ratemeter, and a personnel 
dosimeter, during radiographic operations, to act as a radiographer's 
assistant, in contradiction of 10 CFR 34.47(a); and the failure to 
provide complete and accurate information to an NRC inspector, as 
required by 10 CFR 30.9(a), by providing a falsified daily radiation 
report. The NRC also determined that each of the violations resulted 
from willful actions on the part of the radiographer and the 
radiographer's assistant involved. Therefore, the three violations were 
categorized in accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy as a Severity 
Level III problem.

III

    In a letter dated March 20, 2007, the NRC issued a Notice of 
Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of 
$13,000 for the Severity Level III problem. In the March 20, 2007, 
letter, the NRC offered Accurate NDE the opportunity to request 
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) with the NRC in an attempt to 
resolve issues associated with this problem. In response, Accurate NDE 
requested ADR to resolve the matter with the NRC. ADR is a process in 
which a neutral mediator, with no decision-making authority, assists 
the NRC and Accurate NDE to resolve any differences regarding the 
matter.
    An ADR session was conducted between Accurate NDE and the NRC in 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on November 7, 2007. During that ADR session, 
an Agreement in Principle was reached. The elements of the agreement 
consisted of the following:
    1. Accurate NDE will confirm that amended procedures for offshore 
radiographic activities have been submitted to the State of Louisiana 
for review and approval as appropriate; and submit those procedures to 
the NRC for information.
    2. Accurate NDE will develop and implement a detailed radiation 
safety and security checklist for radiography crews to complete; the 
checklist is to include communication with the company Radiation Safety 
Officer or management after completion of the checklist: (1) Before 
leaving for an offshore job and (2) once arriving at the job site, if 
the ability to communicate is available. The Checklist should include a 
sign-off by the radiographer that they have briefed the Safety 
Representative/Responsible Manager on the offshore job site regarding 
licensed activities. Accurate NDE will include these requirements in 
licensee procedures.
    3. Accurate NDE will develop and provide training to all employees 
regarding potential consequences for wrongdoing; for new employees, 
before working with radioactive material; and annually thereafter for 
all employees involved in radiographic activities.
    4. Accurate NDE will ensure that requirements for security of 
radiographic devices including requirements associated with the 
increased controls order and contingency actions, if unable to lock and 
monitor radiographic devices, are included in licensee procedures.
    5. Accurate NDE will develop and implement a program for offshore 
audits of radiographic operations. Audit requirements and audit 
frequency will be included in procedures. Audit frequency will include 
at least one offshore audit each calendar year.
    6. Accurate NDE will develop and issue a company policy encouraging 
employees to report problems on the job site.
    7. Accurate NDE will develop and issue a personal letter from the 
Company President or Radiation Safety Officer to current employees 
regarding expectations for compliance with NRC regulations.
    8. Accurate NDE will develop and publish an article in the company 
newsletter, or equivalent, regarding this case. Specifically, include 
that employee actions did cause adverse consequences for the company 
and for the individual.
    9. All of the above requirements shall be completed by Accurate NDE 
within 120 days of the effective date of this Order.
    10. In recognition of Accurate NDE's cooperative efforts, extensive 
corrective actions and good faith effort, the NRC agrees to reduce the 
civil penalty originally proposed to $500.
    On January 21, 2008, Accurate NDE consented to issuing this Order 
with the commitments, as described in section V below. Accurate NDE 
further agreed that this Order is to be effective upon issuance and 
that it has waived its right to a hearing.

IV

    Since the Licensee has agreed to take additional actions to address 
NRC concerns, as set forth in Item III above, the NRC has concluded 
that its concerns can be resolved through issuance of this Order.
    I find that the Licensee's commitments as set forth in section V 
are acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these commitments 
the 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

[[Page 11449]]

the Licensee's consent, this Order is immediately effective upon 
issuance.

V

    Accordingly, pursuant to sections 81, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182, and 
186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the Commission's 
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202, 2.205, 10 CFR Parts 20, 34, and 150, it is 
hereby ordered, effective immediately, that:
    1. Accurate NDE will confirm that amended procedures for offshore 
radiographic activities have been submitted to the State of Louisiana 
for review and approval as appropriate; and submit those procedures to 
the NRC for information.
    2. Accurate NDE will develop and implement a detailed radiation 
safety and security checklist for radiography crews to complete; the 
checklist is to include communication with the company Radiation Safety 
Officer or management after completion of the checklist: (1) Before 
leaving for an offshore job and (2) once arriving at the job site, if 
ability to communicate is available. The checklist shall include a 
sign-off by the radiographer that they have briefed the Safety 
Representative/Responsible Manager on the offshore job site regarding 
licensed activities. Accurate NDE will include these requirements in 
licensee procedures.
    3. Accurate NDE will develop and provide training to all employees 
regarding potential consequences for wrongdoing; for new employees, 
before working with radioactive material; and annually (at intervals 
not to exceed 12 months) thereafter for all employees involved in 
radiographic activities.
    4. Accurate NDE will ensure that requirements for security of 
radiographic devices including requirements associated with the 
increased controls order and contingency actions, if unable to lock and 
monitor radiographic devices, are included in licensee procedures.
    5. Accurate NDE will develop and implement a program for offshore 
audits of radiographic operations. Audit requirements and audit 
frequency will be included in procedures. Audit frequency will include 
at least one offshore audit each calendar year.
    6. Accurate NDE will develop and issue a company policy encouraging 
employees to report problems on the job site.
    7. Accurate NDE will develop and issue a personal letter from the 
Company President or Radiation Safety Officer to current employees 
regarding expectations for compliance with NRC regulations.
    8. Accurate NDE will develop and publish an article in the company 
newsletter, or equivalent, regarding this case. Specifically, Accurate 
NDE will include that employee actions did cause adverse consequences 
for the company and for the individual.
    9. All of the above requirements shall be completed by Accurate NDE 
within 120 days of the effective date of this Order.
    10. Within 30 days from the date of this Confirmatory Order, 
Accurate NDE and Inspection, LLC must pay the reduced civil penalty of 
$500 in accordance with NUREG/BR-0254 and submit to the Director, 
Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555, a statement indicating when and by what method payment was 
made.
    The Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV, may relax or rescind, in 
writing, any of the above conditions upon a showing by Accurate NDE of 
good cause.

VI

    Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other 
than Accurate NDE, may request a hearing within 20 days of its 
issuance. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to 
extending the time to answer or 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, and include a 
statement of good cause for the extension.
    A request for a hearing must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-
Filing rule, which the NRC promulgated in August, 2007, 72 FR 49,139 
(Aug. 28, 2007). The E-Filing process requires participants to submit 
and serve documents over the internet or, in some cases, to mail copies 
on electronic optical storage media. Participants may not submit paper 
copies of their filings unless they seek a waiver in accordance with 
the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements associated with E-
Filing, at least five (5) days prior to the filing deadline the 
requestor must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) a 
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal 
server for any NRC proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2) 
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances 
when the requestor (or its counsel or representative) already holds an 
NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each requestor will need to 
download the Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ to access the Electronic 
Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing system. The 
Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ is free and is available at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. Information 
about applying for a digital ID certificate also is available on NRC's 
public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
    Once a requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate, had a 
docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit a 
request for a hearing through EIE. Submissions should be in Portable 
Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance available on the 
NRC public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. 
A filing is considered complete at the time the filer submits its 
document through EIE. To be timely, electronic filings must be 
submitted to the EIE system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on 
the due date. Upon receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-
stamps the document and sends the submitter an e-mail notice confirming 
receipt of the document. The EIE system also distributes an e-mail 
notice that provides access to the document to the NRC Office of the 
General Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the 
Secretary that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the 
filer need not serve the document on those participants separately. 
Therefore, any others who wish to participate in the proceeding (or 
their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a digital 
ID certificate before a hearing request is filed so that they may 
obtain access to the document via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically may seek assistance through the 
``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC technical help line, 
which is available between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time, 
Monday through Friday. The help line number is (800) 397-4209 or 
locally, (301) 415-4737.
    Participants who believe that they have good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file a motion, in accordance 
with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing requesting 
authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such 
filings must be submitted by (1) first class mail addressed to the 
Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission,

[[Page 11450]]

Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications 
Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service to 
the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking 
and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a document in this manner 
are responsible for serving the document on all other participants. 
Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of the time of 
deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or expedited delivery 
service upon depositing the document with the provider of the service.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant 
to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or 
a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to include personal 
privacy information, such as social security numbers, home addresses, 
or home phone numbers in their filings. With respect to copyrighted 
works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the 
adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, 
Participants are requested not to include copyrighted materials in 
their works.
    If a person other than Accurate NDE 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 2.309(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. An answer or a request for hearing shall not stay the 
immediate effectiveness of this order.

    Dated this 20th day of February, 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Elmo E. Collins,
Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. E8-4025 Filed 2-29-08; 8:45 am]
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