[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 27, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50655-50657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19832]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[IA-08-006]
In the Matter of Mr. Kenneth J. Vandiver; Order Prohibiting
Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities (Effective Immediately)
I
Mr. Kenneth J. Vandiver is employed as a radiographer at Alaska
Industrial X-Ray, Inc. (AIX) located in Anchorage, Alaska, and until
November 2007, Mr. Vandiver was the radiation safety officer (RSO) for
AIX. AIX holds License No. 50-16084-01 issued by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR part 34 to conduct
radiography. The license authorizes AIX to possess sealed radioactive
sources for use in conducting industrial radiography activities in
accordance with the conditions specified therein.
II
On June 4, 2007, an investigation was initiated by the NRC's Office
of Investigations (OI), in part, to determine whether Mr. Vandiver, as
RSO, engaged in deliberate misconduct by performing radiography with
only one radiographer present at the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation
Energy Services (ASRC) facility, a temporary jobsite. A predecisional
enforcement conference (PEC) was held on June 5, 2008, with employees
of AIX, including Mr. Vandiver, in an effort to obtain AIX's point of
view on the violations.
Based on our review of the information obtained during the PEC and
from the investigation, two violations of the NRC's rule prohibiting
deliberate misconduct, 10 CFR 30.10, were identified.
First, Mr. Vandiver engaged in deliberate misconduct in violation
of 10 CFR 30.10(a)(1) by causing AIX to be in violation of 10 CFR
34.41(a) when he conducted radiography alone at the ASRC facility on
numerous occasions since about 2004. Second, he provided information
that he knew was
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incomplete and inaccurate during his sworn statement to NRC
investigators, in violation of 10 CFR 30.10(a)(2), on July 24, 2007,
when Mr. Vandiver stated that he always abided by the two-person rule
(10 CFR 34.41(a)), and that there had never been an occasion in which
he conducted radiographic operations by himself. He also stated that to
the best of his knowledge, as RSO, that AIX personnel were following
the two-person rule. However, later on July 25, 2007, after the NRC had
been informed by other radiographers and radiographer's assistants that
he had performed radiography by himself at times at the ASRC site, Mr.
Vandiver admitted to violating the two-person rule. Mr. Vandiver also
admitted to having left a radiographer alone at the ASRC site on
occasions to conduct radiography while he returned to the Golovin site
to develop film. During a third interview conducted on January 10,
2008, Mr. Vandiver provided substantially the same information about
his actions and the actions of other AIX radiographers in violation of
the two-person rule.
Despite Mr. Vandiver's limited recollection during the PEC held
June 5, 2008, we note Mr. Vandiver was aware of previous NRC
enforcement action taken against AIX for the same violation at the same
location.\1\ In fact, Mr. Vandiver was a primary spokesperson for the
company's position during the 2001 PEC with the NRC, and signed a
memorandum in response to this violation indicating acknowledgement of
the need to comply with the two-person rule.
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\1\ On April 25, 2001, the NRC issued a Notice of Violation for
a Severity Level III violation involving a failure to meet the
requirements of 10 CFR 34.41(a) (EA-01-015).
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The NRC has also concluded that Mr. Vandiver's deliberate
misconduct is significant because he did not perform the duties of an
RSO as described in 10 CFR 34.42. Specifically, as RSO he was
responsible for ensuring that radiation safety activities were being
performed in accordance with approved procedures and regulatory
requirements in the daily operation of the licensee's program. In this
case, not only did Mr. Vandiver deliberately violate 10 CFR 34.41(a),
he was also aware that other AIX radiographers were deliberately
violating this requirement and took no actions to stop it. Then, when
questioned by the NRC, he knowingly provided incomplete and inaccurate
information about the violations.
III
The NRC must rely on Licensees and their employees to act with
integrity in complying with NRC requirements, and communicating with
candor. In addition, the NRC has greater expectations for company
managers, including radiation safety officers, to fulfill their
required responsibilities in providing oversight of company activities
to ensure that NRC requirements are followed. Mr. Vandiver's actions
raised serious doubt as to whether he can be relied upon to comply with
NRC requirements and to provide complete and accurate information to
the NRC.
Consequently, I lack the requisite reasonable assurance that Mr.
Vandiver will perform licensed activities in compliance with the
Commission's requirements and that the health and safety of the public
will be protected if Mr. Vandiver were permitted at this time to be
involved in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, the public health and
safety interest require that Mr. Vandiver be prohibited from any
involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of 3 years from the
date of this Order. Additionally, Mr. Vandiver is required to notify
the NRC of his first employment in NRC-licensed activities for a period
of 1-year following the prohibition period. Furthermore, pursuant to 10
CFR 2.202, I find that the significance of Mr. Vandiver's conduct
described above is such that the public health and safety interest
require that this Order be immediately effective.
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, 10 CFR 30.10, and 10 CFR Parts 20, 34, and
10 CFR 150.20, it is hereby ordered, effective immediately, that:
1. Mr. Kenneth J. Vandiver is prohibited for 3 years from the date
of this Order from engaging in NRC-licensed activities. NRC-licensed
activities are those activities that are conducted pursuant to a
specific or general license issued by the NRC, including, but not
limited to, those activities of Agreement State licensees conducted
pursuant to the authority granted by 10 CFR 150.20.
2. If Mr. Vandiver is currently involved with another licensee in
NRC-licensed activities, he must immediately cease those activities,
and inform the NRC of the name, address and telephone number of the
employer, and provide a copy of this order to the employer.
3. For a period of 1-year after the 3-year period of prohibition
has expired, Mr. Vandiver shall, within 20 days of acceptance of his
first employment offer involving NRC-licensed activities or his
becoming involved in NRC-licensed activities, as defined in Paragraph
IV.1 above, provide notice to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, of the name,
address, and telephone number of the employer or the entity where he
is, or will be, involved in the NRC-licensed activities. In the
notification, Mr. Vandiver shall include a statement of his commitment
to compliance with regulatory requirements and the basis why the
Commission should have confidence that he will now comply with
applicable NRC requirements.
The Director, Office of Enforcement, may, in writing, relax or
rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by Mr. Vandiver
of good cause.
V
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Mr. Kenneth J. Vandiver must, and
any other person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer
to this Order within 20 days of its issuance. In addition, Mr. Vandiver
and any other person adversely affected by this Order may request a
hearing on this Order 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 directed
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 49139
(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
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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
ViewerTM to access the Electronic Information Exchange
(EIE), a component of the E-Filing system. The Workplace Forms
ViewerTM 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, 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 Mr. Vandiver 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 Mr. Vandiver or a person whose
interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order
designating the time and place of any hearings. If a hearing is held,
the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order
should be sustained. Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202(c)(2)(i), Mr. Vandiver,
or any other person adversely affected by this Order, may, in addition
to demanding a hearing, at the time the answer is filed or sooner, move
the presiding officer to set aside the immediate effectiveness of the
Order on the ground that the Order, including the need for immediate
effectiveness, is not based on adequate evidence but on mere suspicion,
unfounded allegations, or error. 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 this 20th day of August 2008.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E8-19832 Filed 8-26-08; 8:45 am]
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