[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 72 (Tuesday, April 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21303-21305]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-08531]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[EA-13-059; NRC-2014-0084]


In the Matter of Centro de Medicina Nuclear

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Order; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
order imposing civil monetary penalty of $7,000 to Centro de Medicina 
Nuclear. The order requires Centro de Medicina Nuclear to pay the civil 
penalty or request a hearing within 30 days of the date of the Order.

DATES: Effective Date: See attachment.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0084 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0084. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected].
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this document (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leelavathi Sreenivas, Office of 
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-
0001; telephone: 301-415-1285, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of April 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Roy P. Zimmerman,
Director, Office of Enforcement.

In the Matter of Centro de Medicina Nuclear, Santurce, Puerto Rico, 
Docket No. 03031963, License No. 52-25127-01, EA-13-059

Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty

I

    Centro de Medicina Nuclear (Licensee) is the former holder of 
Materials License 52-25127-01, issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) on November 30, 1990. The license had authorized the 
Licensee to possess and use unsealed byproduct material for medical 
uses and sealed sources for instrument calibration in accordance with 
the conditions specified therein. The Licensee was issued an NRC Order 
Revoking License on August 7, 2012, for non-payment of the NRC annual 
license fee. The Order specified that if the fee was not paid within 20 
days, the license was to be revoked and the Licensee was to perform a 
number of actions. Because the Licensee did not pay the fee within the 
allotted timeframe, the license was, in fact, revoked on August 28, 
2012.

II

    The Licensee was required to either pay the fee or respond to the 
Order by August 28, 2012, and to perform specified actions toward 
initiating site decommissioning which included: (1) Arranging for 
disposal or transfer of any licensed material possessed under the 
license; (2) within 5 days after disposal, providing the NRC written 
reports describing how, where, and when such disposition took place; 
(3) within 60 days from the date of revocation, initiating site 
decommissioning; and (4) no later than the date of revocation, 
submitting to the NRC a written report that includes: (a) A listing of 
all licensed materials disposed of, transferred, or still in 
possession; (b) a description of the conditions of storage of retained 
materials and actions being taken to control access to the material; 
and (c) for any licensed material not disposed of or transferred, a 
description of the actions taken to attempt to dispose of or transfer 
the licensed material and why those actions were unsuccessful.
    After the Licensee did not respond to the Order, an NRC inspector 
visited the site on January 17, 2013, and confirmed that the Licensee's 
radioactive sources were secure. During that visit, the Licensee 
representative informed the inspector that the Licensee had no specific 
timeframes planned to take the actions required by the Order. In a May 
16, 2013, letter, the NRC documented the observations from the January 
site visit, and provided the Licensee 30 additional days to take the 
actions required by the Order (initiating site decommissioning and 
submitting a written report with the status of CDM's licensed materials 
and actions taken to dispose of or transfer the materials). Based on 
the Licensee's subsequent failure to respond to either the NRC letter 
or to telephone messages left by NRC staff, the NRC concluded that the 
Licensee continued to be in violation of NRC requirements.

III

    The NRC served a written Notice of Violation and Proposed 
Imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice), stating the violation and the 
amount of the civil penalty proposed for the violation upon the 
Licensee by letter dated November 5, 2013. A response to the Notice was 
required within 60 days of the date of the letter transmitting the 
Notice (i.e., by January 4, 2014). However, the NRC also informed the 
Licensee that if it transferred or disposed of its licensed material 
within those 60 days, the NRC would forgo imposition of any civil 
penalty.
    After the Licensee did not respond to the Notice, an NRC inspector 
visited the facility on January 29, 2014, and again ascertained that 
the licensed material inventory was unchanged and verified that the 
material was properly secured. NRC staff also participated in a 
telephone conversation with a Licensee representative on January 29, 
2014, during which the Licensee representative stated that he had been 
granted power of attorney over the affairs of the Licensee owner, and 
had only recently been made aware of the NRC enforcement action. The 
Licensee representative agreed to obtain cost estimates for disposal of 
the licensed material. During subsequent conversations on February 24, 
2014, the Licensee informed the NRC that it had not disposed of the 
licensed material because CDM did not have sufficient funds to do so.

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    The Licensee remained in possession of the licensed material after 
January 4, 2014 and has also not paid the civil penalty. Accordingly, 
the NRC staff has determined that the proposed penalty for the 
violation designated in the Notice should be imposed, in the amount of 
$7,000.

IV

    In view of the foregoing and pursuant to Section 234 of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended (Act), 42 U.S.C. 2282, and 10 CFR 2.205, 
it is hereby ordered that:
    The Licensee pay a civil penalty in the amount of $7,000 within 30 
days of the date of this Order, in accordance with NUREG/BR-0254. In 
addition, at the time payment is made, the Licensee shall submit a 
statement indicating when and by what method payment was made, to the 
Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738.

V

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, the Licensee must, and any other 
person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer to this 
Order within 30 days of the date of this Order. In addition, the 
Licensee may demand a hearing on all or part of this Order. Any other 
person adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing on this 
Order within 30 days of the date of the Order. 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.
    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any motion or 
other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a 
request for hearing or petition to intervene, and documents filed by 
interested governmental entities participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c), 
must be filed in accordance with the NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; 
August 28, 2007, as amended by 77 FR 46562; August 3, 2012), codified 
in pertinent part at 10 CFR Part 2, Subpart C. The E-Filing process 
requires participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents 
over the internet, or in some cases to mail copies on electronic 
storage media. Participants may not submit paper copies of their 
filings unless they seek an exemption in accordance with the procedures 
described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the 
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by 
telephone at 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 
proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise the Secretary 
that the participant will be submitting a request or petition for 
hearing (even in instances in which the participant, or its counsel or 
representative, already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). 
Based upon this information, the Secretary will establish an electronic 
docket for the hearing in this proceeding if the Secretary has not 
already established an electronic docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html. System requirements for accessing 
the E-Submittal server are detailed in NRC's ``Guidance for Electronic 
Submission,'' which is available on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may attempt to 
use other software not listed on the Web site, but should note that the 
NRC's E-Filing system does not support unlisted software, and the NRC 
Meta System Help Desk will not be able to offer assistance in using 
unlisted software.
    If a participant is electronically submitting a document to the NRC 
in accordance with the E-Filing rule, the participant must file the 
document using the NRC's online, Web-based submission form available 
from the NRC's Electronic Information Exchange (EIE) system. In order 
to serve documents through EIE, users will be required to install a Web 
browser plug-in from the NRC Web site. Further information on the Web-
based submission form, including the installation of the Web browser 
plug-in, is available on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    Once a participant has obtained a digital ID certificate and a 
docket has been created, the participant can then submit a request for 
hearing or petition for leave to intervene through the EIE. Submissions 
should be in Portable Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC 
guidance available on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. A filing is considered complete at the 
time the documents are submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To 
be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing 
system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the due date. Upon 
receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document 
and sends the submitter an email notice confirming receipt of the 
document. The E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that 
provides access to the document to the NRC's 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 documents 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/petition to intervene is filed so that they 
can obtain access to the document via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC Meta System 
Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's public 
Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by email at 
[email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-7640. The 
NRC Meta System Help Desk is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., ET, 
Monday through Friday, excluding government holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, 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

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expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the 
provider of the service. A presiding officer, having granted an 
exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a participant or 
party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer subsequently determines 
that the reason for granting the exemption from use of E-Filing no 
longer exists.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is available to the public at 
http://ehd1.nrc.gov/ehd/, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
Commission, or the 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, unless an NRC 
regulation or other law requires submission of such information. With 
respect to copyrighted works, participants are requested not to include 
copyrighted materials in their submission, except for limited excerpts 
that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute 
a Fair Use application.
    If a person other than the Licensee 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) and (f).
    If a hearing is requested by a Licensee or an adversely affected 
person that meets the criteria above, 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. In the absence of any request for a 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 30 
days from the date of issuance 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. If payment has not 
been made by the time specified above, the matter may be referred to 
the Attorney General for further action, including collection.
    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of April 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Roy P. Zimmerman
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2014-08531 Filed 4-14-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P