[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 210 (Wednesday, October 30, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58178-58181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-23713]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 030-35252; NRC-2019-0206]
In the Matter of Team Industrial Services, Inc.
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Order; modification.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an order
imposing a civil monetary penalty (Order) to Team Industrial Services,
Inc., (licensee) on September 20, 2019. The purpose of the Order was to
document the NRC's review of the licensee's response to the Notice of
[[Page 58179]]
Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty, issued on March 8,
2019. The licensee's response did not dispute the violation but did
dispute both the deliberateness associated with the violation and the
significance of the violation. The licensee also requested that the NRC
not impose a civil penalty. After consideration of the response, the
NRC concluded that the significance determination was appropriate and
that an adequate basis to mitigate the proposed civil penalty amount
was not provided.
DATES: The Order was issued on September 20, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0206 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0206. Address
questions about NRC dockets IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 order imposing civil monetary
penalty on Team Industrial Services, Inc., is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML19263E598.
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: Casey Alldredge, Region IV, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone:
817-200-1217, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 25th day of October, 2019.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott A. Morris,
Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV.
Attachment--Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty
United States of America
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
In the Matter of: Team Industrial Services, Inc., Alvin, Texas
Docket No. 030-35252, License No. 42-32219-01, EA-18-124
Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty
I
Team Industrial Services, Inc. (Licensee) is the holder of
Materials License No. 42-32219-01 issued on January 10, 2000, by the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to Part
30 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). The license
authorizes the use and possession of nuclear materials in accordance
with conditions specified therein. The facility is based in Alvin,
Texas.
II
The NRC conducted an investigation of the Licensee's activities
from October 12, 2017, to August 27, 2018. The results of this
investigation indicated that the Licensee had not conducted its
activities in full compliance with NRC requirements associated with
transporting a radiographic device in a locked configuration.
Specifically, two Team Industrial employees appeared to have
deliberately failed to follow procedural requirements when unlocking
and relocating a gamma exposure device, which caused Team Industrial to
be in violation of Condition 25 of its license. A letter conveying the
results of the NRC Investigation was issued to the Licensee on January
4, 2019 (ADAMS Accession ML19007A235), including a factual summary of
the report. A written Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of
Civil Penalty (Notice) was issued to the Licensee by letter dated March
8, 2019 (ADAMS Accession ML19066A206). The Notice stated the nature of
the violation, the provision of the NRC's requirements that the
Licensee violated, and the amount of the civil penalty proposed for the
violation.
The Licensee responded to the Notice in a letter dated May 23,
2019. In its response, the Licensee did not dispute the violation, but
stated that it conducted an internal investigation regarding the issues
and did not consider the violation to be willful on the part of the
radiographers. The Licensee also stated that the violation was not
significant because there was no risk of exposure of the source due to
the unlocked plunger because of redundant safety features of the
device.
III
After considering the Licensee's explanation and argument for
mitigation, the NRC staff has determined that, as set forth in the
Appendix to this Order, the violation of License Condition 25 occurred
as stated, and that an adequate basis does not exist for the reduction
of the severity of the violation or mitigation of the civil penalty
amount. Therefore, a civil penalty in the amount of $14,500 should be
imposed.
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 $14,500 within 30
days of the issuance date of this Order, in accordance with NUREG/BR-
0254 ``Payment Methods'' (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/brochures/br0254/). 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, Washington, DC 20555.
V
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR 2.309, the Licensee
must, and any other person adversely affected by this Order may, submit
a response within 30 days of the issuance date of this Order. In
addition, the Licensee or any other person adversely affected by this
Order may request a hearing within 30 days of the issuance date of this
Order. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to
extending the time to respond or request a hearing. A request for
extension of time must be directed to the Director, Office of
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555,
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 (hereinafter
``petition''), and documents filed by interested governmental entities
[[Page 58180]]
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 at 77
FR 46562; August 3, 2012). 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 (1) request a digital identification (ID)
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or
other adjudicatory document (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 the NRC's public website at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a
digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant
can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable
Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is
available on the NRC's public website at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the document is 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 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
document on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for
and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are
filed so that they can obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing
system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's
Public website at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m.
and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government
holidays.
Participants who believe that they have 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
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and
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, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff. Participants filing adjudicatory documents 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. 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
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an Order of the
Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued
digital ID certificate as described above, click ``Cancel'' when the
link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to
the NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access
any publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket.
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information,
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone
numbers in their filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law
requires submission of such information. For example, in some
instances, individuals provide home addresses in order to demonstrate
proximity to a facility or site. 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 submission.
The Commission will issue a notice or Order granting or denying a
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for
any hearing that will be held and designating the Presiding Officer. A
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and
served on the parties to the hearing.
If a person other than the Licensee requests a hearing, that person
shall set forth with particularity the manner in which their 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 the Licensee 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), the Licensee 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 grounds 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 30 days from the issuance
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 or alternative dispute resolution (ADR) request
has not been received. If
[[Page 58181]]
ADR is requested, the provisions specified in Section IV shall be final
upon termination of an ADR process that did not result in issuance of
an Order.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott A. Morris,
Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV.
Dated this 20th day of September 2019.
Evaluation and Conclusion
On March 8, 2019, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
issued a Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty
(Notice) for a violation identified as the result of an investigation
conducted by the NRC Office of Investigations (OI). Team Industrial
Services, Inc., (Licensee) responded to the Notice on May 23, 2019. The
Licensee did not dispute the violation but did dispute both the
deliberateness associated with the violation and the significance of
the violation. The NRC's evaluation and conclusion regarding the
Licensee's request is documented below.
Summary of the Licensee's Request of Reevaluation of Deliberate
Determination
The Licensee stated an internal investigation determined that the
violation was due to a human error made in completing the daily
inspection process. The Licensee concluded that there was no intent to
leave the device in an unlocked state prior to boarding the Navy vessel
and there was no advantage to relocating the device in the partially
unlocked condition.
NRC Evaluation of the Licensee's Request of Reevaluation of Deliberate
Determination
The Licensee stated that an internal investigation was conducted
which did not conclude that there was any deliberateness associated
with the violation. Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR) 30.10(c) states, in part, that deliberate misconduct by a person
means an intentional act or omission that the person knows would cause
a licensee to be in violation of a condition of a license issued by the
Commission. Both the NRC OI investigation and the Licensee's internal
investigation indicated that the radiographers were trained on the
operating and emergency procedures and were knowledgeable in the
requirements, including the requirement to fully lock the exposure
device prior to relocating to another physical location.
The Licensee's investigation determined that the violation was the
result of a human error made in the completion of the daily inspection
process. However, the Licensee's description of the internal
investigation did not include any additional information to support its
conclusion that was not previously evaluated in the investigation
conducted by OI. The NRC's position continues to be that the
circumstances in this case support a willful violation. Based on the
facts of this case and the testimony of the radiographers, the
radiographers were: (1) Familiar with the Licensee's operating and
emergency procedures, (2) aware that the device was required to be
locked when relocated to a new location, and (3) aware that the device
was unlocked at the time they relocated the device. Further, OI
interviewed the Team Industrial Radiation Safety Officer, who testified
that immediately after the incident, the radiographers explained that
they had unlocked the device in order to save time. Therefore, the NRC
found sufficient evidence to conclude that the radiographers
deliberately transported an exposure device in an unlocked
configuration.
Summary of the Licensee's Request of Reevaluation of Significance
The Licensee stated that the radiographic device has three
independent locking mechanisms to prevent accidental movement or
exposure of the source. The device has a tungsten shield which provides
a shielding factor to reduce exposure from the source and provides an
additional level of security because it prevents the source from
projecting out of the device unless a guide tube is connected. The
Licensee also indicated that its operating and emergency procedure is
more restrictive than the regulation in 10 CFR 34.23(a), since it
requires the device to be fully locked prior to movement to another
location. Based on this, the Licensee concluded that the significance
level of the violation should be reduced.
The Licensee also stated that the violation was not significant
because additional barriers were in place to prevent inadvertent
exposure. The Licensee included additional information about the design
of the radiographic device, including a description of the three
locking mechanisms that prevent accidental movement or exposure of the
source. The Licensee stated that even in the unlocked configuration
which occurred during the violation, the source was secured and met the
intent of 10 CFR 34.23(a).
NRC Evaluation of the Licensee's Request of Reevaluation of
Significance
The Licensee's investigation did not provide any information that
the NRC had not already considered as part of the enforcement process.
The NRC Enforcement Policy Example 6.3.d.3 states, in part, that a
failure to implement procedures including, but not limited to,
recordkeeping, surveys, and inventories is a Severity Level IV
violation. The NRC concluded that, absent deliberateness, based on the
relatively short duration that the device was carried unlocked, the
fact that the device was always under the direct surveillance and
control of a radiographer, and the presence of the additional locking
mechanisms, the significance of the Licensee failing to adequately
implement the applicable section of its procedures should be
characterized as a Severity Level IV violation.
However, the NRC Enforcement Policy Section 2.2.1.d states that a
violation may be considered more significant than the underlying
noncompliance if it includes indications of willfulness. The NRC
considers factors such as the position, training, experience level, and
responsibilities of the individuals involved in the violation. In this
instance, the NRC determined that the violation should be increased to
a Severity Level III violation, due to the conclusion that it involved
deliberate misconduct by the radiographers.
Conclusion
Based on its evaluation, the NRC has concluded that the violation
occurred as stated and the Licensee did not provide an adequate basis
to reduce the severity of the violation or modify the willful
determination.
[FR Doc. 2019-23713 Filed 10-29-19; 8:45 am]
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