[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 77 (Friday, April 19, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28818-28820]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08348]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[License No. 52-31453-01; EA-2023-016; NRC-2024-0066]


In the Matter of Almonte Geo Service Group; Order Imposing Civil 
Monetary Penalty

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Order; issuance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
Order to Almonte Geo Service Group (Almonte), imposing a civil monetary 
penalty of $17,500. The NRC issued a Notice of Violation and Proposed 
Imposition of Civil Penalty on November 9, 2023, to Almonte. The 
violation involved the failure by Almonte to complete decommissioning 
no later than 24 hours following the initiation of decommissioning as 
required by NRC regulations. This order is effective on the date of 
issuance.

DATES: This order became effective on April 11, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0066 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-2024-0066. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-415-0624; 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, at 301-415-4737, 
or by email to [email protected]. The order imposing civil monetary 
penalty of $17,500 is available in ADAMS under Package Accession No. 
ML24089A031.
     NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an 
appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to 
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 
a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carmen Rivera-Diaz, Office of 
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, telephone: 301-415-0296, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the order is attached.

    Dated: April 15, 2024.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David L. Pelton,
Director, Office of Enforcement.

Attachment--Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty of $17,500

United States of America

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

In the Matter of: Almonte Geo Service Group, Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, 
Docket No. 03038488, License No. 52-31453-01, EA-23-016

Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty

I

    Almonte Geo Service Group (Licensee) is the holder of Nuclear 
Materials License No. 52-31453-01 issued on October 4, 2011, 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 possession and use of radioactive sources contained in 
portable nuclear moisture density gauges in accordance with conditions 
specified therein. The facility is located on the Licensee's site in 
Toa Alta, Puerto Rico.

II

    The NRC inspected the Licensee's activities between March 1, 2023, 
and June 14, 2023. The results of this inspection indicated that the 
Licensee had not conducted its activities in full compliance with NRC 
requirements. A written Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of 
Civil Penalty (Notice) was served upon the Licensee by letter dated 
November 9, 2023 (ML23310A012).\1\ The Notice states 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Designation in parentheses refers to an Agency-wide 
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accession number. 
Documents referenced in this letter are publicly-available using the 
accession number in ADAMS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Namely, the Notice describes that the Licensee failed to complete 
decommissioning no later than 24 months following the initiation of 
decommissioning as required by 10 CFR 30.36(h). In particular, the 
Licensee has not disposed of or transferred its licensed material 
despite having had its license revoked more than seven years ago and 
having initiated decommissioning activities almost four years ago. The 
Notice also documents that the NRC's primary interest in this matter is 
ensuring that the Licensee meets its obligation to transfer or dispose 
of the licensed material in its

[[Page 28819]]

possession and complete decommissioning of its site. Therefore, the 
civil penalty would not have been imposed if the Licensee (1) had 
properly disposed of or transferred the remaining sealed radioactive 
source possessed under the NRC license and (2) had sent information 
documenting that the material had been transferred or disposed of to 
the NRC within 60 days of the date of the letter transmitting the 
Notice (i.e., by January 8, 2024).
    The Licensee responded to the Notice in an email dated December 9, 
2023 (ML23345A099). In its response, the Licensee requested additional 
time to save money to pay for proper disposal of the remaining sealed 
radioactive source in its possession. As of the date of this Order, the 
Licensee remains in possession of the sealed radioactive source.

III

    After consideration of the Licensee's response and the statements 
of fact, explanation, and argument for mitigation contained therein, 
the NRC staff has determined that the violation occurred as stated and 
that the penalty proposed for the violation designated in the Notice 
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 shall pay the civil penalty in the amount of $17,500 
within 30 days of the date of the publication of this Order in the 
Federal Register through one of the following two methods:
    1. Submit the payment with the enclosed invoice to this Order (EA-
23-016) to the following address: Office of the Chief Financial 
Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, P.O. Box 979051, St. 
Louis, MO 63197 or,
    2. Submit the payment 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 its publication in the Federal Register. In 
addition, the Licensee and any other person adversely affected by this 
Order may request a hearing on this Order within 30 days of its 
publication in the Federal Register. 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 
documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body, 
Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that 
requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. 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, 
unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as further 
discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions is 
located in the ``Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC'' 
(ML13031A056) and on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    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 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 https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. After a digital ID certificate is 
obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory 
documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on submissions is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://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. ET on the due date. Upon receipt of a 
transmission, the E-Filing system timestamps the document and sends the 
submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing 
system also distributes an email 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 to 
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 https://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., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal 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 in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner 
are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants. 
Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still 
meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1), 
unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10 
CFR 2.302(g)(1).
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID 
certificate as previously described, click ``cancel'' when the link 
requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the 
NRC's electronic hearing dockets where

[[Page 28820]]

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. With 
respect to copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that serve 
the purpose of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute Fair Use 
applications, participants should not include copyrighted materials in 
their submission.
    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 a 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. 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 this Order is published in the Federal Register 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 collection.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

/RA/,

David L. Pelton,

Director, Office of Enforcement.

    Dated this 11 day of April, 2024.

[FR Doc. 2024-08348 Filed 4-18-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P