[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3258-3261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00558]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 03039345; EA-2024-007; IA-2024-007; NRC-2024-0224]
In the Matter of David Huey; Order
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
Order prohibiting Mr. Huey, a former manager
[[Page 3259]]
at Titan Inspections, Inc. (Titan), from participating in NRC-licensed
activities for three years. This action is being taken because the NRC
determined that Mr. Huey deliberately caused Titan to violate NRC
requirements by directing a radiographer to perform radiography at a
location within NRC jurisdiction without a second qualified individual
being present. Such conduct violates NRC regulations, which prohibit
any licensee or employee of a licensee from engaging in deliberate
misconduct that causes or would have caused, if not detected, a
licensee, to be in violation of any rule, regulation, order, or any
term, condition, or limitation of any license issued by the Commission.
The Order is effective upon issuance.
DATES: The Order was issued on December 12, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0224 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-2024-0224. 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].
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, 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: January 7, 2025.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David Pelton,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
Attachment--Order
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
In the Matter of David Huey
IA-24-007
Order Prohibiting Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities
David Huey (Huey) is a manager employed by Titan Inspection, Inc.
(Titan). During the relevant time periods discussed below, Titan did
not possess a specific license issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR) Part 30, but possessed a specific license issued under the
regulatory jurisdiction of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is an Agreement State, which means it has
entered into an agreement with the NRC to regulate certain radioactive
material within its borders. As an Agreement State licensee, Titan
could conduct radiography in NRC jurisdiction under the general NRC
license granted pursuant to 10 CFR 150.20. As of September 27, 2023,
Titan holds license No. 37-35708-01 issued by the NRC. The license
authorizes Titan to possess and utilize material for the purposes of
industrial radiography.
II
An investigation was initiated by the NRC, Office of Investigations
(OI), Region I, on December 19, 2022, to determine, in part, whether
Huey deliberately directed a Titan radiographer to perform radiographic
operations at a temporary jobsite in West Virginia, NRC jurisdiction,
on November 16, 2022, without a second qualified individual. NRC
regulations, specifically 10 CFR 34.41(a), require that whenever
radiography is performed at a location other than a permanent
radiographic installation, a radiographer must be accompanied by at
least one other qualified radiographer or an individual who has, at a
minimum, met the requirements of 10 CFR 34.43(c). Radiography may not
be performed if only one qualified individual is present. Huey stated
during the OI interview that he was aware of the requirement to have a
second qualified individual present when conducting radiography. On
November 16, 2022, at his direction, a radiographer completed eleven
radiographs without a second qualified individual.
In a letter dated May 16, 2024, the NRC informed Huey that the NRC
was considering escalated enforcement action against him for apparent
violations of the NRC's deliberate misconduct rule, 10 CFR 30.10(a)(1).
In the letter, the NRC offered Huey the opportunity to respond in
writing to the apparent violation, request a Predecisional Enforcement
Conference (PEC), or request Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
Although Huey did sign the ADR agreement, neither Huey, nor his
attorney, responded to requests for dates to hold an ADR session. On
October 7, 2024, we sent letters to you and your attorney stating that
if we did not hear back from you or your attorney within 10 days of
confirmed receipt of our letter, that the NRC would proceed with its
enforcement action which could result in an order prohibiting your
involvement in NRC- licensed activities for a specified period of time.
III
Based on the above, Huey, an employee of Titan, engaged in
deliberate misconduct that caused Titan to be in violation of 10 CFR
34.41(a). The NRC must be able to rely on its licensees and their
employees to comply with NRC requirements. Huey's action in causing
Titan to violate 10 CFR 34.41(a) has 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
licensed activities can be conducted in compliance with the NRC's
requirements and that the health and safety of the public will be
protected if Huey were permitted at this time to be involved in NRC-
licensed activities. Therefore, the public health, safety, and interest
require that Huey be prohibited from any involvement in NRC-licensed
activities for a period of three years from the date of this Order.
Additionally, Huey is required to notify the NRC of his first
employment in NRC-licensed activities, including work performed in NRC
jurisdiction under reciprocity, for a period of one year following the
prohibition period.
IV
Accordingly, pursuant to sections 81, 161b, 161i, 182 and 186 of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202, and 10 CFR 30.10, it is hereby ordered
that:
[[Page 3260]]
1. David Huey is prohibited for three years from the date of this
Order from conducting, supervising, directing, or in any other way
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 David Huey is currently involved in NRC-licensed activities,
he must immediately cease those activities; inform the NRC of the name,
address, and telephone number of the employer or other entity for whom
he is conducting NRC-licensed activities; and provide a copy of this
Order to the employer or other entity.
3. For a period of one year after the three-year prohibition on
engaging in NRC-licensed activities has expired, David Huey shall,
within 20 days
4. of accepting his first employment offer involving NRC-licensed
activities or otherwise first becoming involved in NRC-licensed
activities, as defined in Section 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 other entity for whom he will be participating in or
conducting the NRC-licensed activities. In the notification, Huey shall
include a statement of his commitment to compliance with regulatory
requirements and the basis for why the Commission should have
confidence that he will now comply with applicable NRC requirements.
The Director, Office of Enforcement, or designee, may, in writing,
relax or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by
David Huey of good cause.
V
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Huey must submit a written answer
to this Order under oath or affirmation within 30 days of its
publication in the Federal Register. Huey's failure to respond to this
Order could result in additional enforcement action in accordance with
the Commission's Enforcement Policy. In addition, Huey 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
discussed below, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic
submissions is located in the Guidance for Electronic Submissions to
the NRC (ADAMS Accession No. ML13031A0561) \1\ and on the NRC website
at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
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\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.
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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. Eastern Time 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., 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 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 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
[[Page 3261]]
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 a Fair Use application, participants should not include
copyrighted materials in their submission.
If a person other than Huey 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 Huey 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 30 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.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated 12th day of December 2024.
David L. Pelton,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2025-00558 Filed 1-13-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P