83 FR 19308 - In the Matter of Qal-Tek Associates, LLC

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 85 (May 2, 2018)

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an Order imposing civil monetary penalty of $22,400 to Qal-Tek Associates, LLC. After consideration of the licensee's request for mitigation of the proposed civil penalty amount, the NRC staff determined that the violations occurred and that adequate basis did not exist for mitigation of the civil penalty amount of $22,400.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19308-19310]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09229]



[[Page 19308]]

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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-34866; NRC-2018-0083]


In the Matter of Qal-Tek Associates, LLC

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Order imposing civil monetary penalty; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
Order imposing civil monetary penalty of $22,400 to Qal-Tek Associates, 
LLC. After consideration of the licensee's request for mitigation of 
the proposed civil penalty amount, the NRC staff determined that the 
violations occurred and that adequate basis did not exist for 
mitigation of the civil penalty amount of $22,400.

DATES: This Order was effective March 29, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0083 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly[dash]available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0083. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals 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 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 (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document.
     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: G. Michael Vasquez, Region IV, 
telephone: 817-200-1182; email [email protected] and John Kramer, 
Region IV, telephone: 817-200-1121; email [email protected]. Both are 
staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.

    Dated at Arlington, Texas, this 26th day of April, 2018.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Kriss M. Kennedy,
Regional Administrator, Region IV.

Attachment: Order

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

In the Matter of Qal-Tek Associates, LLC, Idaho Falls, ID

Docket No. 030-34866, License No. 11-27610-01

EA-17-101

ORDER IMPOSING CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY (EFFECTIVE UPON ISSUANCE)

I

    Qal-Tek Associates, LLC (Qal-Tek or the Licensee) is the holder 
of Materials License No. 11-27610-01 issued on December 28, 1998, 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 
located on the Licensee's site in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

II

    The NRC conducted an inspection of the Licensee's activities on 
April 24[dash]25, 2017. The results of this inspection indicated 
that the Licensee had not conducted its activities in compliance 
with the NRC's requirements associated with packaging radioactive 
material to ensure that radiation levels do not exceed regulatory 
limits. A written Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of 
Civil Penalty (Notice) was served upon the Licensee by letter dated 
December 12, 2017. The Notice states the nature of the violations, 
the provisions of the NRC's requirements that the Licensee violated, 
and the amount of the civil penalty proposed for the violations.
    The Licensee responded to the Notice in a letter dated January 
11, 2018. In its response, the Licensee did not dispute the 
violations or their severity, but requested mitigation of the 
proposed civil penalty amount.

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 as set forth in the 
Appendix to this Order that the violations occurred as stated and 
that adequate basis does not exist for mitigation of the civil 
penalty amount. Therefore, a civil penalty in the amount of $22,400 
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 $22,400 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, the Licensee and any other 
person adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing on 
this Order within 30 days of the issuance date of this 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, 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 participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in 
accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139, August 28, 2007, 
as amended by 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 e-mail 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 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 the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-
help/e-

[[Page 19309]]

submittals/getting-started.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. Submissions should be in Portable Document 
Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is available on 
the NRC public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.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 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 E-Filing 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 documents on those participants separately. 
Therefore, applicants and other participants (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 agency's adjudicatory 
E-Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC Electronic 
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the 
NRC's web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by 
e-mail at [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 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 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 
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 Qal-Tek) 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 person whose interest is 
adversely affected, the Commission will issue an order designating 
the time and place of any hearing. 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), Qal-Tek 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 alternative dispute 
resolution (ADR), or written approval of an extension of time in 
which to request a hearing or ADR, 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 or ADR has been approved, the 
provisions specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension 
expires if a hearing or ADR request has not been received. If 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.

    Kriss M. Kennedy, Regional Administrator, NRC Region IV.

    Dated this 29th day of March 2018

APPENDIX

EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION

    On December 12, 2017, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) issued a Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil 
Penalty (Notice) for violations identified during an NRC inspection. 
Qal-Tek Associates, LLC (Qal-Tek or Licensee) responded to the 
Notice on January 11, 2018. The Licensee did not dispute the 
violations or severity, however, the Licensee requested mitigation 
of the proposed civil penalty amount. The NRC's evaluation and 
conclusion regarding the Licensee's request is as follows:

Summary of the Licensee's Request for Mitigation of Civil Penalty 
Amount

    The Licensee stated that the problem was identified by the 
Licensee because of their self-monitoring effort of proper package 
receiving operations. The Licensee stated that it implemented timely 
actions to identify the root cause of the problem and develop 
corrective actions. Also, the Licensee stated that it discontinued 
transporting similar types of packages until corrective actions were 
implemented.

NRC Evaluation of Licensee's Request for Mitigation of Civil 
Penalty Amount

    The NRC Enforcement Policy, Section 2.3.4.b.2(b), states, in 
part, that when a problem requiring corrective action is identified 
through an event (i.e., the problem is self-revealing), the decision 
as to whether to give the Licensee credit for actions related to 
identification normally should consider the ease of discovery, 
whether the event occurred as a result of a Licensee's self-
monitoring effort (i.e., whether the Licensee was ``looking for the 
problem''), the degree of Licensee initiative in identifying the 
problem, and whether prior opportunities existed to identify the 
problem. Any of these considerations may be overriding if 
particularly noteworthy or particularly egregious.
    In this case, the Licensee discovered the problem because the 
Licensee was following the requirements for package receipt per 10 
CFR 20.1906, ``Procedures for receiving and opening packages.'' 
Specifically, this regulation requires Licensees to monitor the 
external surfaces of packages for radioactive contamination and 
radiation levels as soon as practical after receipt of the package. 
But for its adherence to these requirements, there is no indication 
that the Licensee would have otherwise discovered the problem.
    In addition, the NRC determined that identification credit 
should be withheld due to two prior opportunities that existed for 
the Licensee to identify the problem prior to the event. The first 
opportunity involved the preparation of the package from Idaho 
Falls, Idaho, to New York City. A Qal-Tek radiation safety officer, 
who was under schedule

[[Page 19310]]

pressure, deviated from using the typical containment system that 
possessed a positive fastening device because of package weight 
considerations. This change resulted in the radiation safety officer 
using a containment system that did not have a positive fastening 
device. This change should have caused a review to determine if 
shipping requirements were satisfied, but did not. When the package 
arrived in New York City another Qal-Tek radiation safety officer 
had an opportunity to identify that the package containment system 
did not utilize a positive fastening device, failed to do so, and 
used the same package for the return shipment back to Idaho Falls 
resulting in the event. Further, the lack of a fastening device on 
the containment system was apparent and should have been identified 
by anyone handling the containment system.
    As documented in the NRC Inspection Report 030[dash]34866/2017-
001, dated October 11, 2017 (NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) Accession ML17236A425), the NRC concluded 
that both radiation safety officers lacked a questioning attitude. 
Specifically, both individuals recognized that the containment 
system did not have a positive fastening device and neither raised 
the concern to their management. Rather, both individuals used a 
wooden board as an incorrect method to secure the lid of the 
containment system.

Conclusion

    Based on its evaluation, the NRC has concluded that these 
violations occurred as stated and that the Licensee did not provide 
an adequate basis for mitigation of the proposed civil penalty. 
Therefore, the NRC will impose a civil penalty in the amount of 
$22,400.

[FR Doc. 2018-09229 Filed 5-1-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P