United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs, Region I

475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19401

Phone: 610/337-5330 Fax: 610/337-5241

Internet: dps@nrc.gov or nas@nrc.gov

I-96-85 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Diane Screnci December 31, 1996

Neil A. Sheehan

NRC PROPOSES TO FINE TEMPLE UNIVERSITY $10,000

FOR VIOLATIONS INVOLVING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed $10,000 in civil

penalties against Temple University for two violations of agency guidelines at

the Philadelphia, Pa., school's Health Sciences Center. The violations

involved a failure to secure licensed radioactive materials and a failure to

check the calibration of medical radiation equipment.

NRC also identified four other violations, for which no fines were

issued, during inspections conducted on September 30 and October 1, 2, 24 and

25 at the facility.

The first violation to draw a fine -- two examples of which were found

-- stems from a discovery by NRC inspectors that the university did not secure

from unauthorized removal or limit access to a 2-curie molybdenum 99-

technetium generator housed in the school's Nuclear Medicine Department Hot

Lab. In addition, small quantities of hydrogen-3, sulfur-35 and iodine-125

were found stored in unlocked refrigerators in unlocked labs. In both cases,

there was also a lack of control and constant surveillance of the materials.

The NRC believes this violation represents a significant safety and regulatory

concern because it could have resulted in the loss or theft of radioactive

material, as well as unnecessary radiation exposure for the staff and public.

A failure by a medical physicist, working as a contractor, to perform

spot checks of a high-dose remote afterloader's calibration on a monthly

basis, as required, led to the second violation to garner a civil penalty.

Other violations included: 1.) a failure to perform a full calibration

of the teletherapy unit between June 1994 and August 1995, as required; 2.) a

failure to ensure that licensed materials were used only by, or under the

supervision of, individuals who are designated by the Temple University

Radiation Protection Committee; 3.) a failure to document the level of

removable contamination found on packages in the required units; and 4.) a

failure to test each dose calibrator for linearity at least quarterly.

"These recent violations indicate a disturbing and declining trend in

the performance of Temple University with respect to its NRC license," NRC

Region 1 Administrator Hubert J. Miller said in a letter to the university.

"The licenses issued to Temple University place a significant responsibility

on the management of the University to ensure that activities are conducted

safely and in accordance with the terms of the license.

"Notwithstanding that high responsibility," Mr Miller continued, "Temple

management has not ensured adherence to NRC requirements, as evidenced by the

fact that the enforcement conference conducted with Temple on December 6,

1996, was the third enforcement conference conducted with you since October

1995. In addition, an $8,000 civil penalty was issued to Temple on December

15, 1995 for a violation involving the discrimination against a former

employee who raised safety concerns."
The university has 30 days to pay the proposed fine or to request in

writing that part or all of the penalty be withdrawn.

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