July 1, 2002

John Erickson, Director

Division of Radiation Protection 

Department of Health 

7171 Cleanwater Lane, Bldg. #5 

P.O. Box 47827

Olympia, WA 98504-7827

Dear Mr. Erickson:

A periodic meeting with Washington was held on May 29, 2002. The purpose of this meeting

was to review and discuss the status of Washington’s Agreement State Program. The NRC

was represented by me and Kevin Hsueh from the NRC’s Office of State and Tribal Programs.

I have completed and enclosed a general meeting summary, including any specific actions that

will be taken as a result of the meeting.

If you feel that our conclusions do not accurately summarize the meeting discussion, or have

any additional remarks about the meeting in general, please contact me at (817) 860-8143 or

e-mail VHC@NRC.GOV to discuss your concerns.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Vivian H. Campbell

Regional State Agreements Officer

Enclosure:

As stated

cc w/encl

Paul Lohaus, Director, OSTP
John Erickson -2-

bcc:

SPO1

e-mail DCD

D. Chamberlain

L. McLean

V. Campbell

K. Hsueh, OSTP

K. Schneider, OSTP

L. Rakovan, OSTP

W. Maier

J. Whitten

DOCUMENT NAME: S:\DNMS\SAO\Periodic Meetings\2002\WASummary.wpd

To receive copy of document, indicate in box: "C" = Copy without enclosures "E" = Copy with enclosures "N" = No copy

OFFICE RIV:RSAO D:DNMS

NAME VHCampbell DDChamberlain

/RA/ /RA/

DATE 7/1/02 7/2/02

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
AGREEMENT STATE PERIODIC MEETING SUMMARY FOR WASHINGTON

DATE OF MEETING: May 29, 2002

ATTENDEES:

NRC

Vivian Campbell, Regional State Agreements Officer

Kevin Hsueh, Agreement State Project Officer, 

 Office of State and Tribal Programs

State of Washington

John Erickson, Director, Division of Radiation Protection

Radioactive Materials Section

Terry Frazee, Supervisor

Arden Scroggs 

Waste Management Section

Gary Robertson, Supervisor

Mikel Elsen

Nancy Darling

Earl Fordham

S. Jamil Ahmad 

DISCUSSION:

The following is a summary of the meeting held in Olympia, Washington, on May 29, 2002,

between representatives of the NRC and the State of Washington. During the meeting, the

topics suggested in a letter dated March 12, 2002, from Ms. Campbell to Mr. Frazee were

discussed. The discussion pertaining to each topic is summarized below.

1. Action on Previous IMPEP Review Findings

The previous Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP) review

was conducted during the period August 30 - September 3, 1999. The status of the

recommendation outlined in Section 5.0 of the final IMPEP report was discussed at the

periodic meeting conducted November 29, 2000. As a result of the discussions at the

November 29 periodic meeting, the staff recommended that this item be closed at the

next IMPEP.

The current status of the recommendation is summarized below.

a. Recommendation: The review team recommends that the State develop additional

specialized inspection procedures for the uranium recovery program.

Status at the November 29, 2000 periodic meeting: The State informed the staff

that they had developed detailed draft inspection procedures to be used by the
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Waste Management staff to inspect uranium mill, low level radioactive waste and

waste processor licensees. The State had also developed a separate draft

inspection procedure to be used to evaluate onsite construction. These procedures

were being used by the staff on a trial basis before final approval and sign-off.

Current Status: The State plans to finalize their procedures for onsite construction

before the next IMPEP review and also plans to use NUREG 1620 as their

procedure for reviewing a reclamation plan for Title II Mill Tailings Sites. The State

acknowledged that they had received NRC’s procedure for placement of rock and

cover and plan to adopt it as well. The other inspection procedures used by the

State’s Waste Management Section have been finalized.

2. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Program

Program Strengths:

The Program continues to have experienced senior staff, a low turnover rate and good

cooperation between the Sections. Currently, the Division has three certified health

physicists on staff. Salaries are relatively high compared to other technical positions in

the State. The State screens new job applicants with a 20 question exam to ensure that

only the highest quality applicants are interviewed. 

The State has had limited ability to increase fees in recent years because of legislative

restraints. However, this past year the State was permitted to raise its fees enough to

again be fully fees based. In addition, the State can now carry over excess funds on a

biannual basis. 

Program Weaknesses:

The need for succession planning for the replacement of critical staff continues to be a

program weakness. However, the State is beginning to address this issue by

developing a management mentoring program that consists of two phases. Phase 1

requires the participant to take specified management courses prior to advancing to

Phase 2. Phase 2 requires the participant to work with a management mentor. The

State has also implemented a recent change for staff who retire. The State can now

allow retired staff to be rehired on a part-time basis giving the State another pool of

qualified resources to temporarily address their staffing needs. 

During the November 29, 2000 periodic meeting, the State had stated that Waste

Management Section staffing levels would be directly affected by the fees generated. 

There has been a 1.5 FTE reduction in the Waste Management Section since the last

periodic meeting.

The inspection backlog continues to be an issue for the Program, primarily the initial and

Priority 1 inspections. There were never more than five overdue inspections at any time

since the last periodic meeting and at the time of this periodic meeting there were only

two overdue inspections based on NRC Priorities. The State has reduced the renewal
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backlog to not more than 1 license pending for more than one year. Otherwise, the

State’s licensing program is current.

During the last periodic meeting, the State discussed the concern that the Governor’s

directive to require upper management concurrence on all communications with federal

agencies could affect the ability of Division staff to comment on NRC rules, guidance

and procedures. The State has now determined that the Governor’s directive has had

minimal impact on the Program. Upper management concurrence is not required by

documents that contain purely technical issues.

As a result of the events of September 11, 2001, the State established a Terrorism

Assessment Group to identify weaknesses in the emergency preparedness program. 

The Group has implemented some recommendations. The State has conducted a table

top exercise and other exercises are being planned. 

The State expressed some concern about their ability to participate in the National

Materials program. Several managers have been reassigned to positions designed to

assess and evaluate the States ability to respond to terrorist attacks. It has been

necessary to assign senior staff to cover these positions during the absence of the

manager. Due to the workload, the State has not been able to comment on NRC issues

and support the national materials program. 

The State anticipates a $ 1.5 billion deficit next year. Although the Program is fully fee

funded, the State has limited out of state travel.

3. State Feedback on NRC’s Program

While the State supports the national materials program concept, they are fully aware of

the funding issues. The State expressed concerns that if NRC discontinued

promulgating federal rules, it would create difficulty for the State to adopt other States

rules. Washington can adopt federal rules that are required for compatibility relatively

easily. However, if the State were to adopt a national rule proposed by another state,

the Program would be required to develop an environmental impact statement or a cost

benefit analysis, and other administrative steps not required for federally required rules. 

This could create a significant burden for the State.

The State expressed their appreciation for the cooperative environment between NRC

and the Program, specifically regarding the Millstone issues and the Hanford site. The

State was particularly pleased with the opportunity for staff to participate in the

NRC/OAS working group on uranium milling license termination in Agreement States. 

4. Recent or Pending State Program Changes

The State provided an updated organization chart. The Waste Management and

Radioactive Materials Sections are currently stable. The Waste Management Section

lost 1.5 FTE when the Western Nuclear mill license was terminated. The State does not

anticipate filling the vacancy in the Radioactive Materials Section. The Director of the
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Division will be leaving July 1, 2002 for his new assignment. The State has posted the

Director’s position as acting and expects to make the selection no later than July 1. The

State does not anticipate any legislative changes.

 5. NRC Program or Policy Changes That Could Impact Agreement States

Ms. Campbell discussed the training on 10 CFR Part 35 in Region IV on July 23 - 24,

2002. The State does not plan to send a participant; however, they requested a copy of

the video tape. The Region will provide a copy to the State. Mr. Hsueh discussed the

status on the revision of the Inspection Manual Chapter 2800, and provided updates on

the IMPEP lessons learned and SS&D working group. Mr. Hsueh also discussed new

additions to the STP web site, including an “action items/due date” button selection, and

the IMPEP tool box.

6. Internal Program Audits or Self Assessments

The State conducted a self assessment on the Radioactive Materials Program and the

Waste Management Program in October 1998 in preparation for their last IMPEP

review. The Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) evaluated all

other programs in the Division in January 2002. The State found this review to be

useful.

7. Status of Allegations Referred by NRC to the State

No allegations have been referred since the last periodic meeting. 

8. Compatibility of Washington Rules and Regulations

The three regulations that need to be adopted by the State are not due until 2003 or

later. The State commented that their well logging regulations would require a major

rewrite. The State does not currently have well logging licensees. However, they

receive reciprocity requests for well logging activities from licensees outside the State. 

The State anticipates that they will be on track to complete the rule revisions before their

assigned due dates.

9. Nuclear Material Events Database (NMED)

The State continues to report events by email, and does not input information using the

NMED software. The State commented that the current NMED software is not

compatible with their system and that they mainly used the web-based NMED system

for checking their own NMED records. 

The NRC staff commented that the State’s process appears to be effective for initially

reporting events. However, the NRC staff requested that the State ensure that routine

and follow up event information is provided to the NMED on a monthly basis and that

events are closed out in the NMED system. The State requested assistance in
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identifying the NMED events that have not been closed out, and/or need additional

information. 

On June 17, 2002, the NRC staff including STP-designated Project Manager on Event

Reporting continued discussions of this subject with the State. The NRC and State staff

discussed two NMED data input fields, i.e., NMED record complete and event closed out

by State. The State requested that the web-based NMED system be modified to

provide a mechanism for the user to query the data to identify events that have not been

closed out by the State. In addition, the State requested a mechanism to identify events

that need additional information and to specifically identify the data that is considered

incomplete. 

The NRC staff indicated that currently the web-based NMED system does not allow the

user to query the data to identify a selected group of events that have not been closed

out by the State. Instead, the user needs to review each NMED record to find out

whether an event has been closed out. The NRC staff further indicated that additional

information needed to complete the NMED records is requested by the NMED

contractor through e-mail on a needed basis. Nevertheless, the State’s suggestions to

improve the web-based NMED system have been forwarded to NMSS for consideration.

In the meantime, as part of the preparation for the periodic meeting, the NRC staff has

reviewed all the reportable events, listed in the Attachment, that were reported to the

NMED by the State since the previous IMPEP review. Following the June 17, 2002

discussion, the status on the “NMED record complete” and “event closed out by State”

for each NMED record was included in the Attachment for reference. The State is

requested to ensure that additional information is provided to the NMED to complete the

NMED records and to update the NMED records indicating event files have been closed

by the State if the State has made such a determination.

10. Schedule for next IMPEP Review

The next IMPEP is scheduled for fiscal year 2003. 
Attachment

Reportable events in NMED submitted by the State of Washington during the period September

4, 1999 - May 29, 2002

No. NMED

Record

Complete

Event

Closed by

State

NMED

Item

No.

Licensee Licensee

Number

1 Y

No

information

has been

received

by the

NMED

contractor

to fill out

this

column.

990763 Allied Technology Group I0393-1

2 N 010899 Amec Earth and Environmental,

Inc.

L093-1

3 Y 000341 Anvil Corp. IR031-1

4 N 010503 Anvil Corp. IR031-1

5 Y 000606 Columbia Asphalt & Gravel Inc. I0440-1

6 N 000488 Edax, Inc. I0282-1

7 N 000047 Federal Express NonLicensee

8 N 010111 Geoengineers, Inc. I0204-1

9 Y 990750 Geoengineers, Inc. I0204-1

10 Y 000008 Inspection Service Inc. IR06401

11 N 000935 Mds Pharma Services, Inc. L0106-1

12 N 000936 Northwest Inspection, Inc. IR065-1

13 N 000912 Pacific Technical Industries IR053-1

14 N 000022 Professional Service Industries,

Inc.

IR021-1

15 Y 020169 Stericycle NonLicensee

16 Y 010492 Swedish Medical Center M008-1

17 Y 000697 Translata Centralia Mining LLC I0241-1

18 Y 000788 Translata Centralia Mining LLC I0241-1

19 Y 000919 Translata Centralia Mining LLC I0241-1

20 Y 020170 Translata Centralia Mining LLC I0241-1

21 N 010171 Wahluke Produce, Inc. I0332-1
-2- Attachment 

22 Y 010182 Washington - University of C001-1

23 Y 000457 Washington Department of

Transportation

L073-1

24 N 010348 Weyerhaeuser Technology

Center

L083-1

25 Y 011092 Weyerhaeuser Technology

Center

L083-1

26 Y 990653 Wheelabrator NonLicensee

27 N 000875 Zipper Zeman Associates I0507-1