NRC NEWS

 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 Office of Public Affairs, Region I

 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa.

www.nrc.gov

 

No. I-06-060 November 21, 2006

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC, PA. COMPANY TO DISCUSS APPARENT VIOLATIONS

 STEMMING FROM TEMPORARY LOSS OF NUCLEAR GAUGE

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of a Bethlehem, Pa.,

engineering firm on Tuesday, Nov. 28, to discuss three apparent violations of agency requirements

involving the control and security of NRC-licensed radioactive materials. The apparent violations stem

from the temporary loss of a nuclear gauge in August and were identified during an NRC special

inspection conducted in September at the offices of Pennoni Associates, Inc., and at two temporary job

sites.

The predecisional enforcement conference is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the NRC Region I

Office, at 475 Allendale Road in King of Prussia, Pa. It will be open to the public for observation,

though portions may be closed, if necessary, to discuss specific security aspects of the apparent

violations.

On Aug. 21, Pennoni notified the NRC that a portable nuclear gauge belonging to the firm was

missing. The gauge, which contains small amounts of radioactive material and is used for such

purposes as measuring soil density at construction sites, had been stored in a vehicle owned by a

company employee authorized to use it. The employee had loaned the vehicle to a relative at 11 p.m.

on Aug. 19 to perform a short errand. The gauge was stored in the back seat of the vehicle when it was

borrowed. It was inside a locked transportation container, which was secured to the vehicle by a

locked cable. The vehicle was not returned to the company employee, as promised.

On Aug. 23, another relative of the company employee located the vehicle and returned it. 

However, the gauge and its transportation container were missing. The relative informed the Pennoni

staffer that the gauge had been removed from the vehicle and left on the front porch of a residence in

Bethlehem. The company retrieved the gauge from the porch on the morning of Aug. 24 and returned

it to a company storage location in Bethlehem. It was determined that a lock on the transportation

container had been broken and one of its handles damaged. However, there was no damage to the

gauge and the radioactive material inside was still safely shielded.
An NRC special inspection was conducted on Sept. 7 and 8 to review the circumstances

surrounding the event. The inspection took place at the company’s offices in Bethlehem and at

temporary job sites in Rehrersburg and Chambersburg, Pa.

The apparent violations by Pennoni are as follows: 1) a failure to use a minimum of two

independent physical controls to prevent unauthorized removal of a nuclear gauge when it was not

under direct control and constant surveillance of company personnel; 2) a failure to maintain constant

surveillance of the device in an unrestricted area; and 3) a failure to make an immediate telephone

report to the NRC after the gauge was discovered to be missing.

The purpose of the Nov. 28th meeting is to obtain information to enable the NRC to determine

what, if any, enforcement action is warranted. There will be an effort to come to a common

understanding of the facts and a discussion of root causes of the event and corrective actions

undertaken by the company.

No decision will be made by the NRC staff at the session. Rather, NRC management will

render a decision sometime in the near future.

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