UNITED STATES

 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

 REGION I

475 ALLENDALE ROAD

KING OF PRUSSIA, PENNSYLVANIA 19406-1415 

May 10, 2005

Robert J. Walker

Director

Massachusetts Department of Health

Radiation Control Program

90 Washington Street

Dorchester, MA 02121

Dear Mr. Walker:

A periodic meeting with the Massachusetts Radiation Control Program was held on April 20,

2005. The purpose of the meeting was to review and discuss the status of the Massachusetts

Agreement State program. The NRC was represented by John Zabko from the NRC’s Office of

State and Tribal Programs and me. Specific topics and issues of importance discussed at the

meeting included the actions taken in response to the IMPEP recommendations.

I have completed and enclosed a general meeting summary. There were no specific actions

identified during the meeting. 

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

any additional remarks about the meeting in general, please contact me at 610-337-5358 or

email to sam9@nrc.gov to discuss your concerns. 

Thank you and your staff for the exchange of information and kindness extended during my

visit.

Sincerely,

Original signed by Sheri Minnick

Sheri Minnick

Regional State Agreements Officer

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety
DISTRIBUTION

SPO1

G. Pangburn, RI

F. Costello, RI

Andrea Jones, STP

J. Zabko, STP

SISP Review Completed by: CXL

DOCUMENT NAME: E:\Filenet\ML051360372.wpd

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OFFICE DNMS/RI N DNMS/RI DNMS/RI

NAME Sminnick sam9

DATE 5/10/05

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
AGREEMENT STATE PERIODIC MEETING SUMMARY FOR

MASSACHUSETTS RADIATION CONTROL PROGRAM

DATE OF MEETING: April 20, 2005

ATTENDEES:

Sheri Minnick, RSAO

John Zabko, STP (by phone)

Robert Walker, Program Director

Salifu Dakubu, Radioactive Materials Supervisor

Ken Traegde, Materials Licensing and SS&D Supervisor

Robert Gallaghar, Inspection Supervisor

Michael Whalen, Events and Database Coordinator

Tony Carpenito, Allegations Coordinator

Various program staff

DISCUSSION: 

A meeting was held with the Massachusetts representatives on April 20, 2005 in Dorchester,

Massachusetts. The topics listed in NRC letter dated March 1, 2005 (ML 050620220), to Mr.

Walker were discussed. Details for each area are discussed below. 

The previous IMPEP review was conducted during the period of June 24-28, 2002. During the

2002 review, four recommendations were made by the team. The Management Review Board

met on September 5, 2002, concurred on the team’s findings, and found the Massachusetts

program adequate to protect public health and safety and compatible with the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission’s program. 

The proposed status of each of the four recommendations in Section 5.0 of the 2002 Integrated

Materials Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP) review of Massachusetts is summarized

below.

1. The review team recommends that the Commonwealth take necessary steps to

ensure that all reportable events are submitted and updated to NRC in accordance with

STP Procedure SA-300. (Section 3.5)

Current Status: This item was reviewed during the October 30, 2003 periodic meeting

where it was recommended that this item be closed at the next IMPEP review. 

2. The review team recommends that the Commonwealth adopt regulations necessary

for compatibility within the required three year time frame and submit alternative forms

of legally binding requirements for NRC review following the guidance in SA-201.

(Section 4.1.2)

Current Status: The status of the adoption of regulations for compatibility was

discussed. Based upon the NRC’s Regulation Assessment Tracking System (RATS), it

was noted that since the last IMPEP, all remaining NRC amendments have been

adopted by the Program. It is recommended that this item be closed at the next IMPEP

review.
3. The team recommends that in the interest of national consistency, and where

practical, the Program closely follow the format for documenting product evaluations in

SS&D registry certificates as detailed in NUREG 1556, Volume 3. (Section 4.2.1)

Current Status: The Program has two full-time SS&D reviewers for approximately ten

manufacturers. The largest manufacturer, AEA Technologies QSA, Inc. holds around

200 sheets. The Supervisor of the Materials Licensing Section was part of the team that

wrote NUREG 1556, Volume 3, and, therefore, is knowledgeable of the appropriate

format. The certifications are reviewed by the Supervisor to assure that the format is

consistent with NUREG 1556, Volume 3. The Supervisor also reviews and approves the

checklists used by reviewers. It is recommended that this item be closed at the next

IMPEP review.

4. The team recommends that the Program make corrections to registration certificates

MA-1142-D-102-G and MA-0116D-102-B. (Section 4.2.1)

Current Status: In addition to the case files identified during the IMPEP review as

needing improvement, the Program has identified other Eurotherm registration

certificates, in addition to MA-0116-D-102B, that also needed to be reviewed and

reformatted. This process is not completed at this time, but is expected to be completed

by the next IMPEP review. Registration certificate MA-1142-D-102 G has been

completed. It is recommended that this item be verified and closed at the next IMPEP

review upon issuance of the amendments to registration sheets.

The Program has recently had a change in that it is no longer under the Bureau of

Environmental Health Assessment, but rather is under the Center for Environmental Health.

The Program Director expects the Program to have more support as a result of this change. 

For example, the Program which used to have 39 FTE, has been reduced over the years to 31

FTE. The Director expects to gain 3 FTE within the next fiscal year to be used in the materials,

non-ionizing and x-ray programs. 

The organization of the Commonwealth and the differences between the Radiation Control

Program and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) were discussed. 

Program staff are contacted either by the State Police or by MEMA for radiological events. 

Program staff support the FEMA REP exercises.

The Program Director reported that the Commonwealth currently has 525 specific licenses. 

Since all but one staff member is fully qualified, the program has been able to maintain the

licensing and inspection workload. The Program Director reported no overdue core inspections

greater than 25% of the inspection frequency and no overdue initial inspections. The Program

is able to maintain a high level of reciprocity inspections and has completed required security

inspections. There is no licensing backlog. 

The Program views its database as one of their strengths. They are able to use the database

as a management tool and perform audits as needed. Since the database was developed inhouse, it can be adapted as needed. For example, an IMPEP query mode has been developed

to track specific IMPEP criteria. The database was explained in detail and queried. The

database needs to be updated to include the new program codes inspection priorities from IMC

2800 to reflect the Program’s adoption of these frequencies once the draft change to the

inspection procedure manual is finalized. 
Another strength of the Program is the experienced staff, three of which are IMPEP trained, and

have been active in IMPEP reviews. Staff also participate in NRC working groups, have helped

revise IMC 2800 and NUREG 1556 documents, and have worked on recent materials security

efforts. 

Allegations and incidents are appropriately processed on a case-by-case basis, and follow-up

inspections are conducted as needed. The Program has received six allegations in 2004 and

thus far, three allegations in 2005. Allegations are tracked. When appropriate, allegations are

investigated either immediately or during the next routine inspection. Sometimes inspection

dates are moved up in order to have a more timely evaluation of the allegation. The allegers

are updated and informed of the follow-up results. The Program has been responsive to

Regional requests when replies or actions were needed to close out allegations or deal with

other requests for information.

The mechanism for reporting events, what events to report, the timeliness of reporting,

completeness of the reports, and closing out reports was discussed. Upon review of the NMED

system, and the NRC Operating Events, the reports show that events are being appropriately

reported and documented to NRC and the NMED system. Routine events are provided to the

NRC contractor, and the Program was complemented on their efforts to report significant

events to the NRC Operations Center.

Two significant events that the Program has been handling were discussed, namely a

brachytherapy event at the Northshore Medical Center in 2001 and a I-125 prostate

underdosing event at the Lahey Clinic in 2004. Both events required significant resources for

follow-up inspections and subsequent enforcement actions, which are ongoing at this time.

The next IMPEP of the Massachusetts Agreement State Program is scheduled for June 2006.

No issues were identified by NRC staff to change the scheduling of the next review.

CONCLUSION: 

The Massachusetts program has effective management, well trained technical staff, and

sufficient equipment and resources to carry out the Agreement Program under the IMPEP

criteria. The Commonwealth does not currently have any inspection or licensing backlogs and

the staff are active in participating in the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors

activities, Organization of Agreement State activities, and NRC/State working groups. All of the

IMPEP indicators were discussed and there were no performance issues identified during the

meeting. 

ACTION ITEMS: 

None.