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-07-024 April 30, 2007

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

Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

NRC PROPOSES $3,250 FINE FOR ENGLEWOOD, N.J., HOSPITAL

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing a $3,250 civil penalty for Englewood

Hospital and Medical Center, in Englewood (Bergen County), N.J., for a violation of agency

requirements related to the facility’s radiation oncology program.

The violation was identified during an NRC inspection conducted on April 13 and Sept. 1,

2005, as well as during an investigation by the agency’s Office of Investigations completed on April

21, 2006. Specifically, the hospital, in a request submitted to the NRC on April 6, 2005, sought

permission to amend its license to add an individual as an authorized medical physicist for its radiation

oncology program. A statement included in the submittal provided information regarding the training

and experience of the individual. However, that statement was determined to contain inaccurate

information. Notably, the statement listed clinical experience at the hospital from December 2004 to

May 2005 when, in fact, the medical physicist did not begin to work at the facility until February 2005.

Based on the investigation by the Office of Investigations, the NRC has concluded that the

actions of the hospital’s authorized medical physicist contractor, who provided the hospital with the

information, were deliberate in that the contractor knew the statement was inaccurate at the time it was

submitted to the hospital. Englewood Hospital then submitted this information to the NRC in a request

to amend its NRC license.

“Since you are responsible not only for the acts of your employees but also any contractors and

their employees, your submittal of the inaccurate information to the NRC is considered a deliberate

violation within the context of the NRC Enforcement Policy,” NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J.

Collins wrote in an April 30th letter to Englewood Hospital regarding the enforcement action.

In addition to the violation for which the fine is being proposed, the NRC also identified five

other violations which are being cited in the notice of violation. They include failures to: secure from

unauthorized removal, or limit access to, a high-dose remote afterloader containing iridium-192;

appoint a radiation safety officer from Feb. 6, 2005 to April 6, 2005; conduct adequate annual reviews

of the hospital’s radiation protection program content and implementation; notify the NRC no later

than 30 days from the date the hospital permitted an individual to work as an authorized medical

physicist; and secure the keys for the high-dose remote afterloader when it was not in use or

unattended.
Englewood Hospital representatives discussed the violations with NRC during a predecisional

enforcement conference on Feb. 27, 2007. Hospital officials stated that several corrective actions had

been taken to address the issues, including new security measures and improved communication with

the NRC.

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