February 6, 2008 

Joe Klinger, Assistant Director 

Illinois Emergency Management Agency 

1035 Outer Park Drive 

Springfield, IL 62704 

Dear Mr. Klinger: 

A periodic meeting with Illinois was held on January 15, 2008. The purpose of this meeting was 

to review and discuss the status of Illinois’ Agreement State program. The NRC was 

represented by Steven Reynolds and me. 

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 (630) 829-9661, or 

e-mail to JLL2@NRC.GOV to discuss your comments. 

Sincerely, 

/RA/ 

James L. Lynch 

State Agreements Officer 

Enclosure: 

As stated 

cc w/encl: P. Eastvold, IEMA 

 G. Vinson, IEMA 

 A. McCraw, FSME 

 K. Lukes, FSME 

 S. Reynolds, RIII 

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Enclosure 

AGREEMENT STATE PERIODIC MEETING SUMMARY FOR ILLINOIS

JANUARY 15, 2008 

ATTENDEES: NRC STATE

Steve Reynolds Joe Klinger 

Jim Lynch Paul Eastvold 

Gibb Vinson 

Daren Perrero 

Gary McCandless 

DISCUSSION: 

Previous IMPEP Review

In April 2005, an Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP) review of the 

Illinois Agreement State Program resulted in a non-compatibility finding. The Management 

Review Board (MRB) initiated a period of heightened oversight for the Illinois program and 

directed that a follow-up IMPEP review be conducted the next year. A follow-up review was 

completed in June 2006. The MRB concluded that, based on the follow-up review results, the 

Illinois program was again compatible with the NRC’s program. The period of heightened 

oversight was discontinued. 

Organization

In March 2007, Andrew Velasquez III was appointed as Director of the Illinois Emergency 

Management Agency (IEMA) by Governor Rod Blagojevich. Joseph Klinger was recently 

named Assistant IEMA Director. Mr. Klinger is the State Liaison Officer and remains as the 

NRC’s main contact and responsible party for the radiation control program. 

Most of the radioactive materials program functions reside in the Bureau of Radiation Safety, led 

by Paul Eastvold. Gibb Vinson is currently the acting Head of the Radioactive Materials 

Section. Some programs, such as decommissioning and financial surety are located in the 

Bureau of Environmental Safety. Discussions with personnel from both Bureaus indicated that 

they work cooperatively together and resources from one may be used to assist the other, if 

needed. An internal policy memorandum describes the relationship between the Bureaus. 

Illinois has approximately 746 specific licensees. 

Agreement State Program Staffing

A well-trained, experienced staff remains a strength of the Illinois Agreement State program. 

The inspection staff is similar to that seen during the last IMPEP review. Five of the six 

materials inspectors are located in the West Chicago office, as the bulk of the inspection load is 

in the Chicago area. The licensing staff has experienced turnover with the promotion of Joe 

Klinger to Assistant Director, with Gibb Vinson’s promotion to Acting Section Head, and with the 

recent resignation of David Price. The licensing program currently operates with three 

reviewers. 
2 Enclosure 

With the current nation-wide emphasis on increasing the security of radioactive materials, the 

IEMA inspection and licensing programs are being taxed to their limits. With the unfilled 

positions in the licensing program, the impact of increased security measures is significant. 

IEMA managers indicated that they are working on filling the licensing supervisor and license 

reviewer positions. Approval to fill vacant positions is needed from the Governor’s office. 

The IEMA managers commented on the usefulness of the NRC Security Action Plan to help 

them forecast their future staffing needs for materials licensing and inspections. The Action 

Plan demonstrates the need for Illinois to hire additional staff in order to address upcoming 

security-related workloads. IEMA has used the analysis to support their request for additional 

personnel. 

Training

A training matrix was developed for all employees to track their training history. Formalized 

training requirements were developed for license reviewers. Similar requirements have been 

drafted for inspectors, and will be utilized if a new inspector is hired. 

The recent change in NRC policy by which NRC pays training costs for Agreement State staff 

was applauded by the IEMA managers. This benefit will allow staff to attend training courses 

that would not have been possible otherwise. 

Illinois has a significant number of pool irradiators containing large quantities of radioactive 

material. It was noted that only the Inspection Supervisor and one license reviewer have 

attended the pool irradiator training course. The value of additional training, as offered by this 

training course, was identified as a potential benefit to the program. In December 2007, a 

license reviewer attended the security training course. Other reviewers will be sent to the 

security course as workload permits. 

IEMA management was strongly encouraged to continue to support the IMPEP program by 

providing technical staff for IMPEP reviews of NRC and other Agreement State programs to 

share Illinois’ expertise and to strengthen staff skills and perspectives. 

Inspections

Illinois inspection frequencies are at least as frequent as NRC’s. No inspections are currently 

overdue with respect to NRC priorities. New licensees are inspected within 12 months of 

license issuance, regardless of whether the licensee has received radioactive material. 

Reciprocity inspections are performed in accordance with the frequencies identified in NRC 

Manual Chapter 1220. 

Increased Controls inspections are up-to-date, including all but four self-shielded irradiators. 

Illinois is addressing the new fingerprinting requirements and will have their licensees request 

an amendment to incorporate the requirement into their licenses. IEMA plans to have all 

appropriate licenses updated with fingerprinting requirements by the June 2008 deadline. 

Licensing

No significant licensing backlogs exist, however, with the shortage of license reviewers, IEMA is 

prioritizing licensing actions with health, safety and security-related actions taking precedence. 
3 Enclosure 

IEMA issues licenses on a 5-year term. An expedited license renewal program is being used for 

licensees whose programs do not have significant changes. 

A due diligence review is performed for new licensees and new radioactive material users. This 

review is an extensive background check. Pre-licensing visits are performed for all Increased 

Controls applicants and other selected applicants. 

Financial assurance obligations are reevaluated every two years. A licensee may not get a reevaluation for one review, if it indicates that no changes have occurred in the organization which 

would warrant a reevaluation. If the licensee does not provide an updated surety evaluation for 

the second review (four years), the license is subject to further action. 

As required by State law, IEMA notifies local authorities upon receipt of an application for a new 

license. 

Regulations

The State has made significant progress in maintaining compatibility-required regulations up-todate. RATS 2005-2 (Recognition of Specialty Boards) and 2006-1 (Minor Amendments) are 

currently under review by NRC. The National Source Tracking System proposed regulations 

are in process, at the “1st Notice” stage. IEMA does not have any overdue regulations. 

Security

The current security climate and potential future security measures were discussed in detail, 

particularly regarding fingerprinting and security of self-shielded irradiators. Illinois is keenly 

aware of the security issues and contributes regularly on the Increased Controls message 

board. The State entered into 274i agreements with the NRC to inspect materials licensee 

compliance with NRC-ordered security measures and with RAMQC. Safeguards information is 

tracked and is appropriately stored in a GSA-approved safe. 

Daren Perrero pointed out errors in a recently issued table of isotope categories associated with 

the National Source Tracking System. FSME made the corrections and re-released the table. 

IEMA asked for the status of the pool irradiator security inspection procedures. NRC is 

preparing the inspection procedures with an expected issuance in the next few months. Until 

then, NRC and Agreement State offices are encouraged to use the NRC Inspection Manual 

Chapter 2800/034 Temporary Instruction for follow-up pool irradiator inspections. 

Incidents

IEMA staff communicates reportable incidents promptly to the NRC Operations Center and 

Region III. Daren Perrero or Gibb Vinson input incident information directly into the Nuclear 

Materials Events Database (NMED) as incidents occur. Since the last IMPEP review in 2006, 

eight reportable incidents were reported to NMED. A review of NMED identified timely and 

quality input of incidents. 

One abnormal occurrence involving a medical event was reported by the State. A 

comprehensive abnormal occurrence report was prepared by IEMA and sent to NRC for 

inclusion in the annual report to Congress. 
4 Enclosure 

The NRC representatives were provided a tour of IEMA’s State emergency operations center 

during the Periodic Meeting. 

Allegations

Two allegations were transferred to Illinois from NRC since the last IMPEP review. The 

allegations involved dosimetry and radiation protection concerns at a hospital and the potential 

loss of nuclear gauges at a defunct industrial facility. IEMA staff investigated the allegations 

and took prompt, appropriate action. Investigation results were provided to the Regional State 

Agreements Officer. 

Licensee Updates

The Kerr-McGee decommissioning project continues in West Chicago. The factory site 

decommissioning is essentially completed. Kress Creek was also decontaminated. Efforts are 

now ongoing in the DuPage River, downstream from Kress Creek. Groundwater remediation at 

the factory site will continue for several years. The total decommissioning project cost is 

estimated to be $650 million. 

The Spectralite thorium decommissioning project in Madison County was completed. 

Confirmatory surveys were recently performed by IEMA staff members. 

The Chicago Magnesium facility in Blue Island is an ongoing decommissioning project. The 

forest preserve property was successfully decontaminated. Further work is required on the 

industrial site. 

Sealed Sources and Devices

IEMA has an active SS&D program which issues approximately four or five SS&D amendments 

annually. 

CONCLUSIONS:

The Illinois Radiation Control Program continues to be a strong, stable Agreement State 

program. Staff has remained fairly consistent for many years and the training level for staff 

members is good. The recent loss of two license reviewers has put a strain on the licensing 

program. IEMA management is hopeful that position funding for additional staffing positions will 

be forthcoming in the near future. 

IEMA resolved the issues with late adoption of compatibility-required regulations. 

During the 2006 MRB meeting, it was recommended that the next IMPEP review be scheduled 

in three years. Those present at this meeting agreed to schedule the review as planned, in FY 

2009.