AGREEMENT STATE ORIENTATION MEETING SUMMARY FOR VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT 

OF HEALTH (VADH) 

DATE OF MEETING: January 20, 2010 

NRC Attendees VADH

John Kinneman, Director, Division of Nuclear 

Materials Safety, Region I 

Diane Helentjaris, MD, MPH, Deputy Director, 

Office of Epidemiology 

James Kottan, Region I RSAO Leslie Foldesi, CHP, Director, Division of 

Radiological Health 

Monica Orendi, Health Physicist, FSME Michael Welling, Assistant Director, 

Radioactive Materials 

Carmen Rivera , FSME 

DISCUSSION: 

Virginia became the 36th Agreement State on March 31, 2009. The Agreement discontinued 

NRC regulatory authority in the Commonwealth for: a) byproduct materials as defined in 

Section 11e.(1), 11e.(3), and 11e.(4) of the Act; b) source materials; and c) special nuclear 

materials not sufficient to form a critical mass. The Agreement does not cover safety 

evaluations of sealed sources and devices or regulation of 11e.(2) byproduct material resulting 

from the extraction or concentration or source material from ore processed primarily for its 

source material content or its management or disposal 

FSME Procedure SA-118, Orientation Meetings for New Agreement States, requires that 

orientation meetings with new Agreement States take place approximately nine months after the 

signing of the agreement. The orientation meeting serves as a forum to hold discussions, to 

exchange information, to identify areas of concern during the initial implementation for the new 

Agreement State program, and to assess IMPEP review planning. The orientation meeting is 

not a formal evaluation. 

The Virginia Agreement State Program is located in the Division of Radiological Health of the 

Office of Epidemiology within the Virginia Department of Health under the Deputy Commissioner 

for Public Health. 

This summary describes Virginia’s orientation meeting. 

TOPICS COVERED DURING THE MEETING INCLUDED:

Program Strengths

An experienced and well trained staff is the strength of the Program. There is a good working 

relationship among staff and management. Two staff work from home in various parts of the 

Commonwealth. This allows program coverage of the entire Commonwealth on short notice if 

required. There is support for training from Program and Office management. Office and 

Program management have a clear vision for the Program. The program has a good mix of 

staff with respect to new hires and experienced staff. 
VADH Orientation Meeting Summary Page 2 

Management Support of the Agreement State Program

There is support for the Program from Division and Office management. Recently the Office 

has been focused on H1N1 pandemic issues. This has resulted in some loss of senior 

management attention to the program. However the program has been able to adequately 

function under the direction of the Division Director 

Feedback on the NRC’s Program

The Assistant Director commented that both the overall relationship and communication with the 

NRC are good and welcomed the NRC funding of training. The Assistant Director also stated 

that the National Source Tracking System (NSTS) is cumbersome to use, and most licensees 

are entering data into the system via paper, rather than electronically. One member of the 

Program has access to the NSTS system, with one additional staff in the process of applying for 

access. 

Agreement State Program Staffing and Training

The Program is fully staffed. Six FTE are allotted to the Program. This consists of the Assistant 

Director, four Radiation Safety Specialists, an administrative assistant and fiscal support 

technician. Future Program plans call for the addition of an additional Radiation Safety 

Specialist. 

Support for staff training exists in the Program. Virginia welcomed the NRC’s revised policy on 

funding training for Agreement States. Program staff have attended NRC and other training 

courses, including the NRC’s Security Systems and Principles Course. The Program plans are 

for staff to attend six NRC training courses in 2010. The Assistant Director noted that other 

activities that are not specifically training, such as attendance at professional organization 

meetings, also provide valuable opportunities for knowledge sharing. 

 

Materials Inspection Program

The Program’s inspection frequencies are at least as frequent as NRC’s. At the time of the 

Agreement, NRC Region I provided an approximate three-month “cushion” of completed 

inspections to allow Virginia time to concentrate on structuring its Program without concern 

about the need to immediately conduct inspections. No inspections were overdue, and there is 

no inspection backlog. Virginia has performed 51 inspections since becoming an Agreement 

State. The Program maintains a data base for tracking inspection activities. Approximately 80 

inspections are due within the next six months. Of these inspections, six are Priority 1 

inspections, 10 are Priority 2 inspections, and 20 are Priority 3 inspections. 

The Program has conducted eight reciprocity inspections of 44 candidate licensees that have 

entered the Commonwealth. The Assistant Director is conducting inspection accompaniments 

on at least an annual basis. The Program maintains a sufficient number and variety of 

calibrated radiological survey instrumentation for use during inspections. Additionally, the 

Program has access to both a mobile radioanalytical laboratory and the Commonwealth’s fixed 

radioanalytical laboratory for sample analyses. 
VADH Orientation Meeting Summary Page 3 

Licensing 

No licensing backlog exists. The Program has approximately 425 active radioactive materials 

licenses. At the time of this meeting approximately 46 licensing actions were being processed, 

and six applications for new licenses were in process. All medical licenses have been merged 

to include NARM, and new licenses have been issued to these licensees. Pre-licensing visits 

are conducted. 

Regulations and Legislative Changes

There have not been any legislative changes or proposals that have affected the Program. 

Virginia has no regulations that are overdue. The Virginia regulations are fully compatible with 

the NRC’s. 

Program Budget/Funding

The Virginia Agreement State Program is 100 percent funded by the fees charged to licensees 

by the Program. At the present time the Program is adequately funded. Fees are placed into a 

restricted account that is available only to the Program 

 Financial Assurance

The Commonwealth has ten licensees that require financial assurance. Of these ten, six are 

Commonwealth Universities. The Program is working with the Attorney General’s Office to 

convert the beneficiary on the financial instruments from NRC to the Commonwealth of Virginia, 

and to obtain financial assurance for the Commonwealth institutions. 

Event Reporting

The Program communicates reportable incidents to the NRC Operations Center and Region I 

when appropriate in a prompt manner. Since Virginia became an Agreement State, four events 

were reported to the NRC. 

Response to Incidents and Allegations

The Program is sensitive to notifications of incidents and allegations. The Assistant Director 

stated that incidents are quickly reviewed for their effect on public health and safety, and staff 

are dispatched to perform onsite investigations when necessary. The Program is aware of the 

need to maintain an effective response to incidents and allegations. No allegations have been 

received by the Program since becoming an Agreement State. 

General Licensing Program

Virginia has an active program for generally licensed devices. The Program has contacted the 

generally licensed device users within the Commonwealth. There are approximately 3100 total 

general licensees in the Commonwealth. Approximately 180 generally licensed devices are 

subject to fees by the Commonwealth. The Program plans to work with general licensees to 

establish an accurate and accountable inventory list for general licensed devices in Virginia 
VADH Orientation Meeting Summary Page 4 

Security

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

including discussions on fingerprinting requirements and security of self-shielded irradiators. 

The Program is aware of relevant security issues. 

The Program has completed the initial round of inspections of licensees subject to the Increased 

Controls Order. Subsequent inspections are conducted in conjunction with routine safety 

inspections. 

CONCLUSIONS: 

The Virginia Agreement State Program appears to be a capable, stable Agreement State 

program. Staffing has remained consistent since the implementation of the Agreement, and the 

training and experience level for the staff is good. Management support for the Program is also 

good. 

NRC staff recommends that the initial IMPEP review should be conducted as scheduled in early 

FY 2011 (tentatively October 2010).