No. I-09-011 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 

March 11, 2009 

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov

FIRM IN BUFFALO, N.Y., TO RECEIVE $500 FINE, MAKE CHANGES 

UNDER SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH NRC 

Quality Inspection Services, Inc., (QISI) of Buffalo, N.Y., has agreed to implement a 

broad range of corrective actions related to radiation safety and pay a $500 fine under an 

agreement reached with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

The settlement with the company was achieved under the NRC’s Alternate Dispute 

Resolution (ADR) process, which was initiated at the request of QISI to address a willful 

violation of NRC regulations involving the use of an industrial radiography facility the company 

owns in Manchester, Conn. The violation was identified by the NRC during an inspection and an 

investigation by the agency’s Office of Investigations. 

Specifically, the NRC found there was a willful failure on the part of a QISI site 

Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) to maintain utilization logs for each sealed radioactive source at 

the site. NRC reviews determined that the RSO performed radiographic operations at the 

Manchester location on several occasions between Nov. 15, 2006, and March 2, 2007, without 

keeping such logs. Among other things, these logs capture whether safety procedures were 

followed. 

During industrial radiography operations, metal parts and welds can be inspected for 

flaws. A sealed radioactive source beams radiation at the object to be checked. Special 

photographic, or radiographic, film on the opposite side of the source is exposed when it is struck 

by the radiation passing through. Structural problems can be detected by studying the film. 

On Sept. 15, 2008, the NRC proposed a $6,500 civil penalty for QISI for the violation. In 

the letter to the company notifying it of the enforcement action, QISI was offered an opportunity 

to use the ADR process. ADR is a process in which a neutral mediator with no decision-making 

authority assists the parties in reaching an agreement on the resolution of any differences 

regarding an action. 

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QISI, in turn, requested the use of ADR, and an ADR mediation session was held on Jan. 

22, 2009, at the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y. 

During that session, a preliminary settlement was reached. The agreement has now been 

finalized. 

As part of the settlement agreement, QISI has agreed to take a number of actions. They 

include: (1) revising the existing operations and emergency (O&E) manual to emphasize the 

importance of safe performance of radiography, strict compliance with requirements, being 

complete and accurate in all communications, and understanding that engaging in any willful 

misconduct will not be tolerated; (2) retraining all employees regarding the revisions to the O&E 

manual; (3) adding a radiation safety component to the existing corporate newsletter, to be issued 

at least quarterly, focusing on radiation safety updates; (4) developing a video recording that will 

include the message emphasizing the importance of safety and compliance with the 

requirements; it will be required viewing for all company employees who are involved in any 

manner in activities subject to NRC jurisdiction, and will be placed on the QISI web site for 

employee viewing and access; (5) placing the video on the QISI public web site, and offering to 

make the video available for a presentation at a national industry conference; (6) increasing the 

audits of each of the radiographers working in areas of NRC jurisdiction to three times annually 

for two years; and (7) including, as part of the next two NRC-required annual reviews of the 

company’s radiation safety programs, an inquiry (independent of the corporate radiation safety 

officer) of all radiographers working in NRC jurisdiction, to assess the effectiveness of 

adherence to NRC requirements. 

QISI also agreed to send the NRC a letter documenting completion of the actions within 

30 days after they have been done. 

In recognition of these actions, as well as the corrective actions already taken by QISI, 

the NRC has agreed to reduce the amount of the civil penalty to $500. 

A copy of the enforcement action will be posted on the NRC web site at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/enforcement/actions. 

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