No. I-10-044 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331 

October 22, 2010

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov

NRC ISSUES $34,000 FINE TO INDIANA, PA., FIRM 

 OVER HANDLING OF RADIOACTIVE SOURCES 

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing a $34,000 fine for a Pennsylvaniabased company for several violations associated with its use of radioactive materials. The 

violations include the improper control of radioactive materials while in transport; a failure to 

report the temporary loss of two sealed radioactive sources; a failure to perform required 

radiological surveys of vehicles used to transport such materials; and the deliberate falsification 

of survey records. 

 The company, Superior Well Services, Ltd., is based in Indiana, Pa. Pennsylvania is an 

Agreement State, or a state which has signed an agreement with the NRC to oversee radioactive 

materials within its borders that the NRC would normally regulate. In this case, the violations 

involving Superior Well Services occurred in West Virginia, which is not an Agreement State. 

Therefore, the NRC is taking enforcement action for these violations. 

From July 23, 2009, to July 22, 2010, the NRC technical staff conducted an inspection of 

Superior Well Service’s licensed activities in the area of radiation safety and the circumstances 

surrounding a loss-of-radioactive material event that occurred on Sept. 20, 2008. During the 

same period, an investigation of the activities was carried out by the NRC’s Office of 

Investigations. The reviews took place at the company’s facilities in Buckhannon, W.Va.; 

Sophia, W.Va.; and Gaylord, Mich. The NRC also held a Predecisional Enforcement 

Conference with company officials on Sept. 2, 2010, to discuss apparent violations identified 

during the NRC reviews. 

Based on the inspection and investigation, as well as information provided during the 

conference, the NRC has identified five violations of agency regulations by Superior Well 

Services. 

Three of the violations stem from the Sept. 20, 2008, event, during which two sealed 

radioactive sources used for well logging – an oil and gas exploration technique -- fell off a 

company truck while being transported. One of the violations involved a failure to properly 

secure the packages containing the licensed radioactive material from shifting when the vehicle 

was in motion. As a result, when the truck reportedly hit a large pothole on Interstate 79 in West 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I 

475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov
Virginia, the weld securing the source plate to the vehicle broke, causing the radioactive sources 

to fall off and consequently be left unattended by the side of a public highway. The second 

violation involved a failure to control and maintain constant surveillance of the sources while 

they were on the highway, which is an unrestricted area. The sources remained unattended for 

approximately 90 minutes until Superior Well Services personnel located and retrieved the 

sources. The third violation involved the company’s failure to immediately report the event to 

the NRC, as required. The NRC inspection and investigation found that company employees 

who were aware of the event did not recognize the need to file such a report, leading to Superior 

Well Services not submitting one until July 23, 2009. 

“Although the sources remained inside their locked, shielded transport containers, and no 

member of the public appears to have been exposed to radiation from these sources during the 

ninety minutes they were unattended on the highway, the potential existed for significant 

exposure or a malevolent use to occur if an unauthorized individual had retrieved the sources and 

breached the containers,” NRC Region I Deputy Administrator Marc Dapas wrote in a letter to 

Superior Well Services regarding the enforcement action. 

The other two violations being cited by the NRC pertain to a failure to conduct required 

radiological surveys of vehicles transporting licensed radioactive materials and a deliberate 

falsification of survey records for these vehicles. Specifically, former Superior Well Services 

employees told the NRC that on numerous occasions they did not perform these surveys but 

instead completed the associated forms by copying data from previously completed forms. 

“The falsification of radiological survey records is of particular concern to the NRC 

because the actions of the employees were deliberate,” Mr. Dapas wrote. “The employees who 

admitted to the NRC that they had falsified survey records indicated that they did so because 

they did not know how to use the survey instruments.” 

 Superior Well Services has 30 days to respond to the enforcement action. 

 #