UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

REGION I 

2100 RENAISSANCE BLVD., SUITE 100 

KING OF PRUSSIA, PA 19406-2713 

June 3, 2014 

Debra Shults, Director 

Division of Radiological Health 

Tennessee Department of Environment 

 and Conservation 

William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower 

312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue, 15th Floor 

Nashville, TN 37243 

Dear Ms. Shults: 

A periodic meeting was held with you and your staff on April 17, 2014. The purpose of the 

meeting was to review and discuss the status of the Tennessee Department of Environment and 

Conservation’s Agreement State Program. The NRC was represented by Michelle Beardsley 

and me. 

I have completed and enclosed a general meeting summary, including any specific actions that 

will be taken as a result of this 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 (610) 337-5371, or email Donna.Janda@nrc.gov to discuss your 

comments. 

Sincerely, 

 /RA/ 

Donna M. Janda 

Regional State Agreements Officer 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 

Enclosure: As stated 

 
June 3, 2014 

Debra Shults, Director 

Division of Radiological Health 

Tennessee Department of Environment 

 and Conservation 

William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower 

312 Rosa L. Parks Avenue, 15th Floor 

Nashville, TN 37243 

Dear Ms. Shults: 

A periodic meeting was held with you and your staff on April 17, 2014. The purpose of the 

meeting was to review and discuss the status of the Tennessee Department of the Environment 

and Conservation’s Agreement State Program. The NRC was represented by Michelle 

Beardsley 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 (610) 337-5371, or email Donna.Janda@nrc.gov to discuss your 

comments. 

Sincerely, 

 /RA/ 

Donna M. Janda 

Regional State Agreements Officer 

Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 

Enclosure: As stated 

Distribution: 

D. White, FSME 

M. Beardsley, FSME 

L. Dimmick, FSME 

K. Meyer, FSME 

J. Clifford, RI 

J. Marshall, RI 

SUNSI Review Complete: DMJ (Reviewer=s Initials) 

DOCUMENT NAME: S:\State Agreement Files\Tennessee\TN Periodic Meeting Summary 4-17-14.docx 

After declaring this document “An Official Agency Record” it will be released to the Public. 

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OFFICE DNMS/RI E 

NAME Janda/dmj 

DATE 06/03/14 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Enclosure 

1 

AGREEMENT STATE PERIODIC MEETING SUMMARY FOR TENNESSEE 

 DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION 

DATE OF MEETING: April 17, 2014 

NRC Attendees TN Department of Environment and 

Conservation Attendees 

Donna Janda, RSAO, Region I Chuck Head, Senior Director, Land Resources 

Michelle Beardsley, Health Physicist, 

FSME 

Debra Shults, Director, Division of Radiological 

Health 

 Anthony Hogan, Deputy Director 

 Billy Freeman, Deputy Director for Field Operations 

 Johnny Graves, Licensing Manager 

 Ronald Parsons, Health Physicist 

 Ruben Crosslin, Health Physicist 

DISCUSSION: 

During the 2012 Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP) review of the 

Tennessee Agreement State Program (the Program), the review team found the State’s 

performance satisfactory for all seven performance indicators. No recommendations regarding 

Program performance were made by the IMPEP review team. On July 10, 2012, the 

Management Review Board (MRB) met to consider the proposed final IMPEP report on the 

Tennessee Agreement State Program. The MRB found the Program adequate to protect public 

health and safety and compatible with NRC’s program. The MRB directed that the next full 

IMPEP review take place in approximately four years. 

Topics covered during this meeting included: 

Program Strengths

The Program identified the following list of strengths: 

• An experienced and well-trained licensing and inspection staff with health physics 

expertise 

• Unique licensees such as waste processors 

• No turnover in licensing staff 

• Convenient access to ORISE, REACTS, DOE (all based in Tennessee) when needed 

• Management support for training and continuing education; sending more than one staff 

member to National meetings 

• Information exchange between licensing and inspection staff 

• Well-staffed in inspection program; able to meet metrics; cross-training of inspection 

staff allows for flexibility in inspection program 

• Knowledge sharing opportunities including in-house training and monthly 

videoconferences with inspectors 

• Hiring process has changed which allows for flexibility in selection of qualified 

candidates 
Enclosure 

2 

Program Weaknesses

The Program noted that salaries continue to decline in comparison to other State and NRC 

counterparts. 

Agreement State Program Staffing and Training

The Program currently has approximately 24 full-time equivalent staff members including 

managers with five staff vacancies. Two of these vacant positions have been upgraded to 

manager positions. Interviews were scheduled to be conducted the week after this meeting. An 

offer has been made to an individual for one of the vacant technical staff positions. No positions 

have been eliminated. The Program does not have any staff going through the qualification 

process at this time. 

Organization

The Tennessee Agreement State Program is administered by the Division of Radiological 

Health, which is located in the Bureau of the Environment under the Department of Environment 

and Conservation (the Department). Licensing, registration and rule development activities are 

conducted in the Central office located in Nashville. Inspection and enforcement activities are 

conducted in four field offices located in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville. 

The Department is currently undergoing reorganization. Some management and supervisory 

positions are expected to be eliminated. In addition, the Program noted that job titles are 

changing for technical positions in the Program. These positions will no longer be listed under a 

health physicist title. Correspondingly, salary grades will also change for these positions. The 

Program is in the process of identifying program efficiencies and expects to move some 

workload functions from the field offices to the Central office as part of the reorganization effort. 

Program Budget/Funding

The Program enacted a fee increase which was effective in May 2013. Fees were raised 20-30 

percent in the X-ray and radioactive materials programs. The State has an overall budget 

shortfall of $200 million impacting State employees’ salary increases which were scheduled to 

begin in July 2014. 

Inspection and Licensing Programs

The Program reported no backlog in inspections since the 2012 IMPEP review. Inspection 

reports are being tracked and issued within 30 days of the conclusion of the inspection. The 

Program drafted and implemented a new inspection procedure for conducting initial inspections. 

Staff members were trained on the new procedure. The Program continues to conduct 

reciprocity inspections for greater than 20 percent of candidate licensees. Regional Field Office 

managers continue to conduct annual supervisor accompaniments for all qualified inspectors. 

Field Office managers who also conduct inspections are accompanied by other managers on an 

annual basis. 

The Program currently has approximately 580 specific licenses. Every six months, the Program 

files a report to the State legislature on permitting actions, including radioactive materials 
Enclosure 

3 

licenses. The Program noted that there has never been a licensing action that was not 

reviewed or completed within the required timeframe. New licenses receive priority status for 

completion. The licensing staff has 60 days to review the license application. This 60-day time 

limit is set by statute. Standard amendments and renewal actions do not have time limits set by 

statute; however, the internal timeframe for review of the licensing actions is 10 business days 

for amendments and 20 business days for renewals and SS&D actions. The Program has a 

goal of 95 percent of the actions being completed within the set timeframes. Licensing staff 

noted that they have not experienced significant challenges meeting these goals. 

The licensing staff uses the pre-licensing guidance to review licensing actions and conducts 

pre-licensing site visits when applicable. 

Regulations and Legislative Changes

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

the 2012 IMPEP review. The Program currently has no overdue regulations. The Program 

noted that Tennessee regulations for the control of radiation, which are found in the “Rules of 

the Department of Environment and Conservation,” were moved from Chapters 1200-02-04 

through 1200-02-12 to Chapters 0400-20-04 through 0400-20-12 since the 2012 IMPEP review. 

On February 27, 2014, the Program submitted three proposed regulation amendments to NRC 

for review. The Program is researching the changes in the remaining regulation amendments, 

including the new 10 CFR Part 37, to prepare proposed rules for submission to NRC for review. 

Event Reporting

The Program has reported 40 events to the NRC since the 2012 IMPEP review. Seven of the 

reported incidents were for events that occurred prior to the 2012 IMPEP review and had not 

been previously reported to NRC. The Program continues to close out events in NMED as 

appropriate. 

Response to Incidents and Allegations

The Program continues to be sensitive to notifications of incidents and allegations. Incidents 

are quickly reviewed for their effect on public health and safety. Staff is dispatched to perform 

onsite investigations when necessary. The Program is aware of the need to maintain an 

effective response to incidents and allegations. Since the 2012 IMPEP review, NRC has not 

transferred any allegation to the Program for follow up action. The Program has followed up on 

six allegations which were received by the Program since the 2012 IMPEP review. 

Sealed Source and Device (SS&D) Evaluation Program

The Program currently has approximately 40 active SS&D registration sheets, including one 

new sheet for a custom device (calibrator). 

Current State Initiatives

The Program managers noted that the Department is working toward the use of electronic 

documents (e.g., fillable forms, database). In addition, the State is focused on budget 
Enclosure 

4 

accountability and is looking for efficiencies in State programs in order to address the State 

budget shortfall anticipated for Fiscal Year 2015 beginning in July. 

Large, Complicated, or Unusual Authorizations for Use of Radioactive Material

The Program issued an authorization to a waste processor for treating wastewater received 

from nuclear power plants. The Program worked closely with Water Resources staff and the 

City of Oak Ridge on this authorization. 

In addition, the Program addressed several other large, complicated or unusual authorizations 

since the 2012 IMPEP review, including the issuance of a new waste processing license and a 

new nuclear laundry license. The Program has approved the sale and name change of one 

waste processor (two locations of use) to another waste processor. The Program has 

decommissioned and terminated the license of a company that filed for bankruptcy. The former 

licensee’s financial assurance mechanism was used for the decommissioning activities. 

State’s Mechanisms to Evaluate Performance

The Program generates monthly reports and conducts monthly meetings as tools for evaluating 

Program performance in the licensing and inspection areas. The Program also develops an 

annual work plan as part of a Bureau of the Environment initiative to set performance goals. 

CONCLUSIONS: 

The State of Tennessee Radiological Health Program continues to be an effective, wellmaintained Agreement State program with an experienced and well-trained staff. There are five 

vacancies in the Program at this time; however, the Program is effectively managing its 

licensing and inspection activities. NRC staff recommends that the next IMPEP review should 

be conducted as scheduled in FY 2016 (tentatively April 2016).