ML090920401 

UNITED STATES 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

OFFICE OF FEDERAL AND STATE MATERIALS 

AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555 

November 6, 2009 

NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 2009-30 FINDINGS FROM THE NRC INITIATIVE TO 

ASSESS MATERIALS LICENSEES’ 

COMPLIANCE WITH THE NRC 

DECOMMISSIONING REQUIREMENTS 

ADDRESSEES 

All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) materials licensees. All Agreement State 

Radiation Control Program Directors and State Liaison Officers. 

PURPOSE 

The NRC is issuing this Information Notice (IN) to inform addressees about the NRC’s findings 

relating to materials licensees’ compliance with the NRC decommissioning requirements. 

Licensees should review this IN and consider actions, as appropriate. However, the 

suggestions contained in this IN are not new NRC requirements; therefore, no specific action, or 

written response is required. The NRC is providing this IN to the Agreement States for their 

information and for distribution to their licensees as appropriate. 

DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES 

During February 2007, the NRC began an inspection initiative to assess a limited number of its 

broadscope licensees to determine compliance with the NRC decommissioning requirements. 

The impetus for the initiative was a decade of NRC staff experience with the NRC 

decommissioning requirements, which indicated that some licensees may not fully understand 

or be adequately complying with the requirements. The decommissioning initiative focused on 

compliance with 10 CFR 30.35(g) decommissioning record-keeping requirements; 

10 CFR 30.36(d), notifications of cessation of activities; 10 CFR Part 20.1501, adequacy of final 

status surveys; 10 CFR 30.36(j), documentation of final status surveys; and 10 CFR 20.1402, 

demonstration of compliance with the NRC unrestricted use criteria. 

DISCUSSION 

The requirements for specific domestic licenses of broad scope for byproduct material are found 

in 10 CFR Part 33. These licenses are a variety of specific licenses authorizing wide ranges of 

manufacturing, research and development activities. Broadscope licensees are granted more 

latitude to self-regulate their programs, possess any chemical or physical form of the byproduct 

material specified in the license, and may possess significant quantities of byproduct material. 
IN 2009-30 

Page 2 of 5 

Examples of broadscope licensees are facilities such as large universities and large research 

and development facilities. 

The NRC performed eight inspections between February 2007 and March 2008. The 

inspections focused on each type and category of broadscope program. The NRC selected 

licensees from the various broadscope program authorizations as follows: (1) medical research 

and development, (2) manufacturing and distribution, (3) academic research and development, 

and (4) commercial research and development. Twelve violations and one non-cited violation 

were identified regarding compliance with the NRC decommissioning requirements. 

Additionally, the NRC identified a number of issues, some of which were unanticipated, across 

all licensee categories. A general summary of the identified issues is briefly discussed in the 

following paragraphs. 

Decommissioning Database Deficiencies

The inspection initiative identified a significant number of noncompliance issues regarding 

10 CFR Part 30.35 “Financial Assurance and Records for Decommissioning.” 

Generally, licensees maintained adequate day-to-day electronic operational databases used to 

track current, and in some cases, past uses of radioactive materials. Nevertheless, the 

following issues were identified: a general failure to maintain a stand-alone list that was 

updated every 24 months and which contained information required for subsequent 

decommissioning; failure to maintain databases, such that a single record could be produced; 

and a general failure to organize disparate records (e.g., card files, rolodexes, and radiation 

safety committee approvals) such that any historical information and/or assessment of past 

operations could be easily retrieved when necessary. 

Furthermore, although this is not a deficiency of the database itself, the NRC staff noted that the 

inspection findings, in most cases, revealed that the electronic databases for tracking past 

locations of approved radioactive material uses were often coincident with the current Radiation 

Safety Officer’s assumption of duty. This suggests there was a period of time in the past when 

there was not adequate licensee oversight of this function. Finally, it was noted that in most 

cases, these databases were created during the mid-1990s, indicating a significant duration of 

time when there was no tracking of this information.

The necessity for maintaining records important to decommissioning is highlighted in the 

following two examples. 

a. Based on a university’s radiation safety staff findings, a building which had been 

used for research since the early 1960s was demolished. However, an NRC 

inspection of the licensee’s survey and assessment of the types and uses of 

radioactive material revealed that the licensee had not comprehensively accounted 

for all the laboratories and radioactive materials historically used
IN 2009-30 

Page 3 of 5 

b. A university stored radioactive materials use records in a basement that was flooded 

following a rain storm. The records were destroyed. Therefore, any final status 

surveys for decommissioning activities may need to be substantially expanded, 

since the types and quantity of radioactive materials and their past locations of use 

may now be indeterminable. 

Non-Performance of Technically Defensible and Reproducible Radiological Surveys

The inspection initiative identified noncompliance issues regarding the conduct of technically 

defensible and reproducible radiological surveys (10 CFR 20.1501) for demonstrating 

compliance with the NRC unrestricted radiological use criteria for a building or land area for 

unrestricted use (10 CFR 20.1402). Only one of the licensees inspected used a professionally 

recognized systematic survey approach. 

To release buildings or areas for unrestricted use, licensees relied on routine operational 

radiation safety surveys performed by its radiation safety staff or the authorized material users 

using inadequate “in-house survey procedures;” rather than procedures employing the NRC 

guidance, such as NRC technical report designation (NUREG) -1507, “Minimum Detectable 

Concentrations with Typical Radiation Survey Instruments for Various Contaminants and Field 

Conditions.” As a result of using inadequate survey procedures, the following deficiencies have 

occurred. 

a. Reliance on “in-house” radiological action limits, rather than radionuclide specific 

dose based values; 

b. Use of non-standard radiological units, e.g., the use of counts per minute rather than, 

in accordance with 10 CFR Part 30.36(j), the use of disintegrations per minute (dpm); 

c. Failure to account and correct for survey meter efficiencies, detector surface areas, 

radiation meters’ minimum detectable activities; and failure to ascertain appropriate 

scan rates; 

d. Use of survey meters not appropriate for the radioactive materials being surveyed; 

e. Use of diagrams or drawings not representative or accurate to the areas being 

surveyed, and 

f. Failure to convert radiological survey data into standard surface area values used for 

quantifying contamination, such as dpm/100 square centimeters (cm2

). 

Inadequate Survey Methodology

Examples of inadequate survey methodology are noted below. 

a. A laboratory contained a fume hood that had been used for processing various types 

and quantities of radioactive materials. After conducting a survey, the university 

released the laboratory for unrestricted use, but the university had limited the scope 

of the release survey to materials approved by current user’s permits. As a result of 
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Page 4 of 5 

b. an NRC inspection, it was confirmed that the released laboratory contained alpha 

contamination in excess of radiological screening values specified in NUREG-1757, 

Vol. 1 “Consolidated Decommissioning Guidance, Decommissioning Process for 

Materials Licensees.” 

c. A manufacturing and distribution licensee released a former waste storage building 

for unrestricted use. The licensee’s documentation indicated that the residual 

radiological contamination levels in the waste storage building were less than 

200 dpm/100 cm2

. However, during an NRC inspection, radiological contamination 

was identified in the waste storage building ranging from 100,000 to 1.2 million 

dpm/100 cm2

. The inadequate characterization of the radiation levels was 

determined to be a result of inadequate surveyor training, inadequate surveyor 

technique, i.e., the surveyor scanned surfaces too quickly and at distances too great 

to detect contamination; use of a meter inappropriate for the radioactive material 

being detected; the failure to consider surveyor ergonomics, and fatigue issues. 

d. Two manufacturing and distribution licensees did not adequately quantify total 

contamination. The NRC identified the contamination in unrestricted areas of 

production buildings, on employee hands, feet, and clothing in unrestricted areas; 

and on employees’ personal items, such as lunch boxes, personal autos, coats, and 

shoes. Causative factors included exclusive reliance on the collection of dry wipe 

tests to identify and quantify contamination; failure to use a radiation survey meter as 

one means to identify areas of contamination; and failure to include in its final 

evaluation all areas where fixed contamination was identified. These failures 

resulted in the licensees’ inability to conduct adequate tests to determine the 

removable radiological contamination fraction. 

e. Radiological contamination, in excess of the NRC radiological soil screening values 

for unrestricted use, was identified in soil around two of the manufacturing and 

distribution licensees’ facilities. This contamination was unknown to the licensees. 

Neither of the licensees’ routine radiological survey and sampling programs had 

provisions for performing surveys or collecting samples of soil from areas around 

their production buildings. 

Guidance Document Availability 

The guidance document for decommissioning, NUREG-1757, and other related guidance 

documents are listed in Enclosure 1 of this IN. 

CONCLUSION 

The NRC’s evaluation of this decommissioning initiative identified numerous common failures to 

meet decommissioning requirements. These failures could significantly compromise a 

licensee’s ability to demonstrate compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402 prior to releasing facilities for 

unrestricted use. The following general findings were identified among all categories of 

licensees inspected: a lack of awareness of NUREG-1757 and related guidance and 

requirements for decommissioning, apparently leading to a general lack of understanding 

regarding proper evaluation, documentation, and use of radiological final status survey
IN 2009-30 

Page 5 of 5 

methodologies necessary to demonstrate compliance with the NRC’s unrestricted use criteria. 

An unanticipated outcome of the initiative was the identification of programmatic weaknesses, 

as stated in this IN. While these findings may not be indicative of most licensees’ performance, 

the NRC encourages the review of your program against these findings and corrective action as 

necessary and appropriate for your organization. 

CONTACT 

This IN requires no specific action or written response. If you have any questions about the 

information in this notice, please contact the technical contact listed below or the appropriate 

regional office. 

Terrence Reis acting /RA/

Robert Lewis, Director 

Division of Materials Safety and State Agreements 

Office of Federal and State Materials 

 and Environmental Programs 

Contact: Mike McCann, Region III 

 (630) 829-9856 

 E-mail: mike.mccann@nrc.gov

Enclosures: 

1. Guidance Documents for Decommissioning 

2. List of Recently Issued FSME Generic 

 Communications 
IN 2009-30 

Page 5 of 5 

methodologies necessary to demonstrate compliance with the NRC’s unrestricted use criteria. 

An unanticipated outcome of the initiative was the identification of programmatic weaknesses, 

as stated in this IN. While these findings may not be indicative of most licensees’ performance, 

the NRC encourages the review of your program against these findings and corrective action as 

necessary and appropriate for your organization. 

CONTACT 

This IN requires no specific action or written response. If you have any questions about the 

information in this notice, please contact the technical contact listed below or the appropriate 

regional office. 

Terrence Reis acting /RA/

Robert Lewis, Director 

Division of Materials Safety and State Agreements 

Office of Federal and State Materials 

 and Environmental Programs 

Contact: Mike McCann, Region III 

 (630) 829-9856 

 E-mail: mike.mccann@nrc.gov

Enclosures: 

1. Guidance Documents for Decommissioning 

2. List of Recently Issued FSME Generic 

 Communications 

ML090920401 

OFFICE RIII RIII RIII FSME/MSSA 

NAME GMcCann:cms PLLouden CALipa AMcIntosh 

DATE 04/02/09 04/02/09 05/08/09 5/13//09 

OFFICE FSME/DWMEP FSME/MSSA OGC-NLO OE 

NAME KMcConnell CEinberg BJones GBowman for NHilton 

DATE 07/20/09 08/10/09 09/07/09 09/22/09 

OFFICE FSME/MSSA 

NAME RLewis 

DATE 11/06/09 

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY 
IN 2009-30 

Enclosure 1

Page 1 of 1 

GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS FOR DECOMMISSIONING 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) releases several hundred documents to its 

Electronic Public Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html each work day. The 

Web site contains information and the documents that are most pertinent to NRC regulatory 

activities. The NRC technical report designation (NUREG) guidance documents referenced in 

this Information Notice are also available electronically at the NRC=s Electronic Reading Room 

at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC=s 

Agencywide Document Access and Management System, which provides text and image files 

of the NRC=s public documents. 

1. NUREG-1575, Rev 1. Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual 

(MARSSIM). (ML082470583) 

2. NUREG-1757, Consolidated Decommissioning Guidance 

 Volume 1, Decommissioning Process for Materials Licensees (ML063000243) 

 Volume 2, Characterization, Survey, and Determination of Radiological Criteria 

(ML053260027) 

 Volume 3, Financial Assurance, Record Keeping, and Timeliness (ML032471471)
IN 2009-30 

Enclosure 2

Page 1 of 1

List of Recently Issued Office of Federal and State Material  

and Environmental Management Programs Generic Communications

Date GC No. Subject Addressees

07/29/09 IN‐2003‐22,

Supplement 1

Heightened Awareness for Patients

Containing Detectable Amounts of

Radiation from Medical Administrations

All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

medical‐use licensees and NRC master

material licensees; all Agreement State

Radiation Control Program Directors and State

Liaison Officers.

IN‐2009‐15 IN‐2009‐15 Varian Medical Systems Varisource

High Dose‐Rate Remote Afterloader

Events:  Source Retraction Problems

All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

medical use licensees and NRC master

materials licensees authorized to possess or

use a Varian Medical Systems VariSource High

Dose Rate Remote Afterloader (VariSource

HDR).  All Agreement State Radiation Control

Program Directors and State Liaison Officers.

08/28/09 IN‐2009‐17 Reportable Medical Events Involving

Treatment Delivery Errors Caused by

Confusion of Units for the Specification

of Brachytherapy Sources

All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

medical use licensees and NRC master

materials licensees.  All Agreement State

Radiation Control Program Directors and State

Liaison Officers

04/29/09 RIS‐2009‐05 Uranium Recovery Policy Regarding:  (1)

The Process for Scheduling Licensing

Reviews of Applications for New

Uranium Recovery Facilities and (2) The

Restoration of Groundwater at Licensed

Uranium In‐Situ Recovery Facilities

All holders of operating licenses for uranium

recovery facilities and all companies who have

submitted applications to construct new

uranium recovery facilities of all types

(conventional mills, heap leach operations, and

in‐situ recovery facilities) or letters of intent to

submit such applications.

05/07/09 RIS‐2009‐07 Status Update for the Implementation

of NRC Regulatory Authority for Certain

Naturally Occurring and Accelerator‐

Produced Radioactive Material

All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

material and fuel cycle licensees.  All Radiation

Control Program Directors and State Liaison

Officers.

07/13/09 RIS‐2009‐09 Use Of Multiple Dosimetry and

Compartment Factors in

Determining Effective Dose Equivalent

from External Radiation Exposures

All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

licensees, Agreement State Radiation Control

Program Directors and State Liaison Officers.

Note:   This list contains the six most recently issued generic communications, issued by the Office of Federal and State

Materials and Environmental Management Programs (FSME).  A full listing of  all generic communications may be viewed at

the NRC public website at the following address: http://www.nrc.gov/reading‐rm/doc‐collections/gen‐comm/index.html