11610 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 18, 2009 / Notices 

Day Event/activity 

A + 3 ....................... Deadline for filing executed Non-Disclosure Affidavits. Access provided to SUNSI and/or SGI consistent with decision 

issuing the protective order. 

A + 28 ..................... Deadline for submission of contentions whose development depends upon access to SUNSI and/or SGI. However, if 

more than 25 days remain between the petitioner’s receipt of (or access to) the information and the deadline for filing 

all other contentions (as established in the notice of hearing or opportunity for hearing), the petitioner may file its 

SUNSI or SGI contentions by that later deadline. 

A + 53 ..................... (Contention receipt +25) Answers to contentions whose development depends upon access to SUNSI and/or SGI. 

A + 60 ..................... (Answer receipt +7) Petitioner/Intervenor reply to answers. 

B .............................. Decision on contention admission. 

[FR Doc. E9–5810 Filed 3–17–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 03033722, License No. 31– 

30187, EA–08–158; NRC–2009–0118] 

In the Matter of Quality Inspection 

Services, Inc.: Confirmatory Order 

Modifying License (Effective 

Immediately) 

I 

Quality Inspection Services, Inc. 

(QISI) (Licensee) is the holder of a 

byproduct materials license issued by 

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

(NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 

CFR Part 34. The license was last 

renewed on November 28, 2005 

(Amendment 8), and was last amended 

on March 11, 2008 (Amendment 12). 

The license authorizes the operation of 

the QISI facility in accordance with 

conditions specified therein. The 

facility is located on the Licensee’s site 

in Manchester, Connecticut. 

II 

The NRC Office of Investigations (OI) 

initiated an investigation on March 16, 

2007, in part, to determine whether QISI 

willfully performed unauthorized 

radiography operations. Based on the 

evidence developed during the OI 

investigation, which was completed on 

November 30, 2007, the NRC identified 

an apparent willful violation involving 

QISI failing to maintain utilization logs 

for sealed sources, as required by 10 

CFR 34.71. A description of this 

apparent violation and a factual 

summary of the results of the 

investigation were sent to QISI in an 

NRC letter dated August 15, 2008. 

At the NRC’s request, QISI attended a 

predecisional enforcement conference 

(PEC) on August 27, 2008, to discuss the 

apparent violation and the results of the 

OI investigation. After considering the 

information presented in the PEC and 

the evidence developed during the 

investigation, the NRC determined that 

the violation occurred and was willful. 

Specifically, between November 15, 

2006, and March 2, 2007, QISI’s former 

site radiation safety officer (RSO) 

willfully failed to log the following 

information for each sealed source: (1) 

A description of the radiographic 

exposure device or transport or storage 

container in which the sealed source is 

located; (2) the identity and signature of 

the assigned radiographer; and, (3) the 

plant or site where the source was used, 

and when, including the dates on which 

the source was removed and returned to 

storage. In a letter dated September 15, 

2008, the NRC issued QISI a Notice of 

Violation and Proposed Imposition of 

Civil Penalty (Notice) in the amount of 

$6,500 for this violation. 

Because the violation was willful, the 

September 15, 2008 NRC letter included 

an offer to QISI to use the Alternative 

Dispute Resolution (ADR) program, in 

an attempt to resolve any issues it had 

with the enforcement action. The ADR 

program is a process in which a neutral 

mediator with no decision-making 

authority assists the parties in reaching 

an agreement on resolving any 

differences regarding the dispute. In 

response, on October 22, 2008, QISI 

requested the use of the ADR program. 

III 

On January 22, 2009, the NRC and 

QISI met in an ADR session mediated by 

a professional mediator, arranged 

through Cornell University’s Scheinman 

Institute on Conflict Resolution. During 

that ADR session, a preliminary 

settlement agreement was reached. This 

Confirmatory Order is the result of that 

agreement, the elements of which 

consisted of the following: 

1. The NRC and QISI agree that the 

violation of 10 CFR 34.71, referenced in 

the NRC letter, dated September 15, 

2008, occurred, as stated in the 

referenced Notice. 

2. As documented in the September 

15, 2008 NRC letter, QISI has taken 

several corrective actions in response to 

the willful violation, as well as other 

violations identified in the Notice of 

Violation and Proposed Imposition of 

Civil Penalty. Those actions, which the 

NRC agrees were prompt and 

comprehensive include: ensuring that 

employees involved in radiography 

activities have reviewed QISI’s 

Operations and Emergency (O&E) 

Manual, and reinforcing expectations 

regarding the existing Employee 

Concerns Program, specifically 

emphasizing the opportunity for 

employees to raise safety concerns. 

3. As a result of the ADR session, QISI 

agrees to take the following additional 

actions: 

a. Revise the existing O&E Manual to 

emphasize the importance of safe 

performance of radiography, strict 

compliance with requirements, all staff 

being complete and accurate in all 

communications, and all staff 

understanding that engaging in any 

willful misconduct will not be tolerated. 

b. Retrain all employees regarding the 

revisions to the O&E manual. 

c. Add a radiation safety component 

to the existing Corporate Newsletter, to 

be issued at least quarterly, focusing on 

radiation safety updates. In the first 

newsletter issued following the NRC 

Confirmatory Order confirming these 

commitments, the front page of that 

newsletter will include a message from 

the QISI President which emphasizes 

the importance of safe performance of 

radiography, strict compliance with 

requirements, all staff being complete 

and accurate in all communications, 

and all staff understanding that 

engaging in any willful misconduct will 

not be tolerated. 

d. Develop a video recording (DVD) 

that will be required viewing by all 

company employees who are involved 

in any manner in activities subject to 

NRC jurisdiction, and will also be 

placed on the QISI Web site for 

employee viewing and access. The 

video will include opening remarks by 

either the QISI President or the QISI 

Executive Vice President providing the 

expectations set forth in the Corporate 

Newsletter described in Item 3.c. 

e. Place the DVD referenced in Item 

3.d on the QISI public Web site, and 

offer to make the DVD available for a 

presentation at a national industry 

conference (e.g. American Society for 

Nondestructive Testing). 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 18, 2009 / Notices 11611 

f. Increase the audits of each 

radiographer working in areas of NRC 

jurisdiction to three times annually for 

two years following issuance of this 

Confirmatory Order, and have these 

audits conducted by the Corporate 

Radiation Safety Officer (RSO). 

g. Include, as part of the next two 

NRC required annual reviews of the 

radiation safety program, an inquiry 

(independent of the Corporate RSO) of 

all radiographers working in NRC 

jurisdiction. The inquiry will assess the 

effectiveness of adherence to NRC 

requirements, and implementation of 

the actions set forth above. The inquiry 

will encourage all radiographers to raise 

any concerns they have, and to do so 

anonymously if they so chose. The 

results will be summarized and 

provided to the QISI President. 

h. Complete the actions set forth in 

Items 3.a through 3.e within six months 

of the Confirmatory Order issued to 

confirm this agreement. Complete the 

actions in Items 3.f through 3.g within 

two years of the Confirmatory Order. 

i. Upon completion of the actions set 

forth in Items 3.a through 3.e, send the 

NRC a letter summarizing the completed 

actions within 30 days confirming that 

each of those actions has been 

completed. Upon completion of the 

actions set forth in Items 3.f through 3.g, 

send the NRC another letter 

summarizing the completed actions 

within 30 days, confirming that those 

actions have been completed. 

4. In light of the corrective actions 

that QISI took to correct the violations, 

as noted in Item 2, as well as the 

additional actions QISI committed to 

take, as described in Item 3, the NRC 

agrees to reduce the amount of the civil 

penalty to $500. QISI agrees to pay this 

amount. 

On March 4, 2009, the Licensee 

consented to issuing this Order with the 

commitments, as described in Section V 

below. The Licensee further agreed that 

this Order is to be effective upon 

issuance, and that the Licensee has 

waived its right to a hearing. 

IV 

Since the Licensee has agreed to take 

additional actions to address NRC 

concerns, as set forth in Item III above, 

the NRC has concluded that its concerns 

can be resolved through issuance of this 

Order. 

I find that the Licensee’s 

commitments as set forth in Section V 

are acceptable and necessary and 

conclude that with these commitments, 

the public health and safety are 

reasonably assured. In view of the 

foregoing, I have also determined that 

public health and safety require that the 

Licensee’s commitments be confirmed 

by this Order. Based on the above and 

the Licensee’s consent, this Order is 

immediately effective upon issuance. 

V 

Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 81, 

161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 186 of the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 

and the Commission’s regulations in 10 

CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 34, it is 

hereby ordered, effective immediately, 

that QISI shall: 

A. Revise the existing O&E Manual to 

emphasize the importance of safe 

performance of radiography, strict 

compliance with requirements, all staff 

being complete and accurate in all 

communications, and all staff 

understanding that engaging in any 

willful misconduct will not be tolerated; 

B. Retrain all employees regarding the 

revisions to the O&E manual; 

C. Add a radiation safety component 

to the existing Corporate Newsletter, to 

be issued at least quarterly, that will 

focus on radiation safety updates, and 

have the front page of the first 

newsletter issued following this NRC 

Confirmatory Order confirming these 

commitments include a message from 

the QISI President which emphasizes 

the importance of safe performance of 

radiography, strict compliance with 

requirements, all staff being complete 

and accurate in all communications, 

and all staff understanding that 

engaging in any willful misconduct will 

not be tolerated; 

D. Develop a video recording (DVD) 

that will be required viewing by all 

company employees who are involved 

in any manner in activities subject to 

NRC jurisdiction, and will also be 

placed on the QISI Web site for 

employee viewing and access; the video 

will include opening remarks by either 

the QISI President or the QISI Executive 

Vice President providing the 

expectations set forth in the Corporate 

Newsletter described in Item C; 

E. Place the DVD referenced in Item 

D on the QISI public Web site, and offer 

to make the DVD available for a 

presentation at a national industry 

conference (e.g., American Society for 

Nondestructive Testing); 

F. Increase the audits of each of the 

radiographers working in areas of NRC 

jurisdiction to three times annually for 

two years following issuance of this 

Confirmatory Order, and have these 

audits conducted by the Corporate RSO; 

G. Include, as part of the next two 

NRC required annual reviews of the 

radiation safety program, an inquiry 

(independent of the Corporate RSO) of 

all radiographers working in NRC 

jurisdiction; ensure the inquiry assesses 

the effectiveness of adherence to NRC 

requirements, and implementation of 

the actions set forth above in Items V.A– 

V.F; and use the inquiry to encourage all 

radiographers to raise any concerns they 

have, and to do so anonymously if they 

so chose; 

H. Complete the actions set forth in 

Items V.A–V.E within six months of the 

date of this Confirmatory Order, and 

complete the actions in Items V.F–V.G 

within two years of the date of this 

Confirmatory Order; 

I. Upon completion of the actions set 

forth in Items V.A–V.E, send the NRC a 

letter, within 30 days, confirming that 

those actions have been completed; 

J. Upon completion of the actions set 

forth in Items V.F–V.G, send the NRC 

another letter, within 30 days, 

confirming that those actions have been 

completed; and, 

K. Pay a civil penalty in the amount 

of $500, within 30 days of the date of 

this Confirmatory Order. 

The Regional Administrator, Region I, 

may, in writing, relax or rescind any of 

the above conditions upon 

demonstration by the Licensee of good 

cause. 

VI 

Any person adversely affected by this 

Confirmatory Order, other than the 

Licensee, may request a hearing within 

20 days of its issuance. Where good 

cause is shown, consideration will be 

given to extending the time to request a 

hearing. A request for extension of time 

must be directed to the Director, Office 

of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001, and include a statement of good 

cause for the extension. 

A request for a hearing must be filed 

in accordance with the NRC E-Filing 

rule, which the NRC promulgated in 

August 2007, 72 FR 49,139 (Aug. 28, 

2007). The E-Filing process requires 

participants to submit and serve 

documents over the Internet or, in some 

cases, to mail copies on electronic 

optical storage media. Participants may 

not submit paper copies of their filings 

unless they seek a waiver in accordance 

with the procedures described below. 

To comply with the procedural 

requirements associated with E-Filing, 

at least five (5) days prior to the filing 

deadline the requestor must contact the 

Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 

HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV, or by 

calling (301) 415–1677, to request: (1) a 

digital ID certificate, which allows the 

participant (or its counsel or 

representative) to digitally sign 

documents and access the E-Submittal 

server for any NRC proceeding in which 

it is participating; and/or (2) creation of 


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11612 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 18, 2009 / Notices 

an electronic docket for the proceeding 

[even in instances when the requestor 

(or its counsel or representative) already 

holds an NRC-issued digital ID 

certificate]. Each requestor will need to 

download the Workplace Forms 

ViewerTM to access the Electronic 

Information Exchange (EIE), a 

component of the E-Filing system. The 

Workplace Forms ViewerTM is free and 

is available at http://www.nrc.gov/sitehelp/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. 

Information about applying for a digital 

ID certificate also is available on NRC’s 

public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/ 

site-help/e-submittals/applycertificates.html. 

Once a requestor has obtained a 

digital ID certificate, had a docket 

created, and downloaded the EIE 

viewer, it can then submit a request for 

a hearing through EIE. Submissions 

should be in Portable Document Format 

(PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance 

available on the NRC public Web site at 

http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html. A filing is considered 

complete at the time the filer submits its 

document through EIE. To be timely, 

electronic filings must be submitted to 

the EIE system no later than 11:59 p.m. 

Eastern Time on the due date. Upon 

receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing 

system time-stamps the document and 

sends the submitter an e-mail notice 

confirming receipt of the document. The 

EIE system also distributes an e-mail 

notice that provides access to the 

document to the NRC Office of the 

General Counsel and any others who 

have advised the Office of the Secretary 

that they wish to participate in the 

proceeding, so that the filer need not 

serve the document on those 

participants separately. Therefore, any 

others who wish to participate in the 

proceeding (or their counsel or 

representative) must apply for and 

receive a digital ID certificate before a 

hearing request is filed so that they may 

obtain access to the document via the EFiling system. 

A person filing electronically may 

seek assistance through the ‘‘Contact 

Us’’ link located on the NRC Web site 

at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html or by calling the NRC 

technical help line, which is available 

between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., 

Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. 

The electronic filing Help Desk can be 

contacted by telephone at 1–866–672– 

7640 or by e-mail at 

MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov. 

Participants who believe that they 

have good cause for not submitting 

documents electronically must file a 

motion, in accordance with 10 CFR 

2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 

requesting authorization to continue to 

submit documents in paper format. 

Such filings must be submitted by (1) 

first class mail addressed to the Office 

of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention: 

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or 

(2) courier, express mail, or expedited 

delivery service to the Office of the 

Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White 

Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, MD 20852, Attention: 

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. 

Participants filing a document in this 

manner are responsible for serving the 

document on all other participants. 

Filing is considered complete by firstclass mail as of the time of deposit in 

the mail, or by courier, express mail, or 

expedited delivery service upon 

depositing the document with the 

provider of the service. 

Documents submitted in adjudicatory 

proceedings will appear in NRC’s 

electronic hearing docket which is 

available to the public at http:// 

ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, 

unless excluded pursuant to an order of 

the Commission, an Atomic Safety and 

Licensing Board, or a Presiding Officer. 

Participants are requested not to include 

personal privacy information, such as 

social security numbers, home 

addresses, or home phone numbers in 

their filings. With respect to copyrighted 

works, except for limited excerpts that 

serve the purpose of the adjudicatory 

filings and would constitute a Fair Use 

application, participants are requested 

not to include copyrighted materials in 

their works. 

If a person other than (the Licensee) 

requests a hearing, that person shall set 

forth with particularity the manner in 

which his interest is adversely affected 

by this Order and shall address the 

criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and 

(f). 

If the hearing is requested by a person 

whose interest is adversely affected, the 

Commission will issue an Order 

designating the time and place of any 

hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to 

be considered at such hearing shall be 

whether this Confirmatory Order should 

be sustained. 

In the absence of any request for 

hearing, or written approval of an 

extension of time in which to request a 

hearing, the provisions specified in 

Section V above shall be final 20 days 

from the date of this Order without 

further order or proceedings. If an 

extension of time for requesting a 

hearing has been approved, the 

provisions specified in Section V shall 

be final when the extension expires if a 

hearing request has not been received. A 

request for hearing shall not stay the 

immediate effectiveness of this order. 

For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Dated this the 10th day of March 2009. 

Marc L. Dapas, 

Deputy Regional Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E9–5812 Filed 3–17–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–271; NRC–2009–0121] 

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., 

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power 

Station; Environmental Assessment 

and Finding of No Significant Impact 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is considering 

issuance of a revision of an existing 

exemption from Title 10 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 50, 

Appendix R, ‘‘Fire Protection Program 

of Nuclear Power Facilities Operating 

Prior to January 1, 1979,’’ for Automatic 

Fire Suppression, Separation, and 

Repairs, issued to Entergy Nuclear 

Operations, Inc. (the licensee), for 

operation of Vermont Yankee Nuclear 

Power Station (VY), located in 

Windham County, Vermont. Therefore, 

as required by 10 CFR 51.21, the NRC 

is issuing this environmental 

assessment and finding of no significant 

impact. 

Environmental Assessment 

Identification of the Proposed Action 

The proposed action would revise the 

exemption from the provisions of 10 

CFR part 50, Appendix R, Section III.G.2 

(III.G.2), dated December 1, 1986, which 

in part permitted a reduction in 

minimum separation distance between 

cable trays in the northwest corner of 

Fire Zone RB–3 of the reactor building 

to 18 feet. VY has requested a revision 

of the existing exemption to permit the 

actual minimum separation distance of 

17 feet-7.5 inches. 

The proposed action is in accordance 

with the licensee’s application dated 

July 11, 2008, as supplemented by letter 

dated November 20, 2008. 

The Need for the Proposed Action 

The proposed revision of an existing 

exemption from 10 CFR part 50, 

Appendix R, is needed to permit a 

reduction in minimum separation 

distance between cable trays from 18 

feet to 17 feet-7.5 inches. VY has 

performed a Fire Protection evaluation, 

using NRC Generic Letter 86–10, 

‘‘Implementation of Fire Protection 

Requirements,’’ and concluded that 


tjames on PRODPC61 with NOTICES