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U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I

475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406

CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov
Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov

I-97-137

October 20, 1997

NRC, DEFENSE AGENCY TO DISCUSS APPARENT VIOLATION AT DEPOT

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with officials of the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency on Wednesday, October 22, to discuss an apparent violation of NRC requirements at the Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pa.

The predecisional enforcement conference will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Division of Nuclear Materials Safety conference room at the NRC Region 1 office in King of Prussia, Pa. It will be open to the public for observation.

During an inspection conducted at the Army depot in September, NRC staff identified an apparent failure to secure from unauthorized removal or access, or maintain constant surveillance of, licensed radioactive materials in a controlled or unrestricted area. The inspection was initiated after seven 3-curie tritium sources were determined to be missing from a storage area at the depot in late August. The sources were later found at the residence of a depot employee.

The decision to hold a predecisional enforcement conference does not mean that the NRC has determined a violation has occurred or that enforcement action will be taken. Rather, the purpose is to discuss apparent violations, their causes and safety significance; to provide the licensee with an opportunity to point out any errors that may have been made in the NRC inspection report; and to enable the licensee to outline its proposed corrective action.

No decision on the apparent violations will be made at this conference. That decision will be made by NRC officials at a later time.