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NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street, Suite 23T85, Atlanta, GA 30303

NRC STAFF TO MEET WITH GLOBAL NUCLEAR FUEL TO DISCUSS APPARENT VIOLATION OF NRC REQUIREMENTS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Global Nuclear Fuel (formerly GE Nuclear Energy), of Wilmington, North Carolina, on Tuesday, December 12, to discuss an apparent violation of NRC requirements related to the company's failure to control licensed plutonium calibration check sources.

The meeting, scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (EST), will be held in the NRC offices located on the 24^th floor of the Sam Nunn Federal Center, 61 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia. It will be open to observation by interested members of the public and news media representatives. NRC officials will be available at its conclusion to answer questions.

In August of this year, Global Nuclear reported to the NRC that two sets of licensed sources had been recorded as having been received at the facility, but could not be located. The package containing the sources, a total of eight metal disks electroplated with plutonium-239, was not required to be labeled because of the low levels of radioactivity. The company conducted an unsuccessful search of its site and contacted the delivery company, which was also unable to find the sources.

Global Nuclear has revised its receiving procedures to verify incoming package contents and also to immediately place received licensed radioactive material in an approved storage location.

Global Nuclear requested the conference to discuss the apparent violation, its cause and safety significance; to point out any errors that may have been made in the NRC inspection report; and to outline its proposed corrective actions.

The NRC has tentatively decided not to fine Global Nuclear because the company identified the event, has not had any recent escalated enforcement actions and has described preliminary corrective actions it has taken. However, no decision on the apparent violation will be made at this conference. That decision will be made by senior NRC officials at a later time.

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