NRC PROPOSES $2,750 CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST PUERTO RICO LABORATORY
FOR VIOLATION OF NRC RADIOLOGICAL SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a $2,750 civil penalty against El Senorial PSI, Nuclear Medicine Laboratory of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, for a violation of NRC safety requirements related to the use of radioactive material at the laboratory without the use of proper dose monitoring devices.

NRC officials said an investigation by the agency's Office of Investigations substantiated earlier inspection findings that the laboratory and its Radiation Safety Officer deliberately permitted the conduct of operations at the facility for approximately six weeks without proper radiation dose monitoring devices required by the laboratory's NRC license. The NRC determined that the laboratory began using licensed radioactive material on August 17, 2000, but that required personal radiation monitoring badges were not received until October 10 of that year.

Based upon the low dose rates the workers were exposed to during the period they were unmonitored, as well as the low number of patients who were treated during that time, NRC officials said it is unlikely that workers received any significant exposures.

The NRC said corrective action has been taken by the laboratory to correct the violations and to prevent recurrence.

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Thursday, February 22, 2007