NRC OFFICIALS TO MEET WITH OFFICIALS FROM PA HOSPITAL
TO DISCUSS APPARENT VIOLATION OF REQUIREMENTS
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The meeting, called a predecisional enforcement conference, is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m., in the Public Meeting Room at the NRC Region I Office, 475 Allendale Road, in King of Prussia. While the meeting will be open to the public for observation, portions could be closed to the public to discuss sensitive security aspects of the apparent violation, if necessary. The NRC staff will be available to answer questions before the meeting is adjourned.

While reviewing records during the inspection, NRC inspectors found that last November, the door to a high dose rate remote afterloader (HDR) was left open and the device was left unsecured and unattended. (HDRs are medical devices that use radioactive sources -- in this case iridium-192 -- that are placed near tumors to kill cancer cells.) The amount of time the treatment room door was left open was estimated to be less than 15 minutes.

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 the apparent violation, including its causes and safety significance; to provide the hospital with an opportunity to point out any errors that may have been made in the NRC inspection report; and to enable the hospital to outline its proposed corrective action.

No decision on the apparent violation will be made at this conference. That decision will be made by NRC officials at a later time, after considering the information developed during the inspection and the information provided by the hospital at the conference.

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Thursday, February 22, 2007