NRC: News Release - Region IV - 2003-038 - NRC Proposes $3,000 Fine Against Patterson Wireline of Trinidad, CO

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NRC NEWS
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region IV
611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011
www.nrc.gov

No. IV-03-038		September 10, 2003
CONTACT:	Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128	E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov
NRC PROPOSES $3,000 FINE AGAINST PATTERSON WIRELINE OF TRINIDAD, CO Printable Version
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a $3,000 fine against Patterson Wireline of Trinidad, Colorado, for two deliberate violations of NRC radiation safety requirements. The company is licensed by the NRC to use well-logging devices with sealed radioactive material to obtain information about underground rock formations and the likely presence and amounts of gas and oil. During a routine inspection at two temporary job sites in Alaska, conducted on November 13 of last year, an NRC inspector observed that the logging supervisor and the supervisor’s assistant were not wearing personal dosimeter devices as required by NRC regulations. The inspector also saw that the truck, which was used to transport logging devices, was not labeled with radioactive placards as required by regulations. The NRC also determined that the violations were deliberate. The logging supervisor failed to wear a dosimeter and to properly label the truck even after having discussed these requirements with the NRC inspector at a previous job site on the same day. The NRC-licensed well-logging device was only used at the second job site. In addition to the proposed fine against the company, the NRC issued a Notice of Violation to the logging supervisor for deliberately violating the NRC requirements. In his letter to the company, the NRC’s Region IV Acting Regional Administrator Thomas P. Gwynn emphasized that these violations are significant “because they were caused by deliberate misconduct.” He said, “The NRC must be able to rely on its licensees and their employees to conduct activities in compliance with NRC requirements.” The company’s corrective actions include discussing this incident with company well-loggers to emphasize the importance of wearing dosimetry devices, labeling vehicles with appropriate signs, complying with radiation safety requirements and reinforcing these requirements through the use of bonuses. The company has until October 9 to either pay the fine or to protest it. If the fine is protested and subsequently imposed by the NRC staff, the company may request a hearing. The letter to the company is available from the Region IV Office of Public Affairs and will be online at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/enforcement/current.html#materials. The inspection report will be viewable at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html by entering accession number ML031560477. Assistance in using the web-based document collection is available by calling the NRC Public Document Room at 800-397-4209.