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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
	CONTACT:	Ken Clark (Phone: 404/562-4416, E-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov )
		Roger Hannah (Phone 404/562-4417, E-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov )

January 8 1998

The meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the hospital, located on Calle Gualdalupe, and will be open to observation by the public and the press. NRC officials will be available at its conclusion to answer questions from interested observers.

NRC officials say a recent inspection at the hospital indicated eight apparent violations of NRC requirements. They include failure to conduct surveys to demonstrate compliance with radiation dose limits for individual members of the public from iodine-131 emissions through the facility's fume hood exhaust; failure to perform adequate radiological surveys for compliance with radiation dose limits; failure to perform leak tests on sealed radioactive sources; failure to possess a required thyroid radiological uptake probe; failure to calibrate radiation survey instruments; and failure to perform adequate and timely radiological dose calibrator tests.

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

No decision on the apparent violations or any contemplated enforcement action, such as a civil penalty will be made at the conference. Those decisions will be made by NRC officials at a later time.