Ken Clark (404) 562-4416
Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417
Joey Ledford (404) 562-4487

NRC PROPOSES $3,000 FINE AGAINST PUERTO RICO COMPANY FOR VIOLATION OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a $3,000 civil penalty against Turabo Corporation of Caguas, Puerto Rico, for violations of NRC safety requirements related to the storage of licensed radioactive material.

NRC inspectors conducted an inspection on April 17 of this year, at the company's Caguas facility and at temporary job sites near Caguas and Cieba. They found that the company had failed to maintain required control or constant surveillance of licensed radioactive material. The inspection found that a storage room housing two portable soil moisture density gauges, each containing about eight millicuries of cesium-137 and 50 millicuries of americium-241, was unlocked and not under constant surveillance.

NRC officials said the potential existed for unauthorized access to the gauges while they were improperly secured but that no radioactive material was lost.

The NRC staff held a predecisional enforcement conference with company officials in Atlanta prior to proposing the civil penalty and says that adequate corrective actions have been taken.

The company has 30 days in which to either pay the penalty or to protest its imposition.

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Friday, December 05, 2008