Spotlight
2009 Individual Actions
On December 1, 2009, an Order was issued to Mr. Daniel Culver, a former maintenance supervisor at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station (Peach Bottom), prohibiting him from involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of three years from the date the Order was issued. This enforcement action is based on Mr. Culver’s deliberate failure to provide complete and accurate information on a personnel history questionnaire used to obtain unescorted access authorization at Peach Bottom. Specifically, Mr. Culver provided inaccurate information regarding his rank in the military, his history of misconduct in the military, and the nature of his military discharge. Mr. Culver also listed a peer, who was also a personal friend, as a former supervisor on his application for employment, even though this individual was not Mr. Culver’s supervisor at the time he submitted his application. This represents a violation of 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2), which, in part, prohibits licensee employees from deliberately submitting to a licensee information that the person knows to be incomplete or inaccurate in some respect material to the NRC.
On September 16, 2009, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order (Effective Immediately) to Douglas Poling to formalize commitments made as a result of an Alternate Dispute Resolution mediation session. The commitments were made by Mr. Poling as part of a settlement agreement between Mr. Poling and the NRC regarding apparent violations of NRC requirements by Mr. Poling as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Radiation Safety Officer of Magna Chek, Inc. The agreement resolves the apparent violations involving Mr. Poling’s failure to provide the NRC with information that was complete and accurate in all material respects pursuant to 10 CFR 30.10, as well as deliberate failure to comply with an NRC Order. Mr. Poling agreed to a number of corrective actions, including: (1) he will not be involved in any NRC-licensed activities for a period of five years from the date of the Order; (2) he will provide a copy of the Order to each NRC Agreement State within which he plans to conduct activities involving radioactive materials; (3) he will not be involved in any decisions, financial or otherwise, regarding Magna Chek activities involving radioactive materials for a period of five years; (4) he will step down as Radiation Safety Officer; and (5) he will provide all copies of keys and relative documents to the Magna Chek Chief Financial Officer within one day. In consideration of these commitments, the NRC agrees to refrain from further enforcement action in connection with the subject violations, as provided to Mr. Poling.
On July 28, 2009, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order to Mr. Michael Hackett, Radiation Safety Officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky (VAMC Lexington). The Order is a result of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) session on June 26, 2009. ADR was requested by Mr. Hackett after an NRC investigation determined that Mr. Hackett’s actions caused VAMC Lexington to be in apparent violation by not implementing portions of the radiation safety program including: (1) failing to hold periodic Radiation Safety Committee meetings; (2) not performing annual program reviews; (3) and not performing required hazardous material training. The Order specifies that Mr. Hackett made no admission that he violated any NRC requirements and confirms commitments from Mr. Hackett for additional actions on his part to provide both the NRC and the National Health Physics Program (NHPP) for the Department of Veterans Affairs the minutes from quarterly Radiation Safety Committee meetings, annual program review results, and specific information following completion of the next training on transportation and receipt of radioactive material. Additionally, Mr. Hackett will (1) inform the NRC of his specific plans if he is assigned and has accepted responsibility for additional collateral duties, (2) inform NHPP and the NRC if he is unable to perform his duties, (3) submit to NRC an article with specific information for submittal and consideration for publication by NHPP, and (4)inform NRC if he leaves his position before the terms of the Order are completed. In consideration of these commitments from Mr. Hackett, the NRC agrees not to pursue any further enforcement action in connection with the apparent violations.
Jennifer O'Neill-Torres (IA-08-072)
On March 23, 2009, an Order was issued to Ms. Jennifer O’Neil-Torres, the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO), President, and an owner of S&M Testing Laboratory, prohibiting her from involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of five years from the date the Order was issued. The Order was issued based on her engagement in deliberate misconduct, which caused the licensee to be in violation of 10 CFR 30.34(c) & 10 CFR 30.52(a). Specifically, as a RSO/President/owner, Ms. O’Neill-Torres deliberately failed to obtain NRC approval via an amendment to S&M Testing’s NRC license to authorize storage of licensed gauges at an alternate location prior to moving all gauges from authorized storage location to an unauthorized storage location and failed to provide the NRC an opportunity to inspect the gauges, failed to respond to repeated contact attempts by the NRC, and refused to provide an NRC inspector information regarding the licensed gauges including their location and conditions of storage. In this case, she not only deliberately failed to respond to repeated NRC correspondence and communication attempts, but also failed to address or correct the violations.
All significant enforcement actions issued to individuals
