Information Notice 2023-05, Discontinuation of U.S. NRC Recognition of the American Board of Radiologys Certification Processes

Discontinuation of U.S. NRC Recognition of the American Board of Radiologys Certification Processes

ML23304A144
Person / Time
Issue date:	11/30/2023
From:	Russell Felts, Kevin Williams Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, NRC/NRR/DRO/IOEB
To:
References
IN-2023-05
Download: ML23304A144 (5)

UNITED STATES

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS

WASHINGTON, DC 20555-0001

November 30, 2023

NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 2023-05: DISCONTINUATION OF THE U.S. NUCLEAR

REGULATORY COMMISSIONS RECOGNITION OF

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF RADIOLOGYS

CERTIFICATION PROCESSES

ADDRESSEES

All U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) medical use licens ees and NRC master

materials licensees. All Agreement State Radiation Control Prog ram Directors and State Liaison

Officers.

PURPOSE

The NRC is issuing this information notice (IN) to inform addre ssees about the discontinuation

of the NRCs recognition of the American Board of Radiology (AB R) certification processes and

to remind addressees about the existing pathways for authorizat ion under Title 10 of the Code

of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 35, Medical Use of Byproduct Material. The NRC

expects that recipients will review the information for applica bility to their facilities and consider

actions, as appropriate. Information contained in this IN are n ot new requirements and no

specific action or written response is required. The NRC is pro viding this IN to the Agreement

States for their information and for distribution to their lice nsees, as appropriate.

DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES

Recently, the ABR, a major specialty board recognized by the NRC, informe d the NRC of its

intention to stop maintaining NRC recognition and requested tha t the NRC stop recognizing its

certification processes after December 31, 2023. The ABR requested the discontinuation in a

letter to the NRC dated April 6, 2022 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management

System Accession No. ML22091A272). The ABR issues NRC-recognized certificates to many

individuals (including physicians, physicists, and radiation sa fety officers (RSOs)). Its NRC-

recognized certificates enable individuals to become authorized and listed as Authorized Users

(AUs), Authorized Medical Physicists (AMPs), and Radiation Safe ty Officers (RSOs) or

associate RSOs on medical use radioactive materials licenses us ing a board certification

training pathway in accordance with criteria outlined in 10 CFR Part 35.

The NRC has recognized the ABRs certification processes (with certificates that include

authorized individual designations, i.e., AU-Eligible, AMP-Elig ible, and RSO-Eligible), since

2005 and will discontinue this recognition as requested. After December 31, 2023, the NRC will

no longer recognize certification processes offered by the ABR as complying with the NRC

training regulations in 10 CFR Part 35. Any ABR certificates is sued after December 31, 2023, will not be acceptable for authorization for medical use throug h the board certification pathway.

This discontinuation is the result of ABRs request and is not a result of NRC-identified

insufficiencies in the certification processes. The NRC staff w ill update the Specialty Board

ML23304A144 Certifications Recognized by NRC Under 10 CFR Part 35 public we bsite

(https://www.nrc.gov/materials/miau/med-use-toolkit/spec-board-cert.html) and will share the

termination letter and associated supporting information with t he public and the medical

community through the NRC medical list server (https://www.nrc. gov/materials/miau/med-use- toolkit.html#mls) and the NRC Medical Uses Licensee Toolkit web site

(https://www.nrc.gov/materials/miau/med-use-toolkit.html).

The regulations in 10 CFR Part 35 continue to offer an alterna te training pathway for

individuals affected by the ABRs discontinuation and who may s eek to become authorized

individuals on an NRC or Agreement State license or permit in t he future. The NRC is not

undertaking any rulemaking to revise the existing training and experience requirements as a

result of the ABRs decision.

BACKGROUND

The ABR is one of the NRC-recognized specialty boards listed on the Specialty Board

Certifications Recognized by NRC Under 10 CFR Part 35 public we bsite, with certification

processes for certain specialty areas that meet the NRCs train ing and experience requirements

under 10 CFR Part 35. On April 24, 2002, the NRC published in the Federal Register (FR) (67 FR 20249) a final rule to 10 CFR Part 35 that provided, among o ther things, a pathway for

physicians to become authorized user s if certified by a medical or specialty board whose

certification process is recognized by the Commission. On Mar ch 30, 2005 (70 FR 16335), the

NRC also published a final rule, 10 CFR Part 35Medical Use of Byproduct Material

Recognition of Specialty Boards, that provided, among other th ings, the updated criteria that

specialty boards must meet to be recognized by the NRC or the A greement States.

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) Office Procedure MSST-70-03, Procedures for Recognizing, Monitoring, and Terminating the Ce rtification Process of Specialty

Boards, dated January 7, 2021 (ML20351A389), provides guidance to the NRC staff and

Agreement States on how to request and evaluate applications fr om specialty boards to

determine whether their certification processes satisfy the req uirements for recognition. The

procedure also provides instructions on posting recognized boar d certifications on the NRC

Medical Uses Licensee Toolkit website.

On March 30, 2022, the ABR hosted a webinar to share information about i ts decision to

discontinue its NRC recogniti on and stop including individual authorization designations for AUs, AMPs, and RSOs on ABR certificates issued after December 31, 2023. The recording of the

session as well as answers to frequently asked questions are av ailable on the ABR website

(https://www.theabr.org/blogs/authorized-user-eligibility-webin ar-recording-and-faqs-available).

The NRCs Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (A CMUI) Subcommittee on

Training and Experience for All Modalities reviewed and evaluat ed the impacts of the ABRs

request to discontinue NRC recognition. The subcommittee provid ed its feedback and

recommendations in a report presented to the full committee dur ing the ACMUI 2022 Fall Public

Meeting on December 5, 2022. The report was unanimously approved by the full committee

during its public meeting on May 15, 2023. The subcommittee rep ort (ML23136A459) and

transcripts from the meeting can be accessed on the ACMUIs web site

(https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acmui/meetings/ 2022.html). On September 12, 2023, the NRC held a public meeting on the ABRs decision to eliminate its

NRC-recognized certification processes and discontinue or stop issuing all NRC-recognized

ABR certificates after December 31, 2023. The NRC staff also re sponded to questions and

provided information on how affected individuals seeking to bec ome authorized individuals in

the future can apply for authorization. The meeting summary (ML 23283A056), meeting

transcript, and NRC staff presentation can be accessed on the NRC Medical Uses Licensee

Toolkit website.

DISCUSSION

The NRCs regulations require that individuals complete trainin g and meet experience criteria to

be authorized for the medical use of byproduct material and to independently fulfill the

radiation-safety-related duties of an authorized individual. Th e regulations in 10 CFR Part 35 provide three main pathways for individuals seeking to become a uthorized and listed on a

medical use radioactive materials license to satisfy the traini ng and experience requirements

and be initially approved and listed as an authorized individua l for uses identified on a license:

(1) approval of an individual who is certified by a medical spe cialty board that has a

certification process recogniz ed by the NRC or an Agreement State as meeting the

NRCs requirements for training and experience, also known as t he board certification

pathway;

(2) approval based on an evaluation of an individuals training and experience, including

completion of hours of classroom and laboratory training and ho urs of supervised work

experience (including patient casework), as well as a preceptor written attestation; also

known as the alternate training pathway; and

(3) approval based on previous identification as an authorized individual on an NRC or

Agreement State license or permit.

The regulations in 10 CFR Part 35 provide a training pathway th rough NRC-recognized

specialty boards for possible identification on a license as an authorized individual, by which a

recognized board reviews and approves the individuals training and work experience. Once a

boards certification process for a specialty area meets the NR C training and experience

regulations in 10 CFR Part 35 and is recognized by the NRC or r elevant Agreement State, a

licensee may submit a licensing action request for any individu al certified by that recognized

specialty board to become an authorized individual on a radioac tive materials medical use

license, and NRC and Agreement State license reviewers may grant these approvals.

Additionally, the NRC requires that an individual meet the prov isions of 10 CFR 35.59, Recentness of training, which require that an individual must have (1) completed their training

and experience within 7 years preceding the date of the applica tion or (2) had related continuing

education and experience since completion of the required train ing and experience. This means

that individuals who have received the ABR certificates with AU /AMP/RSO-Eligible designations

before December 31, 2023, can use those certificates to obtain authorized individual status

through the board certification pathway, if authorized individu al status is requested within

7 years from the certificates date of issuance.

The NRC staff maintains the Specialty Board Certifications Reco gnized by NRC Under

10 CFR Part 35 public website that lists the specialty boards a nd specialty areas recognized by

the NRC. As part of the NRC recognition process, the specialty boards submit a sample

certificate for each recognized specialty area. Recertification certificates are not recognized or used in this process. This website also provides samples of board certificates to all ow license

reviewers to compare the sample certificates to the certificate s submitted as part of a licensing

action.

Effective January 1, 2024, the ABRs certification processes an d certificates will no longer be

recognized by the NRC or Agreement States, and the NRC Specialty Board website and the

ABR sample certificate effective dates will be updated to refle ct the new recognition status and

date of discontinuation. Individuals with valid NRC-recognized ABR certificates issued before

December 31, 2023, may use these certificates to request author ization through the board

certification pathway. Individuals with ABR certificates that a re not NRC recognized have the

option to seek authorization through an alternate NRC training and experience pathway as

provided for in 10 CFR Part 35. This alternate training pathway is for individuals without an

NRC-recognized certificate to have their training documentation reviewed and approved directly

by the NRC or Agreement States to allow for possible authorizat ion. Potential applicants are

reminded of the importance of maintaining appropriate documenta tion to facilitate the approval

process for becoming an authorized individual.

CONTACT

This IN requires no specific action or written response. If you have any questions about the

information in this notice, please contact the technical contac t listed below or the appropriate

regional office.

/RA/ /RA/

Kevin Williams, Director Russell Felts, Director

Division of Materials Safety, Security, Division of Reactor Oversight

State, and Tribal Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Office of Nuclear Material Safety

and Safeguards

Maryann Ayoade, NMSS

(301) 415-0862 Email: Maryann.Ayoade@nrc.gov

Note: NRC generic communications may be found on the NRC public website, www.nrc.gov, under NRC Library/Document Collections.

ML23304A144 EPIDS No. L-2023-GEN-0011

OFFICE Tech Editor NMSS/MSST/MSEB NMSS/MSST/MSEB NMSS/MSST/MSEB OE OCIO

NAME JDougherty MAyoade CValentin-Rodriguez CEinberg JPeralta DCullison

DATE 11/02/2023 10/31/2023 11/01/2023 11/07/202311 11/14/2023 11/17/2023

OFFICE NRR/DRO/IOEB NRR/DRO/IOLB NRR/DRO/IOEB NMSS/MSST NRR/DRO

NAME PClark IBetts LRegner KWilliams R Felts

DATE 11/06/2023 11/21/2023 11/29/2023 11/30/2023 11/30/2023