ML20268A099
| ML20268A099 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 09/24/2020 |
| From: | Raymond Mckinley NRC Region 1 |
| To: | Goodfellow S US Dept of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations |
| Nicole Warnek | |
| References | |
| 1-2018-016, RI-2018-A-0034 | |
| Download: ML20268A099 (3) | |
Text
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION I 2100 RENAISSANCE BOULEVARD., SUITE 100 KING OF PRUSSIA, PA 19406-2713 September 24, 2020 S. Goodfellow, PH.D.
RI-2018-A-0034 Department of the Navy Chief of Naval Operations (N452-RCO)
Energy and Environmental Readiness Division (N45)
Radiological Controls & Health 2000 Navy Pentagon Washington, DC 20350-2000
Subject:
Department of the Navy - NRC Office of Investigations Case No. 1-2018-016
Dear Dr. Goodfellow:
The Region I Field Office, NRC Office of Investigations (OI), initiated an investigation (Case No.
1-2018-016) on September 7, 2018, to determine whether a (former) Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) at the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) deliberately directed the falsification of radiological surveys. Based on the OI investigation, the NRC substantiated that the RSO directed radiological health technicians (RHTs) to create (from memory) missing survey records and that this resulted in the creation of inaccurate records, in violation of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 30.9 (10 CFR 30.9). However, the NRC determined that the RSOs actions were not an attempt to deliberately violate NRC requirements to maintain records that are complete and accurate in all material respects.
The safety significance of the 10 CFR 30.9 violation was evaluated by the NRC and found to be Severity Level IV (SL IV) because the inaccurate information would not have caused the NRC to reconsider a regulatory position or undertake a substantial further inquiry. Namely, the NRC considered that the surveys had been conducted on the required dates and no unusual radiological conditions had been identified. After the records were misplaced, RHTs recreated the records with the knowledge that no unusual conditions had existed at the time the surveys were performed; therefore, the inaccurate information primarily involved the names of the RHTs who had performed the surveys and the exact survey results rather than significant variances from the likely conditions. In accordance with the NRC Enforcement Manual, the NRC typically does not take additional enforcement action for non-escalated MML permittee violations. In this case, the Navy MML issued an enforcement action to the NMCSD related to this event and has also permanently prohibited the former RSO from working with permitted materials again.
Therefore, the SL IV violation will not be documented in an inspection report and no further regulatory action is planned.
Please note that final NRC investigation documents, such as the OI report described above, may be made available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) subject to redaction of information appropriate under the FOIA. Requests under the FOIA should be made in accordance with 10 CFR 9.23, Requests for Records. Additional information is available on the NRC website at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foia-privacy.html.
RI-2018-A-0034 Also, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records System (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS).
ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).
No response to this letter is required. Should you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Nicole Warnek, of my staff, at (610) 337-6954.
Sincerely, Raymond McKinley Team Leader Enforcement, Allegation, & Government Liaison Team Raymond R.
McKinley Digitally signed by Raymond R.
McKinley Date: 2020.09.24 14:03:39 -04'00'
ML20268A099 SUNSI Review Non-Sensitive Sensitive Publicly Available Non-Publicly Available OFFICE DNMS:MLAB RI:RC ORA:SAC ORA:EAGL TL NAME D Janda B Klukan N Warnek R McKinley DATE 9/15/2020 9/24/2020 9/22/2020 9/24/2020