[ RadSafe ] Eating and Drinking (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Sandy Perle]

Mike,

 

Here is some information that may help (sending in 3 documents due to size
restrictions by Radsafe:

 


NRC NEWS 

U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II

61 Forsyth Street, Suite 23T85, Atlanta, GA 30303

  _____  

No. II-00-10 

February 7, 2000


CONTACT:

Ken Clark (Phone: 404/562-4416, E-mail: kmc2 at nrc.gov )


Roger Hannah (Phone 404/562-4417, E-mail: rdh1 at nrc.gov )

NRC Staff Proposes $2,750 Fine Against West Virginia University for
Radioactive Materials Violation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a $2,750 civil penalty
against West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, for a
violation of NRC license requirements related to the security of radioactive
materials the university uses for teaching and research.

The NRC has notified the university that the violation, found during an
inspection in November 1999, includes several examples of the university
staff failing to secure licensed materials from unauthorized removal or
access.

On at least four occasions (including during the time of the November NRC
inspection), WVU failed to adequately secure or maintain constant
surveillance of portable gauges containing radioactive materials stored in
an area of the Civil Engineering Building. In addition, during the November
inspection, laboratories in the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, the Health
Sciences Center North and the Agricultural Sciences Center containing
radioactive materials were found unlocked and unattended. 

At a predecisional enforcement conference with the NRC, WVU outlined
corrective actions designed to address the violations and prevent future
problems. The NRC staff determined that since the university's own Radiation
Safety Department had previously identified security problems with the
gauges, the corrective actions, while comprehensive, were not initially
effective in preventing recurrence. 

The NRC also cited the university for several other violations that the
agency felt did not warrant a proposed civil penalty. These less significant
violations included the failure to prohibit eating and drinking in
radioactive material work areas, failure to make proper surveys of
radioactive material work areas, improper labeling of radioactive waste and
failure to adequately post radiation signs in radioactive material work
areas. Although the violations were not included in the proposed civil
penalty, the agency was concerned that many of them had been previously
identified by the Radiation Safety Department, but not effectively
corrected.

The university has 30 days from receipt of the Notice of Violation to either
pay the fine or protest its imposition.