2024-08348. In the Matter of Almonte Geo Service Group; Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty

AGENCY:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION:

Order; issuance.

SUMMARY:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an Order to Almonte Geo Service Group (Almonte), imposing a civil monetary penalty of $17,500. The NRC issued a Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty on November 9, 2023, to Almonte. The violation involved the failure by Almonte to complete decommissioning no later than 24 hours following the initiation of decommissioning as required by NRC regulations. This order is effective on the date of issuance.

DATES:

This order became effective on April 11, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2024-0066 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may obtain publicly available information related to this document using any of the following methods:

• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2024-0066. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; telephone: [phone]; email: [e-mail]. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the For Further Information Contact section of this document.

• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/​reading-rm/​adams.html. To begin the search, select “Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.” For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, at 301-415-4737, or by email to [e-mail]. The order imposing civil monetary penalty of $17,500 is available in ADAMS under Package Accession No. ML24089A031.

• NRC's PDR: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies of publicly available documents, is open by appointment. To make an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to [e-mail] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time (ET), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Carmen Rivera-Diaz, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: [phone], email: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The text of the order is attached.

Dated: April 15, 2024.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

David L. Pelton,

Director, Office of Enforcement.

Attachment—Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty of $17,500

United States of America

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

In the Matter of: Almonte Geo Service Group, Toa Alta, Puerto Rico, Docket No. 03038488, License No. 52-31453-01, EA-23-016

Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty

I

Almonte Geo Service Group (Licensee) is the holder of Nuclear Materials License No. 52-31453-01 issued on October 4, 2011, by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to Part 30 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). The license authorizes the possession and use of radioactive sources contained in portable nuclear moisture density gauges in accordance with conditions specified therein. The facility is located on the Licensee's site in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico.

II

The NRC inspected the Licensee's activities between March 1, 2023, and June 14, 2023. The results of this inspection indicated that the Licensee had not conducted its activities in full compliance with NRC requirements. A written Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice) was served upon the Licensee by letter dated November 9, 2023 (ML23310A012).^[1] The Notice states the nature of the violation, the provision of the NRC's requirements that the Licensee violated, and the amount of the civil penalty proposed for the violation.

Namely, the Notice describes that the Licensee failed to complete decommissioning no later than 24 months following the initiation of decommissioning as required by 10 CFR 30.36(h). In particular, the Licensee has not disposed of or transferred its licensed material despite having had its license revoked more than seven years ago and having initiated decommissioning activities almost four years ago. The Notice also documents that the NRC's primary interest in this matter is ensuring that the Licensee meets its obligation to transfer or dispose of the licensed material in its possession and complete decommissioning of its site. Therefore, the civil penalty would not have been imposed if the Licensee (1) had properly disposed of or transferred the remaining sealed radioactive source possessed under the NRC license and (2) had sent information documenting that the material had been transferred or disposed of to the NRC within 60 days of the date of the letter transmitting the Notice ( i.e., by January 8, 2024).

The Licensee responded to the Notice in an email dated December 9, 2023 (ML23345A099). In its response, the Licensee requested additional time to save money to pay for proper disposal of the remaining sealed radioactive source in its possession. As of the date of this Order, the Licensee remains in possession of the sealed radioactive source.

III

After consideration of the Licensee's response and the statements of fact, explanation, and argument for mitigation contained therein, the NRC staff has determined that the violation occurred as stated and that the penalty proposed for the violation designated in the Notice should be imposed.

IV

In view of the foregoing and pursuant to Section 234 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (Act), 42 U.S.C. 2282, and 10 CFR 2.205, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:

The Licensee shall pay the civil penalty in the amount of $17,500 within 30 days of the date of the publication of this Order in the Federal Register through one of the following two methods:

1. Submit the payment with the enclosed invoice to this Order (EA-23-016) to the following address: Office of the Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, P.O. Box 979051, St. Louis, MO 63197 or,

2. Submit the payment in accordance with NUREG/BR-0254.

In addition, at the time payment is made, the Licensee shall submit a statement indicating when and by what method payment was made, to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738.

V

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, the Licensee must, and any other person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer to this Order within 30 days of its publication in the Federal Register . In addition, the Licensee and any other person adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing on this Order within 30 days of its publication in the Federal Register . Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the time to answer or request a hearing. A request for extension of time must be directed to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and include a statement of good cause for the extension.

All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including documents filed by an interested State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or designated agency thereof that requests to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302. The E-Filing process requires participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in some cases, to mail copies on electronic storage media, unless an exemption permitting an alternative filing method, as further discussed, is granted. Detailed guidance on electronic submissions is located in the “Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC” (ML13031A056) and on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/​site-help/​e-submittals.html.

To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the Office of the Secretary by email at [e-mail] or by telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID) certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.

Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/​site-help/​e-submittals/​getting-started.html. After a digital ID certificate is obtained and a docket created, the participant must submit adjudicatory documents in Portable Document Format. Guidance on submissions is available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/​site-help/​electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on the due date. Upon receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system timestamps the document and sends the submitter an email confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing system also distributes an email that provides access to the document to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are filed to obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.

A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic Filing Help Desk through the “Contact Us” link located on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/​site-help/​e-submittals.html, by email to [e-mail], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., ET, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.

Participants who believe that they have good cause for not submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such filings must be submitted in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(b)-(d). Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner are responsible for serving their documents on all other participants. Participants granted an exemption under 10 CFR 2.302(g)(2) must still meet the electronic formatting requirement in 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1), unless the participant also seeks and is granted an exemption from 10 CFR 2.302(g)(1).

Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the NRC's electronic hearing docket, which is publicly available at https://adams.nrc.gov/​ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID certificate as previously described, click “cancel” when the link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access any publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket. Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone numbers in their filings unless an NRC regulation or other law requires submission of such information. With respect to copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute Fair Use applications, participants should not include copyrighted materials in their submission.

If a person other than the Licensee requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which their interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).

If a hearing is requested by a licensee or a person whose interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an order designating the time and place of any hearings. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order should be sustained. In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions specified in Section IV above shall be final 20 days from the date this Order is published in the Federal Register without further order or proceedings.

If an extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been received. If payment has not been made by the time specified above, the matter may be referred to the Attorney General, for collection.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

/RA/,

David L. Pelton,

Director, Office of Enforcement.

Dated this 11 day of April, 2024.

Footnotes

1.  Designation in parentheses refers to an Agency-wide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accession number. Documents referenced in this letter are publicly-available using the accession number in ADAMS.