[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19525-19526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10330]
[[Page 19525]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[IA 98-020]
Lourdes T. Boschuk, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; Order Prohibiting
Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities
I
J&L Testing Company, Inc., (Licensee or JLT) is the holder of
Byproduct Nuclear Material License No. 37-28442-02 issued by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR
part 30. The license authorizes possession and use of Troxler portable
nuclear gauges containing cesium-137 and americium-241 in sealed
sources. The license, originally issued on February 7, 1995, was
amended on August 22, 1995, and is due to expire on February 29, 2000.
The License was suspended by Order, dated September 27, 1995. Lourdes
T. Boschuk is the President and owner of JLT. Concurrently with this
Order, the NRC is issuing an Order Revoking License to JLT (EA 96-110).
II
Based on an NRC inspection and an investigation by the NRC's Office
of Investigations, the NRC has determined that Ms. Boschuk, while
President and owner of JLT,\1\ engaged in a pattern and practice of
willfully violating NRC requirements and otherwise violated NRC
requirements. Among such violations are the following:
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\1\ Lourdes Boschuk is the wife of John Boschuk, Jr., President
and Owner of J&L Engineering, Inc. (JLE). JLT and JLE are located at
the same address and share the same telephone and facsimile numbers.
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A. Materially Inaccurate Statements Made to NRC
(1) A letter accompanying JLT's Application for Material License
for Troxler Nuclear Density Gauges, dated November 21, 1994, and signed
by Lourdes Boschuk as President of JLT, represented to the NRC that
since the revocation of J&L Engineering's License to operate the same
Troxler gauges on August 30, 1993, the gauges had not been removed from
storage or used in any way. In fact, JLT admittedly used a gauge on at
least four occasions and invoiced customers for that use after
revocation of the JLE license and before the NRC issued a license to
JLT. JLT used the gauge for the following customers: DelSir Supply in
December 1993, Johnson Construction in May 1994, Johnson Construction
in June 1994, and PA Soil & Rock Company in July 1994. The materially
inaccurate statement in the JLT application was in violation of 10 CFR
30.9(a) and made with careless disregard for the facts by Ms. Boschuk.
(2) A letter to the NRC dated September 11, 1995, signed by Lourdes
Boschuk as President of JLT, stated that the Troxler gauge that was
missing at the time of the NRC inspection on August 1, 1995, was in
Watertown, New York; and was returned the next day. In fact, the gauge
was transferred to SE Technologies, Inc., located in Bridgeville,
Pennsylvania, in July 1995 and was not returned to JLT until August 17,
1995. This statement was in violation of 10 CFR 30.9(a) and was made
with careless disregard for the facts by Ms. Boschuk. In addition, the
letter represented that since the NRC inspection on August 1, 1995, all
three Troxler gauges were located in a locked storage cabinet at JLT's
premises and would remain there until the apparent violations
identified in the NRC's Inspection Report were resolved. In fact, one
of the gauges had been transferred on September 6, 1995, to Cashin
Associates, P.C. in New York State, and was not returned to JLT until
September 19 or 20, 1995. This was an inaccurate statement in violation
of 10 CFR 30.9(a) and was made by Ms. Boschuk with careless disregard
for the facts.
(3) During an enforcement conference with the NRC on September 15,
1995, Lourdes Boschuk, as President of JLT, stated that JLT's operable
Troxler gauge was in storage and had not been used. In fact, one of the
gauges was transferred by JLT on September 6, 1995, to Cashin
Associates, P.C. for use at the Brookhaven Landfill in New York State,
and was not returned to JLT until September 19 or 20, 1995. This
inaccurate statement was in violation of 10 CFR 30.9(a) and was made by
Ms. Boschuk with careless disregard for the facts.
(4) A letter to the NRC dated September 18, 1995, signed by Lourdes
Boschuk as President of JLT, and sent to the NRC in response to the
September 15, 1995, NRC letter confirming JLT's commitment at the
September 15, 1995, enforcement conference to refrain from using the
Troxler density gauges pending resolution of the apparent violations,
made several materially inaccurate statements. The letter stated that
all JLT's gauges have been in the storage cabinet on the JLT premises
since the visit of the NRC inspector. This was a deliberately
inaccurate statement by Ms. Boschuk in violation of 10 CFR 30.9(a) and
30.10(a)(2). In fact, Ms. Boschuk knew no later than September 15,
1995, during a telephone call with the Director of JLT, immediately
after the September 15, 1995 enforcement conference, that one of JLT's
Troxler gauges had been transferred on September 6, 1995 to Cashin
Associates, P.C. in New York State.
In addition, the letter stated that all three JLT Troxler gauges
are currently locked in the designated storage cabinet on the JLT
premises. This inaccurate statement was in violation of 10 CFR 30.9(a)
and was made with at least careless disregard as to its truth or
falsity by Ms. Boschuk. In fact, Lourdes Boschuk sent the JLT RSO to
retrieve the gauge which had been transferred to Cashin Associates,
P.C., but the RSO did not return to JLT with the gauge until late in
the evening of September 19 or early in the morning of September 20,
1995.
B. Destruction of Records Relating to Gauge Usage
According to a witness, Lourdes Boschuk and others destroyed,
altered, sanitized, or otherwise disposed of business and transactional
records shortly after the August 1995 NRC inspection of JLT, in order
to conceal from the NRC the unauthorized use and/or transfer of Troxler
gauges by JLT. Among the records destroyed or disposed of were invoices
and a log documenting use of the Troxler density gauges. According to a
handwritten note, created by a JLT employee immediately after the
September 15, 1995 enforcement conference, although utilization records
were made available to the NRC inspector, those records could not be
subsequently located. The note further reflected a question whether the
utilization records were ``thrown away during sanitization of
records?'' Shortly after the August 1995 inspection, the NRC inspector
requested JLT to provide a copy of a utilization record found during
the inspection and which documented the rental of a gauge to SE
Technologies in September 1994, when neither JLE nor JLT had a valid
NRC license. JLT did not provide the invoice and claimed it could no
longer find the document. Condition 19 of JLT's License requires that
JLT conduct its licensed activities in accordance with its Application
dated January 6, 1995. The Application mandates that JLT comply with
conditions requiring the creation of a utilization log for the gauges
and the maintenance of the log for audit purposes. The destruction of
the utilization log was in violation of the 10 CFR 30.3 and 30.9(a).
The participation of Lourdes Boschuk in the deliberate destruction of
the utilization log was in violation of 10 CFR 30.10(a).
[[Page 19526]]
III
Based on the above, the NRC concludes that Lourdes Boschuk,
President and owner of JLT, deliberately violated NRC requirements, and
otherwise committed willful violations of NRC requirements. These
violations raise a serious doubt as to whether Ms. Boschuk can be
relied upon to comply with NRC requirements and to provide complete and
accurate information to the NRC. The NRC must rely upon the integrity
of persons involved in licensed activities, especially owners and
officials of NRC licensees. Deliberate misconduct of the type
demonstrated by Ms. Boschuk cannot be tolerated. Notwithstanding the
revocation of the JLT license, given Ms. Boschuk's repeated failures to
adhere to regulatory requirements, the NRC no longer has the necessary
assurance that Ms. Boschuk's participation in licensed activities would
be performed safely and in accordance with requirements.
Consequently, I lack the requisite reasonable assurance that
licensed activities can be conducted in compliance with the
Commission's requirements and that the health and safety of the public
will be protected if Ms. Boschuk were permitted at this time to be
involved in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, the public health,
safety and interest require that Ms. Boschuk be prohibited from any
involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of five years from
the date of this Order, and if she is currently involved with another
licensee in NRC-licensed activities, she must immediately cease such
activities, and inform the NRC of the name, address and telephone
number of the licensee, and provide a copy of this Order to the
licensee. Additionally, Ms. Boschuk is required to notify the NRC of
her first employment or involvement in NRC-licensed activities
following the prohibition period.
IV
Accordingly, pursuant to sections 81, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and 186
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202, 10 CFR 30.10, and 10 CFR 150.20, it is
hereby ordered that:
1. For a period of five years from the date of this Order, Ms.
Boschuk is prohibited from engaging in NRC-licensed activities. NRC-
licensed activities are those activities that are conducted pursuant to
a specific or general license issued by the NRC, including, but not
limited to, those activities of Agreement State licensees conducted in
areas of NRC jurisdiction pursuant to the authority granted by 10 CFR
150.20.
2. For a period of five years from the date of this Order, Ms.
Boschuk shall provide a copy of this Order to any prospective employer
or business partner who engages in NRC-licensed activities (as
described in Section IV.1 above) prior to her acceptance of any
employment (whether involved in licensed activities or not) by, or
partnership or ownership interest in, a licensee (as described in
Section IV.1 above). The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that
the licensee is aware of Ms. Boschuk's prohibition from engaging in
NRC-licensed activities.
3. The first time Ms. Boschuk is employed in NRC-licensed
activities, or acquires a partnership or ownership interest in a
licensee (as described in Section IV.1 above), following the five year
prohibition in Section IV.1, above, she shall notify the Regional
Administrator, NRC Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania 19406, prior to acquiring such an interest or prior to
engaging in NRC-licensed activities, including activities under an
Agreement State license when activities under that license are
conducted in areas of NRC jurisdiction pursuant to 10 CFR 150.20. The
notice shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the NRC
or Agreement State licensee and the location where licensed activities
will be performed.
The Director, Office of Enforcement, may, in writing, relax or
rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by the Licensee
of good cause.
V
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Ms. Boschuk must, and any other
person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer to this
Order and may request a hearing on this Order, within 20 days of the
date of this Order. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be
given to extending the time to request a hearing. A request for
extension of time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555,
and include a statement of good cause for the extension. The answer may
consent to this Order. Unless the answer consents to this Order, the
answer shall, in writing and under oath or affirmation, specifically
admit or deny each allegation or charge made in this Order and shall
set forth the matters of fact and law on which Ms. Boschuk or other
person adversely affected relies and the reasons as to why the Order
should not have been issued. Any answer or request for a hearing shall
be submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Attn: Chief, Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC 20555.
Copies also shall be sent to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to the Deputy
Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement at the same address, to the
Regional Administrator, NRC Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406, to Ms. Boschuk if the answer or hearing
request is by a person other than Ms. Boschuk. If a person other than
Ms. Boschuk requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with
particularity the manner in which his or her interest is adversely
affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10
CFR 2.714(d).
If a hearing is requested by Ms. Boschuk or a person whose interest
is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating
the time and place of any hearing. 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 of
this Order 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.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day of April 1998.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James Lieberman,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 98-10330 Filed 4-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
