Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 2 issued the following announcement on April 25.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $7,500 fine for a Billerica, Mass.,
based firm due to an employee who failed to wear a required radiation-measuring device and for
providing inaccurate information to an NRC inspector.
During a routine inspection in February 2018 at Lantheus Medical Imaging’s facility in San
Juan, Puerto Rico, an NRC inspector found that the company’s senior technical support specialist
responsible for maintaining a cyclotron – a type of particle accelerator designed to produce
radiopharmaceuticals used in medical imaging and for therapeutic purposes – had recorded
radiation exposures from January to September of 2017 that were inconsistent with the type of work
being performed.
The NRC’s Office of Investigations investigated the matter and learned that the individual
did not wear the required dosimetry for extended periods of time between 2014 and 2017. In
addition, the individual admitted to knowingly providing false information to the NRC.
Based on its reviews, the NRC has identified two willful violations that are the basis for the
fine: the failure by the specialist to wear the required dosimetry between January 2014 and
December 2017; and the provision of information to the NRC by the specialist that was not
complete and accurate regarding the use of dosimetry. A separate non-willful violation is the failure
by Lantheus involving the continued non-supervised use of NRC-licensed material for
approximately one month in late summer 2018. The specialist was terminated by the company.
The company has put in place long-term corrective actions to address the issues.
Lantheus will have 30 days to either pay the fine or to inform the NRC in writing if it plans
to appeal the violations.
Original source can be found here.
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