NRC: News Release - Region II - 2004-039 - NRC Staff Cites Honeywell Illinois Plant for Violating NRC Regulations


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NRC NEWS
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region II
61 Forsyth Street SW, Atlanta, GA 30303
www.nrc.gov

No. II-04-039		May 11, 2004
CONTACT:	Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417 Joey Ledford (404) 562-4487	E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov
NRC STAFF CITES HONEYWELL ILLINOIS PLANT FOR VIOLATING NRC REGULATIONS Printable Version
After a thorough review, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has determined that two violations of NRC requirements occurred as a result of the uranium hexafluoride release at the Honeywell plant in Metropolis, Illinois, in late December 2003. NRC inspectors found that Honeywell employees reconfigured the fluorination system without detailed instructions which allowed the leak to occur. During the event, the company also failed to implement some parts of its emergency response plan and did not provide sufficient information to local emergency responders. The NRC staff seriously considered a civil penalty against the company in recognition of the potential consequences. However, since the company has not been the subject of escalated enforcement action within the past two years, the NRC considered whether credit was warranted for the company’s corrective actions. The NRC determined that Honeywell took prompt and comprehensive corrective actions, exceeding those actually required. As a result, the NRC staff is proposing no civil penalty, but warned the company that similar violations in the future could result in further enforcement action. A copy of the NRC letter to Honeywell which provides details of the violations is available from the NRC Office of Public Affairs in Atlanta and will be available through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) on the NRC's Web Site at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Help in using ADAMS is available from the NRC Public Document Room at 301-415-4737 or 1-800-397-4209.
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