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EA-02-192 - Rusty's Well Service, LLC

September 20, 2002

EA-02-192

Rusty's Well Service, LLC
ATTN: Mr. Russell L. Moseley
P.O. Box 2599
Crossville, TN 38571

SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NRC INSPECTION REPORT NO. 150-00041/02-01)

Dear Mr. Moseley:

This refers to the onsite inspection conducted on August 20, 2002, at your Crossville, Tennessee facility. The purpose of the inspection was to examine issues related to filing for reciprocity for well logging services performed in West Virginia in the years 2001 and 2002. The results of the inspection, including one apparent violation, were transmitted to you by NRC letter dated September 19, 2002. Based on the NRC's additional review of the significance of the apparent violation, a telephonic exit briefing was conducted with you on September 19, 2002. You were informed that the NRC was considering escalated enforcement action for the apparent violation, involving the failure to adhere to the requirements of 10 CFR 150.20, while performing well logging activities in the non-Agreement State of West Virginia. During the exit briefing of September 19th, you were informed that the NRC had sufficient information regarding the apparent violation and your corrective actions to make an enforcement decision without the need for a predecisional enforcement conference or a written response from you. You indicated during the telephonic exit that you did not believe that a predecisional enforcement conference or written response was necessary prior to NRC taking enforcement action.

Therefore, based on the information developed during the inspection, the NRC has determined that a violation of NRC requirements occurred. The violation is cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice), and the circumstances surrounding it is described in detail in the subject inspection report. The violation involved your non-compliance with the requirements of 10 CFR 150.20 while performing work at a temporary job site in McDowell County, West Virginia. Specifically, you failed to file a submittal containing an NRC Form 241, failed to file copies of your Agreement State specific license, and failed to file the appropriate fee prior to performing work on 10 occasions from October through December 2001, and two occasions in May 2002. You indicated during the inspection that the cause of the violation was your lack of understanding of the reciprocity requirements.

Your failure to obtain a specific or general license resulted in the NRC being unaware that your company was performing well logging services in West Virginia, which is an area of NRC jurisdiction. Notification of the NRC is important because the NRC, rather than the State of West Virginia, regulates the use of licensed material in that state. Because of your failure to notify the NRC, we were denied an opportunity to verify that your use of byproduct material was in compliance with NRC regulatory requirements. Accordingly, this violation has been categorized at Severity Level III in accordance with the "General Statement of Policy and Procedures for NRC Enforcement Actions," NUREG-1600.

In accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a base civil penalty in the amount of $3,000 is considered for a Severity Level III violation. Because your company has not been the subject of escalated enforcement action within the last two inspections, the NRC considered whether credit was warranted for Corrective Action in accordance with the civil penalty assessment process described in Section VI.C.2 of the Enforcement Policy. Your corrective actions for the violation included the filing of proper paperwork as required by 10 CFR 150.20 and remittance of the required fees. In addition, since the identification of this issue, your company has notified the NRC each time they have intended to work in an area of NRC jurisdiction. Based on the above, the NRC concluded that your actions were prompt and comprehensive, and credit was warranted for the factor of Corrective Action.

Therefore, to encourage prompt and comprehensive correction of violations and in recognition of the absence of previous escalated enforcement action, I have been authorized to propose that no civil penalty be assessed in this case. However, similar violations in the future could result in further escalated enforcement action. Issuance of this Notice constitutes escalated enforcement action, that may subject you to increased inspection effort.

The NRC has concluded that information regarding the reason for the violation, the corrective actions taken and planned to correct the violations and prevent recurrence, and the date when full compliance was achieved is adequately addressed on the docket in the referenced inspection report and this letter. Therefore, you are not required to respond to this letter unless the description herein does not accurately reflect your corrective actions or your position. In that case, or if you choose to provide additional information, you should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at the Public NRC Library.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Douglas M. Collins, Director, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, at 404-562-4700.

    Sincerely,
    /RA BY BRUCE S. MALLETT ACTING FOR/
    Luis A. Reyes
Regional Administrator

Docket No. 150-00041
License No. General (10 CFR 150.20)

Enclosure: Notice of Violation

cc w/encl:
State of Tennessee

NOTICE OF VIOLATION

Rusty's Well Service, LLC
Crossville, Tennessee		   Docket No. 150-00041
License No. General (10 CFR 150.20)
EA-02-192

During an NRC inspection conducted on August 20, 2002, a violation of NRC requirements was identified. In accordance with the "General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," NUREG-1600, (Enforcement Policy), the violation is listed below:

10 CFR 150.20(a) provides in part that any person who holds a specific license from an Agreement State is granted an NRC general license to conduct the same activity in non-Agreement States, provided that the provisions of 10 CFR 150.20(b) have been met.
10 CFR 150.20(b)(1) requires, in part, that any person engaging in activities in non-Agreement States shall, at least 3 days before engaging in each activity for the first time in a calendar year, file a submittal containing an NRC Form 241, "Report of Proposed Activities in Non-Agreement States," four copies of its Agreement State specific license, and the appropriate fee as prescribed in 10 CFR 170.31.
Contrary to the above, the licensee did not file a submittal containing an NRC Form 241, file copies of its Agreement State specific license, or file the appropriate fee prior to performing well logging services in a non-Agreement State. Specifically, between October 22, 2001, and December 16, 2001, the licensee used a two curie source of Cesium 137 for a total of 10 days at a temporary job site in McDowell County, West Virginia, a non-Agreement state. Furthermore, on May 21, 2002, and May 23, 2002, the licensee used the same source at the same temporary job site in West Virginia.

This is a Severity Level III violation (Supplement VI).

The NRC has concluded that information regarding the reason for the violation, the corrective actions taken and planned to correct the violations and prevent recurrence, and the date when full compliance was achieved is already adequately addressed on the docket in the letter transmitting this Notice of Violation (Notice), and our September 19, 2002, inspection report. However, you are required to submit a written statement or explanation pursuant to 10 CFR 2.201 if the description therein does not accurately reflect your corrective actions or your position. In that case, or if you choose to respond, clearly mark your response as a "Reply to a Notice of Violation," and send it to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, DC 20555 with a copy to the Regional Administrator, Region II within 30 days of the date of the letter transmitting this Notice.

If you contest this enforcement action, you should also provide a copy of your response, with the basis for your denial, to the Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

Because any response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system (ADAMS), to the extent possible, it should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the public without redaction. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at the Public NRC Library. If personal privacy or proprietary information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, then please provide a bracketed copy of your response that identifies the information that should be protected and a redacted copy of your response that deletes such information. If you request withholding of such material, you must specifically identify the portions of your response that you seek to have withheld and provide in detail the bases for your claim of withholding (e.g., explain why the disclosure of information will create an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or provide the information required by 10 CFR 2.790(b) to support a request for withholding confidential commercial or financial information). If safeguards information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, please provide the level of protection described in 10 CFR 73.21.

In accordance with 10 CFR 19.11, you may be required to post this Notice within two working days.

Dated this 20th day of September 2002

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