[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 12 (Wednesday, January 19, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3070-3072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-987]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 030-05980, 030-05982]
[License Nos. 37-00030-02, 37-00030-08, EA-04-148]
In the Matter of Safety Light Corporation, Bloomsburg, PA; Order
Suspending License (Effective Immediately)
Safety Light Corporation (the Licensee or SLC) is the holder of two
Byproduct Material Licenses issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR part 30 for the facility at
4150-A Old Berwick Road near Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. License No. 37-
00030-02 authorizes the Licensee to characterize and decommission its
contaminated facilities, equipment, and land. License No. 37-00030-08
authorizes, among other things, the Licensee to manufacture self-
luminous signs and foils using tritium. The licenses were last renewed
on December 28, 1999, and are due to expire on December 31, 2004.
On December 28, 1999, License Nos. 37-00030-02 and 37-00030-08 were
renewed. As part of these renewals, License Conditions were included
that exempted the Licensee from certain of the Commission's financial
assurance requirements and required the Licensee to develop plans which
would address the License Termination Rule (10 CFR part 20, subpart E).
This exemption was granted in response to the Licensee's request to the
Commission to exempt the Licensee from the financial assurance
decommissioning requirements set forth in 10 CFR 30.32 and 10 CFR
30.35, based on the lack of sufficient funds available at the time to
assure that adequate financial ability existed to decommission the
facility. In lieu of complying with 10 CFR 30.35, the Licensee
committed to (1) develop a schedule and plan, for NRC review and
approval, for additional site characterization and to develop revised
cost estimates including strategies for site decommissioning that would
comply with the criteria specified in the license termination rule, 10
CFR 30.36, and (2) contribute specified monthly payments ($7,000 per
month in 2000; $8,000 per month in 2001 and 2002; and $9,000 per month
in 2003 and 2004) to a decommissioning trust fund over the life of the
license to support decommissioning activities. The NRC specifically
approved an exemption, in Condition 16 of Amendment No. 51 for License
37-00030-02 and Condition 20.A of Amendment No. 13 for License 37-
00030-08, provided that the licensee make the specified monthly
payments into a decommissioning trust fund. The NRC granted the renewal
of the two licenses based on the Licensee's continued ability to
provide sufficient remediation funding and adequate security of
radioactive materials at the facility.
On November 21, 2003, the NRC learned, during telephone
conversations with Licensee management, that the Licensee had not made
all payments into its decommissioning trust fund, as required by
Condition 16 (License No. 37-00030-02) and Condition 20.A (License No.
37-00030-08). The Licensee failed to make several prescribed deposits
into the decommissioning trust fund over the period from May 2001 to
December 2002. The Licensee made all overdue payments by February 2003
to address the deficit that existed at the end of 2002. However,
starting in January 2003, the Licensee again failed to make the total
prescribed payments into the decommissioning trust fund, resulting in a
deficit of $81,000 by the end of November 2003.
Upon learning of the foregoing, on December 19, 2003, the NRC
issued a Demand for Information to SLC which required the Licensee to
submit to the NRC the following information:
1. Detailed schedule for making all overdue payments, with
interest, to the decommissioning trust fund;
2. Reasons why the Licensee did not make the required payments, as
scheduled, to the decommissioning trust fund;
1. Reasons why the NRC should have confidence that the Licensee
will, in the future, make the required monthly deposits to the
decommissioning trust fund;
2. Assurance from the Licensee, that, should it encounter any
difficulty making required monthly deposits in the future, it will
promptly notify the NRC that there will be a delay in making a specific
deposit, and provide the reasons for the delay;
3. Reasons why the NRC should have confidence that in the future,
the Licensee will adhere to license conditions and applicable NRC
requirements;
4. Reasons why, in light of the Licensee's past failure to make all
required payments to the trust fund, License Nos. 37-00030-02 and 37-
00030-08 should not be modified, suspended, or revoked.
On January 16, 2004, the Licensee responded to the Demand for
Information and indicated, in part, that the Licensee could not submit
a detailed schedule for making overdue payments given the Licensee's
inability to
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accurately predict future sales and cash flow. The Licensee also
indicated that a slowdown in the Licensee's business activity caused by
a general economic downturn made it impossible to stay current with the
Licensee's payment obligations. At the same time, the Licensee
indicated that aggressive marketing efforts, along with an improving
economy, led to an increase in order activity which it expected to
translate into an upturn in business.
The Licensee made all of the prescribed deposits from December 2003
through November 2004. In addition, the Licensee made payments of
amounts in arrears in December 2003, February 2004, and October 2004,
resulting in a deficit of $36,000 plus interest to the decommissioning
trust fund as of November 30, 2004.
The Licensee submitted license renewal applications for License
Nos. 37-00030-02 and 37-00030-08 on April 22, 2004. As noted in the
letter transmitting this Order to the Licensee, the NRC denied the
renewal applications based on the Licensee's failure to demonstrate
compliance with the requirements of 10 CFR 30.35, as well as the
Licensee's violation of several conditions of its licenses, including
the failure to make the required monthly payments into the
decommissioning trust fund.
The NRC Office of Investigations conducted an investigation into
the Licensee's failure to make the required monthly payments to the
decommissioning trust fund, and concluded that the Licensee's
management had deliberately violated the requirement to make the
prescribed payments to the trust fund. In a July 1, 2004 letter, the
NRC informed the Licensee of this apparent deliberate violation of the
License Conditions and invited the licensee to a predecisional
enforcement conference to discuss this matter. At the pre-decisional
enforcement conference held on July 20, 2004, SLC management stated
that a general downturn in business conditions led to the Licensee's
failure to make payments. Nonetheless, the NRC maintains that the
violation was deliberate in that the Licensee admitted knowledge of the
requirement to make payments to the trust fund, yet failed to do so.
The obligation to make the specified payments set forth in the license
conditions is unqualified and is not subject to the state of SLC's
business conditions, and was material to the granting of an exemption
to the Licensee in connection with the renewal of its licenses in 1999.
The Licensee's deliberate failure to make the required payments to the
trust fund, as required by license conditions 16 and 20.A, voided the
exemption from the financial assurance requirements of 10 CFR 30.35,
and placed the Licensee in continued violation of these license
conditions and 10 CFR 30.35. This deliberate failure by the Licensee
has significant health and safety implications in that these regulatory
requirements are intended to ensure the availability of adequate funds
for characterization, packaging, and disposal of radioactive waste from
the Licensee's site.
Based on the Licensee's willful failure to make the required
scheduled payments into the decommissioning trust fund as required by
its licenses, and the resultant implication for public health and
safety, I lack the requisite reasonable assurance that the Licensee's
current operations can be conducted under License Nos. 37-00030-02 and
37-00030-08 in compliance with the Commission's requirements and that
the health and safety of the public, including the Licensee's
employees, will be protected. Therefore, the public health, safety, and
interest require that License Nos. 37-00030-02 and 37-00030-08 be
suspended and that the Licensee must develop a plan for the orderly
shutdown of its licensed activities. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 CFR
2.202, I find that given the willful nature of the violation of
Conditions 16 and 20.A. of License Nos. 37-00030-02 and 37-00030-08,
respectively, and 10 CFR 30.35, as well as the related effect on public
health and safety, this Order shall be immediately effective.
In accordance with 10 CFR 30.36 (b) and (c), these licenses will
continue in effect beyond the expiration date with respect to
possession of byproduct material until the Commission notifies the
Licensee in writing that the licenses are terminated. During this time,
the Licensee shall limit actions involving byproduct material to those
related to decommissioning and continue to control entry to restricted
areas until they are suitable for release in accordance with NRC
requirements. The Licensee is not authorized to receive any additional
licensed material beyond the license expiration date but shall continue
to take such actions as are needed to facilitate the decommissioning of
the site, including the processing of the existing inventory of tritium
to produce devices for transfer to authorized recipients. These actions
are described in Section V below.
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 and 10 CFR part 30, It is hereby ordered,
effective immediately, that:
A. License Nos. 37-00030-02 and 37-00030-08 are suspended on
January 1, 2005, excepting those activities addressed in the shutdown
plan prepared in accordance with item B. below and 10 CFR 30.36(b) and
(c), pending further Order.
B. The Licensee shall, by December 20, 2004, submit to the Regional
Administrator, Region I, for approval, a plan for the orderly shutdown
of its licensed activities over a period beginning on January 1, 2005,
to be completed by March 31, 2005. This plan shall include provisions
to:
1. Cease receipt of licensed material at the Licensee's Bloomsburg,
Pennsylvania site;
2. Process existing inventory of licensed material into finished
products for transfer to authorized recipients;
3. Transfer, or maintain in secure storage, the remaining inventory
of tritium at the site;
4. Notify SLC customers of exit signs, or other devices containing
licensed material, that they may not return these signs or devices to
the licensee's Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania facility;
5. Provide continued security for the Licensee's Bloomsburg,
Pennsylvania facility to assure safe conditions at the site; and
6. Provide continued heating, electrical power and other utility
service.
The Regional Administrator, Region I, may, in writing, relax or
rescind this order upon demonstration by the Licensee of good cause.
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, 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 set
forth the matters of fact and law on which the Licensee 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
[[Page 3072]]
Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff,
Washington, DC 20555. Copies of the hearing request also should be sent
to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to the Assistant General Counsel for
Materials Litigation and Enforcement at the same address, to the
Regional Administrator, NRC Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania, and to the Licensee. Because of continuing
disruptions in delivery of mail to United States Government offices, it
is requested that answers and requests for hearing be transmitted to
the Secretary of the Commission either by means of facsimile
transmission to 301-415-1101 or by e-mail to [email protected] and
also to the Office of the General Counsel either by means of facsimile
transmission to 301-415-3725 or by e-mail to [email protected]. If
a person other than the Licensee requests a hearing, that person shall
set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is
adversely affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set
forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d).
If a hearing is requested by the Licensee 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.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202(c)(2)(i), the Licensee, or any other
person adversely affected by this Order, may, in addition to demanding
a hearing, at the time the answer is filed or sooner, move the
presiding officer to set aside the immediate effectiveness of the Order
on the ground that the Order, including the need for immediate
effectiveness, is not based on adequate evidence but on mere suspicion,
unfounded allegations, or error.
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 V 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 V shall be final when the extension expires if a
hearing request has not been received. A request for hearing shall not
stay the immediate effectiveness of this order.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated this 10th day of December 2004.
Margaret V. Federline,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 05-987 Filed 1-18-05; 8:45 am]
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