NRC ORDER – ORDER

On October 1, 2009, the NRC issued an Immediately Effective Confirmatory Order to Earth Exploration, Inc. to confirm commitments made as a result of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mediation session held on August 25, 2009. The parties agreed to engage in ADR following NRC's July 21, 2009, letter wherein seven apparent violations were identified based on information developed during an investigation. The violations involved the failure to: (1) perform annual reviews of the radiation protection program; (2) perform leak testing of sealed sources; (3) perform physical inventories every six months of sealed sources; (4) ensure that dosimetry provided to gauge users was processed and evaluated; (5) ensure through the Radiation Safety Officer that required tests and conditions of the NRC license are performed; (6) secure, on multiple occasions, portable gauges using two independent physical barriers; and (7) lock a gauge or gauge case when in storage. The NRC preliminarily determined that the first five violations were due to the deliberate actions of the Radiation Safety Officer. As part of the agreement, Earth Exploration, Inc., acknowledged the technical violations and agreed to take a number of actions including, but not limited to, retaining a qualified consultant to audit the radiation safety program on an annual basis for a period of five years, receiving training on radiation safety program management, and developing a plan to inform other organizations of the lessons learned and the importance of developing the necessary infrastructure and communication paths to identify and resolve competing priorities. In recognition of these and other actions, the NRC agreed to not categorize the violations as deliberate and to not pursue any further enforcement action against Earth Exploration, Inc., for these violations.