NRC ORDER – ORDER

On August 17, 2011, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order (effective immediately) to the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), to confirm commitments made as a result of an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) settlement agreement. During an investigation NRC identified a violation involving an incident in which an operator deliberately violated applicable radiation protection procedures. Specifically, the violation involved the failure to adhere to the requirements of a USEC Paducah procedure that requires personnel to perform a whole body frisk when exiting from areas controlled for removable contamination. In response, the USEC requested ADR in an attempt to resolve the enforcement matter. USEC agreed to take a number of actions as part of this Confirmatory Order. These actions included a prompt investigation into the incident, the conduct of multiple staff briefings by USEC-Paducah management, procedural reviews and revisions as warranted, appropriate retraining and communication of lessons learned to staff, a review of the circumstances that took place during the routine operational activities that resulted in the existence of contaminated material, and disciplinary action for the employee involved in the incident. In addition, USEC committed to enhancing new employee orientation and General Employee Training at Paducah to ensure that personnel clearly understand the consequences of deliberate acts of non-compliance with regulations or procedures, and expanding its independent, Safety Conscious Work Environment assessment to include an assessment of the safety culture components of decision making and work practices. In recognition of USEC’s proposed extensive corrective actions, in addition to corrective actions already taken, the NRC agreed to not issue a Notice of Violation, and refrain from proposing a civil penalty for this matter.