Federal nuclear regulators have placed a state unit that oversees radioactive materials in Georgia on probation for failing to correct problems that eventually could pose a public threat.
The problems relate mainly to inspections and oversight to ensure proper licensing and record-keeping among medical, industrial and other users of radioactive materials. They do not involve nuclear power.
“The weaknesses identified in Georgia do not immediately threaten public health and safety,” the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. “The team identified significant deficiencies throughout the program that, if left uncorrected, have the potential to impact public health and safety.”
The probation — the first of a state unit by the NRC — stems from an October 2012 audit. The program manager of the state unit, which is part of the Environmental Protection Division, was fired shortly after the audit.
The unit’s staff has the authority to license and regulate some users of nuclear materials in medicine, academic, research and commerce.
Georgia and 36 other states have regulators to oversee the use of radioactive materials, such as isotope tracers used at medical facilities. The NRC oversees the state regulators, who must create the inspection and licensing programs as well as hire and train staff.
The Georgia program’s performance decline dates to 2008, the NRC found.
For instance, the program oversees low-level radiation devices that can be used in nuclear medicine or in industrial applications. The state unit must confirm that people using the devices have the proper license and keep adequate records of its use.
In some cases, routine inspections of this were not done in a timely manner, the NRC audit found.
Keith Bentley, chief of the EPD’s air protection branch, which includes the unit, agreed with the NRC’s assessment.
“We have been anticipating this (probation) coming for a while,” said Bentley, who worked for the EPD in another role during the time of the audit. “I think that (the audit) was the first time there was any recognition at the EPD that the program had degraded.
“Since (the audit) we have been working very hard to restore that program back to where it needs to be,” Bentley said.
Those steps included getting more money to fund three new staffers and hire a new program manager. The unit has caught up on a backlog of overdue inspections, Bentley said.
The group is updating procedures that the NRC said were outdated and will be training staff on those procedures, he said. It also is updating rules to more closely match federal ones, he said.
Georgia will be on “heightened oversight” and must communicate more frequently with the NRC until its next review in 2014. The state could remain on probation if the problems are not fixed by then, the NRC said.
“We are optimistic that we will have things in control,” Bentley said.
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