In the Matter of Curtis Thompson, 10027-10030 [2017-02677]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 26 (Thursday, February 9, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10027-10030]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02677]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[IA-16-059; NRC-2017-0037]


In the Matter of Curtis Thompson

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Order; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
Order prohibiting Mr. Curtis Thompson from involvement in NRC-licensed 
activities for a period of 1 year. The Order also requires Mr. Thompson 
to notify the NRC of any current involvement in NRC-licensed activities 
and for a period of 1 year after the 1-year period of prohibition has 
expired, that he provide a written notice for his first employment 
offer involving NRC-licensed activities.

DATES:  Effective Date: See attachment.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0037 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0037. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, 
please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this document 
(if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time 
that a document is referenced.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Juan Peralta, Office of Enforcement, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001; 
telephone: 301-287-9510, email: Juan.Peralta@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of February 2017.


[[Page 10028]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patricia K. Holahan,
Director, Office of Enforcement.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

[IA-16-059]

In the Matter of Curtis Thompson

Order Prohibiting Involvement in NRC Licensed Activities (Immediately 
Effective)

I.

    Mr. Curtis Thompson was employed as a radiographer for American 
Engineering Testing, Inc. (AET), whose corporate offices are located in 
St. Paul, Minnesota. American Engineering Testing, Inc., holds License 
No. 22-20271-02 issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC 
or Commission) pursuant to Part 34 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) on September 12, 2012. The license authorizes 
industrial radiographic operations in accordance with conditions 
specified in the license.

II.

    From August 19 through November 19, 2015, the NRC inspected and 
reviewed AET's use of byproduct material for industrial radiography. 
During the August 19, 2015, inspection, AET indicated that Mr. Thompson 
had performed radiography on February 1, 2015, at AET's field station 
in Gary, Indiana, without another qualified radiographer or 
radiographer's assistant present. As a result, the NRC's Office of 
Investigation (OI) initiated an investigation to determine whether Mr. 
Thompson willfully performed radiographic operations without at least 
one other qualified individual present.
    The NRC investigation found that Mr. Thompson had performed 
radiography on numerous bridge components for a client of AET in Gary, 
Indiana, in the week prior to February 1, 2015, with a qualified 
radiographer's assistant. After that work was completed, the 
radiography film was determined to be out of specification. The 
customer requested the work be re-done, which would take several hours. 
Mr. Thompson decided to redo the work himself on February 1, 2015. He 
arrived at the client's facility, retrieved the radiography camera and 
proceeded to re-do all the work. Mr. Thompson then submitted the 
radiography film to the client and AET.
    On the following day, February 2, 2015, AET reviewed the 
radiography film and questioned Mr. Thompson about when he had 
performed the work. Mr. Thompson indicated that he completed the work 
on February 1, 2015. AET then examined key card entry data from the 
client's security office and determined that Mr. Thompson worked alone, 
contrary to 10 CFR 34.41(a). Mr. Thompson later admitted to working 
alone and stated during the OI investigation that, although he knew 
that NRC rules required radiography be performed only when another 
qualified individual was present, he felt it was more important to 
complete the work than to follow those regulations.
    By letter dated October 16, 2016, the NRC informed Mr. Thompson 
that the NRC was considering escalated enforcement action for apparent 
violations of NRC's deliberate misconduct rule, 10 CFR 30.10, because 
he engaged in conduct he knew to be contrary to NRC regulations. 
Specifically, on February 1, 2015, Mr. Thompson performed radiographic 
operations without another radiographer or qualified individual 
present, which resulted in AET being in violation of 10 CFR 34.41(a). 
The NRC's October 16, 2016, letter provided Mr. Thompson the 
opportunity to request a predecisional enforcement conference (PEC), 
provide a written response, or request alternative dispute resolution 
(ADR) with the NRC in an attempt to resolve issues associated with 
these apparent violations. Mr. Thompson has not subsequently contacted 
the NRC to request a PEC, provide a written response, or request ADR.
    Based on the evidence gathered during the inspection and the OI 
investigation, the NRC has concluded that Mr. Thompson engaged in 
deliberate misconduct in violation of 10 CFR 30.10(a)(1). Mr. Thompson 
engaged in deliberate misconduct that caused AET to be in violation of 
10 CFR 34.41(a) by performing radiographic operations alone on February 
1, 2015, at a temporary job site in Gary, Indiana.

III.

    Based on the above, the NRC has concluded that Mr. Curtis Thompson 
engaged in deliberate misconduct, in violation of 10 CFR 30.10(a)(1) 
that has caused the Licensee to be in violation of 10 CFR 34.41(a). 
American Engineering Testing, Inc., is required to follow those 
requirements by the license issued to it pursuant to 10 CFR part 34. 
The NRC must be able to rely on the Licensee and its employees to act 
with integrity and comply with NRC requirements. Mr. Thompson's action 
in causing AET to violate 10 CFR 34.41(a) raises serious doubt as to 
whether he can be relied upon to comply with NRC requirements.
    Consequently, the NRC lacks the requisite reasonable assurance that 
licensed activities can be conducted in compliance with the 
Commission's requirements and that the health and safety of the public 
will be protected if Mr. Thompson was permitted at this time to be 
involved in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, the public health, 
safety and interest require that Mr. Thompson be prohibited from any 
involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of 1 year from the 
date of this Order. Additionally, Mr. Thompson is required to notify 
the NRC of his first employment in NRC-licensed activities for a period 
of 1 year following the prohibition period. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 
CFR 2.202, I find that the significance of Mr. Thompson's conduct 
described above is such that the public health, safety and interest 
require that this Order be immediately effective.

IV.

    Accordingly, pursuant to sections 81,161b, 161i, 182 and 186 of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's regulations 
in 10 CFR 2.202 and 30.10, it is hereby ordered, effective upon the 
date of issuance, that:
    1. Mr. Thompson is prohibited for 1 year from the date of this 
Order from performing, supervising, directing, or in any other way 
conducting NRC-licensed activities. NRC-licensed activities are those 
activities that are conducted pursuant to a specific or general license 
issued by the NRC, including, but not limited to, those activities of 
Agreement State licensees conducted in the NRC's jurisdiction pursuant 
to the authority granted by 10 CFR 150.20.
    2. If Mr. Thompson is currently involved in NRC-licensed activities 
with another licensee, he must cease those activities immediately. In 
addition, Mr. Thompson must immediately inform the NRC of the name, 
address and telephone number of the employer, and provide a copy of 
this Order to the employer.
    3. For a period of 1 year after the 1-year period of prohibition 
has expired, Mr. Thompson shall, within 20 days of acceptance of his 
first employment offer involving NRC-licensed activities or his 
becoming involved in NRC-licensed activities, as defined in Paragraph 
IV.1 above, provide notice to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, of the name, 
address and telephone number of the employer or the entity where he is, 
or will be, involved in the NRC-licensed activities. In the 
notification, Mr. Thompson shall include a statement of his commitment 
to compliance with regulatory requirements and the basis why the 
Commission should have confidence

[[Page 10029]]

that he will now comply with applicable NRC requirements.
    The Director, Office of Enforcement, or designee, may, in writing, 
relax or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by Mr. 
Thompson of good cause.

V.

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Mr. Thompson must submit a written 
answer to this Order under oath or affirmation within 30 days of its 
issuance. Mr. Thompson's failure to respond to this Order could result 
in additional enforcement action in accordance with the Commission's 
Enforcement Policy (ADAMS Accession Number ML16271A446). Any person 
adversely affected by this Order may submit a written answer to this 
Order within 30 days of its issuance. In addition, Mr. Thompson and any 
other person adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing on 
this Order within 30 days of its issuance. Where good cause is shown, 
consideration will be given to extending the time to answer or 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 20555-001, and include a statement of good 
cause for the extension.
    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene (petition), any 
motion or other document filed in the proceeding prior to the 
submission of a request for hearing or petition to intervene, and 
documents filed by interested governmental entities that request to 
participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with the 
NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 FR 
46562, August 3, 2012). The E-Filing process requires participants to 
submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in 
some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media. Detailed 
guidance on making electronic submissions may be found in the Guidance 
for Electronic Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may not submit 
paper copies of their filings unless they seek an exemption in 
accordance with the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the 
Office of the Secretary by email at hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by 
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID) 
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing 
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise 
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or 
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the 
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the 
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the hearing in this 
proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic 
docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on the NRC's public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a 
digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant 
can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable 
Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is 
available on the NRC's public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the 
time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be 
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system 
no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of 
a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends 
the submitter an email notice confirming receipt of the document. The 
E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that provides access 
to the document to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any 
others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to 
participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the 
document on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and 
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for 
and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are 
filed so that they can obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing 
system.
    A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic 
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's 
public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by 
email to MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. 
and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government 
holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and 
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper 
format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail 
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: 
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and 
Adjudications Staff. Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this 
manner are responsible for serving the document on all other 
participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of 
the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the 
provider of the service. A presiding officer, having granted an 
exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a participant or 
party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer subsequently determines 
that the reason for granting the exemption from use of E-Filing no 
longer exists.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued 
digital ID certificate as described above, click cancel when the link 
requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the 
NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access any 
publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket. 
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information, 
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone 
numbers in their filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law 
requires submission of such information. For example, in some 
instances, individuals provide home addresses in order to demonstrate 
proximity to a facility or site. With respect to copyrighted works, 
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory 
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants are 
requested not to include

[[Page 10030]]

copyrighted materials in their submission.
    If a person other than Mr. Thompson 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) and (f).
    If a hearing is requested by Mr. Thompson or a person whose 
interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order 
designating the time and place of any hearings. 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), Mr. Thompson 
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 IV 
above shall be final 30 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 IV shall 
be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been 
received. An answer or a request for hearing shall not stay the 
immediate effectiveness of this order.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of February 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.


Patricia K. Holahan,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2017-02677 Filed 2-8-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P