The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday it has levied a $7,000 fine against a Puerto Rico-based medical diagnostics company for failing to carry out mandatory decommissioning activities after its NRC license expired.
Somascan Inc. was licensed to employ radiopharmaceuticals and sealed sources in providing outpatient diagnostic and therapeutic medical services at its facility in San Juan. The company’s license expired in April 2013, about a year after Somascan apparently ceased operations.
The NRC conducted inspections of the facility from December 2014 to November 2016. “The results of these inspections indicated that Somascan had not conducted its activities in full compliance with NRC requirements, in that Somascan has neither begun nor completed decommissioning within the timeframes required by NRC regulations … or secured from unauthorized removal or access licensed material that is stored in an unrestricted area,” the regulator said in a July 5 Federal Register notice.
The agency issued a notice of violation and proposed $7,000 fine in April, then followed the notice with an imposition order dated June 27.
Somascan has not responded to the notice of violation or taken steps to remedy the issues cited by the NRC, the Federal Register notice says. It has 30 days from the date of the order to pay the fine, but can also request a hearing within that time frame on the matter.
