U.S. Halts Company’s Radioactive Shipments

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered a San Fernando company to halt large shipments of radioactive materials Thursday after the firm allegedly failed to comply with its own, federally approved quality-assurance standards.

JL Shepherd & Associates was hit with the NRC action after regulators received complaints that an irradiator--containing 18,000 curies of highly radioactive cobalt-60--was not packaged for shipment in accordance with government regulations.

“There are specific regulations governing the transportation of radioactive material,” said Tim Kobetz, an NRC project manager. “The company did not comply fully with all of the regulations.”

Asked to discuss the matter, Mary Shepherd, a JL Shepherd vice president, said, “This is a matter between the company and the U.S. regulatory commission. We have no further comment at this time.”

NRC officials said in a statement that no one was exposed to radiation because of the improperly packaged irradiator, a device used to kill germs in medical settings and in food preparation. But if the protective shielding had ruptured, the radioactive cobalt had the “potential to cause serious injuries or even death,” their statement said.

Under federal law, companies that transport radioactive material must follow an NRC-approved quality-assurance program outlining how they will safely transport large amounts of radioactivity. The NRC regulates nuclear plants and the transportation and commercial uses of nuclear material.

The NRC statement said JL Shepherd, which makes industrial and research irradiators and instrument calibrators, lacked “the requisite reasonable assurance that [Shepherd’s] current operations can be conducted . . . in compliance with the Commission’s requirements.”

Agency officials said they moved against the company after receiving complaints from unnamed foreign authorities. They conducted inspections of the JL Shepherd manufacturing plant between May 29 and May 31.

NRC officials said the order marked the first time in several years the agency had withdrawn an approved quality-assurance program. But they said the action was warranted because the company since 1999 has incurred similar problems.

“It’s not just this one, isolated time we’ve identified quality-assurance problems,” Kobetz said. “It appears that they hadn’t corrected those [previous] problems, so the NRC determined an order was necessary.”

The company has 20 days to respond to the order through a formal challenge, consent or by requesting a formal hearing. JL Shepherd still has government approval to ship some smaller quantities of radioactive materials.