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	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406
	CONTACT:	Diane Screnci (610)337-5330/ e-mail: dps@nrc.gov Neil A. Sheehan (610)337-5331/e-mail: nas@nrc.gov

I-99-101

December 10, 1999

NRC to Meet with New Jersey Company to Discuss Apparent Violations

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will meet with officials of Southeastern Plastics Corporation on Wednesday, December 15, to discuss apparent violations of NRC requirements.

The apparent violations were found during an inspection this Fall.

The predecisional enforcement conference, which is open to the public for observation only, will be held in the NRC Region I office, 475 Allendale Road, in King of Prussia, Pa.

Southeastern Plastics Corporation manufactures plastic sheeting at its plant in New Brunswick. Since 1986, the company had purchased four gauges containing radioactive material to measure the thickness of the plastic sheeting.

On October 27, the NRC learned that one of the gauges had been found at a warehouse in Washington Township owned by Zeta Consumer Products Corporation - a sister corporation of Southern Plastics. The gauge had been stored with other pieces of used equipment that had been brought to the warehouse to be sold at an auction. There did not appear to be any risk of radiation exposure to workers or the public because the unit appeared to be intact and the source assembly shielded. The inspector found that Southeastern Plastics did not maintain required records of receipt, installation or removal of the gauge. It has since been returned to the manufacturer for disposal.

In addition, the inspector found that the company has been unable to locate one of the other three gauges, but has made arrangements to dispose of the other two.

The decision to hold a pre-decisional enforcement conference does not mean that the NRC has determined that a violation has occurred or that enforcement action will be taken. Rather, the purpose is to discuss apparent violations, their causes and safety significance; to provide the licensee an opportunity to point out any errors that may have been made in the NRC inspection report; and to enable the licensee to outline its proposed corrective actions. No decision on the apparent violations will be made at this conference. Those decisions will be made by senior NRC officials at a later time.

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