The Nuclear Regulatory Commission cited Marshalltown-based Fisher Controls for five violations in its production of items used in nuclear power plants.
Bob Meyer, founder of Professional Reactor Operator Society a non-profit group that represents nuclear reactor operators, posted a report on his organization's website last week about the violations.
"It is a violation of law but they're pretty low level," Meyer said. "It won't shut them down. These are procedural items that can be corrected."
Meyer, who often reviews such reports, said that Fisher won't be fined for the initial violations, but would be if the issues are not corrected prior to the next inspection.
"They're going to have to fix it or they're going to be in trouble," Meyer said. "It puts them in jeopardy to distribute those items to power plants."
A copy of the report, available at the NRC website, shows that the agency found the violations during an inspection from Aug. 1 to Aug. 5 and released the findings Sept. 13.
"The violation is being cited in the Notice because Fisher Controls failed to complete its evaluation and to prepare and submit an interim report to the Commission for an identified deviation or failure to comply potentially associated with a substantial safety hazard within 60 days from discovery," the report states.
The report labeled that a Security Level IV violation which is defined as: Those that are less serious, but are of more than minor concern, that resulted in no or relatively inappreciable potential safety or security consequences (e.g., violations that created the
potential of more than minor safety or security consequences).
The report continued.
"In addition, during this inspection, the NRC inspection team found that the implementation of your (quality assurance) program failed to meet certain NRC requirements imposed on you by your customers or NRC licensees. Specifically, the NRC inspection team determined that Fisher Controls was not fully implementing its organization, design control, procurement document control, control of purchase material, equipment, and services, corrective action, and audit programs consistent with regulatory requirements, the Fisher Controls Nuclear Quality Assurance Manual, or applicable implementing procedures."
Bill Fitzgerald, Vice-President of Fisher's Nuclear Business Unit, said that four of the five violations had already been addressed and that the number of violations was smaller than some of Fisher's competitors.
Marketing and Communications manager John Wells and Fitzgerald collaborated on a statement in response to the ruling.
"Fisher's nuclear business is audited on a regular basis by customers and other regulatory and standards agencies. Generally, we score very well in these audits," the statement read. "There is nearly always a finding or two that result from these audits, and we treat these as an opportunity to double-check and enhance our approach to the business. In many cases we've actually cleared up the discrepancy before the audit team leaves.
It is important to note that the NRC can cite companies for violations related to the manufacture or design of nuclear products, which is not the case with Fisher. The non-conformances brought forth by the NRC are all documentation in nature and as such are already being addressed. Although we have the right to challenge any NRC findings, for the most part Fisher believes these to be reasonable and are already working on responding to them as mentioned above."
Sales to nuclear power plants account for 5 to 10 percent of Fisher's business.