Radioactive Materials Branch
Inspection Guidance

The information presented here is being made available to all licensees to "take some of the mystery" out of the inspection process.  The North Carolina General Statutes (NCGS 104E) and the North Carolina Regulations for Protection Against Radiation (10A NCAC 15) require that the agency perform inspections of licensed facilities in order to determine compliance with the regulations.

These agency inspections are normally UNANNOUNCED.  This is a requirement placed on the State of North Carolina (and other Agreement States) by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  The unannounced nature of the inspections allows the inspector to get a "snapshot" of the normal activities of the licensee.  Because the inspections are unannounced, the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) may not be present when we arrive to begin the inspection.  The agency expectation is that the program will be "stand-alone."  This means that the inspection could take place in the absence of the RSO.  The agency WOULD PREFER, however, to have the RSO present for the inspection. 

If your license authorizes field activities, then the agency may perform inspections at the temporary jobistes.   There is no set frequency for this type of inspection and the inspections typically take less time than a "home office" inspection.  These inspections focus more on the performance of the license representative rather than the records.   However, this does not alleviate the licensee from maintaining all of the applicable records at the jobsite.

The agency is conducting  "Performance-Based Inspections" as much as possible.  This type of inspection is designed to have the licensee demonstrate techniques and activities for agency personnel.  The Performance-Based Inspection process does not depend as heavily on records review as other types of inspections.  However, this does not alleviate the licensee's responsibility to maintain all required records.  Typically, the inspector will only look at those records generated since the last inspection.   This may not include ALL records generated to demonstrate compliance with the 10A NCAC 15, and/or license conditions.  The records review may be limited in scope to those areas which appeared to be problematic during the "performance-based" portion of the inspection.  Because of the performance-based nature of the inspections, the areas reviewed may vary at each inspection.

Click on a topic below to obtain additional information on the inspections process