Gun-sight maker facing nuke fine

Friday, April 16, 2004 | 9:43 a.m.

A Las Vegas-based gun-sight manufacturer is facing a $6,000 fine by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for distributing products containing radioactive materials that the NRC said it was not licensed to send.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission completed its inspection in October 2003 of 21st Century Technologies Inc. after discovering shipments of gun sights that glow in the dark and metal inserts containing radioactive tritium.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's staff found "apparent willful violations" of radiation rules, according to a press release, but after reviewing all of the information in the case, the NRC said it was "not characterizing these as willful violations." They gave the company either 30 days to pay the fine or protest it.

However, 21st Century officials said that the company had made an error, or misinterpreted or misunderstood its NRC license during a meeting in January.

The gun sights that 21st Century shipped were not part of the nine types included in the company's NRC license, according to Bruce Mallett, administrator of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Arlington, Texas office.

By distributing the unapproved products, 21st Century "circumvented the regulatory processes that are designed to assure the acceptability of products distributed to members of the public," Mallett said in a letter sent to the company.

Tritium occurs both naturally and in man-made material. Tritium's radioactive half-life is 12 years, meaning half of the radiation remains after 12 years.

The NRC has proposed a $6,000 civil penalty against 21st Century for two violations because there have been problems in the past.

In May 1996 a $7,500 fine was proposed against Innovative Weaponry, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of 21st Century Technologies for similar violations.

That fine was later reduced to $2,500 after the company requested mitigation.