Firm pays $6,000 fine for selling radioactive items

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A local gunsight manufacturer paid a $6,000 fine to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for selling radioactive items not covered by its license.

After an inspection in October 2003, commission staff found that 21st Century Technologies had four violations and issued the fine for two of them. The company distributed at least 60,000 gunsights containing tritium and other radioactive material for which the company was not authorized to sell and did not properly document the handling of the radioactive materials, according to the commission.

The company protested the fine in May, but the commission issued a response on Aug. 30 saying the fine had to be paid. The commission received the payment on Oct. 1, spokeswoman Sue Gagner said.

In a letter sent in August, the commission said the violations did not result in any immediate danger to the public but stopped short of saying the violations could not somehow endanger the public in the future.

A letter to the commission from attorney James Tourtellotte said 21st Century misinterpreted or misunderstood its license but is committed to comply with the right procedures in the future.

Company spokesman Troy Lovick said the company has a more stringent quality assurance program in place and has worked with a certified health physicist at UNLV to prevent any future problems. Lovick said this was not a willful violation and there was never a public safety threat.

"We are happy to put this matter behind us and anticipate no future problems," Lovick said.

NRC said based on the fact that there had been at least one previous violation and based on the severity of the most recent violations, the fine would still be imposed.