Inspection of Medical, Industrial, and Academic Uses of Nuclear Materials

The NRC inspects important activities associated with the use of nuclear materials to minimize risk to public health and safety, and the environment.

How NRC Conducts its Inspection Program

NRC's Regional offices (Region I - East, Region III - Midwest, and Region IV - West/Southwest) conduct typically unannounced, periodic inspections of licensed activities, using guidance from Inspection Manual Chapter 2800 and associated Inspection Procedures 87101-87250 to examine whether licensees are performing activities in accordance with regulatory and license requirements. For inspection guidance relevant to individual categories of licenses, see the licensee toolkits.

Results of Inspection Program

The NRC issues reports to document inspection findings. These inspection reports may contain enforcement actions and follow-up inspection items. NRC makes the Inspection Reports available for public review through its electronic document retrieval system (ADAMS). You can locate materials inspection reports by searching for documents by a licensee's name or docket number.

Enforcement

As part of our oversight process, NRC issues sanctions called enforcement actions to licensees who violate our regulations. These sanctions may include notices of violation, monetary fines, or orders to modify, suspend, or revoke a license or require specific actions because of a public health issue. See our Enforcement page for more information.