The University committed minor infractions of low-level radioactive waste transportation and evaluation laws last October, according to a Nuclear Regulatory Commission document released yesterday by the Undergraduate Student Government.

But the University acknowledged the violations and said its handling of the waste did not endanger personnel or release radioactive material at any time.

The NRC cited the University for transporting low-level radioactive waste in improperly marked containers and failing to provide a separate manifest of contents within the transport vehicle, the report stated.

According to the report, the University also failed to evaluate the radioactivity of air from a fume hood in Henning Building, where the University labels compounds with radioactive iodine.

The University was not fined, said Steve Horwitz, public affairs officer at the NRC's Philadelphia regional bureau.

Both Horowitz and a University health physicist characterized the violations as minor and said they were not representative of the University's handling of potentially dangerous materials.

"We consider any violation to be significant, but these violations did not involve personnel overexposure or safety. Complying with the regulations has not changed our operation significantly, " said University Health Physicist Rodger Granlund.

Granlund dismissed two of the infractions as "letter of the law violations" and the other as an "oversight."

Bill Mahon, Univeristy director of Public Information, responded to the report's release late yesterday afternoon in a news release.

"This is just the weekly USG publicity stunt. Penn State has a safe record that goes back decades . . . (The report's release is) merely a publicity stunt and we are not going to dignify it with further response," the release said.

Last November, USG executives released a list of top administrators' salaries. More recently, USG President Seth Williams called for Vice President for Student Services William W. Asbury's firing and alleged during a news conference that the University had released the Social Security numbers of all 67,000 University students statewide.

USG first became interested in the University's waste disposal policies in January when it received an anonymous phone call claiming the University was storing radioactive waste in a publicly accessible building, USG Public Information Officer John Orr said. He said USG then contacted a local environmentalist who put USG in contact with the NRC official who conducted the initial investigation.

Orr said USG is interested in "solving the long-term problem," which he said includes making NRC regulations more strict.

Speaking at a news conference held to publicize the information, outgoing USG President Seth Williams said the information "is of concern to all students, faculty, staff and townspeople." Although USG has had the information since last month, executives waited until yesterday to release the data to avoid perceptions that the release was politically motivated, Williams continued. USG elections were held last Wednesday.

Granlund said he received notice of the violations shortly after returning from Christmas break this year. NRC sent the letter Dec. 17 and expected a reply by Jan. 16, Granlund said, but the University filed for and received a 30-day extension of the deadline because of the University's late receipt of the letter. Granlund said he received last week a letter from NRC stating it had received the University's reply.

NRC did not sanction the University for its violations because the infractions were minor, Horowitz said.

"Penn State has a clean track record," he said. "They have never been fined."

Of the recent violations, Horwitz said, "We see that now and then -- it's not uncommon. In the big picture, it's a minor violation."

USG enlisted the help of the Office Workers Unionizing Committee, which joins USG in its concern about the proper handling of hazardous waste, UWOC member Jennifer Morris said.