IR 05000424/1990011
| ML20055H349 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vogtle  |
| Issue date: | 06/27/1990 |
| From: | Ebneter S NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | Hairston W GEORGIA POWER CO. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20055H350 | List: |
| References | |
| EA-90-090, EA-90-90, NUDOCS 9007260088 | |
| Download: ML20055H349 (5) | |
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JUN 2 71990
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i Docket Nos.
50-424 and 50-425 i
License Nos. NPF-68 and NPF-81 EA 90-090 Georgic Power Company ATTN: Mr. W. G. Hairston, III i
Senior Vice President -
Nuclear Operations Pasi. Difice Box 1295
Bindngham, Alabama 35201 Gentlemen:
j SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY - $50,000 (NRC INSPECTION REPORT NOS. 50-424/90-11AND50-425/90-11)
This refers to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspection conducted by
A. Tillman at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) on April 30 - May 1
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1990. The inspection included a review of the circumstances surrounding a storage cabinet containing safeguards information material which was found.
r unsecured by a member of your staff on April 25, 1990, and subsequently reported to the NRC.
The report documenting this inspection was sent to you by letter dated May 10, 1990. As a result of this inspection, a significant failure to
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comply with NRC regulatory requirements was identified.
An Enforcement Conference was held with members of your staff on May-22,1990, to discuss this event and your staff's ability to protect and control safeguards information.
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The letter summarizing this Conference was sent to you on May 30, 1990.
The violation described in the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed
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Imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice) involved your failure to ensure the proper
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protection and control of safeguards material. On April P4, 1990, a membnr of your staff who was authorized access to the safeguards material storage cabinet supposedly secured it at approximately 2:00 p.m.; however, on April 25, 1990,
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at approximately 6:30 a.m., another member of your staff not authorized access
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to the cabinet found it unsecured.
This represented the potential of the safeguards material being unsecured and uncontrolled for over 16 hours1.851852e-4 days <br />0.00444 hours <br />2.645503e-5 weeks <br />6.088e-6 months <br />.
This violation takes on added significance due to the volume.and content of the safeguards information material that was stored in the cabinet. Unauthorized-disclosure of that material had the potential to compromise the plant physical protection systems.
Therefore, in accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," (Enforcement Policy)
10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C (1990), this violation has been categorized at Severity Level III.
To emphasize the need to ensure the protection and control of safeguards
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information in view of your past performance discussed below I have been authorized,'after consultation with the Director, Office of Enforcement, and
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9007260088 900627 PDR: ADOCK 03000424 Q {}
G PDC s
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Jt)N 2 71990
Georgia Power Company-2-
the Deputy Director for Nuclear Materials Safety Safeguards, t.nd Operations Support, to issue the enclosed Notice of Violation and Propo$cd Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $50,000 for the Severity Le*<el 111 violation.
The base value of a civil penalty for a Severity Level 111 violation is $50,000.
The escalation and mitigation factors in the Enforcement Policy were considered.
Mitigation of this civil penalty by 50 percent is warranted due to your ident-ification and reporting of the incident and by 50 percent due to your prompt corrective actions following the discovery of the unsecured safeguards cabinet.
The corrective actions included substantial actions that you discussed during the enforcement conference to improve your control over all safeguards material at the. plant. However, escalation of the base amount of the civil penalty by 100 percent is warranted due to your poor past performance in protecting i
safeguards information, including numerous, repetitive violations identified in that area over the previous twc years.
In August 1989, these violations were discussed at a management meeting held between the NRC and VEGP and, when
additional similar violations were discovered, they were discussed in correspond-ence in September 1989.
On February 2,1990, a Notice of Violation and Proposed
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imposition of Civil Penalty was issued to Georgia Power Company for newly identified violations concerning the failure to adequately protect safeguards information(EA89-227).
That civil penalty was issued even though the violation was categorized at Severity Level IV because of the licensee's repeated failures in this area.
Therefore, on balance, no adjustment to the bare civil penalty has been deemed appropriate.
Finally, the NRC believes that the individual who discovered the safeguards cabinet open on the morning of April 25, 1990, and promptly brought the matter ta the attention of site security personnel deserves a great deal of credit for his alertness and sensitivity to the proper control and secu"ity of safeguards information.
You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response.
In your response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. After reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective actions and the results of future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.
Specifically, we will closely follow the effectiveness of your corrective actions during future inspections since, as you acknowledged during the enforcement conference, the
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actions taken in the past have not been adequate to stop the recurrence of violations in this area.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
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Georgia Power Company-3-o The respor.:es directed by th-is letter and the enclosed Notice are not sub.iect to the clearance procedures of the Office of Managemerc and Budget as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. %-511.
Sincerely
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Original Signed By J. L. Milhoan Stewart D. Ebneter Regional Administrator l
Enclosure:
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Notice of Violation and Proposed Impositior of Civil Penalty cc w/ encl:
R. P. Mcdonald Executive Vice President-Nuclear Operations Georgia Power Company P. O. Box 1295 Birmingham, AL 35201 C. K. McCoy Vice President-Nuclear Georgia Power Company P. O. 1295 Birmingham, AL 35201 G. Bockhold, Jr.
General Manager, Nuclear Operations Georgia Power Company P. O. 1600 Waynesboro, GA 30830 J. A. Bailey Manager-Licensing Georgia Power Company
P. O. Box 1295 Birmingham, AL 35201 Ernest L. Blake, Esquire Shaw, Pittman, Potts and l
Trowbridge
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2300 N Street, NW Washington, D. C.
20037 cc w/ encl cont'd:
(see page 4)
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Georgia Power Company-4-JUN 2 71990
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cc w/ enc 1 cont'd:
'J.
.F. Joiner, Esquire
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Troutman, Sanders, Lockennan, and Ashmore 1400 Candler Building 127 Peachtree Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30303 D. Kirkland III, Counsel
.0ffice of the Consumer's j
Utility Council.
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$uite 225, 32 Peachtree Street, NE
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- Atlanta, GA 30302 Office of Planning and Budget Room 615B 270 Washington Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30334
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Office of the County Commissioner Burke County Commission Waynesboro, GA 30830
'J. Leonard Ledbetter, Director Environcnental Protection Division Department of Natural Resources i
205 Butler Street, SE, Suite 1252 Atlanta, GA 30334 Attorney General
Law Department 132 Judicial Building
Atlanta, GA 30334
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State of Georgia l
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Jlm 2 71990
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i Georgia Power Company-S-
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DISTRIBUTION:-
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-HThompson, DEOS-JMiaylor, DEDR JLieberman, DE SEbneter,'Rll i
JGoldberg, OGC
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JPartlow, NRR-'
j Enforcement Coordinetors R1, R!l, RIII, RIY, RV l
Resident inspector
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Fingram,GPA/PA BHayes. O!
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OWilliams. OIG-
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EJordan, AE00 RRosano, OE E. Reis. OGC
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J. Hopkins, NRR K. Borkeman, RIl A Herdt, Rll
d ocument Control Desk Day File EA File DCS i
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