ML062540417
| ML062540417 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Millstone, Fermi, Hope Creek, Susquehanna, Crane  |
| Issue date: | 10/01/2003 |
| From: | Vito D NRC Region 1 |
| To: | Barber S, Blough A, Brian Holian, Ray Lorson, Meyer G, Miller H, Neff E, Wiggins J, Elizabeth Wilson NRC Region 1 |
| References | |
| FOIA/PA-2005-0194 | |
| Download: ML062540417 (6) | |
Text
a\\,id Vi1o - Fwd: reflections Page i I Lba',id Vito - Fwd: reflections Paqe i~1 From:
To:
J. Miller; Date:
Subject:
David Vito A. Randolph Blough; Brian Holian; Eileen Neff; Ernest Wilson; Glenn Meyer; Hubert James Wiggins; Raymond Lorson; Scott Barber 10/1/03 11:33AM Fwd: reflections CAUTION-ALLEGATION INFORMAITON - PLEASE TREAT SENSITIVELY Please see the attached. Just thought you should know that the alleger has confided in Dave Lochbaum regarding htis matter.
CC:
Daniel Holody; Leanne Harrison; Sharon Johnson Information in this record was deleted in accordance with the Freedom of InfO0flAti~fl Act, exemptions -:'2 d-FOIA- -2__:4___
[aiiVito F Fwd reflci~ons Page 1 From:
C<Drkyrnn@aol.com>~
To:
<DJV@nrc.gov>, <EXNl@nrc.gov>
Date:
10/1/03 11:06AM
Subject:
Fwd: reflections Dave and Eileen, It is with Dave Lochbaum's permission that I share with you this recent exchange between us. It started with some candid thoughts and feelings I've been wrestling with. P~lease read in reverse order to follow the message trail.
I know you realize your jobs are very important; I just want to be sure you realize how very important' I think as much of you two as I do of Dave.
Kymn CC:
CC:
'<dlochbaum@ucsusa.org>
pa id ViQ - Re: reflections Page 1 From:
"'Dave Lochbaum" <dlochbaum@ucsusa.org>
To:
-<Drkymn@aoI.com>-)
Date:
1- 0/1/03 1 1:01AM
Subject:
Re: reflections Hello Kymn:
Please feel free to share the info with Dave Vito and Eileen Neff. I've worked with Dave Vito before and share your impression. I've not worked with Eileen Neff before, but I saw your recent e-mail to her and trust your judgment.
- Thanks, Dave
>>'>5Drkymn@aol.comý 10/01/03 10:58AM>>>>
- Dave, You "fuel' me! Thank you for your insights and compassion.
With your permission, I'd like to share your message (and mine to you) with Dave Vito and Eileen Neff at the NRC. They have been the consummate professionals with me. If you'd rather I not, I understand.
I'll be in touch. thank you again.
Kymn In a message dated 10/1/2003 8:53:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, dlochbaum@ucsusa.org writes:
>-Hello Kymn:
> Your feelings have been shared by many people - unfortunately, too many.
" I don't know the real answer to your question of whether the steps you have
" taken will lead to a better tomorrow. In my opinion, they will even if there
" are no immediate tangible signs. I've observed many things that lead me to
" this conclusion, but I'll cite just two. Millstone's problems were highlighted
" in March 1996 with a TIME magazine cover story on the saga of GeorgeG :alatis
" and George Bettancourt, two workers who raised saf~ty con~qnsfBBdtfheir
" efforts would probably have not been successful had 1hihe$ipno.been preceded by,
" other Millstone orkers raisin fety concerns, nin
'U:
fIme
" Paul Blanch,
w a nd Don were all run off by NU and so y-view their efforts as
" failed. But they educated the media about nuclear t t ~issues. They made
>the NRC aware of safety culture problems at Millstone. The esetal lai
" the foundation for the gains made by the two Georges. Like a baseball team
" winning a game 8-7, is the batter who knocks in the first run any less important
" than the batter knocking in the eigth run?
David Vito - Re: reflections 0-iig6 ý-l I i~vi~i Vrto - Re: reflections Paoe 2~I
" The second example involves UCS. A few years ago, NRC allowed the Fermi
" reactor in Michigan to continue running with a broken diesel generator. The
" excuse offered by the company and accepted by the NRC was flimsy, at best. Even
" though it was moot, UCS protested the NRC's reliance on such bogus grounds. A
" few months later, I get a call from an Inside NRC reporter asking for my
" reaction to the NRC's denying PSEG's request to operate Hope Creek with an
" impaired pump. I told the reporter I'd nothing to' do with it. Later, an NRC branch
" chief in Region I told me they'd read my letter to NRC about Fermi and found
" the Hope Creek situation too close for comfort and had denied PSEG's request.
" So, the effort which seemed futile at the time actually paid safety
" dividends.
" You may experience people drifting away from you because of your position. I
" did and others have also. But I found, and hope you find, that the support
" and regard from people more than offsets the distancing so the net effect is
" positive.
" My own "whistleblowing" happened in November 1992 when (Don Prevatteland I
" submitted a 10 CFR Part 21 report to the NRC about safety concerns involving
" the spent fuel pool at the Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. That
" submittal began a four-year campaign to get the issues resolved. About halfway
" through, P~o)' asked me if I'd feel suicidal if the spent fuel pool accident
" happened before we got it fixed. His question surprised me. My answer surprised
" him: "No, I'd feel homocidal, not suicidal." I fel then, and feel now in
" retrospect, that I was doing the right thing to the best of my ability and had
" less to feel guilty about than those who were doing the wrong thing.
" Billie Garde gives a talk about the three classes of whistleblowers she has
" encountered. She calls one group the nit-pickers, people who point out "t's"
" not crossed and "i's" not dotted. That's a small group. She calls the largest
" group the baton passers, people who are content with reporting a problem
" they observe and trusting the system to fix it. She calls the third small group
" the matyrs, people who feel passionately about a problem and who will
" champion it to resolution even when~given opportunities to "close the book". on it by
" the system. After describing these three groups (in much more eloquent style
" than I just summarized), Billie explains that most companies' employee
" concerns programs are only designed to handle the first two groups.
" You also expressed uncertainty about whether this effort will jeopardize
" your current work. It can. Others have become so obsessed that they don't pay
" proper attention to the current job that they ultimately lose it. Or they
" become so frustrated over the non-resolution of their safety concerns that they
" "vent" against their current employer for seemingly minor reas ons.
" I'd echo advice that Arnie Gundersen e-mailed you about a month ago: don't
" let this issue destroy you. It's an important issue, but it's not worth
" sacrificing your future over. Don't be afraid to walk away if it's becoming too
" much. As in the Millstone example above, there will be others to continue the
" fight and get there. Don't let it claim another person, please.
" I work with an activist named Scott Portzline. Scott lives near the Three
" Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Scott has testified before the US
" Senate on security issues. There are times when it just becomes too much for
" him, so Scott will just drop it for awhile. His real job is that of a piano
" tuner/mover and he plays in a local band. His hiatus may last a few weeks to
" over a year. He will get back into it when he knows he can handle it and stay in
D avidI Vito - Re: reflections.
Page3l
> as long as he is comfortable.
" I've also worked with whistleblowers who have moved on and don't ever want
" to get involved again. They certainly did more than their share and have every
" right to only see it in the rear-view mirror.
> I greatly admire your wanting to make things better for the people still
> working at PSEG. But please don't let the cost of making things better for them
> be making things worse for you. That's too high a price to pay.
> Take care (really),
>- Dave (rkymn@aol.com 09/30/03 06:01PM >>>>
"Dave e'M)
> I appreciated our conversation yesterday and your wisdom.
>I am quite scared as you might expect of someone who has just filed a
> whistleblower lawsuit and has just written the NRC the letter I copied you
> on.' I
" have no idea where this is going to lead. I have no idea if the people at
" PSEG
" Nuclear who struggle day in and day out to do the right thing will be safer
> or
> more at risk. I have no idea if I have taken steps to enhance public safety
" or, without realizing it, have somehow damaged it. I have no idea if the
" best
" in leaders will be called forth or if they will retreat into their "She's
" the
" problem" mentality and rectify nothing. On a personal level, I have no idea
> who will support me and who will abandon me. I have no idea if the friends
>1
> hold dear will consider me too dangerous to associate with or will be proud
> of
> my courage and boldness. I have no idea how "dirty" this will get and if my
>.current work is in jeQpardy.
> When I think of all this, the knot in my stomach grows exponentially.
> What gets m~e through is believing I have done the right thing, for the right
" reasons. And knowing a handful of learned, experienced, "been there"
" nuclear
" professionals, among others, are behind me.
> I cannot thank you enough, Dave.
>Kyrnn
,!)avid VitQ - Header Page 1 1 I David Vito - Header Page 1 I Return-Path: <dlochbaum~ucsusa.org>
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