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NMC Today Newsletter
	ML062680231
Person / Time
Site:	Point Beach
Issue date:	01/21/2005
From:	; Nuclear Management Co
To:	; Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
	FOIA/PA-2006-0113
	Download: ML062680231 (6)
	v • d • e

-I NMC TODAY Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 Please welcome Mike Lorek, Plant Manager! 0 Inside O = Face to Face

§ = Self read o = Nice to know 0

" Events highlight importance of prompt attention to FFD issues 2

Please welcome Mike Lorek, Plant Manager!.................... I Human Performance clock....... 2 Cal Corner...........................

2

" NMC Bucks and Quick Thanks to be distributed week of Jan. 24.................................

3 Six for success.................... 3 New Point Beach Unit 2 reactor head arrives, work continues on others........

4 We Energies 2004 W-2 forms mailed this week................. 6 NMCNet what's new........... 6 0

Wise medical consumerism:

Taking medications safely....... 5 Watch out for the mousetrap!...6 The Point Beach Holiday Party is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 9. Stay tuned for detailsl Mike joined Point Beach Nuclear Plant on Jan. 4. He has shared the previous 25 years with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), so it was a huge decision for him and his wife to move to Wisconsin.

~Ik ~

i Mike began his education at North Carolina State University in pursuit of a degree in civil engineering, with the intention of taking over his father's construction company. (His father had initiated and grown the company to a sizable business dealing with multi-million dollar contracts.) However, he changed his mind and turned his attention to nuclear engineering, earning a bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1978. Mike then attended the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UT), where he earned his master's degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1980. He selected UT because their nuclear engineering program is one of the most prestigious programs in the United States and also because of their close ties with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Upon graduation from UT in 1980, Mike accepted a position with TVA at the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant as a reactor engineer and was involved in the very first fuel loading at the facility. Mike held the following positions with TVA from 1980 through 2004: Reactor Engineer/STA, Engineering Training Instructor, Engineering Training Manager, Sequoyah Training Manager, Operations Superintendent, Project Engineer, Mechanical/Nuclear Engineering Manager, System Engineering Manager, Site Engineering Manager, Assistant Plant Manager,and Corporate Engineering Manager of all three TVA sites. Mike also held an NRC Senior Reactor Operator License on the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant from 1986 to 1994.

Mike and his wife, Renee, have purchased and already moved into a home in Manitowoc, which they also share with their cat. By the way, he said his cat plays fetch! After living in North Carolina all his life, Mike states, "The cold and snow don't bother me - you just have to stay inside!" (No confirmation on where he parks though!)

He said he is impressed at how nice the people are here, and he and his wife love the area.

Mike enjoys golfing, running, and reading (not all at the same time); he reads non-fiction or "highly technical stuff" because he loves to learn. Believe it or not, the name "Lorek" is pureblooded Polish, and his heritage includes four immigrants from Poland Ohio, and one last thing - Mike has been an NFC Central (North) fan since 1970!

Please be sure to stop and introduce yourself-Mike is anxious to meet every employee! Written by Holly Kocourek.

C11C

a Jan. 21, 2005 Jan. 21, 2005 CAL Corner S Following are the Excellence Plan commitment action steps due within the next two weeks:

Events highlight importance of prompt attention to FFD issues 0 NMC Security would like to call employees' attention to two events within the fleet that highlight the importance of acting on Fitness for Duty (FFD) issues in a timely manner.

One event involved a delay in verifying a report of aberrant behavior by an employee, while the other involved a delay in responding to a report of aberrant behavior by an employee.

While neither incident jeopardized safe operation of the plant, it is critical that both individual contributors and supervisors follow rules for evaluating FFD information to prevent any safety standard violations.

To help employees learn from these incidents, NMC Security has issued an "Operating Experience" document summarizing the events.

NMC Operating Experience A worker recently exhibited behavior calling into question his/her fitness. A Site manager directed the worker's supervision to for-cause test the worker.

Supervision inappropriately allowed the worker to perform duties prior to conducting the for-cause test. Part of this delay included waiting the arrival of a replacement for, and turnover with, the worker to be for-cause tested.

Lessons Learned Once management/supervision determines a worker's fitness is questionable and a for-cause test is required, supervision must ensure the worker is immediately removed from duty (i.e., is not allowed to assume duty or perform additional work) and is escorted to the test site.

NMC Operating Experience A concerned worker recently brought to the attention of supervision a document he/she believed contained information reflecting aberrant behavior on the part of another worker. Supervision requested a copy of the document from the concerned worker. The concerned worker refused to provide a copy of the document to the supervisor. Supervision worked with the concerned worker's management and ultimately obtained a copy of the document. Once obtained and verified as authentic, NMC immediately suspended the worker (alleged to have exhibited aberrant behavior) and took appropriate discipline and access authorization actions.

Cont'd on next page N Step #: OP-10-00.23 Task:

Perform'arn Effectiveness of the implenlm Ii~'l 111 impe~ern~in fCA0327 17 withi n e-k

°e ance organiza' 0il as effective" e is plan.

Group:

,nce Owner Js oell Due:

11 o5i N Step'#: OP-14-005.9 Task:

Prepare a semi annual progress report.

Group: Engineering Design Owner: Larry Peterson Due:

2/4/2005

a Jan. 21, 2005 Jan.21,2005 Six for success 0 Do you know what the Six Points for Success (PBNP's top six priority items) are?,;

1. Dry Cask Storage project,-4,t Quarter 2004:

jýi.2. UnitT2 spring outage 2005

3. CALIclO5 i, n hm P Quat~aer 20"0 jI Recent events highlight importance ofprompt attention to FFD issues (cont'd)

Lessons Learned

Workers must comply with NMC investigations. Refusing to cooperate (i.e., not provide a copy of the document when requested to do so by supervision) is unacceptable.

Supervision should have informed the concerned worker bringing the document forward that his/her confidentiality would be protected and that his/her obligation as a worker at NMC sites is to comply with NMC investigations and that failure to due so could result in disciplinary action and/or suspension of access.

Supervisors must evaluate concerns with FFD and trustworthiness and/or reliability as soon as possible. In this case, supervision could have employed other methods to obtain a copy of the document, greatly expediting the receipt of information needed to address the alleged aberrant behavior brought forward by the concerned worker.

NMC Bucks and Quick Thanks to be distributed week of Jan. 24 0 Human Resources (HR) has introduced several changes in the NMC Bucks and Quick Thanks rewards and recognition programs for 2005.

Employees are scheduled to receive their NMC Bucks and Quick Thanks the week of Jan. 24 and should note the following changes:

Quick Thanks will now be redeemed through HR during scheduled quarterly redemption periods;

Redemptions are limited to $100 per employee per day for both NMC Bucks and Quick Thanks;

" NMC Bucks and Quick Thanks must be turned in during the redemption period (quarter in the year) in which they were earned; and

" Recipients must sign and date NMC Bucks and Quick Thanks on the day received. (Employees who give an NMC Buck or Quick Thanks must also sign and date the certificate.)

NMC Bucks and Quick Thanks are certificates in $20 denominations that can be cashed in for gift certificates at select local businesses.

£ J l,.! L3 iL1I I

II l cessfIU ot

~rneyto 5¶ HI Station priorities are to improve within four Fundamental Areas:

1.

2.

Human Performance Corrective Action Program

3. Manager and Supervisor Effectiveness

4. Work Management Improvements within these fundamental areas support our ability to successfully achieve our Six for Success.

as Ja.-1A20 Jan. 21, 2005 New Point Beach Unit 2 reactor head arrives, work continues on others 0 Point Beach Unit 2's new reactor vessel head arrived Tuesday afternoon at the plant after a long journey from Japan, where it was fabricated. A ship carried the new head, along with new control rod drive mechanisms (CRDMs), across the Pacific Ocean and through the Panama Canal to the port of Houston, Texas, where it arrived Jan. 5. From there, the new head and CRDMs were placed on a truck for transport to Point Beach.

"This is a $50 million investment in Point Beach that will ensure continued reliability of a vital source of electricity for this region," said Dennis Koehl, Point Beach Site Vice President. The new head will be installed during Unit 2's refueling and maintenance outage this spring.

NMC announced last year it had contracted with the Westinghouse Electric Company to replace five reactor vessel heads at three NMC plants with pressurized water reactors (PWRs)-the single-unit Kewaunee plant and the two unit Point Beach and Prairie Island plants. In turn, Westinghouse subcontracted with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to design and fabricate the replacement heads in Japan.

NMC is undertaking replacement of PWR vessel heads proactively as regular inspections continue to demonstrate the structural integrity of the existing heads. Read more on NMCNet.

~.,

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Point Beach Unit 2's new reactor vessel head was loaded from a ship onto a long truck in Houston Jan. 5 for transport to the Point Beach plant site, where it arrived Tuesday afternoon. Workers then transferred the head, which weighs about 100 tons, to a gantry crane for transfer to a transporter that carried the head to its temporary resting place at a warehouse on the Point Beach grounds. The head will be installed during Unit 2's refueling and maintenance outage this spring.

Wise medical consumerism: Taking medications safely 0 The fourth in a series of articles Submitted by: Occupational Health Medications can be harmful if not used properly. The tips below will help reduce medicine-related problems:

c Tell your health care provider if:

S S

S 0

Another provider is treating you!

You've ever had an allergic reaction and to what.

You are pregnant or breast feeding.

You have diabetes or kidney or liver disease.

You use alcohol, tobacco, or "street drugs."

Jan. 21, 2005

Ask your pharmacists to clearly mark each vial with all necessary instructions.

Always keep medicines in their original containers.

Let your provider know about your past reactions to certain medicines. Tolerance levels may change with age. For instance, as some people age, they may show greater sensitivity to some medications such as painkillers or tranquilizers.

Ask about the possible side effects of a medication. If you do experience some, call your provider and find out what you should do. Often, just a change in dosage is all that is needed.

- Don't drink alcohol while on a medication if you don't know its effect. Regular alcohol use can speed up the metabolism of certain medicines.

This can make the medicine less effective. Some medicines, such as sedatives, can become deadly when used with alcohol.

Never take someone else's medication.

Throw away all medications that have expired.

Try to reduce the need for medications, such as sleeping pills or laxatives. For example, a hot bath and a glass of milk might help you fall asleep.

Changing your diet to increase your fiber intake might replace the need for a laxative. Check with your provider for non-medical alternatives.

I iz Don't stop taking medications your provider has prescribed, even if you feel better. Check with your provider first.

n Have your provider keep a record of all the medicines you take. This includes over-the counter (OTC) items like vitamins, aspirin, laxatives, etc., as well as any medicine another provider has prescribed.

t3 Ask your provider to tell you what a medicine is for, when you should take it, and for how long.

Find out, too, if it should be taken in a special way (i.e., with food or plenty of water). Write these things down so you don't forget what the provider says.

m Use the same pharmacy to buy prescriptions as well as over-the-counter medications. This way, a complete record of your medicines can be kept in one place. This is especially important if more than one provider has been'writing your prescriptions. Your pharmacist can also spot possible harmful combinations of medicines and food-and-medicine interactions.

Jan. 21,2005 NMCNet WHAT'S NEW 0

NMC bolsters computer :

system

" What is happening?

The Information Technology

(IT) department will begin its

upgrade of the fleet-wide

computer network in early

March. The project includes

enhancing network servers,

computer workstations, and

the Microsoft Office suite of

software applications. Read

more Final health survey gift

certificate winners announced

v t e Letter Sequence Request
TAC:MC7770, (Withdrawn, Closed)
Initiation Request, Request Acceptance... Administration Questions 12 August 2005 Answers 26 August 2005 Results Withdrawal Other:
MONTHYEAR2005-12-14 [Table View]

ML062680231

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