ML13016A125

Letter, 1/14/2013, Prairie Island Re NRC Office of Investigations Report No. 3-2012-013

ML13016A125
Person / Time
Site:	Prairie Island
Issue date:	01/14/2013
From:	Kenneth Riemer NRC/RGN-III/DRP/RPB2
To:	Jeffery Lynch Northern States Power Co
References
3-2012-013
Download: ML13016A125 (4)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION REGION III 2443 WARRENVILLE ROAD, SUITE 210 LISLE, IL 60532-4352 January 14, 2013 Mr. Jim Lynch Site Vice President Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant Northern States Power Company, Minnesota 1717 Wakonade Drive East Welch, MN 55089

SUBJECT:

NRC OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS REPORT NO. 3-2012-013

Dear Mr. Lynch:

This refers to an investigation conducted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

Office of Investigations (OI) to determine whether (1) an employee at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant was subjected to discrimination for reporting a safety concern; and (2) the Site Vice President and/or the Access Manager interfered with the objective review of the information upon which the employees unfavorable termination of unescorted access authorization was based, and interfered with the impartial and independent internal management review of the employees termination appeal. Based on the evidence developed during the investigation, we did not substantiate the allegations. The synopsis from the OI Report of Investigation is enclosed.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this matter, please contact an NRC Region III Office Allegation Coordinator by calling (800) 522-3025. The NRC Region III Office Allegation Coordinators are Jim Heller, Paul Pelke, Magdalena Gryglak, and Sarah Bakhsh.

In accordance with Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 2.390 of the NRC's Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response, if any, will be available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room). You should note that final NRC documents, including the final OI reports, may be made available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) subject to redaction of information pursuant to the FOIA. Requests under the FOIA should be made in accordance

J. Lynch with 10 CFR 9.23, Request for Records. The instructions for making a request for information under the FOIA are accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foia-request.html.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Kenneth Riemer, Chief Reactor Projects Branch 2 Docket Nos. 50-282, 50-306 License Nos. DPR-42, DPR-60

Enclosure:

OI Synopsis

J. Lynch with 10 CFR 9.23, Request for Records. The instructions for making a request for information under the FOIA are accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foia-request.html.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Kenneth Riemer, Chief Reactor Projects Branch 2 Docket Nos. 50-282, 50-306 License Nos. DPR-42, DPR-60

Enclosure:

OI Synopsis bcc w/encl: AMS File No. RIII-2012-A-0002 DOCUMENT NAME: G:\ORAIII\EICS\ALLEGATIONS\AMS-LTRS\12 AMS\120002 Prairie Island\120002.OI synopsis to lic.docx To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without attachment/enclosure "E" = Copy with attachment/enclosure "N" = No copy OFFICE RIII N RIII N OI:RIII N RIII N RIII N NAME Pelke NShah Goetz* Orth** Riemer DATE 01/08/13 01/09/13 01/09/13 01/14/13 01/14/13 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY

• For permission to release OI synopsis. ** The 3-week e-mail has expired.

OI SYNOPSIS This investigation was initiated by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Office of Investigations (OI), Region III (RIII), on March 12, 2012, to determine whether: (1) an employee at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant (Prairie Island) was subjected to discrimination for reporting a safety concern; and (2) the Site Vice President and/or the Access Manager interfered with the objective review of the information upon which the employees unfavorable termination of unescorted access authorization was based, and interfered with the impartial and independent internal management review of the employees termination appeal.

Allegation 1: Based upon the evidence developed, this investigation did not substantiate the allegation that an employee at the Prairie Island was subjected to discrimination for reporting a safety concern.

Allegation 2: Based upon the evidence developed, this investigation did not substantiate the allegation that the Site Vice President and/or the Access Manager interfered with the objective review of the information upon which the employees termination of unescorted access authorization was based, nor interfered with the impartial and independent internal management review of the employees termination appeal.

Case No. 3-2012-013 Enclosure