ML16340C361

Discusses Implementation of IE Programs to Raise Level of Confidence That Nuclear Plants Can Be Licensed & Operated W/O Undue Risk in Response to 811210 Concerns Re Plant Licensing.W/Newspaper Articles

ML16340C361
Person / Time
Site:	Diablo Canyon, 05000000, Zimmer
Issue date:	02/09/1982
From:	Tedesco R Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
To:	Cockerham M AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
References
NUDOCS 8203040051
Download: ML16340C361 (18)

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DISTRIBUTION: *w/incoming gpss 9

1982:Docket File+

g NRC PDR*

Local PDR*

LB¹l Reading*

HDenton/ECase DEisenhut/RPurple RTedesco Margaret Cockerham BJYoungblood 7789 Rooling Hdevs. Drive HRushbrook*

ltest Chester, Ohio 45069 HJambor LBerry.'ear Hs. Cockerham:

SCavanaugh*(NRR-82-032)

IPeltier I am pleased to respond to your letter to President Reagan of December.

10, 1981 which has been referred to me for reply.

OELD SHanauer RHattson RVollmer HThompson Snyder Checker BBurkley FHiraglia Docket Nos.:

50-358, 50-275 and 50-323 I hope this reply is responsive to your concern and I thank you for your interest.

The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is currently implementing inspection and enforcement programs, at both the Zimner and Diablo Canyon nuclear power.

plant,= which.address the concerns expressed in your letter.

The object of

'hese programs is to raise the level of confidence that the nuclear plants can be licensed and operated without undue risk to the health and safety of the public.

"fhe plants will not be licensed for operation until a satisfactory level of confidence is achieved.

At this time it is premature to judge the outcome of these programs.

Sincerely,

$@Yiihl'XjPj8j12@ g gob8W Xt~.TOdSSCO Robert L. Tedesco, Assistant Director for Licensing Division of Licensing 3t l'~/

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50-358, 50-275 and 50-323 Margaret Cockerham 7789 Rooling Mdevs. Drive West Chester, Ohio 45069

Dear Ils. Cockerham:

DISTRIBUTION:

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, Local PDR*

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HDenton/ECase DEisenhut/RPurple RTedesco BJYoungblood MRushbrook*

MJambor LBerry IPeltier SCavanaugh*(NRR 2)

OELD SHanauer RMattson RVollmer HThompson SNyder Check BBuckl FMir glia I am pleased to respond to your letter to Pres ent Reagan of December 10, 1981 which has been referred to me for reply.

The U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Cormission i currently implementing inspection and enforcement programs, at both the Z

er and Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which address the concerns expr ssed in your letter.

The object of these programs is to raise the level f confidence that the nuclear plants can be licensed and operated witho undue risk to the health and safety of 'the public.

The plants will n be licensed for operation until a satisfactory level of confidenc is achieved.

At this time it is premature to judge the outcome of these rograms As you know, safe nuclear p wer is one solution to the nation' critical energy demand and goal of nergy independence.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must assure g e nation that nuclear power is safe so that this option to satisfy ener g needs is not sacrificed needlessly.

I hope this reply i responsive to your,concern and I thank you for your interest.

Sincerely, j

Darrell G. Eisenhut, Director Division of Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation OFFICE/

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'"disappointed" at the license sus-pension.

Earlier, Palladino told a con-gressional subcommittee that his confidence in the nuclear estab-lishment's "quality assurance" how it guarantees atomic power plants are. built safely-had been "clouded" by his experiences ln 48 months on the commission.

Palladtno insisted that overall he has confidence in atomic power and spokesmen for the nu-clear industry and he stressed that errors have been caught-and lessons learned-from qual-ityassurance programs.

.But both the NRC and the industary came in for harsh criticism from members of the environment and energy subco-

,mittee.

Diablo Canyon, was licensed by the NRC to test its first reac-tor in September, Just before the discovery that wrong figures sup-plied a consultant in 1977 created a "mirror image problem"-the Installation of some equipment to protect against earthquake damage exactly opposite'f where it belonged. Other errors have since been discovered.

PALLAQINO 8POKE at a hearing on problems pointed up by the Diablo Canyon power plant near San Luis Obispo, Calif.

't the subcommittee, he said "a significant number" of plants other than Diablo Canyon had problems with quality assurance.

WilliamJ. Dircks, NRC execu-tive director of operations, listed four other plants that had "qual-ity assurance breakdowns with broad repercussions."

Dircks')

0 P)NTJNUEO /+0M I AGE A'I hh new set of public licensing named the II nt In jrlngswouldhave tobe held..Indiana Midland in Michi an

~Tony Ledwell, a PG&E spokes-ZImmer In o an ou

pro s srongy. na l hardly call anyone being the thought of such crucify devoid of a sense ofhumor."

those people who are not 9ren should rally and pub-lar of "hilarious situations" iren are presented in the of light. As for behavioral ortunately we have some vho wait for ideas to come i can get their kicks, be itby

,t with gasoline and setting author on why he didn't hoof lt over to P. A. Adderley's for one of their ham-burgers, although the term

'hamburg-'r" hardly serves lt well. Properly.orders~

ed medium, with-grilled onl'ons mushrooms, swiss cheese hn6 extra'ayo it is the fflet mignon of burgers, and could well be the U.S. choice.

Cheezt Let us all catch up to reality,'here is so much at stake.

SHELDON POGUE 22 W. Ninth St.

eware... colors and rf7 of SCB.f7ClBf78.VIB, t Shillito's.

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l}uantities Limited, Advertised Items Available Only At This JCPenney Outlet Store. Sorry tto Mail, Phone, C.O.D. Orders.

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'-'=.~~ 8$,$ 86' AllShoes Priced According torSize.

o Downtown on 5th St. o Hyde Park Square o Kenwood Plaza o Tri-County Mall o Beechmont Mall o Northgate Mall o Florence Mall aten0 Party'Shoes'

A-12'HE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER/Wednesday, November 18, 1981 0 H(ZZKO'IRK CONTINUED FROM PAGE A-1 that few investigations can successfully with-stand the criticism of a Monday morning quarterback."

Cummings said blame "must be shared not only by the individuals who were specific-allyy assigned to the case but also by regional officials who failed to properly'supervise the case/

PALLADINORELIED on data from Cum-

~ minits'ffice of Inspector and Auditor. It critici~d regional staffers from NRC's Office ofInspection and Enforcement, saying:

o The "failed to ro erly document the results o mves Iga on o

and material reviewed

'tatusandhis ryo severa we s.

o e overa nves ga v effort was

neither vigorous nor sufficiently broad in scope."

o "The find1ng 'not substantiated'ith regard to the allegation that defective welds in

'afety-related systems,had been accepted is

'not consistent with th esp e

ese findings and another, incomplete investigation of quality assurance at Zimmer, Palladino said nothing "to date" 1 dicates that the "uns tisfactor "NRC re-s 0 pp ega s c arges crea a

an-

, er to public health.

Cg&E agreed.

"It's pretty hard to quarrel with his posi-tio'n," 'spokesman Dav1d 'Altemuehle said.

~

"We'e always expressed our confidence in the

'afety and integrity of Zimmer."

'HOSE ASSURANCES anticipated the first maJor emergenc'y preparedness drill at Zlmmer and in Clermont and Campbell coun-ties.

Today, while the NRC judges CG&E's abil-

.ity'o cope with a mock accident at the reac-tor, other federal officials willreview how well county and state agencies would have been able to protect the public.

Letters by Palladino, Cummihgs and sup-porting documents were released'after The Enquirer filed a request for the docutnents under the Freedom of Information Act. GAP also filed a request

'he NRC kept its re ort of the robe se-re s nce we, com e

n u

s.

o cIa s ]us e

e secre ng the investigation report an "internal document."

Despite Palladino's conclusions, disagree-ment exists withinthe NRC.

William J. Dircks, executive director for NRC operations, accused Cummings of fa01ng to understand "the NRC mission, or priorities, or processes and controls involved in the con-struction of a nuclear power plant."

None of Applegate's charges are substan-tial, Dircks said.'Moreover, NRC inspectors are catching construction problems, including welds, and CG&E or its contractors are solving them."I am unable to conclude that the Office of Inspection & Enforcement investigation of Applegate's allegations was unsatisfactory,"

Dircks said.

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THE CINQhfNATI ENQUIRER/Wednesday, Novemt~r lL 158l $-1 t',

aomina-usiness-dne who

.sty and Van de io more xrd Met-the Sen-nomina-Ibb tried one, will s watery r is sub-std ad on 3 entitled r"[by the allure of

'solved to muntsm e people nd prob-nd the from nuclear competition that threat-ens human surytvat, and would offer genuine protection of our national se-curity.'othing could be farther from the truthl Apparently, they do not realize that Russia has cheated "and broken every arms agreement lthas ever signed. Fur-ther, any such agreement, instead of protecting our national security, would further weaken our already sh'aky se-curity.

It is time everyone, faced the facts,of life,unpleasant as they. are, and realtied that the Communists understand only one thing: power! And'the only way ~

talk to them is from a position of power, equal to or stronger than theirs.

L. R. VANCE 541 Saratoga Ct.

PATM: No Sympathy As a wife of an airline employee who has seen the airlines struggling to keep their heads above water and has watched thousands of airline employees bei'ng laid offsince August, IJust can't sympa-thize with the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organlzatlon (PATCO)

("Stillon Strike," Nov. ll).

maybe the American public would have'tood behind them.

When most American families areI struggling to make ends meet, and you have a union demanding

$10,000-a-year raises along with an already comfort-able salary, ltsounds like a money issue'o me, and my sympathies don't lie with~

PATCO.

JANE BENDER 3024 Westknolls.

Safety Department Your feature story City Manager Sylves-ter Murray's popularity ("Murray Scores Favorably with Public") led me to won-

'er how popular he would be ifhe would investigate the situation ln our city' safety department.

After reading the Nov. 6 story on Raymond Schlinkert's layoff because of budget cuts, and the proposed raise that Bret McGtnnis has requested for him-self and his new assistant, I can't

'omprehend the reasoning behind it.

Mr. Murray, can you assure me that Mr-. McGlnnls has his head on straight'hen he lays off his current assistant'ecause of-budgetary cuts, then asks for a substantial increase for himself and his new assistant'?

s OHIO FINAL/NEWSSTANDPRICE 254 WEDNESDAY,NOVEMBER 18, 1981 t

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'.."; ",AGANNETT NEWSPAPER K

5 HHEEI18H'Y BENLKAUFMAN Enquirer Reporter 7he Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Tuesday admitted it botched a 1980 investigation into complaints of dangerously shoddy work at Zimmer nuclear power station.

In 'documents released to The En-quirer, NRC Chairman Nunzio J. Pal-ladino said the investigation waS so bad that the commission is considering "necessary internal reforms."

It all began with allegations by pri-vate investigator Thomas Applegate last year.

Applegate worked undercover briefly for Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co.

(CG&E) on timecard cheating at the bil-lion dollar power plant in Clermont County.

He told the N.RC that mistakes on safety-related systems were being covered up by contractors and CG&E.

Region III NRC inspectors from Chicago said they found his allegations to be insubstantial.

'APPLEGATE CRIED cover-up.

He pursued his charges through the federal bureaucracy with the help'of the Gov-ernment Accountability Project (GAP) a Washington-base/'watchdog group.

That provoked &e NRC into a sec-ond look at Applegate's*allegations and:

the way its regional staff had respond-ed.

"Applegate,was correct in saying that >

defective welds in safety-related sys-I tems had been accepted," one document released Tuesday concluded, The same official summary suppo Applegate's assertion that his origin complaint was dismissed by the NRC.

"The Region III investigative effor did not adequately pursue all of the alle A

'o.

gations ln sufficient depth or breadth and lacked adequate documentation,"

the summary said.

Some NRC staff members said Tues-day that conditions may be worse than that.

ONE OFFICIAL close to the investi-gations, who asked that his name not be used, said the,critical report "was water-ed down." He said bureaucratic caution kept the language from being stronger.

Palladino's chief investigator, James J. Cummings, supported that conten-tion.

,In his letters released Tuesday., Cum-mings'said NRC regional inspectors dld-n't even review data on~'-'specific welds alleged to be defective" although there was a history of such problems at, Zimmer.

Moreover, other NRC investigations.

are suspect, Cummings indicated ln his.

memorandum to Palladino and the four other commissioners.

'Cummings said his staff "made a conscious effort to temper our evalua-tion process with the very obvious fact (See ZIMMERPROBE, back of this section)

srhen he shot PresIdent Reagan Hinckley bCgan talking, eating nd watching television at a near-y army base hospital in Mary-and after brea'Lying and intrave-nous tubes were removed, the ustice Department, said Tuesday afternoon. U.S. marshals reached hrough a cell window to cut Hinckley down three to five tA TRUE MILLOUTLET STORE NlCK, Ip NSH TKHHVM9 NN98 he year before the March 30 at-k.parkgr said the seizure of

~s,~ted Hinckley's Fqurth ertliment right against un-jggjsonage searches and the itaQinent taken by the FBI vio-I@tecl,the-Supreme Court,'s Miran-da, rffling, which said questioning-ol a suspect must cease once he requests an attorney.

SEE 6909 H5V. 18-23 Emlssions fro automobiles and trucks area big stumbling block in the way of Tgeeting federal clean air standards, a T'egional council official tells a Butler The Senate Appropriations Committee approves a massive money billto keep the.

government in business after The Reagan Adminhtration is forging ahead withthe proposed sale of communications satellite.

gear to an Arab consortium that includes Libya and the PLO; Page A-l.

r Denver quarterback Craig Morton ls nursing a sprained shoulder and h questionable for Sunday's game with the Bengals 8SIIlllRS Lawyers forMarathon 011 Co.

I bec'ause her guide dog was banned by pof1 workers receives a formal apology from the Hamilton County Board of El'ections. Page, F-l.

midnight Friday. Page A-l.

Pope John Paul IIapproves the dropping of the word "men" from tQe main portion of the eight most widely used prayers of the Catholic Mass. Page A-l.

Amoderate Palestinian leader on the Occupied West Bank, a key figure ln Israel's latest efforts to curb the influence of the PLO, is ambushed by terrorists and critically wounded, and his 23-three-year-old son h killed. Page A-S.

at Riverfront Stadium. Page C-I The Reds'Bruce Berenyl is named as right-handed pitcher on the Topps all-rookie team.

Page C-4.

and MobilCorp. fileopening arguments as legal battle begins in Marathon's attempt to escape a Mobiltakeover P pe R p,

Bs,,'tt, fIr/rries

~xxxx 80 Rain Cold Worm

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i rO<<ldd HHiHB cm cm ess frpures show 7E'I nigh tp t4> p e rett'sr et for oreo.

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80 NATIONALWEATHER SERVICE, NOAA. U.S. Dept. Of Cemmerse ApLsserptoto RAINIS forecast today for parts of the region extending. east from Montana to Indiana and south to MissourL Rain also is expected for parts of New England. Snow flurries are predicted for parts of Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota.

Cincinnati Weather Weather 8ureau Report Sunny today with a high tn the upper 50s.

For NOI/rember l7s I 98 I Partly doudy tonight, Iow in the upper 30s. Mostly cloudy with showers possible TemP.

P<<ciP.

on Thursday, high in the upper 50s.

Chance of rain ts near zero percent today 7 P m

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. 47 and I0% tonight.

l98I 1980.Rec.

N'I Extended Outlook High..........:

57 49 82 52 Low............

36 3I IO 34 Cold Friday through Sunday. A chance of pr~- ' '

showers changing to snow flurries. Friday and snow flurries possible Saturday.

Fair River at 7 p.m. 26.1 feet, stationary.

Sunday. Highs mostly in the 40s Friday, Flow.8 mph.

the 30s Saturday, and the mid-30s fo low Today's sunrise 7I24 a.m., sunset 5I22 40s Sunday.

p.m.

~

Temperatures In U. S. Cities Temperatures atf L

ILprecqi'.

gley forecest In Foreign Cities Ahquerqw.....

33

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39

orth es, l0 lawn ation.

arge atbrday at Bethesda, ospital. Graveside sef.m',. Tuesday at Gr~e

,em, Milford. No>Visi oo>.

nero> Hone

>n o

'farr gements.

EW VIENNA-Charl

hompson, 64, 9P E. Churc ied Frlda at lnton Me s

M.

St.,

orial y

Iospital, WRnhngton. Servi es 3

'm'Mondays L. Eugene S~ith d Son FI+eral Home. Bu 1al, ew Vienna LOOF Cemetery.

JEW VIENN'A"Mrs. Lena Hal j 67, I004 Wgiow Way Ct., Columbus, lie@. F fday at Riverside Me,dd-

)t H pital,'iolumbus. Se

ices, t".t convenience of the f rnily y at the L. Eugene Smi+8 L)d Funeral 'Home. Burial, N<w

'en na IOOF Cemetery.

jOVELAND-Nettle M. Bloomer

,l451 Goshen Pike died Fridq ther.home.

Services, 10 a.m, n<>

1 e>rme lgle>e:

eee>

>erv ces today.

MANCHESTER-Ivan Ray (Cotton)

Iorner, 80, Winchester, died Sun-iay,.at Mt. Orab Nursing Home.

iervices, 2 ~m. Wednesday at Bradford-Sull)van Funeral Home.

disitation, 4-8 p.m. Tuesday. Buri-h, Winchester Cemetery.

NT. ORAB-hlrs. Julia M..New-ierry, 86, New Harmony-Shiloh Road, died Friday at Brown Coun-

,y General Hospital, Georgetown..

'ervices, 2 p.m. Tuesday at New armony Unitqd Methodist hurch. Burial, church cemetery.

,isitation, 6-8 p.m. today at hompson Funeral Home.'VELAND-Mrs.

Alma L. Stoud-i'Smith V3, Fay Road,~ died Daughter Pamela arrived home

. forThanksgiving vacation from Ohio State University in a nonstop-talking mood. Her dialogue wasn't about campus life as a.freshman, but campus reaction to the Nov. 16 wedding of

.Luke and Laura on the soap opera, "General Hospital.'4

"-Youwouldn't have believed it.

The firstindication that anything was;going.to happen was signs that, were put up in our lobby at Taylor Tower saying that first--

floorresidents were going to sponsor a reception duririg the show," she said, stopping to breathe.

"The show was supposed to start at 3 p.m.," but by MOabout 150 people gathered in the lobby to getaseat.'Alotof the guyseven dressed up ln suits. They served refreshments, and itwas like a real reception.'While we were waiting for the show, everybody cheered when a commercial came on about General Hosp1tal."

STUDENTS,CHEERED throughout the show, but booed Scott, whom Pam describes as a bum in Mexico, showed up for the wedding and.caught the bouquet.

"Everybody screamed like 1t was a horror film,".she recalled.

The Taylor Tower's reception was only one ofthe university events lanned to mark the soa he shot back, one."

I "Itgets y, hole in MIDDLETOWNBOARDof Education members shared differing opinions last week about IIRR

,KIIlll'LI the use of computers to be purchased next year for classroom use.

David Armentrout questioned the proposed use of three computers at the elementary school level, saying he thought they could be put to better use by high school students.

Board Member Judith Thorn said she had a ".reverse" reaction

-she would like to see children of all ages exposed to the machines, not justa random sampling of elementary students.

Armentrout "reversed the reversal," stating he feltthe same effect o! using computers in elementary classes could be achieved by using flash cards.

Jumping in as a friendly referee, Board Chairman David Ballard joked that the board had p

P.

opera wedding.,

Two members of the cast, MZ Jackie Zeman, who Iam tol~d

'Z plays Bobble, and Leslie Charleston, or Monica, made guest appearances on campus.

"They had a campus party, and about 5,000 people showed up,"

said Pam."They had a party at the Ohio Union, and everybody had to wear hospital garb. Itwas descr1bed as the world's largest General Hospital party."

Pam described how the next day her senior roommate-'...

attended a scholarship'banquet.

"She said she was close enough to hear the conversation of'the head deans, and all they were talking about was General Hospital."

Pam, recalling lectures she' heard before leaving for college, concluded, "Dad said Iwould have to grow up, concentrate on more important, things, and that I wouldn't be able to watch General Hospital when,Igot to college. But even all the deans were talking '

about 1t at a scholarship banquet."*

• TRENTON COUNCILMAN OliverMcKinneybrought a groan from other,council members receritfy".

During a dIscussion on the problem of stray dogs in the city, McKinney commented, "We better get a golfgun.",

When other members asked in Mov~e To Close Post Office COII flLeave Siberia IllCold SIBERIA,I d. (AP -Residents of

>o eo

>e o

"Ican understand their con-cern" about, losing the town's identity, Huff man said.

But he noted that under a new federal law, residents will keep "Siberia" in their addresses even though their mail willbe deliver-ed from Birdse e Bmile w

School knstaHs L ENQUIRER HAMILTONBUREAU FAIRFIELDThe library at Fair-field High School has installed 6 book securit system, said How-

.tu entS IIICIe@Smm P enerai IDS~

M~z when Laura's former husband,

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+ ~puzzlement,"What'.agolf gran?"

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BY BEALKAUFMAN Enqtgtrer Reporter A General Accounting Office (GAO)report casts new doubt on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) probe of inspections and enforcement at the Zimmer power station.

GAO's target was NRC's Office of In-spector 8g Auditor (OIA), whfch examines others within the NRC for ineptitude and dishonesty.

OIArecently accused NRC colleagues in P

r t,hat OIA's indpendence needs to be OIA found fa strengthened."

'IIIinvestigation Another'problem fs that OIA reports omissions.

are "internal management documents In addition that are not generally released outside of an Inspector Get NRC," GAO said.

OIA:

That was how OIAhandled its review of o Develop a Region III's 1980 investigation af, Zfmmer.

setting prioritfe OIA com leted its review of the-lnvestl-tive work tha

~tlon ln An st It re nse re ease.

e-Management a damnin findin s e

n rer esp GAO guidance.

aPree omofInforma on c reques.

~

o Concentra,'

lt with the 1980 Region t Zimmer for similar Region IIIof botching an investigation of complaints of dangerously shoddy work and cover-ups at Zfmmer.

Region III officials responded that their probe was competent and that OIA was guilty of errors it unjustly charged to them.

GAO's overall conclusions which do not mention the Zfmmer probe specifically

-are closer to those of Region IIIthan those of OIA.

Inadequate OIA, management, lack of independence and conflicts of interest are

'-fnvolved, GAO said.

When GAO looked four years ago, NRC seemed too small to warrant, the inspector general operation subsequently ordered for 12 federal agencies.

it rejommendat~ of terai,GAO suggest ystem ?qr planning and for audE and investfga-complies with Office of d 33udget criteria arid.

- investfgatfvtA resourc js an NRC'S FOUL-UPS at Three Mile Island and elsewhere changed'that

judgment, GAO acknowledged.

NRC commfssfoners disagreed, saying that OIA fs being upgraded and will be adequate.

A key GAO criticism concerned OIA independence and conflfcts of interest.

It's fine that OIAreports directly to the NRC commissioners and is "thus organiza-tionally independent,"

GAO said, but operations are too vulnerable to internal

- agency pressures.

"We found several 1nstances where findings, conclusions and/or recommen-dations were revised or deleted primarily because NRC program officials disagreed;"

GAO said.

"We also discovered that OIA routinely allows program officials to exceed dead-on internal fr~ud d waste.

o-Avoidsigning auditors to fftvestfga--

tive work.,

o Co;ordinate audit 4,nd fnvest<gatfve efforts to Iden)My possible assfgnmen~.

=

o Develop Nf at long-promised opt.ra-tions manuafI

-o Begin Q fP~ftnr aSSlgnmentS SO thief, intelligent dtcisfons can be made whether,'o increase,maintain or reduce resources committed 0 a job.

o Establih and enforce requirements for follow-ujof audits and investigations.

That repor

&fHnid-November because NRC Chairman Nunz1o Palladlno presented it approvfnglgto a House subcommittee on energy and the environment.

GAO said management weaknesses alsO "contribute to work which can be less than satisfactory in quality, timeliness and im-pact.

A "OIA HAS focused. too much of f)q attention on administrative and personnel matters rather than on the more impor GAO ALSO found that OIA spiked an investigation of the NRC-approved prac-tice of allowing scores of employees to take free meals from owners of Three Mile Is-land while investigating what went,wrong at that power plant.

Federal employees also charged NRC for those same meals, GAO said That was the kind of problem in OIA's operation that led GAO to conclude that s

4m'S OII'II'~Ce &tSeH'OZneS UIII(IIeZ ZeStiiOn Congress should consider establishing an lines in commenting on OIA report(, par-tant NRC ro ms and has not concen-Office of Inspector General at NRC.

tfcularly if a disagreement or mfstfnder-tra d its investi ative r r

on k'uch a move would be desirable "in standingexists.

a med at elimfnatin fraud and waste.

view of the critical importance of ei'fective "Further, we found certain instances w t in the NRC."

and efficient regulation to the future of where OIA reviewed and apparently ap-AO also found that OIA audit and commercial nuclear activities," GAO said.

~ proved program offices'omments before invecti ative re orts ac cons s ncy an An independent Inspector Genttraf accepting them and including them on its t a nves ve re or are s

e "could better evaluate NRC's performance; reports.

noconc us onsorrecommen a

ons.

combat fraud, waste, abuse and mfsman-.

I) blamed this in part on OIA's failure agement; and assure that both Congress

~ "LASTLY,WE noted certain instances to produce a manual setting forth policies, and the NRC commissioners receive objec-were OIA undertook joint investigations procedures and gumelines, "even, though it tive information on problems involving withother program offices.

'aid, in 1975, that its immediate plans in-'culear activities."

"These oints 'collectively, indicate, elude thedevelopmentofsuchamanuaL" "q

a A-16 THE CP<CINNATI ENQUIRER/Thursday, November 26,1981 o

0 0

o JAMES KEPPLER o Hk/M(I3 CONTINUED FROM PAGE A-1 It went on for years,.

e veteran NRC administrator said, mostly t e

au o

a er ng neer ng, mar con faacl y n ermon oun y.

HE SAID hfs small staff missed the problems because it trusted CG&E to audit Kaiser's performance and be-cause the "sampling" approach to most NRC inspections missed the seriousness of the situation.

Nothing his investigators found supported suspicions about complicity of utilityofficials: "I have not found any evidence that CG&E was in a cover-up capacity."

Is he sure'? Keppler laughed and said that that fs the whole point:

"CG&E dfdn't have an ualft assur-ce n an CG&E's b1 est mistake w cat n its responsibilities to Kaiser an then not overseeing the contrac-tor, Keppler said.

lckhoner a reed: "We had de-pen e

too muc on our contractor to provide the required quality assurance documentation."

Although ectors said workmen

ra ed them with water and other-mmegnstaIU'es of fault work, ep-pler said, most of t e pro e

s con-cerned required documents.

So few involved Zimmer equip-ment that he did not shut down the worksite.

WHATEVERITS problems over the years, CG&E quality assurance im-proved after NRC clamped down in April. Under NRC orders, CG&E took over, replaced its quality assurance

manager, increased the staff from a dozen inspectors to 160.

Now, CG&E inspectors are re-checking all safety-related systems about which there are questions and duplicating quality assurance on new work.

Keppler said lt would have been unconstructive to force CG&E to dis-miss Kaiser Engineering, CG&E is doing quality assurance, and Kaiser is stfckfrlg to construction.

A change could have delayed completion by up to nine months-shout any gain fn safety, Kepler added.

Again, Dickhoner concurred, addi-ngg that plans to produce power com-mercially at Zimmer within two years are unchanged.

Because the NRC assumed CG&E's enlightened self-'interest would keep the utilityon top or quality assurance over the. years, federal 1nspectors relied on spot checks of quality assur-ance records, Keppler said. Hfs staff was too small to do more.

G&E JUST dldn't understand how much touc er.a nuc ear n

bull an rus a

er, w c

was ar more

. "It doesn' loo e

e; es ma," Keppler said.

He also pledged that Zlmmer will not get fts NRC operating llcen be-fore he fs satisfied that his in a-tors are finished, mistakes a or-rected, and there have been no further slips.

Keppler said the $200,000 fine is meant to be a "very expensive lesson" to CG&E and a warning to other utili-'ies that NRC takes quality assurance seriously.

Italso is a polfticfLfploy in NRC in-fighting, Dickhoner charged. Kep-pler's staff ls under fire for its conduct of an earlfer probe ofisimifarproblems at Zimmer, Dickhoner continued, and such needs to fightback "influence, to a great extent, the size of the fine."

'In view of the fact that we have already taken the necessary corrective measures...

the cfvLf penalty is eXcessfve and does not accomplish its intended purpose," Dickhoner said.

THE ONQNNATI ENQUIRER/Thursday, Novembef'26, 7981 A-15 ezmtiII'z3 Ranks ay sys m, I,was impressed and was hat Ilive in Cincinnati, where peo-d ways to help each other.

st of us do not get chances to do d flashy deeds, but whatever we hatever kind of service our work or, we can do the, best possible job r dedication and,right attitude to rk at hand making life beauti-rthermore, in whatever profes-we find ourselves, we represent hing beyond ourselves: a group, a*

a church, a'race, an organization,

~ver.

4 at bus drivef', bless, his soul, made y forme. Bythe way he responded e circumstance, he gained my Kroger Clerks I read with interest your'rticle "Kroger Pact Increases Wages, Benefits" (Nov.

11). Kroger employees with 36 months'eniority we'll be receiving $1133 an hour in three years. A bit of subtraction tells the reader that they receive more than

$9 an hour,'now. I wonder how many other readers, like me, compared, those (Kroger) numbers with personal payc-hecks.

I am a registered nurse with more than three years of experience, a bache-lor of science in nursing, specialty certi-ficationn by the American Nurses. Associ-ation, publications all the things my nursing-school instructors said would be important for advancement.

Late last spring, I had several job interviews in Cincinnati and was offer-ed from $7.50 to $950 an hour; four of the five offers were well below $850 an hour.

Iam aghast to realize that, financially,I could have done just as well had. I gone to work for Kroger at the end of nursing schooli Obviously, there is more to job selec-tion than money. When teen-agers ask me about nursing, I push the field. If you are a registered nurse (RN), you can C tion where money is important (some-thing my nursing school stressed, was secondary to the satisfaction of serving patients quite seconary)7 I find it most disturbing to admit that such a nurse willprobably make less than her Kroger counterpart who skipped further study after high school graduation. Her overtime probably willnot be compen-sated and she certainly willnot get time and a half much less donable time-forSundays.

The numbers you published certain-lymade me pause to think.

I MARGUERITEBLYTHE,R.N.

2207 Burnet Ave.

Teaching Religion I read the article on your Commentary page (Nov. 22) "School-Prayer Debate Becomes a Debacle," by Warren D.

Wheat. This is exactly the kind of reli-gious"argument the Founding Fathers intended to prevent over 200 years ago by building constitutional barriers be-tween church and government.

Our Founding Fathers realized that superstition should be kept out'of gov-ernment tillthe truth of the matter is found. Ithas been over 200 years and we v

o h'Io 'n would call an "explanation" the Scriptures may sometimes be telling a false tale that is only like the truth.

In every age, the common interpre-tation of-the world of things is control-led by some kind of religious belief.

OPPIE GULLEY 114 Ward Ave.

Bellevue.,

Corporate Welfare The Nov. 23 issue of U.S. News k World Report states a pro]ection for 1982-85 "tax increases over the next three years.

of as much as $45 billion."This money, it~

is further predicted, will come out of "cuts in spending for children, the aged-and the poor." These cuts are to total-around $27 billion.

Why doesn't the administration cut'ack in corporate welfare'? The May 16 issue of the same magazine mentions

@29 billiongiven in tax breaks. The 1981 tax law gave more tax breaks'to the oil industry, especially. Let them give up

~

some, like the poor, the working poor, and the aged have to do.

OSCAR MATASAR a~

969 Purcell Ave.