ML16342A729
| ML16342A729 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Diablo Canyon  |
| Issue date: | 03/12/1999 |
| From: | Zimmerman R NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned) |
| To: | Lochbaum D UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS |
| Shared Package | |
| ML16342A730 | List: |
| References | |
| 2.206, DD-99-05, DD-99-5, NUDOCS 9903230146 | |
| Download: ML16342A729 (6) | |
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UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 205550001 March 12, 1999 Mr. David A. Lochbaum Union of Concerned Scientists 1616 P Street, N.W., Suite 310 Washington, D.C. 20036-1495
Dear Mr. Lochbaum:
This letter responds to the petition you filed with Dr. WilliamTravers, NRC Executive Director for Operations, pursuant to Section 2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Re ulations (10 CFR 2.206) on November 24, 1998.
In your petition, you requested that the NRC modify the operating licenses for Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant (DCNPP), Units 1 and 2, to require that the plant's owner have an independent contractor evaluate the plant's safety culture and that the independent contractor monitor the safety culture until the NRC concurs that a safety-conscious work environment has been established and maintained.
You also requested an, informal hearing near DCNPP to present new information on the safety culture at DCNPP.
On December 30,,1998, the staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission acknowledged receiving your petition and stated pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 of the Commission's regulations that your petition was being referred to me for action and that it would be acted upon within a reasonable time, You were also told that your request for an informal public hearing did not satisfy the requirements stated in NRC Management Directive 8.11 regarding granting of an informal public hearing.
You were informed that a public meeting had been scheduled for January ",5, 1999, at which DCNPP and its contractor, Synergy Consulting Services (Synergy),
would discuss the scope and results of a safety culture study conducted at DCNPP and that the meeting was to be expanded to permit participation by interested members of the public.
In August 1998 and prior to the submittal of your petition, DCNPP, in response to their own concerns regarding the safety culture at the plant site, hired Synergy to perform an independent safety culture survey. This survey was conducted in October and November 1998, and the findings were presented at the public meeting held on January 15, 1999. A copy of the meeting summary, along with a set of licensee presentation slides, the executive summary from the Synergy survey, and a set of complete meeting minutes were sent to you earlier under separate cover.
During the public meeting, Synergy discussed the full scope of its findings with respect to the safety culture at DCNPP.
Several areas for improvement were identified and the licensee discussed actions it would take to make improvements.
As a result of the actions taken by the licensee, it is our sense that the goal of your petition, i.e., to modify the license to require an independent safety culture survey, was accomplished and, as a result, no modification to the license is necessary at this time.
You also requested that an independent contractor, subsequent to its evaluation of the safety culture, then monitor the safety culture until the NRC concurs that a safety-conscious work environmeiit has been established and maintained.
In response to this, it is not typical NRC practice to become involved in the manner you have suggested unless there is a set of egregious circumstances related to a site's safety culture as would be evidenced by complaints that were investigated and determined to be valid by the NRC. in the particular case of Diablo 91Ii03230f46 91gi03i2
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Mr. David A. Lochbaum March 12, 1999 Canyon, the licensee has proactively taken actions to address safety culture issues, thereby avoiding degradation of the safety culture environment to a level where NRC involvement would be needed.
Ih addition, the licensee stated that it would perform another survey in December 2001 to determine the effects of the changes.
The NRC will monitor these corrective actions as part of the routine inspection process.
Also, the NRC does respond to individuals with such concerns and maintains an allegation process, inspection staff, and Office of Investigations staff to follow up on issues as necessary.
In this particular instance at DCNPP, the NRC has expended and will continue to expend resources to address concerns related to the work environment.
A copy of the Director's Decision (DD-99-05 ) will be filed with the Secretary of the Commission for the Commission to review in accordance with 10 CFR 2.206(c). As provided for by this regulation, the decision will constitute the final action of the Commission 25 days after the date of issuance of the decision unless the Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the decision within that time. The documents cited in the enclosed decision that are not commercially available are available for review at the local public document room for DCNPP located at California Polytechnic State University, Robert E. Kennedy Library, Government Documents and Maps Department, San Luis Obispo, California 93407.
I have also enclosed a copy of the notice titled "Issuance of Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206," which contains the complete text of DD-99-05 that is being filed with the Office of the Federal Register for publication.
Sincerely, Original Signed By Roy P. Zimmerman, Acting Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-275 and 50-323 (10 CFR 5 2.206)
Enclosures:
- 1. Director's Decision
- 2. Notice cc w/encls: See next page
- For previous concurrences see attached ORC Document Name: 2206DC.WPD DISTRIBUTION:
Docket WBateman BS heron PUBLIC S Bloom JZwolinski PDIV-2 RF EPeyton WTravers EDO-980707'PA MKnapp SBurns CNorsworthy OCA FMiraglia JGoldberg ACRS PNorry ASLBP JBlaha Director, OCAA KCyr, OGC LSmith, RIV JLieberman, OE VYanez CCater EMerschoff, RIV KBrockman, RIV SCollins/RZimmerman NRCWEB (e-mail)
MBoyle (e-mail MLB4)
RSubbaratnam (E-mail RXS2)
NRR Mail Room EDO-980707 OFC PDIV-2/PM PDIV-2/LA P
IV /D DIR/DLPM*
ADPL&T*
SBI E e n
a eman JZwolinski BSheron DATE 3/
99 3/i&99 3/ A'/99 2/ 26
/99 3/9/99 OFC NAME RIV/DRP*
KBrockman V
RZimmerman RSanders NRR:(A)DIR TECHED DATE 2/26 /99 3//2./99 2 /23 /99 OFFICIALRECORD COPY
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Mr. David A. Lochbaum March 12, 1999 cc w/encls:
NRC Resident Inspector Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant c/o U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P. O. Box 369 Avila Beach, California 93424 Dr. Richard Ferguson, Energy Chair Sierra Club California 1100 11th Street, Suite 311 Sacramento, California 95814 Ms. Nancy Culver San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace P. O. Box 164 Pismo Beach, California 93448 Chairman San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors Room 370 County Government Center San Luis Obispo, California 93408 Mr. Truman Burns Mr. Robert Kinosian California Public Utilities Commission 505 Van Ness, Room 4102 San Francisco, California 94102 Mr. Steve Hsu Radiologic Health Branch State Department of Health Services Post Office Box 942732 Sacramento, California 94232 Diablo.Canyon Independent Safety Committee ATTN: Robert R. Wellington, Esq.
Legal Counsel 857 Cass Street, Suite D Monterey, California 93940 Regional Administrator, Region IV U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Harris Tower 8 Pavillion 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400 Arlington, Texas 76011-8064 Christopher J. Warner, Esq.
Pacific Gas 8 Electric Company Post Office Box 7442 San Francisco, California 94120 Mr. David H. Oatley, Vice President Diablo Canyon Operations and Plant Manager, Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant P.O. Box 3 Avila Beach, California 93424 Telegram-Tribune ATTN: Managing Editor 1321 Johnson Avenue P.O. Box 112 San Luis Obispo, California 93406 Mr. Gregory M. Rueger Senior Vice President and General Manager Pacific Gas and Electric Company Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant P.O. Box 3 Avila Beach, California 93424
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