ML19322D326
| ML19322D326 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Beaver Valley, Hatch, Arkansas Nuclear, Brunswick, Surry  |
| Issue date: | 01/07/1980 |
| From: | Felton J NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION (ADM) |
| To: | Emshwiller J WALL STREET JOURNAL |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19322D327 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-79-416 NUDOCS 8002110437 | |
| Download: ML19322D326 (6) | |
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l UMTED STATES 8 j 3..c Ij NUCLEAR REGULATORY COI.WlSSION
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J January 7, 1980 i
Mr. John R. Emshwiller l
The Wall Street Journal 22 Cortlandt Street IN RESPONSE REFER New York, NY 10007 TO F01A-79-416
Dear Mr. Emshwiller:
This is in reply to your letter dated September 27, 1979, in which you reqJested, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, copies of any NRC investigations into possible improper practices by NRC inspectors during the course of their dutier over the past ten years while inspecting commercial nuclear power plants either under construction or in operation.
In your request, you indicated your willingness to accept documents with the specific names of inspectors deleted.
In response to your request, copies of the documents listed in Appendices A and B are enclosed, (total 257 pages) except for documents 2, 6,12, l
and 17 of Appendix A which are on file in the. RC Public Document Room
}
(PDR), located at 1717 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC.
Copies are also being sent to the PDR.
The charges for reproducing records not located in the NRC Public Document Room is ten cents ($0.10) per page as specified in 10 CFR 9.14(b), a copy of which is enclosed.
Accordingly, the cost of reproducing the l
enclosed 257 pages is $25.70.
Please send a check in the amount of $25.70, payable to the "U.S. fluclear Regulatory Commission", along with a copy of this letter to the Director, Division of Rules and Records, Room MNBB-4210, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555.
As stated in your letter, we have deleted the names and identifiers of specific inspectors as not being subject to your request.
Appendix A l
lists those documents which are released in their entirety.
I Portions of documents 3,10 and 12 of Appendix B contain advice, opinions, and recommendations of the staff and they are being partially withheld from public disclosure pursuant to Exemption (5) of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5)) and 10 CFR 9.5(a)(5) of the Commission's regulations.
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS l
POOR QUALITY PAGES 0002110 Y.}
Also, documents 3 through 13 of Appendix B are part of an investigation under the "Open Door Policy" in response to allegations by an NRC employee who was expressly granted confidentiality.
Hence, it is necessary to delete the name and various items which could identify the employee in order for the Office of Inspector and Auditor to continue to assure future allegers that their confidentiality will be respected. Therefore, the exempt portions of these documents are being withheld from public disclosure pursuant to Exemption (5) of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5)) and 10 CFR 9.5(a)(5) of the Commission's regulations.
Portions of documents 1, 2,15 and 16 of Appendix B have been deleted in order to withhold the names and other personnel or similar files information of specific inspectors.
This information was obtained during the performance of law enforcement investigations, and its disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy in light of the facts that (1) no, or at best only marginal, derelictions were demonstrated by the investigations, (2) the inspectors have not created any legitimate public interest in themselves due to any far reaching scandal, etc., (3) substantial damage to the carects of individual inspectors would result from the release of all of the essentially unsubstantiated (or at least i
mostly mitigated) details of alleged misconduct by the named inspectors and (4) this damage would not be justified by the small amount of public interest that would be served.
The exempt portions of these documents are being withheld from public disclosure pursuant to Exemption (6) of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6)) and 10 CFR 9.5(a)(6) of the Commission's regulations. Also, because the information contained in documents 1, 2,15 and 16 of Appendix B were obtained as a result of law enforcement investigations, and because disclosure of the information would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, these four documents are also being withheld from public disclosure pursuant to Exemption (7)(C) of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(C))
and 10 CFR 9.5(a)(7)(iii) of the Commission's regulations.
Portions of document 14 of Appendix B 'are being withheld from public disclosure pursuant to Exemption (7)(C) for the same reason.
Document 14 of Appendix B is an investigatory record compiled for law enforcement purposes.
A portion of this record is being nithheld from public disclosure pursuant to Exemption (7)(D) of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7)(D)) and 10 CFR 9.5(a)(7)(iv) of the Commission's regulations because the disclosure of the information would disclose the identity of a confidential source.
Documents 3 through 5, 8 and 10 of Appendix B contain material related to a simultaneous investigation of personnel concerns of the alleger.
This is a separate matter that is not subject to your request.
- Note, however, that even if this other matter were subject to your request, we would make the same deletions puisuant to Exemption (6) of the Freedom of Information Act, because it is a personnel matter and release of the information would cause an unwarranted invasion of the alleaer's personal privacy.
Document 1 of Appendix C is withheld in its entirety because this document constitutes a personnel or similar file which was compiled for law enforcement purposes.
The reasons advanced above for withholding portions of documents 1, 2,15 and 16 of Appendix B are equally applicable here except that with respect to document 1 of Appendix C, the dereliction was substantiated. Document 1 of Appendix C is being withheld from public disclosure in its entirety pursuant to Exemptions (6) and (7)(C) of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6) and (7)(C)) and 10 CFR 9.5(a)(6) and (7)(iii) of the Commission's regulations, because disclosure'of the information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, and, it is an investigatory record compiled for law enforcement purposes and disclosure of the information would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 9.15 of the Commission's regulations, it has been determined that the information wit 1 held is exempt from production or disclosure, and that its production or disclosure is contrary to the public interest.
The person responsible for this denial is Mr. James J.
Cummings, Director, Office of Inspector and Auditor.
This denial may be appealed to the Commission within 30 days from the receipt of this letter.
Any such appeal must be in writing, addressed to the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and should clearly state on the envelope and in the letter that it is an " Appeal from an Initial F0IA Decision."
This completes action on your request.
Sincerely, N
ysXA:
l
'iJ. M. Felton, Director
/-
Division of Rules and Records Office of Administration i
Enclosures:
As stated l
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F01A-79-416 APPENDIX A 1.
July 15,1974 Mero from Ward to Moseley w/ enclosures, (6 pages)
- 2.
May 4, 1976 IMmorandum f'om McTiernan to Thornburg, " Inquiry into Allegations by a fluclear Engineering Company (NECO) Employee that f;RC Inspections are Deficient at NECO's, Beatty, Nevada, Waste Burial Site."
(Filed in fiRCPDR** see:
FOIA-77-130 (TYE)).
3.
Deccmber 7, 1976 Muorandum from Schnebelen to Ryan (1 page).
4 December 10, 1976 Memorandum fron. McTiernan to Davis (1 page).
5.
January 14, 1977 Memo from Volgenau to McTiernan w/ attachments.
(19 pages)
- 6.
January 14, 1977 Memorandum from McTiernan to Commission, "Special Inquiry Concerning Inspection Program at Virginia Electric and Power Conpany's (VEPCO) North Anna Power Plant."
(Filed in NRCPDR** see:
F01A-77-59/69 (TYE)).
7.
January 14, 1977 Note from Schnebelen to Abston (1 page).
8.
January 24, 1977 Memorandum from Ryan to File 77-4 (2 pages).
9.
January 25, 1977 Memorandum from McTiernan to Volgenau (1 page).
10.
Attachments A through Q to 0IA's interview of Joseph M. Varela. (Total 55 pages)
A.
Drawing of AP&L backing strip. (1 page)
B.
C0 Rpt. No. 50-313/69-5 (p.3) w/ notes (1 page).
C.
November 3, 1969, Memo from O'Reilly to Sr. Reactor Inspectors (1 page).
D.
Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. transmittal (4 pages).
E.
March 22-25, 1970 - Varela's notes (4 pages).
F.
April 10,1970 - Memo from Varela to (deleted) w/ attached page for monthly summary reportedly written by (deleted) (3 pages).
G.
December 17, 1969 - Varela's draft report (pp. 1,2,8-10,12-18)
(12 pages).
H.
Undated memo from Varela to (deleted)(p.1 only) w/ attached p. 4 of " official report by (deleted)" (2 pages).
~
I.
December 23, 1969 - Memo to (deleted) (P.1 only) w/ notes (1 page)
J.
November 19, 1969 - Varela's draft Feeder Report (14 pages)
K.
Drawing of welds (2 pp.)
L.
January 23, 1970 - Memo to Boyd (2 copies of p.1 only w/various notes) (2 pages)
M.
C0 Rpt. Nos. 50-280/69-8, 50-281/69-8 (p. 7) w/ notes (1 page)
N.
C0 Rpt. Nos. 50-280/70-1, 50-281/70-1 (p. 3) w/ notes (1 page) 0.
Pictures of tank w/ notes, undated and attached Form U-1 (back) (2 pp.)
P.
Feburary 20, 1970 - Pictures of shields w/ notes (1 page).
Q.
May 9, 1977 - Letter from Varela to Volgenau w/ outgoing dated April 29, 1977 (3 pages).
11.
December 5, 1977 Memorandum from Ryan to McTiernan (2 pages)
- 12.
June 26, 1978 Memorandum from ficTiernan to Commission, " Inquiry into an Allegation of Employee Misconduct by Re-stricting the Investigation to Determine the Reliability of the Florida Power Grid Serving St.
Lucie,"
(Filed in NRCPDR**).
- 13. October 31, 1978 Memo from Fortuna to Strickler (1 page)
- 14. October 31, 1978 Memo from Strickler to Fortuna (1 page) 15.
November 2, 1978 Report of Interview--Joseph M. Varela.
(2 pages) fRelates to Document No. 19 in this Annondix A].
Report of Interview--Joseph M. Varela without attachments
- 16. November 2 and 3, 1978 (4 pages)
LRelates to Document No.19 in this Appendix Af
- 17.
November 9, 1978 Memorandum from Abston to Commission, " Inquiry into the Alleged Omission of a Line Inspector's Views from the Shearon Harris Construction Permit Hearing," Volumes I through III.
(Filed in NRCPDR**)
- 18. March 15, 1979 Memorandum from Cunmings to Davis transmitting OIA interview of Jose ph M. Varela without enclosure (1 page)
- 19. liarch 19, 1979 Memorandum from Gamble to File transmitting two 01A interviews of Joseph M. Varela without attachments (1 pg.
- 20. May 30, 1979 Memo from Davis to Cummings (1 page)
- 21. May 30, 1979 Memo from Thornburg to Seyfrit (1 page)
- 22. May 30, 1979 Memo from Thornburg to Grier (1 page)
- 23. May 30, 1979 Memo from Thornburg to O'Reilly (1 page)
KEY:
- Document available in NRC Public Document Room,1717 H Street, N.W.,
\\
Re:
F01A-79-416 APPEliDIX B
- 1.
August 7,1975, Memo from McTiernan to Knuth "Possible Employee Misconduct,"
transmitting report of same date (5 pages)
+***2.
May 11, 1977, Memo from McTiernan to Strauss... Conflict of Interest,"
transmitting report dated May 3, 1977 (91 pages)
June 9,1977, Memo from Boulden to McTiernan with attached undated slip from
- +'
W.E.R. to McT and June 15, 1977 Note from McTiernan to Abston (6 pages)
- N.
October 7,1977, Memo from Yanez and Strickler to McTiernan with attached undated slip to McT (8 pages)
- S.
October 11, 1977, Memo from Strickler and Yanez to McTiernan (1 page)
- f October 13, 1977, Memo from Yanez to File 77-39 (1 page)
- +7.
October 19, 1977, Memo from Strickler and Yanez to McTiernan with attached slip from W.E.R. to Strickler and back (3 pages)
- o.
October 25, 1977, Memo from McTiernan to Volgenau (1 page)
- +*9.
Oc tober 27, 1977, Memo from Strickler and Yanez to McTiernan with attached undated slip from W.E.P,. to McT (4 pages)
- 10.
October 28, 1977, Memo from Strickler to Ryan with attached October 28 slip from W.E.R. to McT (6 pages)
- 11.
Undated, Draft memo from McTiernan to Commission with attached November 11
" Routing and Transmittal Slip" from W.E.R. to McT (6 pages)
- 12.
November 16, 1977, Memo from McTiernan to Ryan (2 pages)
- 13.
December 7, 1977, Memo from Ryan to McTiernan (1 page)
- 14.
November 6, 1978, Letter from Abston to... (1 page)
- 15.
"ay 2, 1979, Memo from Cummings to Davis " Report of Investigation--Collection of Inspection Fees by IE Inspector," transmitting report (17 pages)
- 16.
May 31, 1979, Memo from Cummings to Davis "Possible Allegations Against.
(2 pages)
KEY:
- Deletions per Exemption 5
- Deletions per Exemption 6
- Deletions per Exemption 7C
- Deletions per Exemption 7D l
t f
F01A-79-416 APPEllDIX C
- I** 1.
Undated Report of Investigation, "Possible Alteration of IE Training Exam..."
l Key:
- Deletions per Exemption 6
- Deletions per Exemption 7C
1 TIIE WALL STIlEET J0UllNAL Um,-loNI:s & NN!b j
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Sept. 27, 1979
Dear Sirs:
Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, I would like copies of any investigations done by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) into possible improper practices by NRC inspectors during the course of their duties.
I would also like any such reports in the NRC's posse.3sion done by its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Comminnion.
The scope of this request covers investigations of inspectors of commercial nuclear power plants, either while operating or under construction, done over the past 10 years.
To expedite this request, I would be willin6 to accept documents where the specific names of inspectors are blocked out.
I can be reached by phone at 212-285-5122.
"f" f ),g46'u/
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION m
41 ACT REQUEST.
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'J hn R. Emshwiller FC~E R -14.q j b-
/Staff Reporter SLt ' d } D -d
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