ML20006D980
| ML20006D980 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vogtle  |
| Issue date: | 02/02/1990 |
| From: | Ebneter S NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION II) |
| To: | Hairston W GEORGIA POWER CO. |
| References | |
| EA-89-227, NUDOCS 9002150336 | |
| Download: ML20006D980 (5) | |
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a SAFEGUARDS INFORMATION y;
FE8 08 m Docket Nos. 50-424, 50-425 License Nos. NPF-68, NPF-81 EA 89-227
- Georgia Power Company ATTN: Mr. W. G. Hairston, III Senior Vice President -
Nuclear Operations Post Office Box 1295 Bimingham, Alabama 35201 Gentlemen:
SUBJECT:
' NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY - $7,500
?This refers to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) security inspection conducted by Messrs. D. Thompson and A. Tillman on October 23 - 27,1989, at the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant which identified repeat violations in the areas of Safeguards Information. document control and protected area perimeter assessment.. The report documenting this inspection was sent to you on November 22,'1989.
Subsequently, an Enforcement Conference was held with you and metabers of your staff on December 11, 1989, at which time the violations.
their causes and repetitiveness, and your corrective actions were discussed.
t A letter summarizing this conference was.sent to you on January 2,1990.
Violation A described in the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed
-Imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice) involving the failure to properly protect and account for documents containing Safeguards Information is of particular
-concern to the NRC because of the number of times this type of violation has occurred. This violation is similar to four previous violations identified during four security inspections conducted since February 1988.
Although we recognize that each of these violations was identified by you, it ~is' evident from the recurring nature of the violations that you have not adequately addressed the root causes of the failure and that your past corrective actions have been ineffective. Specificelly, the lack of personnel sensitivity to document control procedures has directly contributed to the repetitiveness of this problem.
Prior to this new violation being identified, these problems-had been discussed at a management meeting between your organization and the NRC;in August 1989, and again in correspondence in September 1989 which
' highlighted additional examples of previous violations in' this' area.
LTo emphasize the need for effective corrective action in order to avoid repetitive. violations, I have been authorized, after consultation with the
. Director, Office of Enforcement, and the Deputy Executive Director for Nuclear Materials Safety, Safeguards, and Operations Support, to issue the enclosed Nomnt transmitted berewith rcWam wrdtWe uncbnified inbernsten. When separatod from encknutos, this dotunent h detontiched 9002150336 900202 3 SAFEGUARDS INFORMATION goa neockOsOOg4
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t SAFEGUARDS INFORMATION I
Georgia Power Company 2.
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-i Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of
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$7,500 for Violation A described in the enclosed Notice.
In accordance with i
the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions,"
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10 CFR Part 2, (1989) (Enforcement Policy) Supplement III, Violation A
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described in the enclosed Notice has been categorized at Severity Level IV.
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The base value of a civil penalty for a Severity Level IV violation is
$15,000. The escalation and mitigation factors in the Enforcement Policy were considered and the penalty was mitigated by 50 percent due to your identifica-tion of the violation. The other escalation and mitigation factors were j
considered and no further adjustment is appropriate.
The NRC very rarely issues civil penalties for Severity Level IV violations.
However, the Enforcement Policy )rovides the discretion to do so when the J
facts of the case suggest that t1e licensee has not taken adequate corrective action for past similar violations to prevent their recurrence.
In this case, it is evident from the recurring nature of the violations that you have not adequately addressed the root causes of the failure to take appropriate measures and, therefore, a civil penalty is appropriate.
Furthermore, if steps are not taken promptly to remedy this problem, future violations of this type may result in more stringent enforcement actions.
Violation B involving the failure to provide adequate assessment capability for the Unit 1 protected area perimeter is also of concern to us because of j
its repetitive nature.
This violation is similar to a previour violation identified during a security inspection and is documented in NRC Inspection e
l Report Nos. 50-424/88-29 and 50-425/88-39.
The root cause of these incidents was determined to be a combination of equipment limitations and certain barrier interfaces. This violation was also discussed at the December 11, 1989, enforcement conference at which time you discussed the planned corrective actions, the specific details of which are considered security l
information and are exempt from public disclosure under 10 CFR 73.21.
i However, it should be recognized that previous ineffective corrective actions in this area directly contributed to its recurrence.
Consequently, NRC strongly encourages the testing of all related equipment interfaces as well as L
evaluation of procedural testing methods and consideration of increased l
testing frequencies to ensure "above marginal" operability of the assessment capability at all times. This violation has been categorized a Hverity Level IV violation and is applicable to Unit 1 only.
l You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response.
In your response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. After reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective actions and the results of future inspections, the NRC will detemine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.
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SAFEGUARDS INFORMATION Georgia Power Company 3
FEB 02 183 Inaccordancewith10CFR2.790(d)and10CFR73.21,safeguardsactivitiesand security measures are exempt from public disclosure.
Therefore, the enclosure to this letter will not be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
The responses directed by this letter and enclosed Notice are not subject to the clearance procedures of the Office of Management and Budget as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Public Law No.96-511.
Should you have any questions concerning this letter, please contact us.
Sincerely, Griginal $lgned By:
Stewart D. Ebne'er Stewart D. Ebneter Regional Administrator
Enclosure:
Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty (SafeguardsInformation) cc w/ enc 1:
R. P. Mcdonald Executive Vice President-Nuclear Operations Georgia Power Company P. O. Box 1295 Birmingham, AL 35201 C. K. McCoy Vice President-Nuclear Georgia Power Company P. O. Box 1295~
Birmingham, AL 35201 G. Bockhold, Jr.
General Manager, Nuclear Operations Georgia Power Company P. O. 1600 Waynesboro, GA 30830 J. A. Bailey Manager-Licensing Georgia Power Company P. O. Box 1295 Birmingham, AL 35201 S A F E C l.i, o
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l Georgia Power Company 4
R8 02 g cc w/o encl:
B. W. Churchill. Esq.
Shaw, Pittman, Potts, and Trowbridge 2300 N Street, NW Washington, D.-C.
20037 J. E. Joiner, Esq.
Troutman, Sanders, Lockeman, & Ashmore 1400 Candler Building 127 Peachtree Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30303 I
- D. Kirkland, III, Counsel Office of the Consumer's Utility. Council Suite 225, 32 Peachtree Street, NE Atlanta, GA 30302
.i Office of Planning and Budget
' Room 615B 1
270 Washington Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30334 I
Office of the County Comissioner Burke County Commission Waynesboro, GA 30830 J. Leonard Ledbetter, Director Environmental' Protection Division-Department of Natural Resources 205 Butler Street, SE, Suite 1252 Atlanta, CA 30334 Attorney General Law Department 132 Judicial Building Atlanta, GA - 30334 State of Georgia a
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DISTRIBUTION:~
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J. Liebeman, OE Enforcement Coordinators Regions I, II, III, IV, and V NRR/DRIS/SB f.
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