ML20034H072
| ML20034H072 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palo Verde  |
| Issue date: | 12/24/1992 |
| From: | Thompson H NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | Bradley Jones AKIN, GUMP, STRAUSS, HAUER & FELD (FORMERLY AKIN |
| References | |
| FOIA-92-88, FOIA-92-A-12 NUDOCS 9303150206 | |
| Download: ML20034H072 (3) | |
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Jones, Esquire IN RESPONSE REFER Akin, Gump, Hauer & Feld TO FOIA-92-A-12 1333 New Hampshire Avenue (FOIA-92-88)
Suite 400 Washington, DC 20036
Dear Mr. Jones:
I am writing in response to your letter dated October 30, 1992, in which you appealed Mr. Donnie H. Grimsley's response dated September 20, 1992.
Mr. Grimsley's response denied nine records in their entirety that were subject to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information concerning the 1989 outages at Palo Verde Units 1, 2,
and 3.
I have carefully reviewed the record in this case and have determined to uphold the previous decision to withhold the nine documents pursuant to Exemptions b(5) and b(6) of the FOIA (5 U.S.C. 552 (b) (5) and (6)) and the Commission's regulations (10 CFR 9.17 (a) (5) and (6)).
Your appeal is, therefore, denied.
Exemption b(5) of the FOIA protects inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters that would not be available to a party in litigation with the agency, which is construed to exempt documents that would not be available in civil discovery.
One of the privileges protected by Exemption b(5) is the deliberative process privilege (sometimes referred to as " executive privilege"). The deliberative process privilege has three policy purposes:
(1) to encourage open, frank discussion on matters of policy between subordinates and superiors; (2) to protect against premature disclosure of proposed policies before they are finally adopted; and (3) to protect against public confusion that might result from disclosure of reasons and rationales that were not in fact ultimately the grounds for an agency's action.
It is primarily the latter purpose that forms the basis for withholding these records.
To qualify for this privilege, records must be pre-decisional (created prior to the final decision or action) and deliberative (part of the discussion process used to arrive at a final i
conclusion, decision or action).
All of the withheld documents 9303150206 921030 FOIA PDR PDR JONES 92-A12
Bradley W. Jones, Esquire.
cited as documents #1 through #9-were pre-decisional in that they were created prior to and as a part of the decision-making process leading to the final report and the decision to approve the report (s) in their final form.
The documents were also i
deliberative in that they were the initial or. interim documentation of an accumulation of a variety of data, observations and opinions which were used in the process of developing the final agency position that was documented in the j
final repo-t.
The denied documents were created by members of the evaluation team as a part of the process of developing a final report.
These documents are more appropriately characterized as " drafts" or " notes" that reflect various preliminary observations and j
opinions of the evaluation and diagnostic teams.
These documents were used as references and/or drafts for the preparation of the final reports; and the observations and opinions documented i
therein may or may not have had a bearing on the final conclusions leading to the final report of the evaluation team.
These documents are not maintained as a part of any official i
file, but were only retrievable in response to your request because they were on hand in the personal work files that were still being retained by individual team members.
Because of the l
personal and preliminary nature of these documents, disclosure of the raw observations and opinions contained in these preliminary documents used in the deliberative process leading to the final evaluation report could be misleading and confusing to the public j
and, therefore, would not serve any public interest.
It is for i
these reasons that I~ reaffirm the initial decision to withhold documents #1 through #9 under Exemption b(5).
Exemption b(6) permits agencies to withhold information contained in personnel or medical records and similar files which, if J
disclosed, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of I
personal privacy.
The courts have given broad meaning to what constitutes "similar files" to allow the exemption to include i
personal information in any documents that is_ identifiable to a j
specific individual, and in which the individual has some privacy
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interest that outweighs the public interest.
The public interest turns on the extent to which disclosure will shed light on how the agency performs its statutory functions.
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Therefore, documents #3 and #7 are also withheld, in part, I
because they contain names and other identifying information of i
individuals who provided input to the evaluation's preliminary deliberations; and document #9 is the handwritten notes by a team j
member containing the names and his personal observations and opinions of certain licensee personnel with whom he met on i
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I various occasions.
Such disclosures could cause a. chilling effect on the objectivity and candor of future participants in similar agency activities and would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of the individuals i
concerned.-
t Regarding the comparison given on page seven of your appeal letter, the document placed in the NRC's Public' Document Room in r
response to FOIA-89-306 was a final, dated and signed memorandum to the Executive Director for Operations which contained the preliminarl outline of the plan for conducting a diagnostic evaluation.
Documents #3, #6, and #7 consist of individual opinions and are not part of the final document.
Although these records were listed as evaluation plans or outlines, they are, in fact, individual opinions based on the proposed plans.
In regard I
to the comparison given on page nine of your appeal letter, the handwritten notes released in response to FOIA-92-087 contained
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the sequence of events,~ charts, graphs, etc., relating to technical events that actually occurred.
On the other hand, document #9 consists of notes which contain the individual's unverified impressions and opinions.
This is a final agency decision on your appeal.
As set forth at l
5 U.S.C.
552 (a) (4 ) (B), judicial review of this decision-is-available in a district court of the United States in the e;
district in which you reside or have your principal place of business or in the District of Columbia.
Sincerely,
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Hug L. Thomps i
Dep'ty Executi[e ire or for
,uclear Materi s
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HOUSTON TEXAS 77002 47:3t F20 5800 February 21, 1992 BY HAND DELIVERY FREEDOM OF INFORMATION Donnie H.
Grimsley, Director ACT REQUE9T hp _9g g
Division of Freedom of Information and Publications Service C
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Dear Mr. Grimsley:
This is a request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C.
552, and 10 CFR Part 9 for documents relating to Palo Verde Units 1,
2 & 3, and more particularly described below.
i For the purpose of this request, the term " document" means all memoranda, letters, filings, testimony, exhibits, contracts, transcripts, minutes, notes, drafts, studies, analyses, reports, maps, diagrams, charts, books, articles, pictures, printouts, tapes, or other written, graphic, or computerized information in any form which constitutes agency records under the Freedom of Information Act.
t The documents we are requesting can more particularly be described as:
1.
All documents, other than the NRC Augmented Inspection Team (AIT) report forwarded to Arizona Public Service (APS) on April 19, 1989 and the Diagnostic Evaluation Team (DET) Report forwarded to l
APS on March 16, 1990, which discuss, evaluate, analyze or otherwise address the causes of the 1989 outages at i
Palo Verde Units 1, 2,
and 3; and the basis for the NRC Confirmation of Action letters issued on March 3, 1989; March 7, 1989; March 28, 1989; June 28, 1989; and December 24, 1989 that addressed the Palo Verde Units.
This request includes, but is not limited to, documents which address the causes of the shutdown resulting in the 1989 outages at all three Palo Verde Units and the causes of the 1989 outages exceeding the formally or informally scheduled or planned outage durations.
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'Anin GUMP. HAVE.R & FEto. L L P Donnie H. Grimsley February 21, 1992 Page 2 2.
All transcripts, tapes or other record of interviews conducted during or in support of the NRC Augmented Inspection Team's review of the March 3, 1989 trip of Palo Verde Unit 3.
The AIT review was reported i
n an AIT report forwarded to APS on April 9, 1989.
3.
All transcripts, tapes or other record of interviews conducted during or in support of the Diagnostic Evaluation Team's review of Palo Verde performance. The DET review was reported in a DET report transmitted to APS on March 16, 1990.
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 9552(a)(6), a response to this request is required in ten days.
We are willing to pay all necessary search and copy fees associated with this request.
Please notify the undersigned at (202) 687-4558 if these fees are expected to exceed $450.00.
If any portion of this request is denied, please provide a detailed explanation of the reasons for the denial, as required by 5 U.S.C.
C 552(a)(6).
Sincerel',
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SEP 3 01992 4 CONTINUATION) i PART li B - APPLICABLE [KEMPilONS y
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PART 11. 0 - APPE AL RIGHTS The den.a! by each denying off.ciaf + dent.fid irt Pant il C may te appes!etf to the Appenate Off.cW.dentif.ed thete. Any sath appea! mu Comm ssion. or to the inspector General, O $ Oc eer r
ust te add essed, as app'opr,a'e, to the Twecut se Direcipe for Operations, to the Secteta'y of the N P%'. aM sWY t Wy s* ate ce l't e* *r t pe e-d m t*e We' tra' it 6 an " AJ pr at t'c,- en Inmal F OI A Der +on "
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APPENDIX H EliCORDS TOTALLY WITilllELD HUMBER DATE DESCRIPTION & EXEM? TION 1.
Undated PV DET Operations Section (11 pages) EX.
5 2.
Undated Potential Root Causes for PV Performance Problems (12 pages) EX. 5 3.
Undated Evaluation Outline (49 pages) EX. 5 4.
11/10/89 PVNGS, Diagnostic Evaluation Observations, QP (18 pages) EX.
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5.
12/5/89 Sunnary of Observations-(6 pages) EX.
5_
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12/7/89 FV Maintenance Evaluation Plan (19 pages) EX. 5 i
7.
Undated PV Diagnostic Evaluation Plan for cuality Programs (25 pages) EX. 5 8.
Undated 3.6 Engineering Design & Technical Support (46 pages) EX. 5
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1989 Notes by Marty Virgilio (18 pages) EX. 5
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