ML20042D844
| ML20042D844 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/23/1990 |
| From: | Carr K NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Halvorson C WASHINGTON PUBLIC POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20042D845 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9004100263 | |
| Download: ML20042D844 (1) | |
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UNITED STATES
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I,n NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION j
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WASHINGTON, D. C. 20666
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March 23, 1990 CHAIRMAN Mr. Carl M. Halvorson, Chairman Executive Board Washington Public Power Supply System P. O. Box 968 3000 George Washington Way Richland, Washington 99352 t
Dear Mr. Halvorson:
Thank you for your letter of February 22, 1990, and for taking me up on my request to share your concerns about the Nuclear Regulatory Comission (NRC) with me. While I can sympathize with your view that NRC press releases on proposed civil penalties can be used for unintended purposes, e
our practice of publicly announcing such fines reflects the importance we attach to escalated enforcement actions, which, as we note in our Enforcement Policy, may receive " substantial attention by the public, and may have significant impact on the licensee's operations." I believe that this public attention, regardless of the. financial significance of a civil penalty, should be an important incentive to licensees to adhere to a rigorous standard of compliance in the conduct of activities authorized by their NRC license.
As you know the appropriate enforcement action incurred by NRC licensees for the vast majority of violations is a Notice of. Violation.
Escalated enforcement actions, such as proposed civil penalties, are.taken only in the ca== of violations which are cause for "very significant" or "significant" regulatory concern to this agency.
In view of the serious nature of these concerns it has always been the agency's policy to publicly announce propose,d civil penalties to ensure that the public is not only aware of the NRC's concerns but also that steps are being taken to address them.
I agree with this policy.
In 1985, the Commission established an Advisory Committee, chaired by E. P. Wilkinson, to examine a number of aspects of our enforcement program.
Among the issues considered was the policy on issuance of press releases.
While recognizing concerns similar to those you have raised, the Committee also recognized the role a public announcement plays in enhancing the effectiveness of enforcement actions.
The Committee recommended only minor modifications to the agency's practices. Those recommendations have been adopted. A copy of the pertinent portion of the Committee's report is attached.
I Sincerely, hh1 hM CORRESPONDENCE PDC Kenneth M. Carr g
Enclosure:
As stated
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REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR REVIEW OF THE ENFORCEMENT POLICY
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Submitted to the Nuclear. Regulatory Commission November 22, 1985 E. P. Wilkinson Colin S. Diver Michael V. Hasten, Esq.
Joseph M. Hendrie Howard L. Parris w m uv y np
- 34 Comittee believes licensees should have an adequately detailed written description of the staff's understanding and views on the occurrence in question.
The inspection report is the obvious document for this purpose.
The regional staffs will need to expedite their preparation and approval of inspection reports to achieve the 4-week schedule for enforcement conferences specified in the new manual chapter.
4.
Recommendations a.
Enforcement conferences should generally be serious exchanges between staff and licensee of information and points of view about the occurrence giving rise to the conference.
The staff should be prepared to outline its understanding of the occurrence and its position on possible violations. The licensee should be prepared to provide as accurate an account of the occurrence as he can, the results of his investigation of the root causes of the occurrence, ar.d the corrective actions taken and contemplated, b.
The licensee should be given as much notice as practicable, with a minimum of 3 working days. that a meeting to which he has been called is an enforcement conference.
The notice should be in writing, and should include the pertinent inspection report.
D.
press Releases 1.
Current Practice and perceptions of its Irtpact The practice to date has been for the NRC to issue a public announcement of proposed civil penalties.
The policy was reconsidered in l
1983 by the staff and it was concluded that the practice should be continued.
Since the pertinent final documents in an escalated j
1 35 enforcement action are placed in the Public Document Room, the infor-i mation becomes public when the Notice of Violation and proposed civil
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penalty is sent to the licensee whether there is a press announcement or not.
The press release reaches a substantially broader media audience than is likely to be attendant in the Public Document Room, however, and
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therein lies the concern of licensees who feel that the press coverage of I
a proposed civil penalty is more damaging to them in a variety of ways than the dollar amount itself.
The NRC's public information staff believes that it is important to announce proposed civil penalties because they represent the judgment of i
the staff that there may be a serious breach of the license or of the regulations.
The staff view is that such information should be volunteered to the public and to the Congress at the time the action is proposed.
The staff cites the high interest of persens who live near the plants in the operation of the facilities and feels that the Commission has an obligation to keep the public informed of significant developments at the time they occur.
The licensee view is that the bad press associated with escalated enforcement actions undermines public confidence in the licensees. -The newspaper accounts read by the public with regard to enforcement actions deal almost exclusively with the " wrongdoing" that resulted in the violation and any subsequent positive development rarely comes to the public's attention.
A single enforcement action can result in negative press accounts two or three times, since the initiating event and the final payment of the penalty may be covered by the press in addition to coverage of the Notice of Violation end announcement of proposed civil
penalty.
The public may thus be left with the impression that the I
licensee has been fined more than once.
At least one licensee finds the i
negative press coverage so onerous that it declines to argue for mitigation of any proposed penalty, judging that the potential negative press coverage of their reply and NRC's final decision would outweigh any possible benefits of mitigation.
They feel that even if complete miti-l gation were achieved it is unlikely that the public would connect the facts and that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to erase the negative impressions formed months earlier.
2.
Alternate Practices It is not likely that any easy rebolution of these conflicting views is possible. The perceived high " cost" of press announcements is part of the deterrence factor.
On the other hand, if the press announcement policy for enforcet6nt actions leads to an unjustified loss of put'lic confidence in the safe operation of nuclear facilities, then it is not serving either the immediate objectives of the enforcement policy nor the broader objectives of the NRC.
It is interesting in this connection to note the language of Order 1000.9D of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (Oc tober,1982):
" Publicity.
Individual enforcement cases may be publicized only when such publicity will significantly serve the goals.of the enforcement program and only in a manner that will reasonab'ly protect an alleged violator's right to due process and fair treatment."
It is hard to argue that the FAA does not regulate matters important to public safety or that the traveling rublic is not vitally interested in the i
safety of the aircraft they ride.
i 37 i
The B C press release practice with regard to escalated enforcement i
actions is a long-standing and deep-seated one and it appears the agency '
would have considerable internal struggle in giving it up. Also, since on the licensee's own testimony, the public announcement of a proposed civil penalty carries as much or more weight as the dollar amount that may be levied, it is not clear that the agency should be asked to forego this enforcement e pon.
Thus, although a fair case might be made for urging adoption of the FAA publicity policy, the Committee limits its recommendations to some minor modifications in the mechanics of the present practice.
The new manual chapter on the enforcement program prescribes that after an enforcement action has been signed, and the Regional Public Affairs Officer has verified that the subject licensee has been notified and has received a copy of the Notice of Violation, the press release is issued.
Licensees continue to report being taken by surprise with announcements of escalated enforcement actions, however. A11cwing one working day's grace between verification that the licensee has received the Notice of Violation and issuance of the press release would allew some time for the licensee's internal communications to function and for the licensee to prepare to answer press questions about the matter.
A second point has to do with the information in the press release itself.
If the NRC press release is going to command wider media attention and is more likely to be the basis for press accounts than
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releases from licensees, as almost certainly seems to be the case, the NRC press releases ought, in the interests of fairness and completeness of information to the public, to be reasonably balanced. A press release
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on an escalated enforcement action will obviously carry that action and 7
1 the causes as the lead items.
But if the licensee has taken corrective action and it is complete or underway, that information ought to be made clear and explicit in the press release.
Further, if the licensee has been operating in reasonably good shape and conformance with regulations for some time, and is again in conformance, then those facts ought also to be noted in the press release in order that the public is not misled by reading solely about the particular violation and proposed civil penalty.
3.
Recomendations a.
The enforcement program manual chapter section on press releases should be amended to provide for a one working day grace period between verification that the subject licensee has received a copy of the Notice of Violatien and issuance of the press release on the proposed enforcement action.
b.
Press releases on enforcement actions should include such information as the initiation and progress of licensee corrective programs for the violation in ouestion and plant operating status and recent operating history in order to present a more ecmplete and balanced account to the public.
E.
Regionalization There has been some question about the effect of regionalization on the NRC enforcement policy.
The obvious concern is that in strengthening the five regional offices of the NRC, designating the heads of those offices " Regional Administrators" rather than " Directors" reporting to l