ML20056C385

Submits Request That NRC Institute Show Cause Proceeding,Per 10CFR2.202,to Modify,Suspend or Revoke Licensee NRC Operational Licenses Authorizing Operation of Plant

ML20056C385
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas
Issue date:	05/05/1993
From:	Saporito T SAPORITO, T.J.
To:	NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
References
2.206, NUDOCS 9306020329
Download: ML20056C385 (3)

Text

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Executive Director for Operations D$

l U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 3 '

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Re: HOUSTON IJGNI1NG AND POWER COMPANY, SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT EMCIRlC GENERATING STATION i

Dear Sir:

COMES NOW, Thomas J. Saporito, Jr. (" Petitioner") oro's, pursuant to 10 C.F.R. 62.206 and hereby submits his request for specific actions by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory . .

.1 Commission (NRC) within a reasonable time directed towards Commission licensee Houston- <

Lighting. and Power Company (" Licensee") operator of the South Texas Project Electne '

Generating Station (STP) located near Wadsworth, Texas. .;

Specific Request:

.t A. Petitioner requests that the NRC institute a show cause proceeding pursuant to' l 10 C.F.R. 62.202 to modify, suspend, or revoke the licensee's NRC operational  ;

licenses authorizing the operation of the STP nuclear staten. .'

Petitioner requests that the NRC initiate. appropriate actions to cause .the

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B.

immediate shut down of the (2) two reactor cores at the STP nuclear station. q C. Petitioner requests that the NRC take appropriate enforcement action in the form  !

of issuance of civil penalties against . tne hcensee. and/or against licensee -!

management personnel at the HLP S17 nuclear station. i Basis and Justification:

- 1. The licensee can no longer. provide

• reasonable assurance" to the Commission' 1 for the safe operation of the STP nuclear station insofar as the NRC has referred ,

four cases of whistleblower discrimination to the U.S. Dew wt of Justice and : p1

~t he NRC is seeking unprecedented indictments.against licennae officials for:

allegedly retahating against the four former workers who raised safety concerns  :

at the STP nuclear station.- See Houston Gironicle article, March 28,~ 1993.-

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I 2.- The Commission's rules consider intimidation and harassment of workers in'the ~

nuclear industry to be a potential criminal offense. The beensee's employment n 3007"1

- actions against this-petitioner, David Imnb,' James Dean and Bill Worth are an .

apparent violation of NRC requirements set forth under 10 C.F.R.- 950.7. Thus, -

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1 the hcensee's actions towards.these whistleblowers further instilled a pervasive  :

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• chilhng effect" at the STP nuclear station dissuading other nuclear workers from freely voicing other nuclear safety concerns. -

3. The licensee's physical plant nuclear security program is of questionable effectiveness. In deed, during a trammg exercise last year, a simulated terrarist team was sble to penetrate the highest secured area, the " vital ares

• of the STP nuclear station. See Houston Chronical article, March 28, 1993.

4. The NRC mspector general analyzed the process used to justify the terminations of former licensee employees Lamb, Dean and Worth and determmed that it was conducted in a manner prejudicial to the allegers. Moreover, the NRC investigators found that several licensee managers including vice president of nuclear operations Donald Hall, vice president of nuclear generation Warren Kinsey and security manager Balcom all had some degree of knowledge that the three security workers had made allegations with the licensce's " confidential"  !

employee concerns program

• Speak Out" and/or NRC officials. See Houston Chronical article, March 28, 1993.

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5. Licensee officials may be held liable for criminal or civil prosecution for allegedly misleading the NRC about security related matters including but not l limited to power failures which knocked out parts of a force field and the mismanagement of sensitive ' safeguards" information.

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6. The licensee has failed to reduce a huge maintenance backlog of corrective work I which have led to repeated human errors and equipment failures. According to  ;

NRC Director of Reactor Projects for NRC Region V, the licensee has 'in excess )

of 5,000* items that need maintenance at the STP nuclear station raising questions about whether the licensee has

• lost control" of its maintenance program. One licensee sourte estimates the maintenance backlog to be in excess of 10,000 items. See Houston Chronicle article, March 28, 1993.

7. The licensee maintains an autocratic, vindictive management team at the STP nuclear station which has further instilled the existing

• chilled

• work force which is afraid to go to licensee managers who do not want to hear bad news. See Houston Chronical FOlA documents and Houston Chronical interviewsTf licensee workers.

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8. The licensee has 12 DOL discrimination cases pending as a result of alleged i retaliatory a:tions taken at the STP nuclear station. l

9. The NRC Director of Investigations, Ben Hayes, most correctly stated that *We have damned few inspectors and a lot of licensees) nuclear plants and other NRC l regulated users of radioactive materials)...If this commission cannot rely on the i licensee to be truthful and candid, then that is a major safety issue as far as I'm concerned." Thus, this petitioner maintains that the licensee (HLP) can no longer provide the NRC with reasonable assurance for the safe operation of the STP nuclear facility. ,

10. Bill Lancaster, a former agent with the U.S. FBI and a former security supervisor at the licensee's STP nuclear station stated that

• Basically, nobody wanted to hear that there were any problems,*.

11. NRC Chairman, the Honorable Ivan Selin, was quoted by the Houston Chronical stating that the NRC has become "much more aggressive" in its pursuit of utilities that retahate against whistleblowers or other wise compromise safety in the name of frugality. ..*We have tried to go beyond techmcal issues and look i

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l into how people are being treated: Is this a plant that encourages or tries to throttle allegations?"..."I don't know if we've done as much as we can do, but we've tried." See Houston Gronical article. March 30, 1993.

12. NRC Director of the Office of Investigations Ben Hayes, said he has no qualms about referring a case of alleged utility wrongdoing to the Department of Justice -

for possible criminal prosecution, as hW with Houston Lighting & Power Co. *We want people to understand that if they cut corners to try to save money, there is a risk involved,*. .

13. The NRC is currently investigating allegations that the licensee has used survedlance devu:es to spy on employees, and possibly NRC resident aspectors, at the Si? nuclear station. See Houston Gronicie article, Aoril 15, 1993. -

14. On March 30, 1993, a E== executive was involved in an inexient that i appears to be a form of intimidation. Warren Kinsey, the licensee's vice  !

president for nuclear generation, encountered several protesters distributing leaflets on a public road just outside the STP nuclear facility gate. Kinsey l reportedly bume enraged, drove into the plant, summoned several armed guards and returned to the gate area. There, workers say, he ordered the guards to photograph the protesters and/or employees who took lesfiets. See- .

Houston Chronicle article, April 15, 1993.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the licensee cannot demonstrate to the NRC reasonable assurance for the continued safe operation of the STP nuclear facility. Accordingly, f

it is appropriate for the NRC to consider this Petition pursuant to 10 C.F.R. 62.206 wherein the petitioner has set forth the facts that constitute the basis for the request. See Philadelphia .

Electric Company (Limerick Generating Station, Units I and 2), DD 85-11,22 NRC 149,154 ,

(1985).  !

For the environment,-- j r g Petitioner p_ro ,

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Thomas 64a , Jrf/ . ,j i

TJS/tjs cc: The Honorable John Dingell  :

The Honorable Bob Graham i David Williams, NRC Inspector General Oscar DeMiranda, NRC SAC RII  !

National Whistleblower Center (hk l

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