ML20058L352
| ML20058L352 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 07/30/1990 |
| From: | Martin T NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I) |
| To: | Phyllis Clark GENERAL PUBLIC UTILITIES CORP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20058L354 | List: |
| References | |
| EA-90-018, EA-90-18, NUDOCS 9008070126 | |
| Download: ML20058L352 (4) | |
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July 30, 1990 Docket No.
50-320 License No.
DPR-73 EA 90-018 GPU Nuclear Corporation ATTN: Mr. P. R. Clark President 100 Interpace Parkway Parsippany, New Jersey 07054 Gentlemen:
Subject:
NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY - $50,000 i
(NRC Office of Investigations (01) Report No. 1-87-008)
This letter refers to the investigation conducted by the NRC Office of Investigations (01) concerning an anonymous written allegation received by both the NRC and your staff on July 9,1987. The allegation indicated that the then shift supervisor of the F-shift at Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2) had been-sleeping while on duty, and that certain members of your site manage-ment, although aware of the allegations, failed to correct the problem.
Based on the evidence obtained during the OI investigation, as well as an independent internal investigation conducted for you by Mr. E. Stier, the allegation was substantiated. A copy of the synopsis of the 01 investigation was sent to you on December 19, 1989. As a result of these findings, an enforcement conference was held with you and members of your staff on February 2, 1990 to discuss the investigation findings (certain of which constituted violations of NRC requirements), as well as the causes and your corrective actions.
The violations, which are described in the enclosed Notice, involved (1) a pattern, by the then shift supervisor of u F-shift, of sleeping, giving the appearance of sleeping, or otherwise being inattentive to his duties (particu-larly during the night shift) while serving in his licensed capacity as the shif t supervisor / senior re.Jor operator prior to July 1987; and (2) the failure by several levels of TMI-2 site management, although aware (to varying degrees between the fall of 1986 and July 1987) of a number of internal allegations of this problem, to take prompt and effective actions to resolve the allegations and take appropriate action to correct the condition.
Of particular concern were the actions of the then Plant Operations Manager (the immediate supervisor of the shift supervisor) who had been made aware of allegations by members of the F-shift crew, on more than one occasion, that the shift supervisor was sleeping, giving the appearance of sleeping, or being other-wise inattentive while on duty. However, the then Plant Operations Manager did not effectively seek resolution of this problem, In addition, other site managers (including the then Manager, Plant Operations; the then Site Operations Director OFFICIAL RECORD COPY TMI-2 OP VERSION 1 - 0001.0.0 9008090356 900730 07/30/90 P R ADOCK 03000320
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in April 1987; his successor as Site Operations Director b'etween April and July 1987; and the then Director, TMI-2) also failed to resolve the allegations and correct the condition.
These mana[,ers were aware, to varying degrees, of additional allegations in ed subsequent to) April 1987, that (1) the then shif t supervisor was allegedly Jeeping or inatter.tive while on duty, and (2) the Plant Operations Manager allegedly knew of this condition yet took inadequate action to correct the problem. Nonetheless, site management did not properly pursue the allegations.
Furthermore, similar allegations received by site management on June 24 and July 1, 1987 that the then shift supervisor was sleeping on duty also were not effectively resolved.
The pattern of inattentiveness by the then shift supervisor of the F-shift at TMI-2 and the subsequent failure by various levels of the then site management to correct this condition represents a significant regulatory concern.
In accordance with the " General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforce-ment Actions",10 CFR Part 2, Appendix C (1987) (Enforcement Policy) in ef fect at the time, the violations have been classified in the aggregate as a Severity Level III problem.
The NRC recognizes that corporate management, when first apprised of this con-dition after receipt of the July 9, 1987 allegation, immediately initiated an independent investigation of this matter.
The NRC also recognizes that once the findings were established by your internal investigation, prompt and thorough action was taken to prevent recurrence.
These actions included providing the
" lessons learned"'from this matter to your staff, as well as termination of the employment of the responsible shift supervisor and Plant Operations Manager, and significant disciplinary action against the other responsible site managers at TMI-2.
Nevertheless, te emphasize the importance the NRC places on prompt actions by site managers, I have been authorized after consultation with the Deputy Executive Director for Nuclear Materials Safety, Safeguards, and Operatior.s Support and the Commission to issue the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $50,000 for the violations described in the enclosed Notice.
The civil penalty could have been significantly higher because of both the duration of the violations and the notice that was available of a potential problem. However, the NRC staf f concludes that the comprehensive actions ultimately taken by the corporate organization demonstrate that G'UN recognizes it had a serious problem and therefore, escalation of the civil i enalty is unwarranted.
It should be made clear that had you not removed thi shift supervisor and the Plant Operations Manager, NRC would have consio0 red issuing an order concerning removal of these individuals from licensed activities.
In
. retrospect, if site management had followed the instructions of your January 15, 1987 memorandum concerning investigations by security and been sensitive to l
inattentiveness issues following the Peach Bottom problem, this issue might have been resolved earlier and without a civil penalty.
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY TMI-2 OP VERSION 1 - 0002.0.0 07/30/90 l
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You are required to respond to this letter and enclosed Notice and should follow the instructions specified in the Notice when preparing your response.
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In your response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence.
It would be acceptable to reference, if aooropriate, information previously provided to us.
Thi; response shoule' emphasize why you believe your corrective actions have been effective. After reviewing your response to this Notice, including your
- proposed correctiv; actions and the results of future inspections, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.
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In accordance with Seekton 2.790 of the NRC > " Rules of Practice," Part 2, Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a copy of this letter and its enclosure will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
The responses directed by this letter and the 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, Pub. L. No.96-511.
Sincerely, t
Oridnct Signed By:
Thomas T. Martin t
Thomas T. Martin Regional Administrator
Enclosure:
Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty cc w/ enc 1:
M. B. Roche. Director, TMI-2 T. F. Demmitt, Deputy Director, TF-2 R. E. Rogan, Licensing and Nuclear Safety Director J. J. Byrne, Manager, TMI-2 Licensing W. J. Marschall, Manager, Plant Operations S. Levin, Defueling Director t
J. B. Lieberman, Esquire-E. L. Blake, Jr., Esquire G. A. Kuehn, TMI-2 Site Operations Director THI-Alert (TMIA)
Susquehanna Valley Alliance (SVA)
Public Document Room (PDR)
Local. Public Document Room (LPDR)
L Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)
NRC Resident Inspector Commonwealth of Pennsylvania l
H. McGovern e
OE RI:
- 0E DEDS L
Lueh an M' tin Lieberman Thompson l
07/ /90 07/30/90 07/ /90 07/ /90 0FFICIAL RECORD CO 2
VER ION 1 - 0003.0.0 l
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I bec w/enci (sanitized copy):
Region I Docket Room (w/ concurrences)
SECY Congressional Affairs J. Taylor, EDO T. Murley, NRR T. Martin, RI D. Holody, RI J. Lieberman, OE Enforcement Directors, RII-RIII Enforcement Officers, RIV-V E. Jordan, AE00 D. Williams, OIG B. Hayes, 01 J. Partlow J. Goldberg,.0GC F. Ingram, GPA/PA DCS OE:ES OE:EA OE:Chron i
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