ML20082F953

FOIA Request for Info on Special Investigation Conducted by Ofc of Inspector & Auditor Re Activities Surrounding Welding Inspectors Incident at Facilities

ML20082F953
Person / Time
Site:	Catawba
Issue date:	05/12/1983
From:	Garde B, Phillips J GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
To:	NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION (ADM)
References
FOIA-83-253 NUDOCS 8311290373
Download: ML20082F953 (2)

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GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT Institute for Policy Studies 1901 Que Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 (202)234-9382 F:ay 12, 1983 FREEDOM OF INFORMATX)N ACT REQUEST Director Of fice of Adm,nistration i

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Fursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.D.C. 552, the Government Accountability Project (GAF) of the Institute for Folicy Studies, requests copies of any and all agency records and information, including but not limited to notes, letters, memoranda, draf ts, minutes, diaries, logs, calendars, tapes, transcripts, summaries, interview reporti;, procedures, instructions, engineering analyses, drawings, files, graphs, charts, maps, photographs, agreements, handwritten notes, studies, data cheets, notchooks, books, telephone messages, computations, voice recordings, any other data compilations, interim and/or final reports, status reports, and any and all other records relevant to and/or generated in connection with the special investigation conducted by the Office of Inspection and Audit of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in responce to an April 21st, 1983, request by this office (attchmentl) of activities surrounding the " Welding Inspectors Incident at the Catawba Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 11 authorized by NRC Construction Permits Nos. CIIR-116 and CPPR-117" as well as any and all records relevant to and/ur generated in connection with this FOIA request.

This request includes all agency records, as defined in 10 C.F.R. 9.3a(b) and the NRC Panual, Appendix 0211, Parts 1.A.2 and A.3 (approved October 8,1980) whether they currently exist in NRC official "Workin6" investigative or other files, or at any other location, including private residences.

If any records as defined in 10 C.F.R. 9.3a(b) and the NRC f:anual, supra, and covered by this request have been destroyed and/or removed, or are destroyed and removed after receipt of this request, please provide all surrounding records, including but not limited to a list of all records which have been or are destroyed and/or removed, a description of the action (s) taken, relevant dats.ds) , individual, office and/or agency-wide policies and/or justifications for the action (s), identification of all personnel involved with the actions and any and, all records relevant to, generated in connection with, and/or issued in order to implement the action (s).

P GAP requests that fees be waived, because " finding the information can be considered as primarily benefitting the general public." 5 U.D. C. 552(a)(4)(A).

The Government Accountability Froject is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest organization concerned with honest and open government. Through legal representation, advice, national codferences, films, publications and public outreach, the Iroject promotes whistleblowers as agents of government 83il290373 830Si2 PDR

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Director of Administration U.S. Nuciar Regulatory Commission May 12,1983 accountability. Thrcuch its Citizens Clinic, GAF offers assistance to local public interest and citizens groups seeking to ensure the health and safety of their communities. The Citizens Clinic is currently assisting several citizens groups and intervenors in the South Carolina area concerning the construction of the Catawba plant.

We are requesting the above information as a part of an ongoing monitoring project on the adequacy of the NRC's efforts to protect public safety and health at nuclear power plants.

For any documents or portions thereof that you deny due to specific FOL\

exemption, please provide an index itemizing and descring the documents or portions of documents withheld. The index should provide a detailed justification of your grounds for claiming each exemption, explaining why each exemption is relevant to the document or portion of document withheld.

This index is required under Vaughn v. Rosen (1), 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir.1973) cert. denied , 015 U.S. 977 (1974).

We look forward to your response to this request within ten days'.

Yours truly, ,

e Je ifer l'h lips Staff Associate

[Ilh. aJz.(3p Billie Garde Director, Citizens Clinic mk ccpq of

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• O JOVERNMENT ACCOUNTADilllY PROJECT Institute for Policy Studies 1901 Que Street. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 (20'2)234 9382 April 21, 1983 Mr. Benjamin Hayes Director Office of Investigations U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C. 20555 Mr. James O'Reilly ,

Regional Administrator, Region II

- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 101 Marietta Street, N. W., Suite 3100 Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Gentlemen:

The Government Accountability Project (GAP) of the Institute for Policy Studies has recently received a request from a citizens z group in South Carolina to assist them with an investigation that they are conducting into the quality assurance and quality control procedures that have been employed in the construction of the Catawba Nuclear Power Station being built by the Duke Power Corporation. .

The material that we have reviewed in connection with the request has raised serious questions about the Nuclear Regulatory Com-mission's (NRC) oversight of problems thab have been brought to the attention of both the resident and regional inspectors and investigators, of particular concern to us are the allegations that were brought to the attention of the NRC regional office in January 1982 by a number of QC welding inspection personnel, and more specifically the direct orders by Duke construction management to falsify in-spection documents. These circumstances raise critical questions ebout the conditions at the Catawba facility under which con-scientious nuclear employees -- from welders to engineers -- are allowed to do their job. (See attachment 1.)

The comments originally presented by Mr. P. K. Van Doorn, the Senior Resident Inspector, have ppparently been fully investigated and dismissed through a utility task force (attachment 2); however, we have requested through the Freedom of In f o rma tion Act all NRC

( documentation that should clarify the results of any inspections or investigations that were conducted by the NRC as a result of the original allegations.

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Mr. James O'Reilly April 21, 1983 We request that the office of Investigations conduct a complete review of: (1) the original allegations and (2) any investigations of those allegations. We think that such a review by oI is par-ticularly appropriate due to Mr. VanDoorn's and Mr. W. J. Tobin's initial reports include serious evidence of harassment, intimidation and deliberate undermining of the welding QC program. -

As y o u ar e aware, the concerns of worker harassment and intimidation and similar allegations of violations of the Atomic Energy Reorgani-zation Act alleged by the unnamed sources referred to in the attached documents mirror the findings that GAP discovered at the Zimmer Nuclear Power Station in Ohio, the Midland Nuclear Power Plant in Michigan, and, most recently, the Three Mile Island cleanup opera-tions ir. Pennsylvania.

We look forward to your response to this request in the near future.

Very truly yours, lh I BILLIE PIRNER G ARDE Director, Citizens Clinic for Accountable Government 1

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