ML20111A577
| ML20111A577 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Point Beach  |
| Issue date: | 12/26/1984 |
| From: | Proxmire B SENATE |
| To: | NRC |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20111A567 | List: |
| References | |
| 841126, NUDOCS 8501080036 | |
| Download: ML20111A577 (3) | |
Text
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B Buited $tates $tnate Toensurepopkr andling, please return all correspondence TO THE ATTENTION OF:
Ruth Fleischer 224-5653 Respectfully referred to:
Congressional Liaison Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1717 H Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20555 Please respond to the attached inquiry in duplicate and return the enclosure. Thank you for your cooperation.
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Manitowoc, WI 54220 November 16, 1984 60 K0 10,j r c.
Senator William Proxmire
. Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Proxmires I am concerned about nuclear power in the United Statis, more specifically about the safety of the power plants in Wiscensin.
I work for Wisconsin Electric Power Company at the Point Beach Nuclear Plant in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. I Am one of eight Operating Supervisors, who supervise the operation of the control room for the two reactors there. I hold a Senior Reactor Operator License from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. We have several people who will be taking their initial licensing exams from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission here on December 4, 1984.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission also has the duty to monitor the adequacy of our retraining program. That is to maintain a safe knowledge level ~ of operators who, in years past, received their licenses. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has taken the position that an effective way to monitor this program is to adminsiter initial-licensing' examinations to current operators.
Stop and think about that Senator, would you be able to retake the exams you took from Yale in 1948, or more accurately the finals in Business Administration from Harvard that were given last spring?
That is what I face next month.
Would the fact that-if you did poorly you could lose your license to be a Senator affect your well being?
I fail to see how, by subjecting operators as myself and six others to this will enable the Nuclear Regualtory Commission to assess our-Training Department in its ability.to re-train forty people.
A co-worker of mine, Ron Mulheron, wrote a letter concerning this to Mr. Denton, Director of Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, and was extended ~an invitation to a meeting on November 13, 1984. I am asking you'to personally follow-up on their meeting to see how Mr. Denton
. received Mr. Mulheron and how his concerns can be addressed by the Commission.
Myl concern about safety is related to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's change in re-training philosophy and, what we perceive to bo, harassment of current licensed operators. Those who find it most difficult to pass these exams are generally those who got their licenses five to ten years ago. 'These men are the very backbone of W
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Senator William Proxmire - 2 November 16, 1984 our excellent safety record. They are feeling the pressure more and more to leave the control room environment and find employment where they are not forced to annually re-prove themselves to keep a license.
This then is the essence of my concerns, a loss of expereince in a misdirected attempt to impreve training.
We in the nuclear industry have never injured a member of the public and are regulated far more than any other profession in this country.
I would appreciate hearing fran you concerning Mr. Denton's and the commission's actions stemming from the November 13 meeting with Mr. Mulheron.
I would also appreciate any help you can give us in reducing the excessive harassment by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission upon the licensed operators in this country.
Very truly yours, f Nw Jonathan R. Johnson Operating Supervisor Point Beach Nuclear Plant t