ML20128E500
| ML20128E500 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/24/1981 |
| From: | NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTOR & AUDITOR (OIA) |
| To: | NRC |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20127A137 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-84-415 NUDOCS 8505290399 | |
| Download: ML20128E500 (7) | |
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON.'O.C. 20S55 I
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ALLmATIoris RA!5ED Ir8 fMP 00 Cit'Er.'T5 l'
!. The Government's handling of Applegate's original allegations.
\\ A.
F81 and U.S. Attorney's office infomed in late January /early February 1980 - referred allegations to NPC (Applegate affidavit at 13).
5.
Office of Inspector and Auditcr (0!A) infomed in late January /early r bruary 1980 - nothing done (Applegate affidavit at 13).
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\\ C.
Office of Inspection and Enforcenent (IE) - conduct of investi-gation #50-358/80-09. -
\\ 1.
IE chose to exclude from the scope of the investigation serious issues brought to its attention which the NitC had a statutory responsibility to investigate.
During two days Phillip spent reviewing Applegate's a.
charges with hin, Phillip:
1) steadfastly refused to inquire into Applegate's charges evidencing -
a) criminal activity.
b) breaches of licensing conditions, c) threats to the integrity of the OA structure, d) mismanagement by KEI and CSSE.
\\ 2) showed no ' interest in allegations of -
N a) sale of stolen guns.
\\ b) labor and nanagement diversion of labor and materials for personal use.
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% c) fabrication.and sale of belt buckles nade from nucle _ar grade steel.
d) theft, snuggling and sale of 2,000 pounds of copper cable.
j) e)
frequent tine card padding, f) drunkenness on site.
g) an unreported fire that illustrated an inaffective alarm system.
(GAP petition at 6, para. 2).
b.
The following issues were explicitly raised with Phillip during Applegate's initial interview; were not covered by the IF reports and were within NRC furisdiction:
1) sale of stolen guns.
- 2) diversion of labor and'natorials for the personal benefit of a KE! superintendent at a cost to l
C0&E of more than $30,000 3) fabrication and sale over seven years of belt buckles constructed of nuclear grade steet worth millions of dollars in labor and naterials.
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4) theft-of 2,000 pounds of copper cable snuggled in small lots and resold within a week for
$15.nno on the black narket by 3n plant personnel to finance a Christmas party complete with prostitutes.
5) time padding implicitly sanctioned by KEI and 4
CME.
I 6) drunkenness on the site.
- 7) unreported fire in containment building superession chamber indicative that fire watch and corewnication
. are ineffective in that area of the plant.
(CAP petition at 8-9).
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2.
The issues accepted for investigation wre not investigated
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thoroughly or in keeping with sound investigative procedures or techniques.
- 7 No outline of investigative strategy (CAP petition
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a.
at 3, para. 4).
b.
fio sampling of the criteria by which Phillip made critical judgn.ents on the scope of the probe (GAP petition at 3).
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No list of documents reviewed (MP petition at 3, c.
L para.4).
d.
Failed to administer oaths to witnesses (GAP petition at 3, and 11).
Did not use subpoena power to obtain documents (GAP e.
petition at 11).
f.
pasically restricted contact to corporate management and ignored esployees who could have verified and expanded upon the allegations (GAP petition at 11, para. 5).
No record of questions asked or topics raised with I
g.
each witness (GAP petition at 12).
\\ h.
Did not contact any craftsmen or others referred by Applegate either directly or thru his confidential reports (CAP petition at 13, para.1).
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h 1.
Did not perfons independent tests / radiographs on any of the pipes / welds in question. Relied upon docunentation and interpretations of NES, CG4E and KEI officials I '
even though-deficiencies in the DA program were alleged (GAP petition at 15, para,1).
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Use of 13E5 assessments in a probe of welding problems uncovered by Pf1 radiographers could be suspect because of a confilet of interest: raES succeeded Pit
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3).
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Three-week delay after announcing investi ation and k.
' perfoming preliminary review - allowed t me for records falsification, silencing of critics, and repair i
of faulty welds (GAP pet,ition at 151 Applenate affidavit i
at 22s GAP interview of Giordano - meno datdd 6/13/80).
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- The investigative conclusions were inaccurate and ince9plete.
\\ a.
" Introductory Sumary" is inaccurate, incomplete and misleading (GAP petition at 16-17).
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\\ 1)
Dettted nany of Applegate's charaes.
2)
Incorrect date of Applegate's first contact with NRC.
N 3). Itischaracterized Applegate's duties at Timer.
N 4)
Phillip chose not to listen to all the tapes Applegate nad. (Applegate affidavit at 14.)
b.
Findings for " Allegation #1" 1)
Hischaracterized Applegate's allegations re welding being installed despite rejection hy independent radiographers by saying Applegate alleged telding had been accepted (GAD petition at 1718).
2)
Did not resolve the uncertainty he uncovered about a defective weld that was buried in l'-
concrete and possibly dug up for repairs (GAP petition at 18, para. 2).
3)
Did not pursue " unresolved discrepancies" (GAP petition at 18, para. 3).
4)
Did not justify the choice of NES' interpretations over M1's initial findings (G4P petition at 18, para.5).
c.
Findings for " Allegation #2."
1)
In addition to the five defective welds in prefabricated piping, the allegation tricluded l M,1 ?
that 20 percent pf the prefab piping contains I
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defective welds and KE! policy forbids repairing
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's these defects even after radiographic detection (GAP petition at 19, para.1).
2) poport does not include all the relevant paperwork, specifically the docunents with M1's original findings.
\\ fivestion: Arbitrary omission by Phillip? or utility lost records and therefore is in violation of the terms of its license? (GAP petition at 19, para. 4) 3)
Failure to investigate pressure on QA rien to release the spool pieces and an unnaned CG8E officials' order to the 0A Docunent Control Supervisor to alter an FIR (to allow installation at 19, para. 5 to p. 20, para.1)(.
before pipe declared acceptable) GAP petition l
\\ 4)
Failure to expand investigation to cover obvious I
I questions raised about the integrity of the QA program (GAP petition at 19, para. 5 to p. 20 f
pa re.1),
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Findings for " Allegation f 3."
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1 Re rt fails to state that the same crew forenan ta ng credit for reducing the time for the flushing procedure quit in protest over this shortcut (f;AP petition at 20, para. 3).
2)
Report states that the flushing problems have been " resolved" yet CG8E was still not in compliance as of the date of the report (GAP petition at 21, para.1).
Findings for the " Additional Allegations" (GAP '
e.
petition at 21).
1)
Applegate's allegation actually was that PM was pressured to remain silent about all the overrides of rejections by Pit radiographers (Applegate did not allege that Pt' was pressured to accept bad weld as the report stated).
., 2) The allegation also included:
a)
PH weg fired for pushing too hard on safety violations.
b)
Aldridge confirmed to Applegate (in the tape) the break-in and theft of OC records at the Pf1 trailer ( Applegate af fidavit at 17).
c)
Aldridge said he could not criticize utility publicly or PH would be blackhalted within a month (Applegate af,fidavit at 17-18).
N 3)
Philfip improperly portrayed 8uckley's evaluation as a final rejection of the cover up allegation -
in fact Buckley left the mitter open (CAP
_ petition at 22, para.10}jgApplegate affidavit at 23).
4.
Because the investigation a s conducted in a shallow and limited nenner, it allowed the continuation of numerous
-h wrongful situations and activities at the Zimer facility, including:
/
a.
serious' faults in key safety systens.
b.
ineffective OA program, due in part to nalfeasance by the utility company and its contractor.
c.
inadequate fire detection and extinguishing systems.
d.
poor security measures, e,
presence of illegal firearms.
f.
drunkenness among aspicyees.
p.
thef t of materials.
II. Safety and miscellaneous allegations.
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A.
KE! knowingly installed and ripped out unsuitable main steam l
relief piping,)at an estimated labor cost of $320.000 (GAP petition at 13.
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c.
8, 2000 pound fittings were installed in 1979 on residue head valves, although 5000 pound fittings are required (MP petition at 13).
C.
A radioactive waste drain is clogged with concrete which carelessly as poured into the drain (GAP petition at 13).
D.
A residue heat valve broke when a pipefitter hunped into it, raising new questions about the quality of metal used for valves (GAP petition at 13).
E.
Sensitive parts on welding rods are possibly damaged through storage at inproper temperatures and possibly lost through failure to follow proper paperwork and labelling requirenents (GAP petition at 13). "
F.
Argon gas valves for flushing oxygen from pipes routinely are left open by the day crew, causing the night crew to be overcone by gas, a problem about which CG&E Safety) Director Curr:1ngs expressed. disinterest {(GAP petition at 13.
G.
Prefabricated piping received in 1977 has defective welds, but construction supervisors told crews not to repair them because di the welds were nade off-site (GAP petition at 13; Applegate g'.1 p I
-i affidavit at 8,10).
H.
At least three sources contacted by Applegate confirned that an estinated 20 percent of the plant's prefabricated welds are defective (GAP petition at 13; Applegate affidavit at 8).
I.
Engineering " designs' routinely are drawn after the fact to confom with p)iping that already had been installed (GAP petition at 13.
J.
Shock-absorbing electrical tray hangers previously found unsatisfactory are still unsafe due to faulty welds, and electrical cable trays remain dangerously full (CAP petition at 13).
K., Sand and nud choke the feedwater punps and intake flues carrying makeup water to the cooling tower, because of a flaw in the plant's design. Punps used to rectify the flaw quickly burn out (GAP petition at 14).
I.,
A design flaw in the heat exchanger control panel pemitted an operator mistakenly to force 1200 pounds of pressure through pipes only meant to handle 300 pounds, ripping the pipe and soaking electricians with a hard spray of water that would
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have been radioactive had the plant been in operation (GAP l
petition at 14).
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M.
There have been periods when there were no security surveillance cameras during nuclear fuel delivertes to the site, and perimeter security consisted for an extended period of only a four foot chickenwire fence (this is significant because it indicates the vulnerability of the plant to a diversion of the nuclear fuel)(GAP petition at 10 and 14; Applepate affidavit at 6).
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N.
A las attitude toward eployee behavior was evidenced by
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cmplete disregard of drinking and drug use on the site and i
routine hiring of temporary laborers prone to violence (CAP 8
petition at 14).
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Employees fired for tine cheating had been cheating with the O.
empress approval of management and the only time cheaters fired were vocal and knowledgeable critics of plant CA and safety (MP petition at 14; Applegate affidavit at 3-4).
P.
CME had warned Mi silanagement to silence' the radiographers at Zimmer, who were criticizing CME's consistent approval of welds rejected by Pt' (CAP petition at 14).
Q.
Union pf pefitters and PM employees have been intimidated by fear of utility and industry-wide reprisals should they complain
.-f" about GA practices (GAP petition at 14; Applegate affidavit at f,i 10,12).
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R.
A KE! enployee has kept a detailed journal of safety hazards and incidents at Zimmer (GAP petition at 14).
5.
A cainon " joke" among pipefitters at Zirvier is that they will be hundreds of miles away when the plant goes on Ifne, due to their predictions of a disastrous accident (GAP petition at 14).
T.
Mi rejected 39 percent of the welds at Zir.rier - three times
' the industry average (MP petition at 18, para.1).
U.
Dan $ahlberg (KEI, VP) accused Mi of slowing down production (violation of IQ CFR 50 Appendix 8, criarion I. which requires i
QA to be free from cost and production pressures). (GAP j'
petition at 18, para. 4)
. Y.
Bill Itarray (CG4E) ordered Applegate to root out any reason to fire M1, the company performing the CA radf ography. Utility fired critics of lax safety practices for time cheating.
Utility later, after a mysterious break-in and theft of records from the PM trailer, fired rest of the radiograpters without finding any evidence of impropriety (GAP petition at 2; Applegate affidavit at 4, 6-7 and g-10)..
W.
Applegate presented Bill t1urray (CG4E) with information -
which Murray igenored - about:
i.
Scheme of labor-managenent collusion to permit and cover up 111egal, dangerously negligent behavior among plant personnel (GAP petition at 2, para 2).
2.
Dangerously faulty welds in key piping, indicative of a breakdown in QA practices (GAP petition at 2; Applegate affidavit at g).
i' X.
Diversion of labor and natorials for the personal benefit of the KE! superintendent of construction at a cost to CG&E of more than 330,000 (Applegate affidavit at 4-5).
Y.
Fabrication and sale over seven years of belt buckles made with nuclear grade steel worth millions of dollars in labor and naterf ats (Applegate affidavit at 5-6).
Z.
Theft of 2000 pounds of copper cable snuggled in saali lots and j
resold within a week for $15,000 on the black market by 30 plant p(ersonnel to finance a Christmas party complete with prostitutes Applegate affidavit at 6).
Greak-in and theft of DC records from the Pit trailer (Applegate AA.
affidavit at 12).
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