ML20128N586
| ML20128N586 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palo Verde  |
| Issue date: | 07/13/1982 |
| From: | Yoshimoto S AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20079P594 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-83-161, FOIA-83-A-9 NUDOCS 8506030339 | |
| Download: ML20128N586 (13) | |
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N UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the matter of:
Interview of Sus-Yoshimoto
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Docket No.
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-I Location:
Pages:
Date:
July 13, 1982 s
TAl'LOE ASSOCIATES
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Court Reporters 1625 I Street, N.W. Suite 1004 8506030339 831110
. washinston, D.C. 20006 PDR F0IA (202) 293-3950 DERNABE83-A-9 PDR
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MInterview-of Sus Yoshimoto:
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l11 July;13,'1982 Palo Verde Nuclear-Station:
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Investigators:-
John Berdoine-16.
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'17 Owen C.
Shackleton, Jr.-
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1 INVESTIGATOR:- ThisEis an inte' view-of Mr. Sus r
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)Yoshimoto. -The-l'ast name is spelled Y-o-s-h-i-m-o-t-o._
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cp This" interview'begad,at,9:'45La.m. on July 13th, 1982.'
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[Present to conduht[this' interview ~from-the.U.S.
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NuclgariRegulatory ' Commission -is : Mr. John ~ Berdoine,. Reactor w v t.:
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' Inspector;, and myself, Owen 'C.
Shackleton, Jr.,iInvestigator
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Nuclear : Regulatory Commission.3 7'
from Region V of 1the U.S.
8 LMr.._Yoshimoto, do;we have your permission to 19
. 5 ape'racord this interview?
10 -
MR. YOSHIMOTO:
'Yes.
11
INVESTIGATOR:
.N'ow,.in response to your question,
~~ here we.got your name was initially from a fellow'.that 12 w
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~ 13 went before'the -- now, he ; didn' t go directly, but he pro-
.a' 14 vided tiestimony -for the Atomic Safety and Licensing Review
- 15.
Bo ard.'
And he'made - 'by the time I singled out all his
' allegations -- I have seventeen different things t' hat-he
- 16 17 identified.'-.and he.was; a former employee, an electrician, E here.
19 _
MR. YOSHIMOTO:
.Okay.
20-INVESTIGATOR:
And he has asked that his name be E
21
- kept out of it, and we. respect that.
122 But one--of the problems that he had identified was'this alleged' sabotage type operation that-was going on, 23'
' 24 he'said over-in. Unit 2.
He said this was done-in a lower
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26 elevation to the control. building of Unit-2.
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' MR.; 3YOSHIMOTO :
Uh--huh. -
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!, INVESTIGATOR:i And:it was done'to give you and e
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- Ray Woods, 'a general? foreman: with Bechtel, and --
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'MR.;YOSHIMOTO:- Ray Wood is-a' superintendent..
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5 (INVESTIGATOR:.He}is~a superintendent.. His
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"real.namelis/Raymond Wood.
-It's not plural.
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'MR.'YOSHIMOTO:
Right.
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-INVESTIGATOR:
W-o-o-d.
9 MR..YOSHIMOTO:
Right.
10.
INVESTIGATOR:
Okay.-
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MR. YOSHIMO.TO:' See, I was a' general foremel.
- 12
-~ INVESTIGATOR:
Okay.
And Yoshimoto, general;
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'13 foreman - fc the electricalfunion, because Lthe m'en would get
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- mad' at him' forf firing ;a craf tsman ' for-such things as drink-15.
- ing coffee'or taking too many,early outs.
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. MR. - YOSHIMOTO:- Absenteeism.'or whatever.
17; INVESTIGATOR:- Yeah.-
They..do it also to.get
- 18 :
even with the.QC inspectors who-have been giving them a 19
- badstime.
In:some cases, they. deliberately do a bad modifi--
20 cation.on the (inaudible) - so it will be noticed.
The-QC Ae 21
- name and number is stam ed on the"(inaudible) bed plate
~ 22 for the bracket.and makes it look like'the inspector l bought
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off obviously bad work.
And it Tould result in the in-
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-spector being terminated.
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'Can you relate-to me what your. experience has 25.
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2 MR. - YOSHIMOTO :
'I have never been aware of that.
3 kNVESTIGATOR: 'Okhy.
-4 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
He is saying they were being
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6 INVESTIGATOR:
Do.they stamp the in bed plate?
7 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
There is a plate with a number on 8
it.
INVESTIGATOR:
Okay.
9 10
- M:R. YOSHIMOTO:
Every plate has a number on it, 11 but I wasn't aw'are that the QC people did it.
Maybe it's 12 stamped on it when it's made.
13 INVESTIGATOR:
Okay.
Well, how -- did the QC 14 put any kind of mark when they inspect?
15 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
I imagine they put the number 16 on it, but I don't think it's stamped on there.
17 INVESTIGATOR:
And it's just written on with 18 some kind of a grease pen or s. mething?
o 19 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
It may be, but it also may be 20 recorded on their prints, too.
I don't know.
21 See, I'm not familiar with the --
n INVESTIGATOR:
I would like to (inaudible) number 2
off a plate.
It's easy to go back to-the record and 24 identify the -(inaudible) inspector --
25 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
I understand there is a number
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1 on-. it, 7but Isthought it came that way.
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INVESTIGATOR:
Yeah, with that plate number let's 3
go' backwards. ;'
4 INVESTIGA OR:
Well, have you ever heard of any-6 thing like this, since we are -(inaudible) people have 6
' deliberately --
7 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
I had never thought it was 8
deliberate.
I -- I thought that maybe the procedure -- see, 9
lwe have engineers --
10
. INVESTIGATOR:
Uh-huh.
11 MR. YOSHIMOTO:,1Md we run into a problem where 12 something can't be done, so they told us to do it a certain 13 way.
So, what you are saying;could be true, because I have 14 fired some people out here.
15 But I wouldn' t -- I know there is a lot of --
'16 there were a few bad things down there.
But with the 17 inspection (inaudible) it has been corrected.-
18 INVESTIGATOR:
Uh-huh.
19 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
But I didn't know that they 20 were really that deliberate.
21 INVESTIGATOR:
Have you ever heard any stories s
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22 like this where people have said they have deliberately
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23 done things to get you in trouble?
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24 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
Yes.
I've heard of it, but I've 25 never seen it.
Yoa know, I've seen -- they write your name
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out'and{deliberatelyrtryingtoLsabotage something, this.ic.
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It -- Lit could be true.-
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' INVESTIGATOR': ' Now ~, is Mr. Wood stillLassigned
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'MR. ' YOSHIMOTO :' Yes, he.is,,.'A'sfa matter'of' fact,
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he's;still'my' boss.
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g, 3-INVESTIGATOR:: '.Okay.
Do you know an extension I i
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t MR. YOSHIMOTO:-. Yeah, I've got'the number.- You-
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-know, the-lower elevations'were done a long time ago..
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INVESTIGATOR:.When you say'a'long time ago, ji; K [)
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Well, I'm saying --
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15 INVESTIGATOR:
A year or'more.ago?.
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17 iRay Wood's number.
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INVESTIGATOR:
Okay.
Thank you.
=19'
! MR. YOSHIMOTO:
I thought maybe it:was"just-
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' changes in' engineering, you know.. We have procedures to
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go'through on these (inaudible) details ~and they change.
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And we have to go back and change :them.
23.
I.know there's a lot'of things that were -- not n'
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'a: lot, butIa 'few things that-are wrong in hangers and stuff
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that: we have had,. but' a lot of it was engineering or a bad V,
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I weld or'something-like that.
3md there was some that was 2
just actually' bad.
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^ You'take a guy, a welder,, that's kind of mad 3
4 abo t'somdth ng,'doesn'tilike the way things are being done, 5
or doesn' t like the stabilization agreement', - you have to 6
remind him everyday about it.
He is going to -just do any-7 thing he can.
8 And some of these hangers and stuff that we build 9
have to be built according to specifications.
10 INVESTIGATOR:
Right.
11 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
And sometimes they just take the 12 easy way out and say:
Well, I'm net goingfto be here a year
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13 from now and they'll never catch it.
14 INVESTIGATOR:
But is QC catching it, to your 15 knowledge?
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16 MR..YOSHIMOTO:
According to the amount of L
- 17 repairs that we've had to go back and do, I would say yes.
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18 INVESTIGATOR:
Are you involved in hanger fabrica-19 tion now?
Or, were you at that time?
20 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
Most of the fabrication comes 21 from the (inaudible) shop already made up.
22 INVESTIGATOR:
Uh-huh.
23 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
The welding detail, how it's 24 put up, we were doing that.
M INVESTIGATOR:
These are welded to in-bed plates?
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Is that how'they --
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! MR. f0SHIMOTO:Well, if they are (inaudible) 3 structural steel in yo,ur hangers (inaudible) most of it is 4
structural steel.-
5 INVESTIGATOR:
Do you have any information, even 6~
rumors,- Sus, of - people that could be involved or could have 7
been involved in deliberately doing bad work?
8 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
I can't think of anything right 9
now like that.
10 INVESTIGATOR.:
And the situation now is different 11 than it was two years ago as far as the attitude and feeling 12 of the employees?
MR.~ YOSHIMOTO:
Yes.
13 -
14 INVESTIGATOR:
Where are you working in Unit 2 15 now?
16 MR.,YOSHIMOTO:
I was on the start-up, so all 17 over the unit now.
18 INVESTIGATOR:
Oh, you were in start-up?
19 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
Yeah.
I was the general foreman 20 until about a week ago and I decided to set the starter 21 back for another two weeks or so and then they are going to 22 bring you back again, according to them, you know.
Things 23 can change.
24 INVESTIGATOR:
John,'do you have any questions?
n INVESTIGATOR:
Yeah.
When these welders are
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' welding,up.,these pieces and they'do a sloppy job intentional-
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ly!becau'se thby!.fase, t you{know',i up.s'et iabout 'something and
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ithey~f,igu(eftheyjwon' t bey on-the job a year _-from now,.aren' t
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.within:about:two: weeks?
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1And then'they are going-to!be identified as having.done'a sloppy _ job,:an'd that as a result.thei'r termina-17
. tion may.be much earlier than a year from now.
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9' MR.1YOSilIMOTO : ;Right.
We.have. terminated some
' : welders.
" 11 ~
INVESTIGATOR:
But weren' t. they -aware of. the -
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process.that goes'on, so-they-knew that -- (inaudible) s13
- MR. YOSIIIMOTO:
A lot ~ of the guys -don' t --
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When they.first come out here, probably'had never.
15 welded a nuclear: power' house-before.
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INVESTIGATOR:
So, they didn't know the pro.
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-~cedure?
.18 MR. YOSIIIMOTO : - So they don' t know of the procedur 3
'19 of the QC, okay.
Another thing, too, when a welder -- this
_20 has happened quite a bit -- not quite a bit but has happened in' a -few cases, where= a welder is supposed to. put his
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lie just. don't do it.
22 23' And how are you going to identify him?
24
INVESTIGATOR:
Well, usually.from the records, 5~
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And thent wel co, uld' kno,w',who sit "is.
But'his number isn't'on s,
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' INVESTIGATOR: -- Ye ah..But when the QC guy --
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' MR. YOSHIMOTO:
Usually the, foreman that is..in
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And h
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'he will.have the guy go put-his number back on it.
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You know, if a guy makes a. weld, a bad weld, 11 12 heJhas got' Lto: correct it.
And after he makes so many bad
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welds, you can't (inaudible)-
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Yeah.
2
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~ MR..YOSHIMOTO:
And they.are going to, terminate
, 16
~him.
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17-INVESTIGATOR:- Yeah. 'The source of this-18
-information identified and said -- he goes along with.what 19.
you recall.
Since 1979 through Christmas-1981,.-there.
have been instances where electricians or pipefitters-20 21 -
changed units (inaudib'le) supporting electrical trays and/or 22
-piping after it.had been bought off by-OC.
So that does relate back -- you say approximately 23-24.
two' years ago.
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Uh-huh.
Now, something like this, j
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when something is change,d,. Inhave to get permi'ssion from 3
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But if they do it 3
without me'k'nowing'it, you know, I can't'do nothing about
-4 that.
5 INVESTIGATOR:
Right.
We understand that..What 6
,I was wondering,.by your own experience, if when you walk 7
back over work that has been done and look up, have you 8
ever found any amount of the unit stresses have been changed?
9
.Have you ever-noticed any changes in the fabrica-10 tion after it had'been bought off?
11 MR. YOSHIMOTOi No, I haven't.
12 INVESTIGATOR:
Well, you know, these stories,
13 sometimes they get exaggerated when they.get past.one person
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14 to another and get worse as they go along.
us I really appreciate your coming in and talking to 16 us-about it.
In summary, then, what.you are telling me is 17 you.have really never noticed anything of this nature?
18 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
No.
19 INVESTIGATORS :
You said you had welders that 20 have done work and it wasn't acceptable?
21 MR. YOSHIMOTO:
Right.
22 INVESTIGATOR:
And you have gotten rid of those?
M MR. YOSHIMOTO:
Right.
24 INVESTIGATOR:
And you've had no experience with 25 unit struts being changed in an effort to get you or Mr.
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'I know i thati.
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I never caught anybody doing it.
I never-have;
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But,.like.I-say,'it could have been:
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-INVESTIGATOR: -Okay.
IsEthere~anytihing that you 8
-81
' knowt of, ' Sus, 'out-there that you-L feel. the o Nuclear Regulatory 9' -
Commission should'look into?-
10 Are you' satisfied with the performance'and= work J
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11
.that'you are witnessesing?
.12 MR. YOSIIIMOTO:
I am, as long as we go through i
[V-'N 13 the proper procedures, yeah.
Because they have the.en-
. 14
. gineering' and everything.here, -arid they have the proper 15
. prints.
All.we can go'is,by the prints.
16'.
INVESTIGATOR:
DoJyour people have adequate.
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Ltime to do their work so'.they'can do a good job?
- MR. YOSIIIMOTO:
Yes.
I'think they do.
' 19 -
INVESTIGATOR:
I have 'no further questions, 20 John.
INVESTIGATOR:
No, I don't either.
21
, INVESTIGATOR:
Sus, we thank you very much for.
- 22 23
'your appearance here to help the Cermission trying.to 24 resolve these' matters.
And we will bring this int.crview q]
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26 -
e to la close-at' this tirce.
The time is now about 10:03 a.m.,
July 13th, 1982.
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