ML20129A165
| ML20129A165 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Catawba  |
| Issue date: | 10/28/1983 |
| From: | Garde B GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT |
| To: | Dircks W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20127B003 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-84-722 NUDOCS 8507270174 | |
| Download: ML20129A165 (3) | |
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Ref. EDO 13637 EADQUARTERS Stello j
Dircks Mr. William J. Dircks jp Roe Executive Director for Operations b
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Dear Mr. Dircks:
On October 24 you responded to an October 6 letter which the Government Accountability Troject (CAP) wrote to the Chairman of-che Connission on'. behalf of current and i
.former workers at' the Catavha nuclear facility in South Carolina. Your response indicates a number of misperceptions which hopefully will be clarified by this letter.
My request to Chairman Pali dino was for an Office of Investigations investigator to conduct or supervise the investigation of allegationis about and evidence of violations
<f -the Ata=4e J.nergy 4teorganitation.Act, including but not l4mited to deliberate
%ubtersion 'of 2.03CFR dppendix 3 by'; Duke Gianagement, bara[sament and rint4=4 rime 4an of
-qualiry control-d.nspectors, an dnstitutionalizeo pract. ice or construction and Quality Tontrol supervision verbally overriding reported non conforming conditions (RCI's),
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2ntormation about falsification a brukanwa in the design controA system, una maer of records destr"plon of documents,. cheating on qualification tests, direct 2nter-Ence.arithyrkers ; contacts.Lo mae += =sson, substitution of unauthorizac proce-res'"Eori:orrectj:constTuctientorrective actions inwrder to neet cost and construction Mmines, and numerous specille narawaTe concerns which impugn the overa1A an6sg%
'of the construction of the Catawba facility.
These concerns are not mine, as you indicated throughout your letter, but rather the concerns 'of dozens of nuclear workers fro = the Catawba facility. Sone of these workers have agreed to provide infornation to the NRC for an investigation and/or
' inspection at the urging of GAP; however, the greatest majority of workers we have talked to are not interested in providing information to the NRC. Their perception, -
as indicated in my letters, is that hil roads lead back to Duke!'
4,.2 cur letter ind4c=tes,.someubat argumentatively, tihat you have "no comparable hesi-4'tancy in vouching ior the -integrity of Region II with regard to their pursuit of safety-related issues or in taking proper and appropriate steps to provide confiden-o:
Q tiality." That position was fortified recently by the merit bcuus given te the g
Region II director.
Q4vstr.:Dircks,1 understand.that ay request to the temmission for a special investigator gg7 placed you in a difficult position. ~As the responsible supervisor for Mr. O'Railly gu.g and his staff I empathize with your need to be loyal to your employees when their l
integrity and credibility is under attack, as Region II clearly is in this matter.
%d That is precisely one of the reasons that I initially pursued an informal series of rs
.J meetings with the NRC since the spring of last year.
m a.a2 Unfortunately.the. rapidly deteriorating state of affairs at Catawba and the failure v.wf theiMRC tos:ake.anysectionaun*4Ga-aletion of an office of Inspector and. Auditor
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i-(01A) davestigatioaseftan'ao9tions but:to dorsally.raquest specific ra14=C p
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"-Daouever, clearlyenderstan44hatqbare ismething in the 2 206 regnest whicheu
. esot.either explained -to sir ; historically availabla to members of your ' staff,91 asnage-
/p 3ent,orCIAinvestigatordf: our: staff those to put the burdan of proof of construc-P adaliberate.31uka violations.on.S&P -Jan organization,
. tion flaus,as QA breakdown.-
Your staff
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with te@nM and :investigatjLve resources incomparable to the MC's.
chose to ignore or postpone dealing with company information which 'became available Your staff through discovery in the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hearings.
chose to ignore the informal communications about the worsening situation at Catauba, in. favor of the " ostrich syndrome" which caused these problems in the first place.
06 xaquest and
. - 2 Jhope thatshe. briefing you requested on the background of Camaission.was with you - personally, and that that request was made at the urging of a Congressional side who believed that your office would recognize the need for innsediate appropriate action.
bottleneck to information about Catawba Tour letter imples that CAP has become a getting to the NRC from Duke, and I am deeply distressed by that perception.
GAP has always and will always urge workers who have concerns they wish to beGA u
Two weeks ago, in fact, investigated to go to the NRC.
QC/QA inspectors to insure that they knew (1) their rights for protection from re-(2) their avenues of redress, and (3) the importance of prisals and harassment, I have included a copy of that letter for you. As giving information to the NRC.
do in all of my investi-
_you can mee I4ncourage workers to go to the NRC first - as I WW.2ronicallyg-the '. focus icipur letter.seems to be ny re
(.Q the DCL provisions and to urge them to come forward so their. information "can be promptly evaluated and... corrective action initiated."
ese statements reveal either a total misunderstanding of the Catawba situation, or l
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's%1veteNbout theimgency". inspection / investigation process. '
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m,--o To summarize, the wrkers at the Catawba site have been trying since at least December 1980 to get the NRC to investigate substantive charges of hatassment-and intimidation, violations of company construction and quality assurance procedures, The NRC has consistently turned those charges back to Duke and f aulty work =anship.
they could. To expect or even inply that I and lef t the workers to fare the best can or should so=ehow convince them to now trust the same inspectors or investigator That is why I requested the that have let them down consistently is ludicrous.
Chairman to take unusual and exceptional action to provide an investigation team d
l which I can honestly represent to these workers,as credible and sincerely intereste
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z.g. gin Jthe pursuit of the real Catawba problems.
Tour language to defend your staff is understandable, but the issues of concern to e:
me are (1) the as built condition of the Catawba plant, and (2)the removal of an I am-interested in moving as atmosphere of fear and harassment from the site.
^ MaiBowever, Jet there be so misunderstanding that (1)
'you wish me to provide has been Region II, (2) that this continuous foot-dragging the workers have lost total confidence in the agency as either capable or willing to investigate Duke Power company.
I suggest that you personally review the documentation available to the N 1
d ignore the substantial problem
,, Aefore you.are so quick to defend your staff an
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,e Respectfully,
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.y-Billie Pirner Garde Director, Citizens Clinic k
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