ML20134A596
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STATEMENT OF D.G.
ISELIN BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT September 14, 1982 Mr. Chairman, I am Donald G. Iselin, Group Vice-President of Raymond Kaiser Engineers Inc., and I am pleased to appear here today on behalf of Raymond Kaiser Engineers and its con-struction subsidiary the Henry J. Kaiser Company, which is the constructor of the Zimmer Nuclear Power Station for The Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company.
Since its founding by Henry J. Kaiser in 1914, our company has developed a world-wide reputation for excellence in the engineering and constructicn of major projects in all parts of the United States and around the world.
From our participation in the 1930s in the construction of Grand Coulee Dam to such diverse projects today as aluminum plants in Washington and Louisiana, steel mills' in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, and a number of power plants, Kaiser had demonstrated on numerous occasions its expertise and skill performing high quality construc-tion and engineering work, often under difficult and challenging conditions.
We built both of the "K"
reactors and the "N" pro-duct ' ra reactor at Hanford, and the experimental test reactor in Idaho.
I personally joined the Kaiser organization in April 1981, when I was asked by Mr. McCloud, the President of Raymond Kaiser Engineers, to head the Operations Support Group.
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site.
My qualifications for this assignment stem from experience 1
and training gained during 35 years of service in the United l
States Navy, from which I retired in 1981 with the rank of Rear Admiral.
During my Navy career I was primarily involved in engineering and construction projects including service as site project officer for the design and construction of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, America's first large-scale nuclear power plant.
(My resume has been provided to the Committee.)
When I came to Kaiser, the NRC and CG&E were just embarking, with Kaiser's complete cooperation, on a major effort to reverify the quality of the construction work at Zimmer, due to perceived inadequacies with regard to documentation of that work.
That i
program is still on-going, and has been discussed with this Subcommittee by CG&E and NRC representatives.
This re-verification effort is one of the most thorough, searching scrutinies of quality control records and record-keeping practices to which any nuclear plant has ever been subjected.
We at Kaiser of course are fully cooperating in such examination.
We appreciate the need not only 1
for construction work of the highest quality but, equally important, j
for public confidence that our nuclear power plants are built as i
safely as is humanly possible.
During my first months with Kaiser, as I was familiarizing myself with the Zimmer work, the NRC was conducting an extensive investigation into a number of allegations that had been made by i
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, various pers'ons concerning potential problems affecting the construction of the plant or related record-keeping practices.
This investigation culminated in the issuance of an Inspection Report and a Notice of Violation to CG&E detailing alleged instances of conduct claimed to be inconsistent with NRC requirements.
Some of these charges involved activities related to the construction of the plant and we at Kaiser carefully investigated those issues that pertained to our work.
One of the issues that related to our work was generally described as false documents.
We promptly investigated each of the allegations of false documents, and, while we found that there were some instances of errors in Kaiser record-keeping, and some difficulty in record retrieval, something which occurs in every construction project and I dare say in every human endeavor, we found no basis for those allegations, nor did they cast any doubt on the quality of the construction work.
Mistakes in record-keeping do not, in my judgment, amount to falsification of records.
Another allegation postulated that the inspection organi-zation was not sufficiently independent of construction workers and supervisors.
This of course is a somewhat subjective matter.
There was no question that organizationally our quality control group at Zimmer reported directly to our Oakland headquarters management, a completely independent route not involving the construction site manager.
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With' regard to harassment, there were several instances involving the throwing of water on workers by other workers but we could find no pattern that would suggest any organized attempt to harass inspectors.
I would rather characterize it as unfortunate but not un-typical of construction-site incidents.
We found no indication that these isolated instances in any way affected or impaired the ability of the quality control organi-zation to perform its function in a proper and professional manner.
Kaiser is, and has been, committed to taking every effort to insure that conditions at Zimmer are free from any type of improper influence on the quality control' organization.
It is noteworthy that, in a recent series of pri.vate interviews of some 50 quality control inspectors at Zimmer, the NRC found no significant evidence of harassment or intimidation.
There were other issues raised in the Notice, such as radiography procedures and material traceability, on which we are working with CG&E to resolve any problems that still exist, and I can assure you that each and all will be properly dis-positioned before the plant goes into operation.
I believe that the Committee has expressed interest in a limited investigation performed by a Kaiser corporate QA employee in July 1981 into various aspects of material procurement practices at the Zimmer site.
This report, prepared to provide a summary overview of possible problems in this area, essentially all of which were already being considered by the NRC and CG&E, was an internal and informal
e O memorandum lacking the documentation and support which would be required in a thorough audit.
It was prepared to assist our new corporate QA Director in familiarizing himself with these matters.
It was not a formal audit, but it did suggest some discrepancies, so the corporate QA Director turned the major items in the report over to the site QA Manager, the corporate auditor and others for follow-up.
This report was later mailed anonymously to the NRC and to CG&E.
This unorthodox method of delivery produced a great deal of attention.
Both Kaiser and CG&E have carefully reviewed and investigated the conditions described therein.
With regard to historical record-keeping practices for procurement of materials at the site, we recognize that there are areas of concern, and these areas are being and will continue to be systematically addressed; they will be resolved to our satisfaction, to CG&E's and to the NRC's.
In recent weeks there has been an intense scrutiny of concerns in the area of welding procedures, welding records and documentation, and welder qualifications at Zimmer.
We have been aware of most of these issues for some time, and have been working to resolve them.
A Kaiser audit in the fall of 1981, as part of our auditing procedures, had raised questions in these areas which we were addressing.
We created a special group to deal with these issues, and it has been working on resolution of these matters over the past months.
Of course, all of this work has been undertaken in cooperation
. with, and under the constant review of, both the NRC and CG&E.
While our work is not yet completed, I can say with confidence today that all welders currently employed by Kaiser at Zimmer are completely qualified to do the work they are performing.
The qualification program is required by applicable Codes and is designed to exclude non-qualified persons from performing welding at the Zimmer site.
We are reviewing the documentation of the qualifications of all former welders.
Beyond this, however, the integrity of the structures and piping systems is dependent on the production welds which are subject to inspection and acceptance.
We have also been reviewing the qualification of the welding procedures.
Essentially all currently active procedures have been reexamined and where necessary requalified.
There are a limited number of inactive weld procedures which are being reexamined.
All of this work is expected to be completed in the next few months.
I have confidence that the quality of the actual production welds involving the critical piping systems, and, in fact, all of
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the piping systems and the structural steel welds will be found to have been of good quality; they are typical of similar welds at other nuclear power plants either now in operation or under construction.
I want to assure this Committee of Kaiser Engineers' unqualified commitment to the integrity of the Zimmer plant.
, Our professional reputation and stature, our obligations to Cincinnati Gas & Electric, to the NRC, and to the public demand that we exert every effort to insure that the station, when it becomes operational, will leave no room for doubt that all safety standards have been met.
We have constantly strived to achieve this goal, and will continue to do so until the job is done.
I would be pleased to attempt to answer any questions which the members may have.
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DONALD G. ISELIN Donald Iselin joined Kaiser Engineers in 1981 as a group vice president to direct the Company's construction and engineering divisions as well as the Corporate support divisions.
Just prior to coming to Kaiser Engineers, Rear Admiral Iselin concluded a distinguished Naval career
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involving assignments in military construction under war time conditions, the demands of emergency situations, and the diversity of peace time growth, in domestic and world-wide locations.
During the last 17 years of this period, he served progressively as deputy director of the Chesapeake Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command; comptroller Naval Facilities Engineering Command; deputy Officer in Charge of Construction, Vietnam; commander Seabee forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; deputy commander (planning) Naval Facilities Engineering Command; com-mander Pacific Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command; and com-mander Seabee forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet; vice-commander Naval Facilities Engineering Command; commander Naval Facilities Engineering Command; and chief of Civil Engineers, U.S. Navy.
Earlier, he directed design, pro-curement, and construction of a self-contained sea water conversion plant at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to restore potable water to the base when the supply was terminated by the Government of Cuba.
In other assignments, he was:
director BuDocks Marine Construction Division and assistant chief for Shore Electronics, assistant director Port Hueneme Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory, site project officer for construction of the Shippingport atomic power station, engineering officer Public Works Depart-ment at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, assistant Officer in Charge of Con-struction at Point Mugu Naval Air Missile Test Center, and technical advisor for construction and test evaluation during the Eniwetok Island atom bomb test project.
Education BS, Engineering, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, 194S BCE/MCE, Civil Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y.,1948 Certificate, Advanced Management Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1971 Registration Professional Engineer, District of Columbia Professional Affiliations American Society of Civil Engineers National Society of Professional Engineers American Public Works Association Permanent International Association of Navigational Congresses Society of American Military Engineers American Institute of Architects (Honorary)
National Academy of Engineering Citizenshio U.S.A.
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DONALD G. ISELIN (Cont)
Construction / Engineering Support - Group Vice President 1981-Pres Operations Support / Advanced Technology Executes management of home office support functions and on-site opera-tions of Kaiser Engineers construction projects.
Responsible corporate executive for efficient operation of field construction, quality assurance, labor relations, and materials procurement, for both force account and construction management contracts.
Directs management of home office engineering and design, finance and administration, and personnel func-tions in support of overall Company operations.
Is corporate executive for advanced technology projects, involving industrial engineering, faci-lities master planning, environmental engineering, and nuclear engineering.
Formulates and executes corporate policies and procedures in business development, discharge of contractual obligations, and future planning.
Construction projects typically involve a diversity of plants in the aluminum, steel, power, transportation, minerals, coal, synfuels, and cement industries, in both' domestic and world-wide locations.
Military Construction, World-wide - Commander NAVFAC/ Chief of 1977-1981 Civil Engineers As a rear admiral, U.S. Navy, directed all aspects of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, responsible for design and construction of U.S.
Navy and U.S. Air Force facilities and bases in world-wide locations.
During this period, developed management concepts to foster efficiency in project execution.
Military Engineering / Construction - Vice Commander NAVFAC 1973-1977 As chief operating officer for this world-wide command, developed a system for decentralized management of NAVFAC's extensive engineering and con-struction activities, f acilities, operations and maintenance forces, and facilities' master planning effort.
Developed and subsequently implemented a comprehensive management-by-objectives program to plan, allocate, and control annual expenditures of $2.3 billion.
Major functions were covered by specific and usually measurable goals, and funds and personnel ceilings were allocated consonant with established goals.
System included a for-malized 5-year objectives forward look.
War Zone Construction, Vietnam - Commander NAVFAC Pacific 1972-1973 Division Commanded NAVFAC's Pacific Division, directing engineering and construction for Navy bases throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans, including direction of military construction operations in the Republic of Vietnam.
Success-fully directed all aspects of the physicial and financial closedown of the $1.8 billion construction program underway at that time.
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i DONALD G. ISELIN (Cont)
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Military Facilities Planning, World-Wide - Deputy 1969-1972 Commander NAVFAC Responsible for all aspects of NAVFAC.'s planning.
Developed management innovations to improve scheduling and cost methods for construction, design, and field execution.
A high point was development of the base posture analysis technique for use by Navy planners for analyzing the realistic costs of closing a base or relocating military units.
Chaired and led a zero base analysis.of the Navy's needs for Civil Engineer Corps officer engineers, developing a series of personnel modules to compara against an assessment of user requests for CEC officer engineers.
U.S. Navy Seabees, Atlantic Fleet - Commander 1969 Commanded 12,000 U.S. Atlantic Fleet Seabees, operating from Davisville, Rhode Island and Gulfport,, Mississippi. Responsible for personnel train-ing, construction planning and execution, funds allocation, materials, logistics, and for continued high-level operation of home base and Atlantic Fleet location activities.
War Zone Construction, Vietnam - Special Assistant / Deputy OICC 1967-1968 Assigned as special assistant to Officer in Charge of Construction during these war years in the Republic of Vietnam.
Conceived, developed, and implemented an innovative construction management system, called level of effort, to guide civilian contractors operating in a war combat zone under hostile conditions.
This concept integrated funding profiles, workload analyses, and labor force planning into a country-wide schedule, design milestone network, and equipment allocation and material assign-ment catalogs.
Was able to turn around a serious deficit situation with low productivity into a high productivity, financially solvent operation with minimal schedule slippage.
Systems and procedures were success-fully continued for the remaining 5 years of the war time construction effort.
Naval Construction Execution, Washington, D.C. - Director 1965-1967 Programs / Comptroller RAVFAC In this office, directed funds allocations, managed personnel assignments, and established and maintained NAVFAC control procedures.
Responsible for internal review functions, data base management, systems planring, equipment resources allocation, budget operations, progress reporting and statistics development, financial operations, and MCON execution.
l During this period, instituted the Professional Development Center to train approximately 70 civilian engineers per year for placement in NAVFAC positions at user locations.
DONALD G. ISELIN (Cont)
Navy Yards / Docks Operation Washington, D.C. Area - Deputy 1964-1965 Commander Was second in command for all activities involving Bureau of Yards and Docks work and operation in the Washington, D.C. region. Work included planning for design, construction, staffing, and maintenance of facili-ties;. executing Navy construction programs and contracts; budgeting and accomplishing rehabilitation and repair; acquiring private and public lands for Navy use; management of public works programs; maintenance and management of military family housing; and operation support for Navy bases at Quantico, Virginia and the U.S. Naval Academy, Naval Observa-tory, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington Navy Yard, and the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Maryland.
Desalination Plant, Cuba-ProjectManaker 1964 Assigned to an emergency task, while directing the Burer.u of Yards and Docks' Construction Support Division, when the water supply to the Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay was terminated by the Government of Cuba.
Project involved development of an emergency water supply from Florida as a tem-parary measure until a self-contained water supply system could be con-structed on base.
Responsible for dismantling an operating sea water desalination plant in California and shipping and reerecting it in Cuba, arranging for a prime contractor to borrow another unit then under manu-facture, and to manufacture one completely new unit.
Managed procure-ment and expediting of boilers and turbine generators to supply base electric power 'and assembled all parts and components into a sea water conversion system at the base.
Project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, with a capacity of 2 Mgal/d of potable water.
Plant is still operating successfully after 18 years.
Navy Bureau of Yards / Docks, Washington, D.C. - Director /
1961-1964 Assistant Chief Served in the dual assignments of director of the Marine Construction Division and assistant chief for Shore Electronics of the Bureau of Yards and Docks.
Construction Research and Development, California - Executive 1958-1961 Officer / Assistant Director Held these positions at the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory at Port Hueneme, California.
This research and development center sponsored projects ta improve design, construction, and maintenance of U.S. Navy and Marine Corps facilities in domestic and world-wide locations.
Nuclear Power Station, Pennsvivania - Site Project Officer 1954-1958 On loan from the U.S. Navy to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission for con-struction of the Shippingport atomic power station near Pittsburgh, l
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s, DONALD G. ISELIN (Cont)
Position functions involved liaison between the AEC and
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other project participants to ascertain that design goals and project objectives were achieved, during the phases of design, construction, and startup operations.
This 100-Kw facility was the nation's first large l
scale nuclear power plant'for production of commercial electricity.
Operated successfully for 24 years.
Naval' Public Works, Hawaii - Engineering Officer 1953-1954 In charge of engineering functions for construction of new facilities and maintenance of existing facilities while assigned to the U.S. Navy's Public Works Department, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii.
Naval Air Missile Test Center. California - Assistant 1951-1953 Of ficer in Charge Construction Fully responsible for contract development and administration for the construction of missile launch and test facilities in the U.S. Navy's development of various defensive and attack missiles.
This was the Department of Defense's first permanent missile development center and was the site for testing of early versions of the Cruise missile.
Atom Bomb Development Program, South Pacific Ocean -
1950-1951 Technical Advisor During the Atomic Energy Commission and Department of Defense joint testing of atom bombs on Eniwetok Island in the South Pacific Ocean, served as the U.S. Navy's technical advisor for construction of test structures to be subjected to the forces of nuclear explosives.
- Later, directed an analysis of test results.
Tests involved:
exposing 12 test buildings to 20 and 50-kiloten forces, determining the failure modes of five different structural systems, and the preparation of a 400 page classified report.
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