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MEMORANDUM fyR: Darreil G. Eisenhut, Director I
Division of Licensing (V
THRU:
Vincent 5. Noonan, Chief h
Equipment Qualification Branch N
/p Division of Engineering
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FROM:
R. C. Tang, Comacche Peak Technical Review Team (TRT) 0
References:
1.
DiabloCanyonSER(NUREG-0675),SupplementNo.21, A
t December 1983 2.
Diablo Canyon SER (NUREG-0675), Supplement No. 22, March 1984 3.
DiabloCanyonSER(NUREG-0675),SupplementNo.26, n-July 1984 V
4.
Transcript for August 2,1984 Comission meeting on discussion /possible vote on full power operating license for Diablo Canyon.
Attached for your review and approval are the proposed TRT draft procedures / guidance for conducting close-out interviews with allegers who have raised technical concerns or allegations regarding Comanche Peak *.
Although this document has been written for use by the TRT and thus is applicable to handling allegations about Comanche Peak, you will note that little effort is needed later to expand it into an NRR/DL procedure for managing allegations and for conducting alleger interviews on other projects.
This document was prepared with the assistance of Charles Hofmayer of Brookhaven National Laboratory who is both an NRC consultant and a TRT 1
reviewer. Discussiora were also held with Larry Shao, TRT, and Richard S krk of your staff.
In addition, copies were sent to Stu Treby and Joseph Scinto of ELD for their review. The ELD coments, if any, will be incor-porated before the document is finalized.
f R. C. Tang Comanche Peak Technical Review Team (TRT) i
Attachment:
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p NRR PROCEDURES / GUIDANCE FOR CONDUCTING CLOSE-0UT INTERVIEWS WITH ALLEGERS REGARDING COMANCHE PEAK STEAM ELECTRIC STATION Approved By:
Date:
Vincent 5. Noonan, Project Director for Comanche Peak Division of Licensing Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation l
I Date:
l Darrell G. Eisenhut, Director Division of Licensing l
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation l
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
.P,a21 1.
Purpose............................
1 2.
Applicability.........................
1 3.
General Provisions 1
4.
Interview Methodology.....................
3 5.
Resolution and Follow-up 5
6.
Management of Unresolved Allegations and last Minute Allegations 7
I 7.
Confidentiality........................
10 list of References.........................
14 Appendix A - NRC Interim Policy on Management of Allegations i
- Proposed NRC Manual Chapter 0517. " Management of Allegations" (9/19/84)
A-1 Appendix B - TRT Guidance (6/84)..................
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1.
Purpose i
To establish the NRR procedures and guidance for implementing the NRC interim policy on management of allegations (Appendix A) dealing with:
(1) conducting close-out interviews with allegers who have raised technical concerns or technical allegations about construction practices at Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station, and (2) preserving the confidentiality of these allegers.
2.
APPLICABILITY This document is prepared for use by the Comanche Peak Technical Review Team (TRT).
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l-3.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
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3.1 All allegers will be interviewed in person to the extent practicable.
Telephone interviews may be conducted if requested by the alleger or if preplanned and approved by the TRT Project Director. Reasons for con-ducting interview by telephone should be documented. indicating the Pro-ject Director's approval, and placed in the individual allegation file.
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3.2 During the investigation of an allegation, an alleger or TRT reviewer (s) may have identified other individuals who may be able to support or confirm l
the allegation. Recommendations regarding the need to interview these indi-viduals including the basis for the need should be forwarded in writing to the TRT Project Director who will determine whether follow-up interviews are necessary.
If a decision not to interview is made, it will be docu-mented and placed in the file of the original allegation.
3.3 Instances where individuals contacted by TRT decline to have in-person interviews should be handled as follows:
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l During the initial telephone contact, attempt to ascertain a.
reasons (s) for declining the interview and obtain the individual's l
current mailing address; b.
Arrange for telephone interview and if agreed, obtain interviewee's permission to record and. transcribe the interview. Provide a copy of the transcript to the alleger; or, f
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Send a registered letter to the individual with return receipt c.
requested confirming that this individual has been contacted and has declined to be interviewed, and sumarizing his/her allega-tion (s) and the TRT findings. This letter should of fer the individual the opportunity to review the sumary and to contact the TRT for discussion should he/she decide to do so later.
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3.4 All interviews with allegers are considered personal interviews.
The TRT, therefore, is not obligated to provide public notice of these interviews including notification of the Applicants and intervenors.
3.5 Public inquiries regarding any contacts with allegers should be referred to the TRT Project Director for response.
l 4.
INTERVIEW METHODOLOGY 4.1 All interviews will be recorded and transcribed.
4.2 Group leaders or their designees, appropriate TRT reviewers and a TRT Project Staff member must be present at each interview. Efforts should be made to minimize the number of participants at each interview.
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4.3 Interviews with allagers should be conducted at public locations c'onvenient to the allegers, such as nearby motels.
Interviews at allegers' homes should be avoided, if possible.
4.4 If an alleger has many allegations involving more than one TRT reviewer, consideration may be given to conducting the interview at NRC Offices in Washington, D. C.
These interviews should be broken into sessions in order to minimize the number of reviewers at each session.
4.5 Any out-of-town travel expenses incurred by the allegers in attending TRT close-out interviews will be paid for by the NRC. Requests and arrange-ments for such travel should be made by the group leaders in coordination with the appropriate TRT Project Director's staff.
Prior written approval by the Pirector, ~ Division of Licensing is required in all cases.
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^. cf ?t ? '.w ".) YMY) 4.6 During a!close-out interview, the TRT participants will discuss with t
TRT's underst_ di,ng of his/her allegation (s), the approach to resolution and the tentative conclusions reached. The alleger should then be asked to respond to the TRT findings and either indicate his f
agreement or identify any concerns he may have with the findings.
In addition, the alleger should be asked whether he/she has new allegations,
'or hFhe7sTe knows ~6T others who may have allegations about Comanche ak and have not come forward to the NRC/TRT.
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4.7 At the con lusion of each close-out interview, the TRT representatives will prepare a brief written sumary identifying highlights of this inter-view ([not incl'ud'ing the TRT' general conclusionk and documenting any out-standing' concerns of the alleger. The alleger should be requested to indicate his/her concurrence on the sumary.
4.8 If Juring the interview the alleger disagrees with the TRT's find-ings and/or resolutions, or provides new allegations, the TRT representatives should make no commitments or judgements regarding such information. This matter should be left open at the conclusion of the interview. However, the TRT reviewer should obtain and document sufficient details for possible future follow-up. New allegations will be identified, tracked, evaluated 1
and handled.in accordance with the June 1984 TRT guidance (Appendix B) and the applicable guidance set forth in Section 6 below.
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5.
RESOLUTION AND FOLLOW-UP V')
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5.1 For each close-out interview ccnducted, the group leader and ppropriate TRT reviewer (s) will evaluate and reconmend in wrkting to the TRT Project s
Director those allegations which can be closed out (including the basis for the recomendation) and those which require further investigations allega-tions which require further 'inyestigations as well as any new allegations received should be handled as described in Section 6 below.
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5.2 Letters signed by the TRT Project Director should be sent to all interviewed allegers stating the TRT general conclusions regarding each alleger's specific allegations. This letter should indicate-that the TRT's detailed evaluations pertaining to his/her allegations will be pro-vided at a later date in the form of an SSER.
5.3 SSER conclusions will not be published in final form until all avail-able allegers are contacted, interviewed and findings discussed. However, this will not preclude the NRC/TRT from requesting additional information from the Applicants in order to complete its evaluations and from issuing interim SSERs documentating partial findings. This is also in keeping with the NRC practice to promptly notify applicants of outstanding information/
evaluation needs that could potentially affect the safe operation of their plant.
5.4 Once an allegation has been closed-out, all documentation pertaining to this allegation will be forwarded to the. cognizant TRT Project Staff
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through the group leader.,y ncluded in the documentation should be a N signebnd dated statement by the group leader that he has reviewed t
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requirements have been met.,fThe TRT Project Staff will detemine the proper disposition of the documents (e.g...PDR, Region IV, etc.)
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6.
MANAGEMENT OF UNRESOLVED ALLEGATIONS AND LAST MINUTE ALLEGATIONS (See list of references on Page 14) 6.1 Allegations that require further investigations due to TRT discussions with allegers at close-out interviews, as well as any last minute allegations received by the TRT, should be managed in accordance with guidance specified in this'section and the applicable guidance set forth in Appendix A, " Pro-posed NRC Manual Chapter 0517. Management of Allegations." These allega-tions should be properly prioritized by the group leaders according to their relative safety significances. This would prevent possible reviews of duplicated allegations, and would enable the TRT to utilize its resources on areas of greater safety significance.
6.2 In prioritizing these allegations, the TRT should identify those which should be pursued and resolved with.the highest priority due to their significance regarding criticality and low power operation. Particular consideration should be given as to whether an issue raises a question re-garding operability or indicates a deficiency in renagement or quality.
During this process the following criteria should be considered:
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Has the issue been previously dealt with by the TRT or the a.
Applicants, or is it now being dealt with?
b.
Does the allegation appear to have any merit?
Does the allegation represent a significant safety or c.
management concern?
d.
Does the allegation have any generic implications regarding safety or quality?
6.3 If an allegation is determined to be of no merit by the TRT reviewer /
group leader and thus not warranting further pursuit, the group leader-should document a detailed description of the allegation and the basis for the determination. This document should be presented to the TRT Project Director for review and approval prior to being placed in the individual allegation f'ile. A properly completed document would bear the signatures of both the group leader and the TRT Project Director and, as necessary, that of the. Director, Division of Licensing. This allegation should still be included in the allegation tracking system, with its status indicated as
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6.4. Allegations that are ju,dged to be of merit should be prioritized based on the need for their resolution at different licensing stages, i.e..-
prior to fuel load, 5% power, and full power operation. The following criteria should be considered in determining the priorities:
The. allegations that should be resolved prior to fuel load a.
include those which offer specific new information not previously available to the staff; which appear to involve a discrepancy between design criteria, design, construction or operation of a safety-related component, system, or structure of such magnitude so as to raise a question regarding operability; or which indicate a potential significant deficiency in the Applicants' management or quality assurance of safety-related activities.
b.
Those that should be resolved prior to exceeding 5% power include allegations which offer specific new information not previously available to the staff, and which may reasonably be expected to involve failures of safety-related systems or the ECCS systems.
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The allegations that'do not fall into the above criteria should c.
be resolved prior to full power operation. However, for allega-tions in this category, consideration should be given to having the Lice'nsee address most of them, with the NRC staff auditing the Licensee's performance. These should be issues that either are very similar to those already reviewed in detail; or, based on the TRT's assessment, do not relate to significant safety matters; or which would not compromise the confidentiality of allegers.
Under certain circumstances, some allegations in this category may be resolved over a longer time ~ frame, even subsequent to full power operation.
7.
CONFIDENTIALITY 7.1 All allegers, including those who have not specifically requested confidentiality, should generally be treated as' confidential sources.
Documents containing names or information that can be used to trace the identity of allegers must thus be treated as confidential. The general rule 1: that persons seeking access to documents containing or indicating identities of allegers should have both a need and the right to do so.
Any attempted exceptions to this (e.g., need to mention names in order to investigate specific allegations) must be presented in writing to the TRT Project Director for review. The TRT Project Director will coordinate with OELD to determine whether such request may be granted..
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7.2 A confidentiality agreement should be executed for those allegers who specifically request it.
This agreement should also be offered for execution to those allegers who by their actions convey the inference that'their identity will-be protected by the NRC but who are apparently unaware that such an agreement is available.
(See Page 7 of Appendix A).
A sample confidentiality agreement is attached at' the end of Appendix A.
7.3 For allegers with a confidentiality agreement, the identity of the individuals must be protected. The names and other identifying information should not be referred to during discussions and should be purged from docu-ments which are to be disseminated to TRT reviewers, etc. For those allegers without an executed confidentiality agreement, such rules should still apply in so far as practicable. This practice would prevent any confusions by the TRT reviewers who may otherwise release the allegers'-
-identities inadvertently.
7.4 If a confidentiality agreement is executed during an in-person inter-view, it should be signed by the TRT Project Staff. A copy should be mailed to the alleger later and the individual should be so informed. A confiden-tiality agreement may also be executed subsequent to an interview, e.g.,
for telephone interviews, or when an alleger later decides to request such agreement.
In this situation, a blank agreement should transmitted to the alleger for signature by mail or in person as convenience dictates.
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This agreement, once signed and returned, will be signed by the TRT Project staff and a copy sent to the alleger.
If an alleger should unilaterally add new conditions to or alter the existing conditions on the agreement, the TRT Project staff should consult the cognizant attorney of OELD prior to taking any further actions.
7.5 For allegers with executed confidentiality agreement, the files con-taining their allegations, identities, etc. should be conspicuously labelled as such. On a case-by-case basis, the TRT reviewer / group leader should consult the TRT Project staff regarding proper storage / handling of these files.
7.6 If at any tire for any reason an alleger's confidentiality is breached or jeopardized, the TRT reviewer / group leader must immediately inform the TRT Project staff who in turn will coordinate with the TRT Project Director and the OELD attorney to determine possible remedial measures to reduce the impact of disclosure. The Director, Division of Licensing should be informed by the TRT Project Director as appropriate..
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4 7.7 When an allegation is closed-out Lased on written approval by the TRT Project Director, all documentation pertaining to this al. legation (including the reviewer's personal notes) is subject to release under the FOIA. Until that time, al.l. allegation documentation is exempt from release under the FOIA in accordance with 10 CFR 9.5 Exemption (7) due to actual, or the potential for, law enforcement action. However, appropriate precautions should be taken to protect confidentiality (e.g, purging names and identities from documents) before closing out an allegation since, once the case is closed, the complete file is " frozen" by the FOIA request should a sub-sequent FOIA request be received.
(See Page Al-9, Appendix A)
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REFERENCES 1.
Diablo Canyon SER (NUREG-0675), Supplement No. 21 December 1983 2.
Diablo Canyon SER (NUREG-0675), Supplement No. 22, March 1984 3.
Diablo Canyon SER (NUREG-0675), Supplement No. 26, July 1984 1
4.
Transcript for August 2,1984 Comission meeting on discussion /possible vote on full power operating license for Diablo Canyon.
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.l MEMORANDUM FOR:
Office Directors j
Regional Administrators fjM FROM:
William J. Dircks
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Executive Director for Operations
SUBJECT:
PROPOSED NRC MANUAL CHAPTER 0517, " MANAGEMENT OF ALLEGATIONS" The attached proposed Manual Chapter is provided to you as policy in regard to management of allegations.
Since the Comission may shortly address the issues of confidentiality and last minute ailegations separately, and theii-decisions may require some
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chances as a matter of administrative convenience, the manual chapter will not Ee published until these points have been addressed.
In the meantime !u the attachment will serve as policy on this matter.
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W1iliam '.-Dircks Executive Director for Operations y
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Attachment:
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