ML20141B732
| ML20141B732 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 05/05/1997 |
| From: | Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Miles J AGRICULTURE, DEPT. OF |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20141B737 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9705160020 | |
| Download: ML20141B732 (6) | |
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FROM CHAIRMAH JACX50H 05.05.1997 15817 P.
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMIESION o
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May 5, 1997 CHAMMAN Mr. Jerome A. Miles. Chairman William A. Jump Hemorial Foundation Room 132-E. J.L. Whitten Federal Building U.S. Department of Agriculture Washington. D.C.
20250
Dear Mr. Miles:
I am pleased to nominate Ms. Beth A. Wetfel. Project Manager. Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, for the 48th Annual William A. Jump Memortal Award. The Commission appreciates the opportunity to participate in this awards program.
Sincerely.
Enclosure:
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NOMINATION OF BETH A. WETZEL FOR THE WILLIAM A. JUMP MEMORIAL AWARD FOR EXEMPLARY ACHIEVEMENT IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
- 1. Name -
Beth A. Wetzel Title - Project Manager b
415-1355 (Work),
n Salary 6
)
- 2. Agency United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- 3. Date of Birth -
- 4. Home Address -
- 5. Education B.S. Nuclear Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pa. 16801 (1986) i 9 credits toward Masters in Business Administration, Shenandoah University, Winchester Va. (1994)
Awards -
National Honor Society (1980)
Wagner Associates Engineering Scholarship (1981)
Keystone Honorary Society (1983)
USNRC Early Promotion (1988)
USNRC Special Achievement Certificate (1990)
USNRC Performance Award (1994)
USNRC Nominee for Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Award for Engineering Achievement (1995)
USNRC Performance Award (1996)
USNRC Instant Cash Award (1997)
- 6. Present Duties June 1993 to present - NRC Project Manager.
Ms. Wetzel manages all nuclear licensing activities associated with the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant located in Red Wing, Minnesota.
Previous to Prairie Island, Ms. Wetzel was project manager for 2 other nuclear power plants.
Also, she performs as lead project manager for Generic Letter 96-06,
" Assurance of Equipment Operability and Containment Integrity During Design Basis Accident Conditions," which is a complex technical issue that has implications at every nuclear power plant in the United States.
From 1993 to 1996, Ms. Wetzel was lead project manager for the power uprate program.
This project involved increasing the licensed thermal power level of numerous nuclear power plants throughout the country.
- 7. Past Employment January 1993 to May 1993 - NRC Project Engineer.
Ms. Wetzel reviewed licensing amendment submittal packages and wrote safety evaluations 1
j
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supporting licensing amendments for both Perry and Kewaunee nuclear
)ower plants.
She acted as backup project manager for Perry and (ewaunee. Also, she was a member of a special task force dealing with a technical issue at the Perry )ower plant pertaining to clogged emergency core cooling strainers which lad potential implications for many other l
plants throughout the country.
June 1992 to January 1993 - NRC Technical Reviewer.
Ms. Wetzel performed evaluations and inspections of complex technical issues for advanced reactor reviews.
Also, she represented the NRC at meetings in Canada in preparation for the areapplication review of the Canadian designed reactor (CANDU-3).
Sie provided guidance, assistance, and on-the-job training and orientation to an intern assigned to her section.
November 1988 to June 1992 - NRC Operator Licensing Examiner. Ms.
Wetzel wrote, administered, and graded operator licensing examinations to license reactor operators and senior reactor operators at various nuclear power plants throughout the country.
As a headquarters operator licensing examiner, Ms. Wetzel led operator licensing examinations, audited the perfonnance of regional examiners, and assisted in the management of the nationwide operator licensing program.
She was also the technical monitor for a private contractor organization which l
provided support for operator licensing activities.
This contract was a nation-wide multi-million dollar contract.
July 1986 to November 1988 - NRC Reactor Inspector.
Ms. Wetzel led the Core Physics and Refueling Outage Inspection Program at all NRC Region III facilities (midwestern region).
She inspected, planned, performed onsite and offsite inspections, conducted meetings with licensee personnel, and pre)ared inspection findings and reports.
She also provided on-the-jo) training and orientation to several Region III interns. Ms. Wetzel participated in recruiting activities for Region III.
- 8. Accomplishments a) Unusual competence and interest Ms. Wetzel displayed unusual competence and interest as the lead project manager for the power uprate program. This project involved increasing the licensed thermal power level of numerous nuclear power plants throughout the country.
Increasing the licensed thermal power level of a plant is an extensive project which involves the performance of numerous analyses and specific modifications and licensing amendments.
Ms. Wetzel coordinated this project with the vendors, the licensees and the NRC technical staff.
She regularly conducted widely attended meetings with the industry to discuss the status of the power uprate project.
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Ms. Wetzel displays unusual competence and interest as the lead project manager for Generic Letter 96-06, " Assurance of Equipment Operability and Containment Integrity During Design Basis Accident Conditions."
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l which is a complex technical issue that has implications at every nuclear power plant in the United States. Ms. Wetzel coordinates the effort of a team of NRC personnel (4 managers and 6 technical reviewers) t who work on Generic Letter 96-06 issues. Ms. Wetzel also functions as the primary contact within the NRC to the entire industry on all Generic l
l Letter 96-06 issues.
1 1
b): Leadership qualities Ms. Wetzel displayed exceptional leadership ualities as a headquarters-l based operator licensing examiner.
She hel d to develop national examiner standards and policies. She regul rly answered questions and gave guidance to examiners from throughout the country. She spoke at several national examiner conferences.
Ms. Wetzel demonstrates outstanding leadership qualities while performing her duties as lead project manager for Generic Letter 96-06.
She has spoken at widely attended industry meetings on the subject, i
l including the 1996 International Joint Power Generation Conference. She i
fields questions from industry, utility and regulatory personnel throughout the country on a daily basis on subjects related to Generic =
Letter 96-06.
Ms. Wetzel is an outstanding project manager and displays her leadership qualities in working with less experienced staff. Ms. Wetzel is a project manager that others often come to for advice and assistance.
c) Creativity and resourcefulness L
Hs. Wetzel displayed extraordinary creativity and res'ourcefulness while working to resolve issues at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant related to spent fuel dry cask storage. NRC management moved her from another project to work on Prairie Island when dry cask storage issues at Prairie Island escalated to the point that it might impact continued 31 ant operation and the project was receiving heightened public focus, is. Wetzel quickly familiarized herself with the specifics of the l
technical issues and assumed overall project responsibility. She worked with the licensee, technical staff, and industry representatives to obtain the necessary technical information and regularly briefed senior management in an effort to resolve the issues. The resolution to the
-issues discovered at Prairie Island set a precedent for resolution of similar issues-at other plants throughout the country.
Ms. Wetzel displayed creativity and resourcefulness while working on an unreviewed safety question pertaining to seismic issues at Prairie Island, The issue could not be resolved in a sufficient time frame to allow resumption of operation of one of the Prairie Island units. Ms.
Wetzel worked with the technical staff the Office of General Counsel, j'
and the licensee to identify an interim solution to the problem until
.more detailed analysis could be performed. This allowed the plant to resume power operation and dedicate the necessary time and resources to l
solving the issue on a permanent basis.
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r Ms. Wetzel demonstrated outstanding creativity and resourcefulness by proposing a process change to management for dealing with 2.206 3etitions (request to modify, sus)end or revoke a license) at the NRC.
is. Wetzel received an award for 1er suggestion and her idea has been implemented in a pilot program for 2.206 petitions.
d) Adherence to basic principles of enlightened public service Since Ms. Wetzel has held a diverse range of positions at the NRC (region-based inspector, operator licensing examiner, technical reviewer, and project manager), she often counsels young engineers on an informal basis as to their career choices and possible opportunities for advancement. She always maintains an o)en-door Jolicy toward young engineers and is willing to help them w1enever tie opportunity arises.
Ms. Wetzel is dedicated to the basic principle of public service in that she believes that government agencies are working directly for the citizens of the United States.
She has demonstrated this by being responsive to public questions and concerns regarding the safety of nuclear power.
An example of this work is when she was the petition manager for a 2.206 petition for the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating i
Plant. The petition was a complex document that covered a broad spectrum of technical issues at the plant. Ms. Wetzel comunicated on a regular basis both orally and in writing to the petitioners and authored j
a Directors Decision responding to the 2.206 petition, which addressed the petitioners' safety concerns.
Ms. Wetzel shows that she is dedicated to the principles of enlightened public service through all of her actions with licensees, She maintains a focus on nuclear plant safety and all of her actions are performed with the agency mission in mind, which is to protect the health and safety of the public.
e) Integrity Ms. Wetzel participates in the NRC's Volunteers in Schools Program, in which she speaks to local grade school and high school age students about her career in the field of nuclear engineering. Ms. Wetzel has l
also spoken, on her own initiative to other schools in which she has contacts about.her career as a nuclear engineer.
She also volunteers annually to judge local and regional science fairs, in which she has the opportunity t.o present herself to young women as an example of a highly successful female engineer.
Ms. Wetzel is of the utmost character as expressed by the respect of her peers, supervisors, managers and professional contacts.
l f) Dedication to duty Ms. Wetzel is enthusiastic about her job as demonstrated by her participation in NRC recruiting efforts.
She participated in a recruiting trip in which she returned to her alma mater, Pennsylvania 4
State University, and interviewed students for sumer employment with l
the NRC as technical interns. She also spoke to the Pennsylvania State
. University student chapter of the American Nuclear Society about her career with the NRC and the nuclear industry, in general. Ms. Wetzel also attended a conference of the Society of Women Engineers.in Washington, D.C., to recruit engineers for positions within the NRC.
Ms. Wetzel devised a work-at-home' program for her use during maternity leave for which she received management recognition. She invested a considerable amount of personal time and ex)ense to set up an effective work-at-home environment She remained hig11y motivated and flexible during the four month period and managed her heavily loaded project from home very effectively. Her' efforts to set up an effective work-at-home environment, including an optimum computer interface and a dedicated phone line, were noted in her Work-At-Home Program Evaluation that was issued to the Office of Personnel, so.that others might benefit from her positive experience.
'9. Wording for Proposed Citation Ms. Wetzel is being presented this Meritorious Award for Exemplary Achievement in Public Administration for her dedicated leadership, exceptional creativity and unusual resourcefulness in the conduct of her i
duties.
Her leadership qualities have been most notably demonstrated in l
her role as Lead Project Manager for Generic Letter 96-06, " Assurance of Equipment Operability and Containment Integrity During Design-Basis I
Accident Conditions," in which she has represented the Agency in several public meetings on the issue. Her talent for creativity was recently demonstrated when she proposed a process change to improve the Agency's i
handling of 10 CFR 2.206 Petitions that was adopted by management.
Additionally, she has demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness in the conduct of her duties as Project Manager on Prairie Island.
Her efforts have spanned a diverse range of issues, from resolving unreviewed safety questions by processing exigent licensa amendments, to working with i
federal, state, and local officials or, a proposed merger. Ms. Wetzel stands out among her peers in her devotion to enlightened public service and is truly deserving of this award.
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