ML20148G750

Memorandum & Order CLI-97-05.* Staff May Withhold Issuance of SRO License to Rl Tetrick Pending Further Order of Commission.W/Certificate of Svc.Served on 970520

ML20148G750
Person / Time
Site:	Turkey Point, 05520726
Issue date:	05/20/1997
From:	Hoyle J NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY)
To:	NRC OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL (OGC)
References
CON-#297-18322 CLI-97-05, CLI-97-5, SP, NUDOCS 9706060130
Download: ML20148G750 (5)

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00CKETED UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USNRC NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION COMMISSIONERS: 77 MAY 20 P4 :19 Shirley Ann Jackson, Chairman ,

Kenneth C. Rogers OFFICE CF SECRE TARY Greta J. Dicus DOCXETING & SERVICE BRANCH Nils J. Diaz Edward McGaffigan, Jr.

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SERVED MAY 20 W In the Matter of )

} I RALPH L. TETRICK )

) Docket No. 55-20726-SP  ;

(Denial of Application )

for Reactor Operator )

License) )

)

CLI-97-5 MEMORANDUM AND ORDER l

On February 28, 1997, the Presiding Officer issued an Initial Decision in this proceeding, concluding that Ralph L.

Tetrick, who is currently a reactor operator at the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Plant (Units 3 and 4), had answered correctly 78 out of 98 valid questions on his Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) written examination. This ruling resulted in Mr. Tetrick's score being changed to 79.59 percent. The Presiding Officer then

rounded Mr. Tetrick's revised score of 79.59 to the nearest integer, 80, thereby giving him a passing grade on the written i

l examination. LBP-97-2, 45 NRC 51.

The NRC Staff filed a Motion for Reconsideration challenging the Presiding Officer's decision to "round up" the score. The j Presiding Officer denied the NRC staff's motion. LuP-97-6, 45 l l

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2 NF.O . The staff then filed with the Commission both a request for stay and a petition for review of LBP-97-2 and LBP-97-6, again challenging the Presiding Officer's decision to "round up" Mr. Tetrick's test score. In response, Mr. Tetrick asserted that, if the Commission reviews the Presiding Officer's decisions on the " rounding" issue, it should also examine whether the Presiding Officer was correct in ruling that Mr. Tetrick had answered Question 63 of the SRO examination incorrectly.2 In a recent letter submitted by the NRC staff to the Commission, dated May 1, 1997, the utility's Vice-President at Turkey Point has stated that he believes Mr. Tetrick's answer to Question 63 is a correct one. The staff maintains otherwise.

The matter appears to turn ultimately on the interpretation of language in a number of technical documents, some of which may 2

That question read as follows:

Plant conditions:

- Preparations are being made for refueling operations

- The refueling cavity is filled with the transfer tube gate valve open.

- Alarm annunciators H-1/1, SFP LO LEVEL and G-9/5, CNTMT SUMP HI LEVEL are in alarm.

Which ONE of the following is the required IMMEDIATE ACTION in response to these conditions?

a. Verify alarms by checking containment sump level recorder and spent fuel level indication,

b. Sound the containment evacuation alarm.

c. Initiate containment ventilation isolation.

d. Initiate control room ventilation isolation.

The only issue before us on appeal regarding Question 63 is whether Mr. Tetrick's answer of "a" is also correct. (Everyone agrees that answer "b" is correct.)

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3 not be in the record. This issue is, at bottom, a technical one.

on which we are unwilling to reverse or affirm the Presiding  ;

Officer without further factual and technical inquiry.  ;

We therefore remand.in its entirety the issue of Question 63 i

to.the Presiding Officer and direct him to reconsider expeditiously his prior ruling in light of the utility's May 1st letter. "In Commission practice the [ Presiding Of ficer) , rather i than.the Commission'itself, traditionally develops the factual record in the first instance." Georcia Institute of Technoloav j (Georgia Tech Research Reactor), CLI-95-10, 42 NRC 1, 2 (1995)

Accord Yankee Atomic Elec. Co. (Yankee Nuclear Power Station) ,

CLI-96-7, 43 NRC 235, 255 (1996). 1 We will defer a ruling on the " rounding up" issue, which remains pending before us, until after disposition of the remand. J In light of our remand and the still-pending " rounding up" issue,  ;

l we grant a temporary stay of LBP-97-2 and LBP-97-6. The staff l

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4 may withhold issuance of the Senior Reactor Operator license to Mr. Tetrick pending further order of the Commission. ,

IT IS SO ORDERED.

d>R Mcog For the Commission2 O , 47 4

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\ ~g/ $ggg Se n C./ Hoyle ,

etary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of May, 1997.

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2 Commissioner Diaz was not available for the affirmation of this Order. Had he been present, he would have approved the Order.

UNITED STATES OF /,MERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of RALPH L. TETRICK Docket No.(s) 55-20726-SP (Denial of Senior Reactor Operator's License)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing COMM MEMO & ORDER (CLI-97-5) have been served upon the following persons by U.S. mail, first class, except as otherwise noted and in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR Sec. 2.712.  :

Administrative Judge Office of Commission Appellate Peter B. Bloch, Presid'g Ofer Adjudication Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Mail Stop - T-3 F23 Washington, DC 20555 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Administrative Judge Mitzi A. Young, Esq. ,

Peter S. Lam Sherwin E. Turk, Esq. l Special Assistant Office of the General Counsel.

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Mail Stop 15 B18 i Mail Stop - T-3 F23 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission  ;

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 i Washington, DC 20555 Ralph L. Tetrick _ l 18990 SW 270 Street j Homestead, FL 33031 L Dated at Rockville, Md. this 20 day of May 1997 Office of the Secrethry of the Commission

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