ML20149L240

Georgians Against Nuclear Energy Motion to Compel Request for Production of Documents from NRC Concerning Mgt Contention.* Urges Release of Documents to Enable Parties to Provide Response to Discovery Requests.W/Certificate of Svc

ML20149L240
Person / Time
Site:	Neely Research Reactor
Issue date:	02/10/1996
From:	Carroll G GEORGIANS AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
References
CON-#196-17476 95-704-01-REN, 95-704-1-REN, REN, NUDOCS 9602230419
Download: ML20149L240 (4)

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J W 74 00CKETED f UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USNRC NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION <

'96 FEB 20 A10:24 Before Administrative Judges:

OFFICE OF 5ECRETARY Charles Bechhoefer, Chairman DOCKETlHG & SERVICE Dr. Jerry R. Kline BRANCH Dr. Peter S. Lam  ;

Docket No. 50-160-Ren In the' Matter of ASLBP No. 95-704-01-Ren i GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH REACTOR

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Atlanta, Georgia Facility License No. R-97 l CEORGI ANS AGAINST NUCT, PAR ENERGY MOTION TO COMPEL REOUEST FOR A PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS I FROM THE NRC CONCERNING OUR MANAGEMENT CONTENTION Georgians Against Nuclear Energy (GANE) respectfully submits this request to compel the NRC staff to fulfill- GANE's request for j information pertaining to our contention that management problems at j the Neely Nuclear Reactor Center are so great that safety of the public cannot be assured. The documents GANE is interested in compelling the NRC to provide, in particular, are the documents  ;

related to Rebecca Long, NRC Region II Inspector. This request was originally made on June 5, 1995, in request #83 to the NRC:

83. All records, reports, correspondence, internal memoranda, and other authored by, submitted by, signed by, pertaining to NRC Region II Inspector Rebecca Long as relates to the Neely Nuclear Research Center In the NRC's response to our request for production of documents, dated July 7, 1995, the NRC staf f objected to GANE's request and was unable to see the relevance of GANE's request.'At the time, the NRC and' Georgia Tech had both filed appeals attempting to overturn the i ASLB's decision admitting.our contentions on security and management, 9602230419 960210 "

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Georgia Tech stalled out on the discovery process, and GANE, being unfamiliar with the entire process adopted a " wait and see" posture towards the whole thing.

GANE had felt that the pertinence of Rebecca Long's experience inspecting the Georgia Tech Research Reactor was obvious, but supposed that calling her as a witness was one way of bringing her perspective and story out for the record and for the consideration of the ASLB in deciding this public health and safety issue of the continued operation of the Georgia Tech Research Reactor.

Last week, in response to Glenn Carroll's conversations with Sherwin Turk, GANE has begun the process of amending its response to NRC's discovery requests. As Mr. Turk made GANE realize the requirement of interviewing potential witnesses to provide the NRC with as much information as possible for them to build their case against GANE, Glenn Carroll subsequently placed a telephone call to Rebecca Long.

Ms. Long was aware of GANE's intervention opposing Georgia Tech's license renewal request and indicated that she had been given staff time to gather the documents which we had requested. She indicated that she had given them to Caroline Evans, staff attorney with the Region II NRC, and further, that so much time had passed that she was thinking she would have to ask for the documents to be returned to her (many of the files she has provided are apparently her personal files).

GAME called Caroline Evans who said we would have to be cleared by Mr. Turk before she could make the materials available to us, and Mr.

Turk subsequently indicated that GANE would need to make the request in writing. We apologize to Mr. Turk if the Motion to Compel is overly j formal or appears unfriendly, but it occurred to GANE that a Motion to Compel is the proper format to make this request. I l

GANE believes Rebecca Long's experience as recorded in the files we have requested to be pertinent based on newspaper reports about her sexual discrimination suit brought against the NRC. In the Atlanta Constitution, December 27, 1993, the story reports:

"[Ms. Long) said male managers in the Atlanta regional office undermined some of her safety related findings out of spite.

"She said the handling of her safety report on a nuclear reactor at Georgia Tech was an example of what she considers questionable NRC conduct.

"She said four men in the office have tampered with her work. . .

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"Long said some NRC managers delete or ' water down' serious safety problems documented by inspectors. She added that it is an agency dominated by ' good old boys' who reward ,

' team players.'

"The Georgia Tech incident, which resulted in a worker's radiation exposure, was one of several examples Long offered of what she considers questionable NRC conduct.

"In 1987, she inspected a research reactor operated by Georgia Tech. Based on her inspection, the NRC cited the i university for several violations, including failure to properly control experiments.

"A few months later, she said, Jape retracted the citations without her knowledge, contrary to NRC procedures."

GANE will attach the entire newspaper report to the amended discovery response to the NRC which is due to be post-marked on February 20, 1996.

In the meantime, GANE hopes the NRC will release the Rebecca Long documents it has already compiled for our review, immediately, to enable us to provide a complete response to its discovery requests.

GANE looks forward to a quick and favorable response from the NRC.

Respectfully submitted, l

l 1 nn Carroll Representative for GANE Dated and signed February 10, 1996 in Decatur, Georgia l

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE - Docket No.(s) 50-160-REN Secretary U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Docketing and Service Branch Washington, DC 20555 Office of Commission Appellate Adjudication U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Administrative Judge Charles Bechhoefer, Chairman Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Administrative Judge Peter S. Lam Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Administrative Judge Jerry R. Kline Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Sherwin E. Turk, Esq.

Susan S. Chikadel, Esq.

Office of the General Counsel I U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Mr. Randy A. Nordin Manager - Legal Division Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA 30332-0420 Ms. Pamela Blockey O'Brien D23 Golden Valley Douglasville, GA 30134 Alfred L. Evans, Jr. Esq.

Senior Assistant Attorney General 40 Capitol Square NW Room 232 State Judicial Building Atlanta, GA 30334-1300

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