ML20151V411

Forwards Notice of Violation & Imposition of Civil Penalty in Amount of $1,000

ML20151V411
Person / Time
Site:	Peach Bottom, 05502492
Issue date:	08/09/1988
From:	Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Metz H PECO ENERGY CO., (FORMERLY PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC
Shared Package
ML20151V415	List: ML20151V411 ML20151V437
References
EA-88-080, EA-88-80, NUDOCS 8808220279
Download: ML20151V411 (4)

Text

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Docket No. 55-2492 0$ $,$88 License No. 50P-2321 EA 88-80 Mr. Howard L. Metz HOME ADDRESS DELETED UNDER 10 CFR 2.790

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY In March 1987, the NRC received informatien that control room operators at Philadelphia Electric Company's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station had been ,

observed sleeping while on duty in the control room, reading materials not '

directly job related, and being otherwise inattentive to the obligations of their licenses. The NRC promptly confimed this infonnation during the initial ,

phase of an investigation of this matter. As a result, the NRC no longer had j reasonable assurance that the facility would be operated in a manner to assure i that the health and safety of the public would be protected, and therefore, issued an Order to Philadelphia Electric Company (PECo) on March 31, 1987 suspending operations of the Peach Bottom reactors, effective imediately. l Subsequently, the NRC found that the inattentiveness described in the Order had ,

occurred over an extended period of time and was pervasive. Other examples of '

inattentive behavior not known at the time of the Order were also identified such as control room personnel being routinely reclined in a resting position with their heads back and eyes closed for indeterminate periods of time; play- ,

ing hand held computer games or video games on one of the computer display j screens in the control room, and engaging in horseplay. Operators were aware  ;

of these conditions and failed to take action to correct them. As a result of l these findings, the NRC conducted an enforcement conference with you on March 29, I 1988 for the purpose of discussing your understanding of (1) these inattentiveness issues, (2) their safety significance, (3) their causes, and (4) corrective actions taken by both you and the utility. During that conference, you i specifically admitted to your personal involvement in at least some of this l inattentive behavior. Your actions constituted a violation of your individual I senior reactor operator license. The violation is described in the enclosed l Notice and is classified at Severity Level II in accordance with the "General i Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," 10 CFR 2, l Appendix C (Enforcement Policy) (1988). l l

The NRC recognizes that your license has been terminated. Nonetheless, the activities described in the Notice were engaged in by you while you were  ;

performing duties under your license. Your participation in those activities was ongoing for an extended period prior to the shutdown and was indicative of a complacent and unprofessional attitude by you toward the privileges and .

responsibilities of your license, contrary to safety, and constituted serious  !

dereliction of duties in carrying out those responsibilities. Further, in your role as a shift superintendent, you set a poor example for those individuals under your supervision and failed to exercise the comand and control responsibilities expected of a person in your position. You should be reminded

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l Howard L. Metz i that you held a license from the United States government which conferred upon you the special trust and confidence of the American people in the safe operation '

I of nuclear facilities and placed you in a position where your perfomance was expected to be above reproach. Consequently, I have determined that additional i action should be taken to emphasize that license holders are not only I accountable to their management, but also are individually accountable to the  :

hh(, att tave a responsibility to remain alert and attentive at all times to ensure protection of the public health and safety.

During the NR'., deliberations concerning appropriate enforcement action, the NRC considered the entire spectrum of possible enforcement actions, including a Letter of Reprimand, Notice of Violatica, Civil Penalty, and Orders to Modify, Suspend or Revoke your license. Since your license is not current at  !

this time, an order against your license is not appropriate. Nonetheless, in l light of your involvement in this conduct and your failure to take corrective  !

acticn concerning subordinates involved in such conduct and after consultation with the Ccunission, I have, decided to issue to you the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Irrposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $1,000 for t.he violation in the enclosed Notice. The violation is classified at Severity Level II in view of your past supervisory role. Although the Enforcement Policy does not provide a schedule of civil penalty amounts for civil penalties issued against individuals, the penalty is based on the schedule providd for in  ;

Table 1A for other materials licenses. The staff has considered the factors for increasing and decreasing the base civil penalty and has determined that a 25 percent increase of the base civil penalty is appropriate in this case to reflect the added responsibility you had as the individual in charge of a shift on which a prolonged breakdown of proper shift operation occurred. You are required to respond to the enclosed Notice and should follow the instructions specified therein when preparing your response.

Although you currently do not hold a license, if you should seek any future NRC approval as a licensed individual, the NRC may require that you either (1) participate in a rehabilitation program equivalent to the "People, Foundation for Excellence" course completed by shift supervisors and reactor operators who have retained their license, or (2) justify to the NRC why participation in such a program is unnecessary.

In accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," Part 2, Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a ccpy of this letter and its enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room.

1 The responses directed by this letter and the enclosed Notice are not subject to the clearance procedures of the Office of Management and Budget as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No.96-511.

Sincerely, J s M. Taylor puty Executive Director for Regional perations

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty ec w/ encl: (seenextpage)

Howard L. Metz .

cc w/ enc 1:

Corbin McNeill Executive Vice President, Nuclear Public Document Room (PDR),

Local Public Document Room (LPDR)

NRC Resident Inspector Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ,

Frederick J. Hatem Reed, Feinberg, Gilbert and Hatem 608 South Main Street Bel Air, MD 21014 I

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DISTRIBUTION: .

bec w/ encl:

RegionIDocketRoom(w/ concurrences) i SECY Congressional Affairs J. Taylor, DED0 W. Russell, RI )

D. Holody, RI J. Lieberman, OE 4 1

Enforcement Directors, RII-RIII Enforcement Officers, RIV-V  ;

F. Ingram, PA E. Jordan, AE0D B. Hayes, 01  ;

S. Connelly, OIA  ;

F. Miraglia, NRR )

D. Nussbaumer, 0GPA OE/ES File OE/EA File EDO Rdg File DCS L. Chandler, OGC l I

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