ML20151V445

Forwards Notice of Violation & Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in Amount of $500.Violations Based on Info Received That Control Room Operators Observed Sleeping While on Duty in Control Room

ML20151V445
Person / Time
Site:	Peach Bottom, 05507558
Issue date:	08/09/1988
From:	Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Mcroberts D PECO ENERGY CO., (FORMERLY PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC
Shared Package
ML20151V450	List: ML20151V445 ML20151V452
References
EA-88-020, EA-88-20, NUDOCS 8808220289
Download: ML20151V445 (4)

Text

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pa Mag'o UNITED STATES

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N NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

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j WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555

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( Ctm fbf g Certified Ey Docket No. 55-7558 License No. SOP-10608 09 AW E88 EA 88-20 Mr. Davi'd C. McRoberts HOME ADDRESS DELETED UNDER 10 CFR 2.790

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY In March 1987, the NRC received information 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 confirmed this information during the initial phase of an investigation of this matter. As a result, the NRC no longer had reasonable assurance that the facility would be operated in a manner to assure 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 immediately.

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; playing hand held computer games or video games on one of the computer display scrg ns in the control room; and engaging in horseplay. Operators were aware of these conditions and failed to initiate action to correct them.

As a result of these findings, the NRC conducted an enforcement conference with you on February 11, 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 to prevent recurrence.

During that conference, you specifically admitted to your personal involvement in at least some of this inattentive behavior. Your actions constituted a violation of your individual senior reactor operator license.

The violation is described in the enclosed Notice and is classified at Severity Level III in accordance with the "General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions,"

10 CFR 2, Appendix C (Enforcement Policy) (1988).

The NRC recognizes that you have participated in a comprehensive rehabilitation program within PECo for the purpose of better understanding your individual responsibilities under your NRC license and to assure such conduct does not recur. Nonetheless, the activities described in the Notice were engaged in by you for an extended period prior to the shutdown and were 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, as a previous reactor operator for an extended period responsible for manipulating the controls of the reactor, and a shift supervisor for a short period respon-sible for manipulating, or directing manipulation of, the controls by reactor 1/

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l oaerators, you set a poor example for these individuals and failed to exercise tie control and connand responsibilities expected of a person in your position.

You are reminded that you hold a license from the United States government which confers upon you the special trust and confidence of the American people in the safe operation of nuclear facilities and ) laces you in a position where your performance is expected to be above reproac1.

Consequently, I have determined that additional action should be taken to emphasize your individual accountability to the NRC as a license holder, and as a supervisor of other licensed personnel, and your responsibility to remain alert and attentive at all times so as to ensure protection of the public health and safety.

During the NRC deliberations concerning appropriate enforcement action, the NRC considered the entire spectrum of possible enforcement actions, including Letter of Reprimand, Notice of Violation, Civil Penalty, and Orders to Modify, i

i Suspend or Revoke your license.

In light of your completion of the rehabil-

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i itation program and the fact that pervasive and extended management failures contributed significantly to the unacceptable conditions at Peach Bottom, I j

have determined that an Order against your license is inappropriate.

However, in light of your involvement in this conduct and your failure to take corrective actions and af ter consultation with the Connission, I have decided to issue to you the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $500 to emphasize that you, as a license holder, are individually accountable to the NRC. Since you had only been a shift supervisor for a short period of the time prior to the shutdown, the violation is classified at Severity Level III rather than a Severity Level II as has been done for those shift supervisors who had been in that position for more than a short period. Although the enforcement policy does not provide a schedule for civil penalties against individuals, the penalty is based on the schedule provided for in Table IA for small materials licenses.

You should be aware that any recurrence of this behavior could result in revocation of your license.

You are required to respond to the enclosed Notice and should follow the instructions specified therein when preparing your response.

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

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, i

J es H. Taylor eputy Executive Director for Regional perations l

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty cc's w/ encl:

See next page

4 D. C. McRoberts *

• cc w/ encl:

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

Local Public Document Room NRC Resident-Inspector Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Killian & Gephart I

ATTN: Jane Penny Malatesta. Esq.

218 Pine Street Post Office Box 886 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17108

.5

4-DISTRIBUTION:

bec w/ encl:

Region I Docket Room (w/ concurrences)

SECY Congressional Affairs J. Taylor, DED0 W. Russell, RI D. Holody, RI J. Lieberman, OE 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 j

L. Chandler, OGC

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