ML20151V829

Forwards Notice of Violation & Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in Amount of $800.Activities Described in Notice Were Engaged in by Recipient & Indicative of Complacent & Unprofessional Attitude Toward Privileges of License

ML20151V829
Person / Time
Site:	Peach Bottom, 05507559
Issue date:	08/09/1988
From:	Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	White L PECO ENERGY CO., (FORMERLY PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC
Shared Package
ML20151V832	List: ML20151V829 ML20151V845
References
EA-88-124, NUDOCS 8808230017
Download: ML20151V829 (4)

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Docket No. 55-7559 License No. 50P 10509 EA 88-124 Mr. L. T. White C

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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 naterials 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, play-ing hand held computer games or video games on one of the computer display screens in the control room, and engaging in horseplay. 0)erators were aware of these conditions and failed to take action to correct tlem. As a result of these findings, the NRC conducted an enforcement conference with you on May 17, 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 v'olation of your individual senior reactor operator license. The violation is described in the enclosed Notice and is classified at Scverity Level II 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 no longer hold a license. Nonetheless, the activities described in the Notice were engaged in by you while you held a license 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 shift supervisor responsible not only for manipulating controls, but also for directing manipulation of controls e808230017 G80009 PDR ADOCK 0500 7

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by reactor operators, you set a poor example for these individuals and failed to exercise the control and command responsibilities expected of a person in your position.

You are reminded 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 of nuclear facilities and placed you in a position where your performance was expected to be above reproach. Conseque.1tly, 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, as well as your responsibility to remain alert and attentive at all tfines 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

Suspend or Revoke your license. Since your license is not current at this time, an Order against your license is not appropriate.

In light of your involvement in this conduct and your failure to take corrective actions and after consultation with the Commission, I have decided to issue to you the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $800 to emphasize that you, as a license holder, are individually accountable to the NRC.

The violation is classified at Severity Level II in view of your supervisory rank. Although the enforcement policy doer, 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 in which the base civil penalty is $800.

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, s M. Taylor eputy Executive Director for Regional perations

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty

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