ML20198T044
| ML20198T044 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | River Bend  |
| Issue date: | 01/05/1999 |
| From: | Merschoff E NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION IV) |
| To: | Edington R ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20198T048 | List: |
| References | |
| 50-458-97-20, EA-98-132, NUDOCS 9901120109 | |
| Download: ML20198T044 (6) | |
See also: IR 05000458/1997020
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Janusry 5, 1999
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EA 98-132
Randall K. Edington, Vice President - Operations
. River Bend Station
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. Entergy Operations, Inc.
P.O.- Box 220
St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
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SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITIOfJ OF CIVIL PENALTY -
$55,000 (NRC INVESTIGATION RE: PORT 4-97-059)
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Dear Mr. Edington'
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- This is in reference to the June 26,1998, predecisional enforcement conference in the NRC's
- Region IV office in Arlington, Texas, regarding an apparent violation of 10 CFR 50.9. This
conference was the culmination of a series of interactions and correspondence with Entergy
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Operations, Inc. (EOl), regarding v;hether the Superintendent of Radiation Control at Entergy's
River Bend Station (RBS) nuclear power plant willfully provided the NRC with incomplete or
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inaccurate information to avoid a Notice of Violation. The NRC conducted a predecisional
= enforcement conference with the Superintendent on February 27,1998, and described the
apparent violation of 10 CFR 50.9 in a letter to Entergy dated May 7,1998. Entergy provided
its perspective on, and additional information relating to, the apparent violation in letters dated
June 25, July 1, and July 8,1998.
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Based on our review of the information developed during the investigation, and all the
information provided before, during, and after the conferences, the NRC has determined that a
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violation of NRC requirements occurred. This violation is cited in the enclosed Notice of
Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty and it involves the deliberate failure to
provide the NRC with information that was complete and accurate in all material respects, in
violation of 10 CFR 50.9. Specifically, the violation involves deliberate misconduct by a licensee
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manager, the RBS Superintendent of Radiation Control, when he provided an NRC senior
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resident inspector with information he knew was not accurate and not completa during a
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meeting on October 15,1997.
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The circumstances of the case are briefly described as follows. On October 10,1997, an NRC
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inspector observed a contract radiation protection (RP) technician reach across a contami.1ated
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area boundary (to perform a smear survey) in the fuel storage building while wearing only
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cotton liners on his hands, in violation of radiation work permit (RWP) requirements (refer to
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. NRC Inspection Report 50-458/97-20, dated February 5,1998). The inspector was informed by
the technician's supervisor that the applicable RWP was 97-0002, which required " booties and
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. gloves" as minimur1 protective clothing. The inspector who observed the violation left the site
on October 14,1997, after providing information regarding the potential violation to the NRC's
on-site senior resident inspector, On October 15, the RBS Superintendent of Radiation Control
scheduled a meeting with the NRC senior resident inspector to discuss the potential RWP
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violation. Specifically. the potential violcti- e was a failuro to adhere to r.WP 97-0002 in that the
9901120109 990105
ADOCK 05000458
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Entergy Operations, Inc.
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RWP listed minimum anti-contamination clothing requirements as booties and gloves," when
the technician, on October 10,1997, only wore cotton glove liners.
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During the October 15,1997, meeting, the RBS Superintendent of Radiation Control showed
the senior resident inspector the access logs and the four RWPs that the technician signed
onto during the period October 10-15,1997. The access logs indicated that on October 10, the
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technician had signed onto RWP 97-9002, which applied to drywell activities, and not to the
technician's activities which were observea in the fuel storage building. The log also indicated
that the technician had signed onto RWP 97-0002 on October 14. During the October 15
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meeting, the RBS Superintendent of Radiation Control explained that RBS' program allows a
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radiation protection technician to work under an RWP (i.e.,97-0002) without actually signing
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onto it under certain circumstances (e.g., if the technician is signed on an RWP in which the
technician would likely receive the majority of his or her exposure and if he or she understands
and follows the requirements of the appropriate RWP, and if the dose received is transferred to
the appropriato RWP). The Superintendent statsd that none of the RWPs, including
RWP 97-0002, were violated because none of the RWPs required " minimum booties and
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gloves;"instead the RWPs allowed a technician to determine the protective clothing
requirements. However, during that meeting the Superintendent did not present the version of
RWP 97-0002 that had been in effect on October 10,1997. The Superintendent instead
presented a subsequent revision to the RWP that changed the minimum protective clothing
requirements to state that the protective clothing requirements could be established by the RP
technician.
After careful consideration the NRC has concluded that during the October 15,1997 meeting
with the NRC's senior resident inspector, the RBS Superintendent of Radiation Control provided
the NRC senior resident inspector with information that the Superintendent knew was
inaccurate and incomplete. Information that the RBS Superintendent of Radiation Control
provided during his Ol interview and the predecisional enforcement conferences did not
convince us otherwise. A summary of Entergy's position on this matter and the bases for the
NRC's conclusions are summarized in Enclosure 2.
The NRC must be able to rely on licensee managers providing complete and accurate
information on matters involving compliance with requirements. A willful violation of
10 CFR 50.9 involving a licensee manager can result in a Severity Level I violation in
accordance with the General Statement of Policy and Procedures for NRC Enforcement
Actions, NUREG-1600 (Enforcement Policy). In consideration of the relatively low safety
significance of the underlying issue, i.e., the use of cotton glove liners in lieu of rubber gloves in
an area where the technician was familiar with the contamination levels, and in consideration of
the individual's position within the company, the violation has been classified at Severity Level
111.
In accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a base civil penalty in the amount of $55,000 is
considered for a Severity Level 111 violation. Because the violation involved willfulness, the NRC
considered whether credit was warranted for Identification and Corrective Action in accordance
with the civil penalty assessment process in Section VI.B.2 of the Enforcement Policy. Since
the violation was identified by the NRC, licensee credit for identification was not warranted.
However, the NRC has determined that Entergy is @ serving of Corrective Action credit based
on us actions. Wnile disagreeing that there was any willfulness on the part of the
Superintendent Entergy's corrective actions included: emphasizing management expectations
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Entergy Operations, Inc.
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on communicating with the NRC; conducting " Regulatory Sensitivity" training sessions foi
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certain personnel and supervisors; providing additional guidance for communicating with NRC
while ma!ntaining open communications; taking disciplinary action against the Superintordent;
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- and implementing additional oversight over the Superintendent and his department.
To emphasize the importance of providing complete and accurate information to the NRC, and
communicating witn candor, I have been authorized, after consultation with the Director, Office
of Enforcement, to issue the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil
Penalty (Notice) in the base amount of $55,000 for the Severity Level lil violation described
above.
in addition to the enforcement action against Entergy, we are simultaneously issuing a Notice of
Violation to the individual as a result of his misconduct. A copy of that action will be sent to you
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by separate correspondence.
In taking this action, the NRC is particularly sensitive to the concem that this action may have a
chilling effect on communications with the NRC. The NRC's Enforcement Policy recognizes
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that oral information may in some situations be inherently less reliable than written submittals.
The Commission must be able to rely on oral communications from licensee officials but
recognizes that information exchanged in initial discussions on issues frequently changes as
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further facts are developed. In this case, however, the NRC does not view the discussions that
took place on October 15 as the initial discussions between an inspector and a licensee
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manager. There had been two discussions between the inspector who observed the RWP
violation and the Superintendent, and the Superintendent had multiple discussions with
members of his staff -in order to address the issue, Moreover, willfulness was involved in this
case. After careful consideration, the NRC concluded that enforcement action was warranted in
this case.
You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the
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enclosed Notice when preparing your response, in your response, you should document the
specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence. Your
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response may reference or include previous docketed correspondence, if the correspondence
adequately addresses the required response. The NRC will use your response, in part, to
determine whether further enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with
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regulatory requirements.
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This matter has been discussed between the NRC, Entergy, and the Superintendent in several
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letters. Entergy and the Superintendent have requested that their letters be withheld from
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public disclosure in accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," Part 2,
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Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, and exemptions 6 and 7 of the Freedom of information
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Act. Those letters have not yet been placed into the PDR. Also, the NRC's letters to the
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Superintendent, as well as the enclosure to our May 7,1998 letter to Entergy, have not been
placed in the PDR. However, we note that,in accordance with *O CFR 2.790 records or
documents compiled for enforcement purposes are placed in toe NRC Public Document Room
(PDR). In light of the NRC's conclusion that the Superintendent engaged in deliberate
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misconduct, correspondence related to this issue will be placed in the PDR af ter appropriate
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redaction foi personal privacy information such as home address. Subsequent responses may
also be placed in the PDR.
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If you have any questions or comments, please contact Mr. Art Howell at 817-860-8100.
- Sincerely,
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Ellis W. Merscho
Regional Admin' trator
Docket No. 50-458
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License No. NPF-47
Enclosures: As stated
cc w/ Enclosures:
Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer
Entergy Operations, Inc.
P.O. Box 31995
. Jackson, Mississippi 39286-1995
Vice Piesident
Operations Support
Entergy Operations, Inc.
P.O. Box 31995
Jackson, Mississippi 39286-1995
General Manager
- Plant Operations
River Bend Station
Entergy Operations, Inc.
P.O. Box 220
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St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
Director - Nuclear Safety
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River Bend Station
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Entergy Operations, Inc.
P.O. Box 220
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St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
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Wise, Carter, Child & Caraway
P.O. Box 651
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
' Mark J. Wetterhahn, Esq.
.
Winston & Strawn
1401 L' Street. N.W.
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Washington, D.C. 20005 3502
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Manager - Ucensing
River Bend Station
- Entergy Operations, Inc.'
- P.O. Box 220
St. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
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.The Honorable Richard P. leyoub
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Attorney General -
. Department of Justice
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- State of Louisiana
P.O.= Box 94005 '
7
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Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70604-9005
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! H.~ Anne Plettinge'r
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- 3456 Villa Rose Drive -
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806
President of West Felicia'na
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Police Jury
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' P.O. Box 1921
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iSt. Francisville, Louisiana 70775
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Ronald L. Wascom, Administrator -
Louisiana Radiation Protection Division
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P.O. Box 82135
Baton Rouge', Louisiana 70884-2135
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bec w/ Enclosures:
IE 14
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NUDOCS
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GOLDBERG, OGC (0-15B18)
NRR (0-12G18)
BOGER, NRR/ADP (0-12G18)
RFretz NRR/PDIV-1 (0-13H3)
OC/DAF (T-9E10)
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AEOD (T-4D18)
RWise
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MIS Coordinator
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RSLO (Hackney)
LWilliamson, Of
CMarschall, DRP
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120024
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OFFICE
OE N
RIV M [ Ok:D h
DEDE
EDO p
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M[p[ WTrd j
NAME
MSatorius
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EMerschofi
JLieberman
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DATE
12/lG/98
12/Ih/98
12/ j$/98
12/AP/98
1
98
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
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