ML20215E411

FOIA Request for Info Re NRC Order Suspending Facility Operation.Forwards Apps A,B & C Documents.App C Documents Partially Withheld (Ref FOIA Exemption 6) & App D Documents Completely Withheld (Ref FOIA Exemptions 5,6 & 7)

ML20215E411
Person / Time
Site:	Peach Bottom
Issue date:	06/11/1987
From:	Grimsley D NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION & RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (ARM)
To:	LEWIS, D.B.
Shared Package
ML20215E414	List: ML20215E411 ML20215E483
References
FOIA-87-209 NUDOCS 8706190361
Download: ML20215E411 (6)

Text

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION NHL FOiA NEQUEST NUYB(R Si

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i INFORMATION ACT (FO!A) REQUEST

%.ee.. / JUN 11 1987 DOCKET NUMBER (Se visapresam RE0VESTER M k. L ,

i PART 4.-RECORDS RELEASED OR NOT LOCATED (See checked boxest '

No agency records subject to the request have been located.

No additonal agency records subject to the request have been located. l Agency records subject to the request that are identifed in Appendix 1717 H Street, N W,, Washington, DC.

h are already available for public inspection and copying m the NRC Public Document Roo-Agency records subject to the request that are identified in Appendix are being made available for public inspection and copying in the NRC Public Docume~ )

Room,1717 H Street, N.W,, Washington, DC, in a folder under this FOIA number and requester name f

X The nonpropnetary version of the proposans) that you agreed to accept in a telephone conversation with a member of my statf is now being made available for public insoec.o-and coying at the NRC Public Document Room.1717 H Street, N W . Washington. DC, in a folder under this FOIA number and requester name.

Encioned is information on how you may obtain access to and the charges for copying records placed in the NRC Public Document Room,1717 H Street, N.W., Washington Agency records subtect to the request are enclosed. Any applicable charge for copies of the records provided and payment procedures are noted in the comments section-R$ cords sublect to the request have been referred to another Federal agencytest for review and direct response to you-In view of NRC's response io this request, no further action is being taken on appeal letter dated PART ll.A-INFORMATION WITHHELD FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE Certain information in the requested records is being withheld from public disefosure pursuant to the FOIA enemptions described in and for the reasons stated in Part II, sec-tons B. C, and D. Any released portions of the cocuments for which only rart of the record is being withheld are being made available for public inspection and copying in the NRC Public Document Room,1717 H Street, N W., Washington, DC. in a folder under this FOIA number and requester name.

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S' NATURE. DIRECTOR. Div: rON OF R L AND RECOROS O%sk -

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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT RESPONSE s oit. NUMBERtSi po14 , y 7_g g 9 gi7g. JUN 11 13g7 PART 118- APPLICA3LE FOIA EXEMPTIONS Records subject to the request that are desenbed in the enclosed Appendices A I are being withheld in their entirety or in part under FOIA j Exemptions and for the reasons set forth below pursuant to 5 U S C. 552(bl and 10 CFR 9 Sta) of NRC Reguistions. I

1. The withheld information is properN classified pursuant to Executive Order 12356 f EXEMPTION 1)

2. The withheld information relates solely to the internal personnel rules and procedur es of NRC IEXEMPTION 25 1

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3. The withheld information is specifically exempted from public disclosure by statute indicated: (EXEMPTION 31 l

l Secten 141 145of the Atomic Energy Act which prohibits the disclosure of F.astricted Data or Formerly Restocted Data 142 U.S.C,21612165).

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Section 147 of the Atomic Ene gy Act which prohibits the disclosure of Unclassefed Safeguards Informaton i42 U S C. 2167L i

4. The withheld information is a trade secret or commercial or financial information that a being withheld for the reason (s) indicated. (EXEMPTION 4) j The information is considered to be confidential business (propnetary) Inforrmation.

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The information is considered to be proprietary information pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790(dtOL {

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The information was submitted and received in confidence from a foreign source pursuant to 10 CFR 2.790 ldh 21.

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5. The withheld information consists of interagency or intraagency records that are not available through discovery dunng litigation. Declosure of predecisional information would tend to inhibit the open and frank exchange of ideas essential to the deliberative process. Where records are withheld in their entirety, the facts are inextricably j intertwined with the predecisionalinformaton. There also are no reasonably segregable factual portsons because the reiease of the facts would permet an i indirect inquiry into the predecisonal process of the agency. IEXEMPTION 51 (

6. The withheid inrormation is exempted from public disclosure because its disclosure would result in a clearly unwarranted invason of personal pnvecy. (EXEMPTION 6) i

7. The withheld informaton consists of investigatory records compiled for law erforcement purposes and is being w$thheld for the reason (s) indicated, (EXEMPTION 7) l l

Declosure would interfere with an enforcement proceeding because it could reveal the scope, direction, and focus of enforcement efforts. and thus could '

possibly allow them to take acton to shield potential wrongduing or a violation of NRC requirements from investigators. (EXEMPTION 7(A))

Declosure would constrtute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (EXEMPTION 7(Cl) l The informaton consists of names of individuals and other information the disclosure of which would reveal identities of confidental sources. (EXEMPTION 7(D))

1 PART ll.C-DENYING OFFICIALS Pursuant to 10 CFR 9 9 and/or 915 of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulatons, it has been determined that the information withheld is exempt from production or disclosure, and that its production or disclosure is contrary to the public interest. The persons responsible for the denial are those officials identified below as denying officials and the Director, Diveson of Rules and Records. Office of Administration, for any denials that may be appealed to tne Executive Director for Operations tEDot DENYING OFFICIAL TITLEcOFFICE RECORDS DENIED APPELLATE OFFICIAL y [ /deaaa#D C ,j f g 4p SECRETARY fDo w b. a c11 X i 6% 8 W W% &w A .Q6,1

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a - &, r A PART 11 D- APPEAL RIGHTS The denial by each denying official identified in Part ll.C may be appealed to the Appellate Official identified in that sectiort Any such appeal must be in writing and must be made within 30 days of receipt of this response. Appeals must be addressed as appropriate to the Executive Oirector for Operations or to ths Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and should clearly state on the envelope and in the letter that r't is an " Appeal from an initial F01A Decision."

etc Fom see (Pert 21 m U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION FOlA RESPONSE CONTINUATION i

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l Re: F01A-87-209 APPENDlX A RECORDS MAINTAINED AMONG PDR FILES 1

1. 6/18/85 Letter from R. Starostecki to Philadelphia Electric, subject:

Inspection Report No. 50-277/85-22 (EA 85-75)

Accession 8506240178 1

2. 7/17/85 Letter from T. Murley to Philadelphia Electric Co., I subject: Enforcement Conference,-Inspection Report No. I 50-278/85-22. Accession 8507240253 l

3. 12/24/86 Letter from licensee to Janes Taylor, subject: Order of ,

December-12,'1986. (EA-86-59) Accession 8701020206

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4. 3/6/87 Letter from licensee to James Taylor,

Subject:

hotice of.  !

Violation, EA-87-05. Accession 8703120078 '

5. 3/31/87 Letter to Philadelphia Electric Co., from Victor Stello, subject: Order Suspending Power Operation and Order to Show Cause (EA-87-46). Accession 8704060274 i

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Re: F01A-87-209 APPENDIX B RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE PCR UNDER THE ABOVE REQUEST NUMBER

1. 3/31/87 hemo~to Correspondence and Record Branch from Mary Wagner, subject: Order Suspending Power Operations and  !

Order to Shcw Cause. (EA-84-46) (9 pages)

2. 3/31/87 EN 87-26 (EA-87-46). Notice'of Suspending Power Operation and Order to Show Cause. (1 page) J

3. 4/6/87 Significant Events Frequency Performance Indictor No.3 (1page).

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4. 4/6/87 Philadelphia Electric Co., news release: PE Announces j Peach Bottom Plan. (3 pages) l

5. 4/13/87 Letter from James Allan to J.S. Kemper subject order Suspending Power Operations Peach Bottom 2 and 3. (2 pages) i

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i Re: F01A-87-209 APPENDIX C RECORDS PARTIALLY WITHHELD

1. 7/17/85 Letter to Philadelphia Electric Co., employe from Thomas Murley, subject: Enforcement Conference. (2 pages) Ex. 6 l

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Re: F01A-87-209 APPENDIX D -

1 RECORDS TOTALLY WITHHELD )

1. Records are being withheld related to an ongoing investigation. Ex. 7(a)

2. 7/2/85 Letter from Thomas Murley to James Taylor, subject: ,

Pro'osed p Letter to Philadelphia Electric Co., and Peach '

Bottom Licensed Operator. (2 pages) Ex. 5,

3. 4/16/86 Note to June Axelrad from Stephen G. Burns with attachment. (7 pages) Ex. 5

4. 9/9/86 Note to Jane Axelrad from J. Lieberman with draft attachment, subject: EA-86-59 (11 pages) Ex. 5 l

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March 31, 1987 i w

Docket Nos. 50-277; 50-278 .

License Nos. DPR-44 ;

DPR-56 EA 87 f. D O W K U 1 l u t: Correspondence and Records Branch-Office of the Secretary of the Connission l l

HGh Mary E. Ungner, Attorney ']

Enforcement '

Office of the General Counsel SUBJILT: QUER SUSPE!OING IOER OPD% TION AND GIDER 'IO l Sim CAUSE (EFFECTIVE IM.EDIATELY) I A signed original of an Order Suspending Power Operation and Order to Simw i

Cause (Effective Innediately) issued to Philadelphia Electric Cmpany on March i 31, 1987 is enclosed for your transmittal to the Office of the Federal Register for publication. Additional conformed copies (5) of the Order are enclosed for l your use. I

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Mary E. Wagner, Attorney Enforcement l Office of the General Counsel l cc: A. B. Deach, IE I DISTRIBUTION:

AGCE Rdr AGCE Subj.

Wagner Chron i Lieberman Chron Goldberg Info JMurray WParler OGC Rdr g,,p7.go9 l NRC Central 8//

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______f__ ____f.__ h.__[__ ________j______________[______________{_______-- .

NAME : MWagIWr/tk  : JGold rg  : erman  :  :  :

DATE 3/31/87 $ 3/ 7/ /87 3/ Si /87

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l UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION l

In the Matter of ) Docket Nos. 50-277;50-278

) License Nos. DPR-44; DPR-56 PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC COMPANY ) EA 87-46 Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, ) i Units 2 and 3 )

l ORC)ER SUSPENDING POWER OPERATION AND ORDERTOSHOWCAUSE(EFFECTIVEIMMEDIATELY)

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Philadelphia Electric Company (Licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-44 and DPR-56, authorizing the Licensee to operate the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 (facility), in Delta, Pennsylvania.

The licenses were issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) on October 25, 1973 and July 2, 1974, respectively.

II On fiarch 24, 1987, the NRC, Region I, received information that control room operators at Peach Bottom had been observed sleeping while on duty in the control room and were otherwise inattentive to their license obligations. The information also indicated that this conduct on the part of operators was pervasiYe and has been occurring for some time, and that shift supervision had knowledge of this situation. On March 24, 1987, in response to this information NRC initiated: (1) 24 hour2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> inspection coverage of the Peach Bottom control room and (2) a special safety investigation of licensed

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activities. The NRC investigation, which is s,till ongoing, to date has established:

1. At times during various shifts, in particular the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. shift, one or more of the Peach Bottom operations control room -

staff (including licensed operators, senior licensed operators and shift supervision) have for at least the past five months periodically slept or have been otherwise inattentive to licensed duties.

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2. Management at the Shift Supervisor and Shift Superintendent level have either known and condoned the facts set forth in Paragraph one, or should have known of these facts.

3. Plant management above the shift superintendent position either knew or should have known the facts set forth in Paragraph one and either took no action or inadequate action to correct this situation.

III Prior NRC inspections have identified other instances of inattention to duty or failure to adhere to procedures on the part of iicensed operators in the control room at Peach Bottom.

On June 10, 1985, during the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. shift, an NRC inspector was present in the Unit 3 control room and observed an on-duty Unit 3 reactor

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operator sitting in a chair at the Unit 3 reactor control panel with his eyes closed and his head til.ted back, apparently asleep or otherwise inattentive to  !

his duties. In response to this charge the licensed operator denied being asleep and indicated he was enticing the NRC inspector to believe he was asleep, demonstrating poor judgment and a negative attitude toward safety. An l

1 enforcement conference was held with the licensee concerning this matter on June 21, 1985. '

On June 6,1986, the NRC issued its Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP) report for the period April 1,1985 through January 31, 1986. This report concluded that management involvement and effectiveness toward improving operating activities was not evident. Indications of the lack 4 of adequate management involvement included: poor dissemination of management goals and policies; poor communications between different departments and divisions; and a focus on compliance rather than acknowledgement and correction of the root causes of problems. Further, the report concluded there was a i

complacent attitude toward procedural compliance in plant operations.

On June 9,1986, the NRC issued a Notice of Violation and Proposed $200,000 Civil Penalty for several violations that resulted from numerous personnel errors by several licensed operators, including the Shift Supervisor and Shift Superintendent, both of whom are licensed senior reactor operators, and two licensed reactor operators. These personnel errors by four licensed individuals and associated violations indicated a pattern of inattention to detail, failure to adhere to procedural requirements, and a generally complacent attitude by the operations staff toward performance of their duties-

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at Peach Bottom. This NRC assessment was empfasizedl to the licensee in a June 12, 1986, letter f. rom Victor Stello, Jr., Executive Director for Operations, to J. C. Everett, III, PECo Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.

In addition, three previous civil penalties were issued for violations of technical specifications involving violations that resulted from personnel e rrors'. March 29,1983 (EA 83-7); June 13,1983 (EA 83-46); June 18,1984 (EA 84-39). In general, the enforcement history at Peach Bottom regarding adherence to procedures and attention to duty has been poor.

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l IV The NRC expects licensees to maintain high standards of control room professionalism. NRC licensed operators in the control rooms at nuclear power plants are responsible for assuring that the facility is operated safely and within the requirements of the facility's license, technical specifications, regulations and orders of the NRC. To be able to carry out these highly important responsibilities, reactor operators must give their full attention to the condition of the plant at all times. Operators must be alert to ensure that the plant is operating safely and must be capable of taking timely action in response to plant conditions. All control room business must be conducted in such a way that neither control room operator attentiveness nor the professional atmosphere will be compromised. Sleeping while on duty in the '

control room demonstrates a total disregard for performing licensed duties and a lack of appreciation for what those duties entail.

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10 C.F.R. 50.54(k) and Peach Bottom Technical, Specification 6.2.2 prohibit sleeping or otherwise inattentive operators in the control room. Under 10 C.F.R Part 50, App. B, the licensee must have and implement procedures to ensure that activities affecting quality, including operations of the facility, are satisfactorily accomplished. The Peach Bottom quality assurance program has failed to identify this condition adverse to safety. These conditions constitute a hazard to the safe operation of the facility.

In light of the above, it is apparent that the licensee, through its )

enforcement history and from what has been developed by the ongoing investigation, knew or should have known of the unwillingness or inability of its operations staff to comply with Comission requirements, and has been unable to implement effective corrective action. Consequently, the NRC lacks reasonable assurance that the facility will be operated in a manner to assure that the health and safety of the public will be protected. Pending the development of other relevant information, I am unable to determine that there is reasonable assurance that the facility will be operated in a manner to assure that the health and safety of the public will be protected.

Accordingly, I have determined that continued operations of the facility is an irumediate threat to the public health and safety. Therefore, I have determined that the public health, safety and interest requires that the Licensee should proceed to place or maintain its units in a cold condition.

I have further determined for the reasons set forth above, that pursuant to 10 C.F.R. 2.201(c), no prior notice is required and, pursuant to 10 C.F.R.

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2.202(f), the actions required by Section V of, this Order are immediately effective pending further Order.

Y Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 103,161(i)and(o),182and186ofthe Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's regulations in 10 C.F.R. 2.202, and 10 C.F.R. Part 50, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY THAT:

A. The licensee shall within 36 hours4.166667e-4 days <br />0.01 hours <br />5.952381e-5 weeks <br />1.3698e-5 months <br /> from receipt of this Order, shutdown Unit 3 and place the unit in the cold condition (reactor coolant temperature equal to or less than 212'F) and maintain both units in the cold condition with the reactor mode switch in either the refueling or shutdown mode pending further Order.

B. The licensee shall provide to the Administrator of' Region I within seven days of this Order a description of the actions the licensee plans to take to provide assurance that the facility will comply with all requirements including station procedures while. in a cold condition.

C. Before the licensee proposes to operate either Unit 2 or Unit 3 above a cold condition the licensee shall provide to the Administrator of Region I, for his approval, a detailed and comprehensive plan and the

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7 schedule to accomplish the plan to. assure that the facility will safely operate and comply with all requirements including station procedures; D. Licensee may show cause, in the manner hereinafter provided, why this order should not have been issued; and E. The Regional Administrator, Region I, may relax any of the above provisions, in writing, upon demonstration of good cause by the licensee.

VI The licensee may show cause, within 20 days after issuance of this Order by filing a written answer under oath or affirmation setting forth the matters of fact and law on which the licensee relies. The licensee may answer as provided in 10 C.F.R. 2.202(d) by consenting to the entry of an Order in substantially the form proposed in this Order.

VII The licensee or any other person adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing within 20 days after issuance of this Order. Any answer to this Order or any reouest for hearing shall be submitted to the Executive Director for Operations, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555.

Copies shall also be sent to the Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement, i

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8 Office of the General Counsel, at the same address and to the Regional Administrator, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region I, 631 Park Avenue, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406. If a person other than the licensee l requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which the petitioner's interest is adversely affected by this Order and should address the criteria set forth in 10 C.F.R. 2.714(d). Upon the failure of the licensee to answer or request a hearing within the specified time, this Order shall be final without further proceedings. An answer to this Order or a request for hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness of Section V of l this Order. .

If a hearing is requested by the licensee or other person adversely affected by i

this Order, the Comission will issue an Order designating the time and place i of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order should be sustained.

FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

/g- O Victor St o, Executive Director for Operations Dated at Bethesda Maryland this & day of March, 1987