ML20235A301
| ML20235A301 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Comanche Peak  |
| Issue date: | 01/10/1985 |
| From: | Palladino N NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Asselstine, Bernthal, Roberts NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20235A207 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-86-133 NUDOCS 8707080392 | |
| Download: ML20235A301 (11) | |
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[pa **aug'o UNITED STATES l y -
T o NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
" WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555
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,/ SECRETARIAT RECp C0P January 10, 1983 CHAIRMAN E u- . . ._. .. _.., J.
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I MEMORANDUM FOR: Commissioner Roberts Commissioner Asselstine Commissioner Bernthal Commissioner Zech FROM: , Nunzio J. Palladino l i
SUBJECT:
ALLEGATIONS ON OI REPORT ON COMANCHE PEAK The OIA memorandum of January 7, 1985, titled "Alle ations l
- nacardina OI Reoort 4-84-006 - Comanche Peak," j
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_ - . j FerI A-86-133 l e/s Inf0frilation ir this renord was d&ted in accordance with the freedom of information i Act, exemplicas 8 )
8707080392 870701 f01A 96-133 I PDR FDIA -
GARDE 86-103 PDR ,l
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U.s. NUCLE AR REGULATORY COMMts3f@M 1 Office of Inspector and Auditor s
August 30, 1984 O.....i,,,,m,,,,,,,
Information In thb record was dekted
'in accordancb with the Frcedom of Informat!0n Act, exemptions b
, aenort of Contact E01A 96 lM 1 j
President, l
Juanita Ellis, ith cund Energy (CASE) was contacted in connectiUn Citizens Alliance f or file number 84-30 for the purpose of determining the telephone number of theIn The alleger in that case, Betty Brink.said she had information of interest to 01A and w )
matters raised are as follows-as being " meaningless and
- 1. Ellis characterized 01 Report #4-84-006She than raised the matters addressed ,
worthless." One of the names she gave to 01, Danny Grisso, still her conclusion. He was supposed to be works at Comanche Peak and wants to keep his job.
a confidential source for the NRC, but they called She him thought up on the phone at he was the plant so be told 01 he didn't know anything.
probably under pressure because CASE had not previously disclosed his name and he should not have been identified in the report.
(Brooks Griffin,.01 Region IV Investigator, when contacted, denied that Grisso had a problem because Grisso keeps asking the 01 investigators how CASE got his name).
- 2. Ch cles Atchison, former employee at Comanche Peak (telephone reportedly has problems with 01 Report #4-84-006.
I was also concerned about what
- 3. Ellis said that Dick Fouke was said in the 01 report (4-84-006) because he felt there was a differ- She ence between what he had said and what he was reported to have said.
preferred that Fouke be talked to directly for the details.
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- 4. A tape of a conversation was given by Bill Dunham, a former employee at l Comanche Peak, to 01. Later when heThe andtranscript his attorney tried to get a was very l
copy, they found it had been erased.(Griffin was also aware of this matter and ad unintelligible.
the tape was not erased, but rather was lost during a move of the 01 Field Office from one location in their building to another.
Don Driskill, 01 Investigator, had the tape and "really felt bad" that it had been lost. OI then only had the transcript of the tape.)
- 5. Robert Taylor, former Resident Inspector at Comanche Peak, in a deposi-tion this past July, said that there was an unwritten policy in Region IV that when someone who is terminated from their job at Comanche Peak, confidentiality no longer applies. There supposedly is something in William Crossman's safe at Region IV which She reportedly asked whether showsTaylor's Atchison was told he no longer had confidentiality.
I comment is true, and, if so, what is Region IV's policy?
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August 30, 1984 Ronald M. Smith, Senior estfoator. DIA O . . . . ,n . . .
,,, l THtS DOCUMENT 1$ PROPE RT v OF N RC IF t.O ANED TO ANOTHER AGENCY st AND ITS CONTENTS ARE NOT TO BE OtST R OUTSIDE THE HECEevtNG AGE NCY WsTHOUT PE RM1S$80N OF THE OFFICE 05 tNSPECTOR AND AUqTOR.
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V disclosure and Geary Mizuno's (ELD) f 6. Ellis also mentioned the witness "F" shaking of his finger in witness Barne's face raised by Sue Neumeyer in her interview with OIA (File 84-37).
Investigator's Note: On the following evening, Ellis raised two additional matters as follows:
- 7. In the Taylor deposition, he talked about Sue Stargill (Neumeyer) and the NDER that she had written on a gouge in a pipe found by Henry Stiner (former employee at Comanche Peak). Taylor did not bring this out until March of this year and he has yet to confirm what Stiner said. Taylor had known all along that Neumeyer could support Stiner's comment that there was a NDER. Taylor's finally putting the NDER into the record of the licensing board proceeding was not enough when he didn't describe the circumstances behind the NDER, i.e. Stiner's supervisor, Jimmy Green, and the welder who would fix the gouge, Cliff Brown, had seen Neumeyer The incident talking to Stiner. Shortly thereaf ter, Stiner was fired. Ellis also with Neumeyer had occurred in September or October 1983.
raised a question as to Mizuna's knowledge of this and his actions as NRC counsel.
- 8. J. R. Dillingham was supposed to meet with Thomas Ippolito, NRR, on Friday, August 24, 1984. Ellis asked that the reporting investigator call on Monday to learn if Dillingham could talk about something concern-ing two 01 investigators (On 8/27/84 the reporting investigator was advised by Ellis that Dillingham will either call direct or will call her and she will provide the information. She gave no definite time when such a call will come.)
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Of fice of inspector and Auditor August 28, 1984 o.,..i,..,c......
Report of Interview Richar Fouk ectrical Engineer,
, was interviewe y telephone because uanita Ellis, (Tel '
President, Citizens Association for Sound Energy (CASE), had indicated to the that Fouke might have some information reporting investigator on August 23, 1984, within the jurisdiction of OIA. She thought his concern was with the Office of Investigations (01) Report No. 4-84-006.
When interviewed, Fouke's main concern was that the report of " Telephonic Interview" of him in the report by Brooks Griffin, 01 Investigator, Region IV.
(Exhibit 1) did not accurately reflect the conversation as he remembered it.
Specifically, in the first paragraph he said that he talked about more than two welders, although he did not give specifics.
His concern with the second paragraph was that the impression is given that he did not know of any intimidation of anyone. He said the right questions had to be asked. Because of " macho image," you could not ask directly "have you been intimidated?" you will get a negative reply. You have to ask about problems they run into and then see how they deal with them to see the intimi-dation. Simply, you have to In ask what happened and not were they intimidated sum, he really think's the written interview was to get an accurate answer.
different than what he actuallysaid to Griffin. He is not going He, to on"the beat the other bushes for intimidated people" because that is not his job.
hand, is happy to tell what he has seen.
Exhibit:
As stated information in this recmd as EcM in accord 3nx dih the Rcetm of lakrmin Act, exemptions _b _
F01 A-96-133 FoIA-8kl33 Sethesda, MD E17 ,,,,_
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Ronald M. Smith, Senior i2vestigator, DI A o,,,,,,,,, August 28, 1984
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15 Telephonic Interview of Richard F0VKE On August 17, 1983, Richard F00KE, a former representative of the CPSES intervenor group, Citizens for Fair Utility Regulation, was telephonically interviewed by NRC Investigator H. Brooks GRIFFIN. F0VKE stated he bad ceased his work as an intervenor when he realized how long the process would be. FOUkE statec that while he was working as an intervenor, he interviewed Henry STINER, a former B&R employee, and remembered talking to two welders who had a problem with some welding they were ;
doing, although he did not remember their names.
When FOUKE was told his name had been provided to the NRC by CASE as a person possibly having knowledge of B&R employees who had been the subject of intimidation or harassment, he stated he believed that everyone who had come to his intervenor oroup felt intimidated over the fa'dt that B&R might learn of their contact with an
.ntervenor group. FOUKE said he did not know of any persons he believed were intimidated. FOUKE said he did not know the names of any other individua1s who might have knowledge of employees who had been harassed or intimidated, other than his former intervenor associate Betty BRINK. F00KE indicated he would try to identify to the NRC Office of Investigations Field Office (01 Field Office) anyone with knowledge of harassment or intimidation. (FOUKE was provided with the NRC Region IV 10 Field Office telephone number.)
INVESTIGATOR's NOTE: As of February 22, 1983, FOUKE has not contacted the Region IV 01 Field Office with the names of other individuals who had been harassed or intimidated. [
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- U.s. NUCLE AR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Inspector and Auditor i o.........e,......, August 30, 1984 Information in this rctctd was deleted in accordance with the freedom of infctm:ticn Report of Interview Act, exemptions )
f0lA_B6-l33 Based on the previous contact with Juanita Ellis, President, Citizens Association Root, Inc. quality for Sound controlEnergy
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tor <t Charles manche Peak Atchison, Stear 6 a fp[rme,r. Brown andtafion(CPSES was contacted by telephone- to learn of his concerns regarding OI Report No. 4-84-006. A caison indicated that there were 35 misstatements or misquotes by Brooks Griffin (01 Investigator) in the report of interview (Exhibit 1, extract f rom #4-84-006). Atchison said that he discussed the problems telephonically with Griffin but that Griffin failed to get back to him on the matter. Atchisu. sent a letter to Ellis pointing out the misstatements and misquotes. He thought he no longer had a copy but that she might. (InvestigatorNote: Ellis was contacted on August 30, 1984, and said she would look for and provide a copy to 0IA).
Atchison noted that he has log books with 995 items demonstrating problems at Comanche Peak. He previously gave 85 selected items to an NRC inspection team. He does not know what they have done with them. The following week after Atchison gave the 85 items, a man named Harris or Harrington, from the NRC wanted all his information and not just " piece ineal" information. He was very aggressive to Atchison.
Atchison was particularly concerned about one item involving the cutting up of 5500,000 worth of steel and its dumping in the lake. This reportedly had been done because of the use of inferior Japanese steel in various parts of the plant, e.g., Class I, II and III hangers, and the enstamping of the inferior steel with heat numbers from the good (cut up) steel. Atchison claimed that he had written a corrective action number 41 about the misuse of the heat numbers. Apparently the problem had originally arisen because of 2000 feet excess material being on hand. Atchison said that he also gave to NRC the name of an individual who was present when the material was cut up.
Atchison also noted that when the special team headed by Thomas Ippolito, Office of Analysis and Evaluation for Operational Data, was to go to Comanche Peak one time, John Collins, Regional Administrator, Region IV, called the utility and told them Ippolito was coming. Then when Ippolito arrived the utilities computer was " shut down" and consequently the proposed actions could not be accomplished. This was reported in the local Dallas newspaper.
Investigator Note: At this point it was determined by the s eporting investigator that to continue the telephonic interview would not be effective, !
particularly in light of the need to get more detailed information than provided above.
.....,,....., August 29. 1984 .i Bethe<;da MD r.=
Ronald M. Smith, Senior Investigator, OIA o,,,,,y,,,,, August 30, 1984 TMi$ DOCUMENT IS PROPE HTv OF Nnc IF LOANED TO ANOTHE R AGENCY ST AND eTS CONTENTS ARE NOT TO BE DISTRIBUTED .
OUTSiOE THE RECEIV4NG AGE NC Y WITHOUT PE RMISSION OF THE OF 54CE OF tNSPE CTO54 AND AUDITOR. .
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Accordingly Atchison was advised that he would be contacted again about whether a face-to-face interview might be accomplished after the new Director, j OIA is on board. Atchison seemed eager to cooperate but repeatedly talked of his distrust of the NRC (Region IV). He also mentioned prior contact with Congressional staffs, e.g., Henry Myers, Technical Advisor, House Interior i Connittee. )
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Exhibit:
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1 Telephonic Interview of Charles ATjHIS0N i i
On August 23, 1983, Charles ATCHISON, a former Brown & Root, Inc., QC inspector at f
Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station, was telephonically interviewed by NRC l
Investigator H. Brooks GRIFFIN. ATCHISON stated he was employed at CPSES from February 27, 1979 until April 12, 1982, and he worked in Vencor Audits, Training, the Document Section and, for a time, was a Level III inspector for Training.
ATCHIS0N stated that at the time he left CPSES, Randy SMITH was his lead and Mike FOOT was his supervisor.
1 ATCHISON recalled the following three instances which he believed constituted intimidation:
I (1) ATCHISON said that in about March 1982, he wrote an NCR (not further identified) addressing vendor welds on a pressurizer tank in Reactor I, Level 822. ATCHIS0N stated his NCR was forwarded to Thomas BRANDT, Non-ASME Supervisor, and then " disappeared." ATCHISON stated Darlene STINER, a QC inspector, later found the NCR, and BRANDT issued it in August 1982 under his (ATCHISON'S) name. ATCHISON said he had been terminated prior to the time this NCR was issued.
(2) ATCHISON stated that in March 1982 at the same location in Reactor I, he wrote an NCR (not further identified) on a Hilti bolt that was broken during a hydro-torquing procedure. ATCHIS0N stated he also identified other bolts that were elongated and had stripped threads.
ATCHISON stated a QA engineer by the name of Bill HORSHORM examined the Hilti bolts and said they were defective. ATCHIS0N stated that Ron TOLSON (a site QA manager at TUGCO) and BRANDT examined the bolts, and that BRANDT told him (ATCHISON) he did not know what he was doing.
ATCHISON stated a representative from Chicago Bridge & Iron, Inc. ,
tested the bolts, ar.d the bolts fciled during testing. ATCHISON saia this issue had not been resolved as far as he knew. ATCHISON stated i
this incident discouraged hini from reporting deficiencies.
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- I (3) ATCHIS0N stated that in February 1982 in Reactor I, some Westinghouse whip restraints for the main steam generator had design changes that were made on site by Chris DUPREE, a TUGC0 representative, without design and engineering approval from Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
ATCHIS0N stated that engineering approval from the Westinghouse Pittsburgh ;
heacquarters was required by procedure. ATCHISC stated the Millwright Department at CPSES had cut out a section of the whip restraint, and he (ATCHISON)inspectedit. ATCHIS0N stated there was no blueprint documenting Westinghouse approval. ATCHIS0N stated that without the blueprint, he refused to inspect the whip restraint. ATCHISON stated he told HORSHORM, who then called DUPREE. ATCHISON stated DUPREE and the lead for the Millwright Department (identification unknown) came to him and told him that ;
if he did not sign it off, he would either "end up at the bottom of the reactor (dead) or would be fired." ATCHISON stated nobody else heard this threat. ATCHISON stated that over this same incident BRANDT told him to "back off, or I'll fire you."
i When ATCHISON was asked about other B&R employees who may have been subject to intimidation, he identified Larry HITE as a QC inspector who he believed may have j been pressured into accepting defective work. ATCHIS0N also said HITE'S wife (not further identified), a millwright, had been ordered to destroy vendor documentation (not further identified) by her superintendent (not further identified). l l
I ATCHIS0N said he also believed that both D. D. BETTINGFIELD, a Level III inspector at B&R, and John MAXWELL, a Level III inspector in NDE (nondestructive examination)
. at B&R, blackballed a QC inspector by the name Ray WHITE. ATCHISON stated another QC inspector by the name of Steve D0DD may have heard conversation regarding WHITE'S blackballing. ATCHIS0N also identified David STENSON, a former QC inspector, Darlene STINER, supra, and Janice KELLY (not further identified) as !
other B&R employees who may have possibly been intimioated, niCHIS0N stateo that in March and Anril 1982, there were whip restraints in Reactors l I ano 11 in the reactor coolant lines which had defective welds. ATChlS0h statec I
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.s that Corrective Action Report No. 41 had been " pencil-whipped" (dispositioned without actually conducting the rework) i ATCHISON stated he believed the above described instances constituted intimi-dation and harassment. ATCHISON said he had already testified to many of these .
concerns before the ASLB and that the NRC was already aware of these issues.
ATCHISCN stated that his discrininatory terninctic. sti- uas presently before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and that he plans to testify in the next CPSES hearings. ATCHISON stated he was presently in possession of color pictures of hangers and supports he believes would lead to the necessary correction of at least a half million dollars worth of steel, which be believed would amount to 3 to 5 million dollars worth of backfit at CPSES. ATCHIS0N stated he had not provided this material to the intervenor, CASE, and was un-willing to provide this information to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ATCHISON indicated he would present it to the CPSES ASLB hearing himself.
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