ML20236M435

Forwards Announcement Describing NRC Approved Drug & Alcohol Abuse Policy for NRC Employees.Requests Recognition of NRC Program & Arrangement for Unescorted Access by NRC Resident Inspectors & Other NRC Employees

ML20236M435
Person / Time
Site:	Cooper
Issue date:	08/05/1987
From:	Stello V NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Schaufelberger NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT
References
NUDOCS 8708110068
Download: ML20236M435 (7)

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Docket No. 50-298 AUG 0 5 37  !

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Mr. Donald E. Schaufelberger President and Chief Executive Officer Nebraska Public Power District P. 0. Box 499 Columbus, Nebraska 68601 0499

Dear Mr. Schaufelberger:

Earlier this month, the Commission approved a drug and alcohol abuse policy for NRC employees. I am enclosing an NRC announcement to all employees which describes the Commission's program.

I understand that the NPPD fitness for duty program includes provisions for NRC employees to be granted unescorted access to the Cooper Nuclear Station based upon their coverage under NRC's own program. Accordingly, it is requested that you promptly recognize the NRC program and arrange for unescorted access by NRC Resident Inspectors and other NRC employees.

Please contact me if any delays are experienced in accomplishing this change in your procedures.

Sincerely.

Original sib >ea DY Victor Stollo l Victor Stello, Jr.

Executive Director for Operations

Enclosure:

DISTRIBliTION: ~

Drug Testing Policy Statement Docket File RErickson NRC POR I. Bush cc w/ enclosure: Local PDR .lPMurray, 0GC See next page JPartlow Reading RDMartin, RIV DRIS Reading JLieberman, OE VStello BGrimes JMTaylor Rehm T0 Martin ED0 R/F TEMurley/JSniezek FMiraglia 8708110068 870805 DCrutchfield .

PDR ADOCK 05000298 JCalvo P PDR RStarostecki

• For previous concurrence O see attached ORC l 0FC :NRR:DIR/DRIS:NRR:ADT :NRR:D/DIR :NRR:DIR DEDO.  :

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DATE :7/21/87 :7/27/87 :7/ /87 :7/ /87 :7hd/87  : I75 /S ~) : l/

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Mr.' Donald E. Schaufelber9er- )i cc w/ enclosure:

Mr. G._D. Watson, General Counsel Nebraska Public Power District P. O. Box'499 1 Columbus, Nebraska 68601 I

' Cooper Nuclear Station ATTN: Mr. Guy R. Horn, Division i Manager of Nuclear Operations ,

P. O. Box 98

! ' Brownville, Nebraska 68321 Director Nebraska Department of Environmental Control P. O. Box'94877 State House Station 1.incoln, Nebraska 68509 Mr. William Siebert, Commissioner Nemaha County Board of Commissioners Nemaha County Courthouse Auburn, Nebraska 68305 l Resident Inspector U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission j P. O. Box 218 l Brownville, Nebraska- 68322 '

Mr. Harold Borchart, Director Division of Radiological Health Department of Health

, 301 Centennial Mall, South P. O. Box 95007 Lincoln, Nebraska 68509 l

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l UNITED STATES l S NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g

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ANNOUNCEMENT NO. 94 DATE: July 9, 1987 TO: All NRC Employees

SUBJECT:

DRUG TESTING POLICY STATEMENT The purpose of this announcement is to describe the drug policy which the  !

Comission has approved. However, implementation of a Nuclear Regulatory ' i Comission drug testing program will not begin until some time in the future - the date will be announced in advance. ,

The Nuclear Regulatory Comission considers employees to be the Agency's most valuable resource and, for that reason, their health and safety is of l paramount concern. Furthermore, the Agency has a major responsibility for l protecting the health and safety of the public and the national security. l Consistent with these concerns and responsibilities, the Agency is strongly comitted to the goal of establishing and maintaining a work environment that is free from the ill effects of alcohol and drug abuse.

The Nuclear Regulatory Comission's general policy on alcohol and drug ,

abuse among employees has been as follows:

Employees who report to work under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs or whose work performance becomes impaired because of the use of alcohol or illegal drugs may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including removal.

An Agency employee may be subject to discipline, up to and including removal, for off-duty misconduct involving the use of illegal drugs.

The Comission believes t' hat its national security and public health and safety responsibilities warrant supplementing this general policy with stronger measures to ensure that NRC establishes itself as an agency with zero tolerance for illegal drug use. The Comission is gratified that the number of reported instances of illegal drug use by NRC employees has been few over the past several years considering the number of Agency employees.

However, given the nature of NRC's responsibilities, and the importance of public trust and confidence in NRC's ability to carry out its mission effectively, the Commission wishes to emphasize that the use of illegal

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drugs by NRC employees is unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the I Agency.

The drug testing program is in accordance with Section 3 of the September 15, 1986 Executive Order of the President of the United States and the guidelines in FPM Letter 792-16, issued November 28, 1986.  !

Implementation will not begin until we comply with the requirements of l applicable legislation and appropriate impact and implementation aspects I are negotiated with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).

A. Random Testing in Sensitive Positions The Executive Order (E.0.) authorizes random drug testing of all employees in sensitive positions. Since all NRC positions are sensitive as defined by E.O.12564, all NRC employees and special employees must be placed into the " pool" of employees potentially subject to drug testing. However, the E.0. leaves to the discretion of the agency head the actual positions to be tested and the extent of testing of such " testing designated positions." Such determinations are to be based upon the nature of the agency's mission and its employees' duties, the efficient use of agency resources, and the danger to the public health and safety or national security that could '

result from the failure of an employee to discharge the duties of his/her position adequately.

l The Commission has determined that random testing of all NRC employees in the categories listed below is essential to assure that the agency's mission is successfully carried out. All NRC employees in l the following categories will be subject to random testing. A fixed l l percentage of randomly-selected employees will be tested.

(1) Regional and headquarters employees who have unescorted access to ,

vital areas of nuclear plants.

(2) Employees who have assigned responsibilities or are on call for regional or headquarters incident response centers. ..

(3) Employees with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) and/or Foreign Intelligence Information (FII).

More specific information regarding the extent of testing, random procedures, etc., will be provided in a second, special notice to covered employees at least thirty calendar days prior to commencement of any actual testing.

B. Voluntary Testing The NRC will provide for testing of any employee who volunteer's for I drug testing. The manner and timing of such testing will be done at such time as is determined by the NRC.

C. Reasonable Suspicion Testing All NRC employees will be subject to such testing, which can only be authorized / directed by an Office Director or above. For the purposes

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of this program, reas'onable suspicion is an articulable belief that an l employee uses illegal drugs, drawn from specific and particularized facts and reasonable. inferences from those facts. " Reasonable suspicion" that an employee uses illegal drugs may be based upon, among other things:

(1) observable phenomena, such as direct observation of drug use and/or the physical symptoms of being under the influence of a drug; (2) a pattern o,f' abnormal conduct or erratic behavior; (3) arrest or conviction for a drug related offense; or the identification of an employee as the focus of a criminal '

investigation into. illegal drug possession, use, or trafficking; {

(4) information provided either by reliable and credible sources or information gained, for example, by anonymous tips which are independently corroborated; or (5) reliable evidence that the employee has' tampered with a previous-drug test. I Each determination of reasonable suspicion will be made individually based on the circumstances. Supervisory judgment will be based on the alcohol and drug abuse training for supervisors provided by the NRC's l Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program. .

t D. Specific Condition Testing .

An employee may be tested for 511egal drug use in an examination authorized by the Agency regarding an accident or unsafe practice.

1 For example, any employee who,,while operating a. government-owned vehicle or government-owned equipment or inachinery, is involved in an accident causing serious bodily injury to the operator or others and/or serious damage to property will.be subject to drug testing.

Like reasonable suspicion testing, each case for specific condition testing will be evaluated in regard to its unique circumstances.

Specific condition testing can only be. authorized / directed by an Office Director or above. l l

E. Follow-Up Testing -

A drug test may be administered to'an empioyee through an employee assistance program either during or after counseling or rehabilitation i for illegal drug use. . While follow-up testing may be under.taken as a i part of counseling or rehabilitation under the Employee Assistance i Program, only the results of agency-administered follow-up testing may be used, if confirmed positive results are obtained, to support an l adverse action taken under.Section 5(d)(2) of the Executive Order.

l Such follow-up testing will be unannounced.

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F. Pre-Employment Testing Any offer of employment to personnel from outside NRC entering NRC t positions subject to random drug testing, will be contingent upon passing a drug screening test.

"Zero Tolerance" for Illegal Drug Use All new employees will be required to sign a statement acknowledging that NRC is a "zero tolerance" agency with respect to illegal drugs, and acknowledging acceptance of such as a condition of employment.

Criteria for Drug Testing Laboratory Criteria established by the Department of Health and Human Services for (

drug testing laboratories used by Federal agencies will be followed. ]

l Drugs for Which NRC Will Test The NRC random and voluntary drug testing programs will test for the following drugs:

1 marijuana cocaine opiates amphetamines phencyclidine (PCP) l When conducting reasonable suspicion testing, NRC will test for any drug (s), including those mentioned above, identified in Schedule I or II of ,

the Controlled Substances Act, as deemed necessary.

The NRC drug testing programs will be administered by the Division of Security.

Actions to be Taken Regarding an Employee's Refusal to Take a Required ,,

Drug Test Any employee who refuses to take a required drug test (i.e., random, reasonable suspicion, follow-up or specific condition) will be subject to reassignment, suspension, or removal from the NRC.

Actions to be Taken Regarding Employee Involvement With Illegal Drugs The NRC policy with regard to the sale, possession or use of illegal drugs is as follows:

A. Any employee found to be using, selling, or possessing illegal drugs while in a duty status may be removed from the NRC.

B. Any employee found to be using, selling or possessing illegal drugs while off duty may be removed or suspended without pay, depending on the circumstances. If suspended, the employee will be required to undergo rehabilitation, and be subject to possible reassignment.

5- J C. Any' employee who voluntarily discloses illegal drug use to his/her supervisor will not be suspended or removed on that account, but will be required to undergo rehabilitation. Pending certification by i competent authority that rehabilitation has been successful, the employee will not be assigned duties that are sensitive from the standpoint of public health and safety or national security.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recognizes alcoholism and drug dependency as treatable illnesses. The Agency offers affected employees the same ,

consideration for rehabilitation as those having any other illness or l health problems, consistent with public health and safety and national j security concerns. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to confront i an employee whose performance or conduct fails to meet acceptable standards  !

and encourage the employee to . seek counseling if personal problems are involved.

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The NRC Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program is aveilable to any employee or family member, on a confidential basis, who requests assistance in dealing j with an alcohol or drug problem. The main focus of the program is employee

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awareness, supervisory training and guidance, and referral of employees and l family members to appropriate rehabilitation services consistent with the {

focus of awareness. All NRC employees are required to attend Alcohol and l Drug Abuse Training. Further information may be obtained from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program Manager, Jerome W. Fanning, on 492-7812.

Supervisors should contact Policy and Labor Relations"on 492-8234 regarding employees who have conduct or performance problems.

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I emphasize that our drug testing program will not be implemented immediately. The program must first be in compliance with applicable legislation and the impect and implementation aspects of the decision to establish the new programs and policies will be negotiated with NTEU, as l appropriate, prior to being placed in effect. j l

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Lando W. Zech, r.

- i Chairman

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