ML20236S603
| ML20236S603 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant |
| Issue date: | 07/20/1998 |
| From: | Paperiello C NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION III) |
| To: | Rifakes G UNITED STATES ENRICHMENT CORP. (USEC) |
| References | |
| EA-98-071, EA-98-71, NUDOCS 9807270096 | |
| Download: ML20236S603 (3) | |
Text
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July 20, 1998 EA 98-071 Mr. George P. Rifakes Executive Vice President, Operations U.S. Enrichment Corporation Two Democracy Center 6903 Rockledge Drive Bethesda, MD 20817
SUBJECT:
USEC LETTER GDP 98-0114, DATED JUNE 1,1998, RESPONSE TO NRC LETTER REGARDING THE RECOGNITION OF ISSUES RELATED TO CHILLING EFFECTS
References:
(1)
NRC Letter, Regarding Recognition of issues Related to Chilling Effects, dated December 8,1997 (2)
NRC Letter, Regarding January 15 Meeting and Response Time Extension, dated January 29,1998 (3)
NRC Letter, Management Meeting on Chilling Effects, dated July 14,1998
Dear Mr. Rifakes:
On December 8,1997, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) notified the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) of a concem regarding the potential for a chilled environment to be developing, or in existence, at the Portsmouth and Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plants, in our December 8 letter (Reference 1), the NRC requested USEC to
- 1) assess the ability of diffusion plant employees to report problems without fear of retaliation,
- 2) describe your position regarding whether any actions affecting an individual violated 10 CFR 76.7, " Employee Protection," and 3) describe any actions taken, or planned to be taken, to assure that the matters noted above are not having a chilling effect on the willingness of employees to raise safety and compliance concems to USEC and, as discussed in NRC Form 3, j
to the NRC.
' Following receipt of the NRC's December 8 letter, a public meeting was held at NRC j,
Headquarters on January 15,1998, to discuss the basis for the NRC's concem and to discuss
/
your proposed response time. The January 15 meeting minutes and our agreement to extend the response due date until June 1,1998, were documented in NRC correspondence dated
' January 29,1998 (Reference 2).
l Your general assessment of the nuclear safety culture at the gaseous diffusion plants was provided in USEC letter dated June 1,1998 (GDP 98-0114). Your June 1 letter also requested I
a meeting with the NRC to discuss the details of your assessment. Subsequently, a public management meeting was held on June 29,1998, at NRC Headquarters (Reference 3).
F 9907270096 980720 l
PDR ADOCK 07007001h L
C PDR g j
t G. Rifakes The NRC reviewed the information provided in your June 1 letter and the detailed information provided at our June 29 management meeting, and the NRC has concluded that USEC has provided satisfactory response to the NRC's December 8 letter. First, regarding the ability of employees to report problems, your assessment concluded that: "A significant majority of employees feel a responsibility to identify nuclear safety issues and would feel supported by their supervision for having done so." Second, regarding whether any actions affecting employees violated 10 CFR 76.7, your assessment concluded that: " Based on the USEC investigations of these individual employee concerns and other related matters, USEC l
management is not aware of any action affecting individuals that violated 10 CFR 76.7." Third, regardin0 actions taken or planned to assure that employees do not fear retaliation for raising safety concerns, your assessment concluded that: ".. gaseous diffusion plant employees would report nuclear safety problems without the fear of retaliation"; however, several issues were identified during your assessment for which you are developing an action plan. Issues of j
note were your identification that confidence in the Employee Concem Program is less than l
adequate, and that some localized pockets of concern rC se to the perceived working i
environment existed. As stated in your June 1 letic, inat achun plan will be provided to the NRC once completed.
l l
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.790 of the NRC's " Rules of Practice," a copy of this letter will be l
placed in the NRC Public Document Room.
Please contact Mr. Patrick Hiland, Chief, Fuel Cycle Branch, at (630) 829-9603 if you or your staff have any questions. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.
Sincerely, Original Signed by l
Carl J. Paperiello l
Acting Regional Administrator i
Docket Nos. 70-7001; 70-7002 Certificate Nos. GDP-1; GDP-2 See Attached Distribution i
DOCUMENT NAME: G:\\SEC\\ CHILLING.PLH To receive a co py of this document, Indicate in the box: "C" = Copy w/o attach /enci *E" = Copy w/ attach /enci"N" = No copy OFFICE Rlli:DNMS C.
Rill:EICS lC Rlli:DNMO I)lC-HQ:NMSS l c.
NAME Hiland:irb MV Clayton /lc.
Pedersod 7 Brach vm c man _
DATE 07/M /98 07/17/98 07/ ' /98 ~
07/I7/98 muummummeunsMusumusumumumummumimummuumumuum unummumsumununummimu OFFICE HQ:NRR G.
HQ:OE G
Ril NAME Baker VIA [. MAR Lieberman %m Papeirieso DATE 07/rf /98 07/20/98 07/10/98 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY l
l t
G. Rifakes,
cc:
H. Pulley, Paducah General Manager L. L. Jackson, Paducah Regulatory Affairs Manager l
S, A. Toelle, Manager, Nuclear Regulatory Assurance and Policy, USEC i
J. M. Brown, Portsmouth General Manager D. B. Waters, Acting Portsmouth Regulatory Affairs Manager R. M. DeVault, Regulatory Oversight Manager, DOE J. C. Hodges, Paducah Site Manager, DOE E. W. Gillespie, Portsmouth Site Manager, DOE Paducah Resident inspector Office Portsmouth Resident inspector Office Distnbution:
Docket File PUBLIC IE-07 J. Lieberman, OE E. Q. Ten Eyck, NMSS W. Brach, NMSS D. Cool, NMSS
. R. Pierson, NMSS P. Ting, NMSS W. Troskoski, NMSS W. Schwink, NMSS P. Harich, NMSS l
l Y. H. Faraz, NMSS M. L. Hom, NMSS E. Baker, NRR C. J. Paperiello, Rlli J. L. Caldwell, Rlli i
C. D. Pederson, Rlli Rill Enf. Coordinator R. Bellamy, RI EJM, Ril (e-mail)
D. B. Spitzberg, RIV/WFCO Greens i
i i
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