Press Release-III-05-046, NRC Proposes $60,000 Fine Against Point Beach Nuclear Plant for Failure to Provide Complete and Accurate Information

Press Release-III-05-046: NRC Proposes $60,000 Fine Against Point Beach Nuclear Plant for Failure to Provide Complete and Accurate Information

ML053530152
Person / Time
Site:	Point Beach
Issue date:	12/19/2005
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-III-05-046
Download: ML053530152 (2)

Text

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 801 Warrenville Road Lisle IL 60532 Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov No. III-05-046 December 19, 2005 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 NRC PROPOSES $60,000 FINE AGAINST POINT BEACH NUCLEAR PLANT FOR FAILURE TO PROVIDE COMPLETE AND ACCURATE INFORMATION The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has proposed a $60,000 fine against Nuclear Management Company for failing to provide complete and accurate information on the critique of an emergency preparedness drill at the Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant in August 2002. The plant is located near Two Rivers, Wis.

An NRC investigation concluded that two plant employees deliberately provided NRC inspectors with inaccurate information about the identification of a problem during the emergency drill.

The problem concerned the companys failure to identify an untimely declaration of an Alert classification during the August 2002 drill. During the drill, the plant staff failed to declare an Alert classification within the required 15 minutes after simulated plant conditions met the Alert criteria. An Alert is the second lowest classification in the system of four levels of nuclear emergencies.

The NRC investigation showed that the NRC, not the company, identified the problem of late declaration of the Alert during a post-drill critique. Subsequently, two plant employees falsified information on the drill performance evaluation form submitted to the NRC showing, incorrectly, that the drill deficiency was identified by the company.

The NRC also made a final determination that the plants tardiness in making an emergency declaration and the failure to self-identify this weakness during a drill critique was a white issue, meaning it is of low to moderate importance to safety. The NRC classifies its findings in ascending order of safety importance from green to white, yellow and red.

Declaring and classifying a nuclear emergency in a timely manner is crucial for proper and timely response to a nuclear accident. We require emergency drills to find and correct weaknesses in the plants emergency preparedness programs so that the plant staff will be as ready as possible in case of a real event. If we are not provided with accurate information about the companys performance during a drill, neither the company nor the NRC will be able to address weaknesses in the plants emergency preparedness program, said NRC Regional Administrator James Caldwell.

Nuclear Management Company has taken corrective measures that included disciplinary actions against the employees involved in the incident and counseling plant employees on the

importance of accurate oral and written communication with the NRC. The employees involved in providing the NRC with inaccurate information were dismissed by Nuclear Management Company.

In 2003 the NRC Office of Investigations referred this case to the U.S. Department of Justice.

One of the employees appeared in the United States District Court, Green Bay, Wis., in June 2005 and pleaded guilty to knowingly making and delivering false written statements to the NRC. He was sentenced to one year of probation, with the conditions that he pay a fine and refrain from participating in any NRC-licensed activities. The second employee cooperated with the investigation and faced no criminal charges.

The notice to the company on the enforcement action will be available online at http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/regulatory/enforcement/current.html and from the NRC Region III Office of Public Affairs. Point Beach documents are available through the NRCs online document collection, known as ADAMS, at http://www.nrc.gov.gov/reading-rm/adams.html by entering docket numbers 50-266 and 50-301.

The company has until Jan. 17 to pay the fine or to protest it. If the fine is protested and subsequently imposed by the NRC staff, the company may request a hearing.