ML080390256
| ML080390256 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Turkey Point  |
| Issue date: | 02/11/2008 |
| From: | Carpenter C A NRC/OE |
| To: | Blanco J - No Known Affiliation |
| Burrell M R | |
| References | |
| IA-07-025 | |
| Download: ML080390256 (10) | |
Text
February 11, 2008
IA-07-025
Mr. Juan Blanco [HOME ADDRESS REMOVED PER 10 CFR 2.390]
SUBJECT:
ORDER (EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY) PROHIBITING INVOLVEMENT IN NRC-LICENSED ACTIVITIES
Dear Mr. Blanco:
The enclosed Order prohibiting your involvement in U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensed activities (Order) is being issued because you engaged in deliberate misconduct as defined in Section 50.5, "Deliberate misconduct," of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) by deliberately causing an NRC licensee, Florida Power and Light Company's (FPL) Turkey Point Nuclear Plant (Turkey Point), to be in violation of regulatory requirements.
In February 2006, you admitted during an NRC Office of Investigations (OI) interview that during a previous interview with OI in April 2005, you provided a statement that was not complete and accurate. Specifically, you stated to OI in April 2005 that you had no knowledge of an incident involving the removal of two firing pins from contingency response weapons. However, in a February 2006 interview with OI, you admitted that you were shown the firing pins after the pins were removed from the weapon by the security officer who removed the pins.
Your actions in this regard were in violation of 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2), which states, in part, that an employee of a contractor may not deliberately submit to the NRC, a licensee, or a licensee
=s contractor, information that the person submitting the information knows to be incomplete or inaccurate in some respect material to the NRC.
Your deliberate actions in this case have resulted in the loss of reasonable assurance that you may be relied upon to comply with NRC requirements with honesty and integrity. Consequently, it has been determined that an Order prohibiting your involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of three years is appropriate.
The enclosed Order is effective immediately. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, "Orders," you must file a written answer to this Order within 20 days of its date. In your answer, you may request a hearing. At the time you file your answer or sooner, you may also challenge the immediate effectiveness of the order by following the procedure in 10 CFR 2.202(c)(2)(i).
J. Blanco 2 The Order requires you to immediately cease your involvement in NRC-licensed activities. If you are performing licensed activities on behalf of an NRC licensee on the date you receive the Order, you must, in addition to ceasing activities on behalf of the licensee, provide a copy of the Order to that NRC licensee and inform the NRC of the name, address, and telephone number of the licensee. Pursuant to Section 223 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, any person who willfully violates, attempts to violate, or conspires to violate, any provision of this Order shall be subject to criminal prosecution as set forth in that section. Violation of this Order may also subject the person to a civil monetary penalty.
A copy of this letter and its enclosure is being sent to Florida Power and Light Company and The Wackenhut Corporation.
Questions concerning this Order should be addressed to the Director, Office of Enforcement, who can be reached at 301-415-2741.
This letter will be maintained by the NRC Office of Enforcement in an NRC Privacy Act system of records, NRC-3, "Enforcement Actions Against Individuals." The NRC-3 system notice, which provides detailed information about this system of records, can be accessed from our Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/privacy-systems.html.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390, "Public inspections, exemptions, requests for withholding," a copy of this letter, its enclosure, and your response will be made available for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room and from the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System accessible from the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov; select Electronic Reading Room. To the extent possible, your response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards information so that it can be made available to the public without redaction. If personal privacy or proprietary information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, then provide a bracketed copy of your response that identifies the information that should be protected and a redacted copy of your response that deletes such information. If you request withholding of such material, you must specifically identify the portions of your response that you seek to have withheld and provide in detail the bases for your claim of withholding (e.g., explain why the disclosure of information will create an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or provide the information required by 10 CFR 2.390(b) to support a request for withholding confidential commercial or financial information). If safeguards information is necessary to provide an acceptable response, please provide the level of protection described in 10 CFR 73.21, "Requirements for the protection of safeguards information."
The NRC also includes significant enforcement actions on its Web site at www.nrc.gov; select Public Involvement, Enforcement, then Current Issues.
Sincerely,
/RA/ Cynthia A. Carpenter, Director Office of Enforcement
Enclosure:
As stated cc: see page 3 J. Blanco 3 cc w/enclosure:
Mr. J. A. Stall Senior Vice President Nuclear and Chief Nuclear Officer Florida Power and Light Company P. O. Box 14000 Juno Beach, FL 33408-0420 William Jefferson, Jr. Site Vice President Turkey Point Nuclear Plant Florida Power and Light Company Electronic Mail Distribution James Connolly Licensing Manager Turkey Point Nuclear Plant Florida Power and Light Company Electronic Mail Distribution
M. S. Ross, Managing Attorney Florida Power & Light Company Electronic Mail Distribution Attorney General Department of Legal Affairs The Capitol Tallahassee, FL 32304 William A. Passetti Bureau of Radiation Control Department of Health Electronic Mail Distribution
Alejandro Sera Miami-Dade County Emergency Management Coordinator Electronic Mail Distribution
County Manager Miami-Dade County 111 NW 1st Street, 29th Floor Miami, FL 33128
Craig Fugate, Director Division of Emergency Preparedness Department of Community Affairs Electronic Mail Distribution
Curtis Ivy City Manager of Homestead Electronic Mail Distribution Mr. Eric Wilson, President Wackenhut Nuclear Services 4200 Wackenhut Drive Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
ML080390256 OFFICE RII:DRS RII:DRS RII:OR A OGCNAME JMUNDAY JSHE A VMCCREEMClarkDATE 01/07/08 01/07/08 01/07/08 01/14/08 OFFICE NSIR NRR OENAME RCorreia JDyer CCarpenter DATE 12/17/08 01/09/08 02/11/08 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of ) ) IA-07-025 Mr. Juan Blanco ) ) ) ORDER PROHIBITING INVOLVEMENT IN NRC-LICENSED ACTIVITIES (EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY)
I Mr. Juan Blanco was employed as a security officer by The Wackenhut Corporation, which provided security services at Florida Power & Light Company's Turkey Point Nuclear Plant (Licensee) during April 2005 through February 2006. Licensee is the holder of License No. DPR-31 and DPR-41, issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) on July 19, 1972, and April 10, 1973, respectively, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50. The license authorizes the operation of Turkey Point Nuclear Plant (facility) in accordance with the conditions specified therein. The facility is located on the Licensee's site in Florida City, Florida.
II On February 16, 2006, the NRC initiated an Augmented Inspection Team on-site inspection to review security-related matters at the facility. Subsequently, an investigation was initiated by the NRC's Office of Investigations (OI) during February 2006, in response to concerns identified by the NRC during the on-site inspection. During the inspection and investigation in February 2006, Mr. Juan Blanco admitted during an NRC Office of Investigations (OI) interview that during a previous interview with OI in April 2005, he provided a statement that was not complete and accurate. Specifically, Mr. Blanco stated to OI in April 2005 that he had no knowledge of an incident involving the removal of two firing pins from contingency response weapons. However, in a February 2006 interview with OI, Mr. Juan Blanco admitted that he was shown the firing pins after the pins were removed from the weapon by the security officer who removed the pins. In addition, Mr. Blanco failed to report information to FPL or Wackenhut that was adverse to the safety and security of the facility, as required by the FPL Behavior Observation Program.
Specifically, Mr. Blanco failed to report that firing pins had been removed from contingency weapons that were considered serviceable by FPL.
As a result, Mr. Juan Blanco's actions were determined to be in violation of 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2), which states, in part, that an employee of a contractor may not deliberately submit to the NRC, a licensee, or a licensee
=s contractor, information that the person submitting the information knows to be incomplete or inaccurate in some respect material to the NRC.
III Based on the above, the NRC concluded that Mr. Juan Blanco, a former employee of The Wackenhut Corporation, has engaged in deliberate misconduct in violation of 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2). The NRC must be able to rely on the Licensee, its contractors, and its employees to comply with NRC requirements. Mr. Juan Blanco's deliberate action in violation of 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2), has raised serious doubt as to whether he can be relied upon to comply with NRC requirements.
Consequently, I lack the requisite reasonable assurance that licensed activities can be conducted in compliance with the Commission's requirements and that the health and safety of the public will be protected, and that common defense and security will be achieved if Mr. Juan Blanco were permitted at this time to be involved in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, the public health, safety and interest require that Mr. Blanco be prohibited from any involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of three years from the date of this Order. Additionally, Mr. Juan Blanco is required to notify the NRC of his first employment in NRC-licensed activities for a period of one year following the prohibition period. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, I find that the significance of Mr. Juan Blanco's conduct described above is such that the public health, safety and interest require that this Order be immediately effective.
IV Accordingly, pursuant to sections 103, 104b, 161b, 161i, 182 and 186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202, 10 CFR 50.5, and 10 CFR 150.20, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, THAT:
- 1. Mr. Juan Blanco is prohibited for three years from the date of this Order from engaging in NRC-licensed activities. NRC-licensed activities are those activities that are conducted pursuant to a specific or general license issued by the NRC, including, but not limited to, those activities of Agreement State licensees conducted pursuant to the authority granted by 10 CFR 150.20.
- 2. If Mr. Juan Blanco is currently involved with another licensee in performing NRC-licensed activities, he must immediately cease those activities, and inform the NRC of the name, address and telephone number of the employer, and provide a copy of this order to the employer.
- 3. For a period of one year after the three year period of prohibition has expired, Mr. Juan Blanco shall, within 20 days of acceptance of his first employment offer involving NRC-licensed activities or his becoming involved in NRC-licensed activities, as defined in Paragraph IV.1 above, provide notice to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, of the name, address, and telephone number of the employer or the entity where he is, or will be, involved in NRC-licensed activities. In the notification, Mr. Juan Blanco shall include a statement of his commitment to compliance with regulatory requirements and the basis for why the Commission should have confidence that he will now comply with applicable NRC requirements.
The Director, OE, may, in writing, relax or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by Mr. Juan Blanco of good cause.
V In accordance with 10 C.F.R. 2.202, Mr. Juan Blanco must, and any other person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer to this Order within 20 days of its issuance. In addition, Mr. Juan Blanco and any other person adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing on this Order within 20 days of its issuance. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the time to answer or request a hearing. A request for extension of time must be directed to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and include a statement of good cause for the extension.
A request for a hearing must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule, which the NRC promulgated in August, 2007, 72 Fed. Reg. 49,139 (Aug. 28, 2007). The E-Filing process requires participants to submit and serve documents over the internet or, in some cases, to mail copies on electronic optical storage media. Participants may not submit paper copies of their filings unless they seek a waiver in accordance with the procedures described below.
To comply with the procedural requirements associated with E-Filing, at least five (5) days prior to the filing deadline the requestor must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV, or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) a digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal server for any NRC proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2) creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances when the requestor (or its counsel or representative) already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each requestor will need to download the Workplace Forms ViewerŽ to access the Electronic Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing system. The Workplace Forms ViewerŽ is free and is available at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. Information about applying for a digital ID certificate also is available on NRC's public website at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
Once a requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate, had a docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit a request for a hearing through EIE. Submissions should be in Portable Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance available on the NRC public website at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. A filing is considered complete at the time the filer submits its document through EIE. To be timely, electronic filings must be submitted to the EIE system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends the submitter an e-mail notice confirming receipt of the document. The EIE system also distributes an e-mail notice that provides access to the document to the NRC Office of the General Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those participants separately. Therefore, any others who wish to participate in the proceeding (or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a digital ID certificate before a hearing request is filed so that they may obtain access to the document via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically may seek assistance through the "Contact Us" link located on the NRC website at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC technical help line, which is available between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. The help line number is (800) 397-4209 or locally, (301) 415-4737.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not submitting documents electronically must file a motion, in accordance with 10 C.F.R. 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such filings must be submitted by (1) first class mail addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville, Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a document in this manner are responsible for serving the document on all other participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the provider of the service.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information, such as social security numbers, home addresses, or home phone numbers in their filings. With respect to copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use application. Participants are requested not to include copyrighted materials in their works.
If a person other than Mr. Juan Blanco requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10 C.F.R. 2.309(d).
If a hearing is requested by Mr. Juan Blanco or a person whose interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and place of any hearings. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order should be sustained. Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202I(2)(i), Mr. Juan Blanco, or any other person adversely affected by this Order, may, in addition to demanding a hearing, at the time the answer is filed or sooner, move the presiding officer to set aside the immediate effectiveness of the Order on the ground that the Order, including the need for immediate effectiveness, is not based on adequate evidence but on mere suspicion, unfounded allegations, or error. In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions specified in Section IV above shall be final 20 days from the date of this Order without further order or proceedings.
If an extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been received.
AN ANSWER OR A REQUEST FOR HEARING SHALL NOT STAY THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS ORDER.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
/RA/ ________________________________________ Cynthia A. Carpenter, Director Office of Enforcement
Dated this 11 th day February 2008