ML071220127

IA-07-015, Hess, Notice of Violation

ML071220127
Person / Time
Site:	Braidwood, 05531018
Issue date:	05/01/2007
From:	Boland A, Pederson C Division of Reactor Safety III
To:	Hess M - No Known Affiliation
References
IA-07-015 IA-07-015
Download: ML071220127 (5)

Text

May 1, 2007 IA-07-015 Michael R. Hess

[HOME ADDRESS DELETED UNDER 10 CFR 2.390]

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF VIOLATION

Dear Mr. Hess:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a letter dated March 7, 2007, from the Braidwood Station, operated by Exelon Nuclear, informing us of your confirmed positive test for an illegal drug, marijuana. This letter will be placed in your 10 CFR Part 55 docket file.

This confirmed positive test identified a violation of 10 CFR 55.53, Conditions of Licenses and Exelon Nuclears Fitness-for-Duty Program, which is required by 10 CFR 26.20. The purpose of the Commission's Fitness-for-Duty (FFD) requirements is to provide reasonable assurance that nuclear power plant personnel work in an environment that is free of drugs and alcohol and the effects of the use of these substances. The use of illegal drugs is a serious matter which undermines the special trust and confidence placed in you as a licensed operator. Therefore, the violation is categorized at Severity Level III in accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy because the use of illegal drugs by licensed operators is a significant regulatory concern. This violation is described in the enclosed Notice of Violation (Notice). Please note that, in accordance with 10 CFR 26.27(b), future similar violations will substantially affect your authorization for unescorted access to the protected area of a licensed facility.

The purpose of this letter is to make clear to you the consequences of your violation of NRC requirements governing FFD as a licensed operator. You are required to respond to this letter and should follow the instructions specified in the enclosed Notice when preparing your response. In your response, you should document the specific actions taken and any additional actions you plan to prevent recurrence in order to ensure your ability and willingness to carry out the special trust and confidence placed in you as a licensed operator of a nuclear power facility. After reviewing your response to this Notice, including your proposed corrective actions, the NRC will determine whether further NRC enforcement action is necessary to ensure compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," Part 2, Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, enforcement actions are made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRCs document system (ADAMS),

accessible from the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov. A copy of this letter and the enclosed

M. Hess Notice of Violation with your address removed will be made available to the Public after 45 days unless you provide a sufficient basis to withdraw this violation. The NRC also includes significant enforcement actions on its Web site at www.nrc.gov. In addition, this letter will be maintained by the 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 also be accessed from the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov.

Should you have any questions concerning this action, please contact Hironori Peterson, Chief Operations Branch. Mr. Peterson can be reached at either the address listed above or at telephone number (630) 829-9707.

Sincerely,

/RA by Anne T. Boland Acting for/

Cynthia D. Pederson, Director Division of Reactor Safety Docket No. 55-31018 License No. OP-30480-4

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation cc w/encl: Christopher M. Crane President and Chief Nuclear Officer Exelon Nuclear CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED FILE NAME: G:\EICS\07-072 - SLIII - Braidwood Operator FFD.wpd W Publicly Available G Non-Publicly Available G Sensitive W Non-Sensitive To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy w/o att/encl "E" = Copy w/att/encl "N" = No copy OFFICE RIII E OGC1 E D:OE2 E RIII N RIII E NAME Weil Jones Carpenter OBrien Boland for Pederson DATE 04/30/07 04/19/07 04/30/07 05/01/07 05/01/07 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY 1

No legal objection received from G. Longo, in 04/19/2007 e-mail to C. Weil, RIII.

2 HQ concurrence received by e-mail from David Solorio, OE, on 04/30/2007.

Letter from C. Pederson to M. Hess dated May 1, 2007

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF VIOLATION DISTRIBUTION:

ADAMS (PARS) NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE UNTIL 45 DAYS FROM THE SECY DATE THIS LETTER UNLESS APPROVED EARLIER BY THE OCA DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF ENFORCEMENT L. Reyes, EDO W. Kane, DEDR C. Carpenter, OE D. Solorio, OE M. Burrell, OE D. Starkey, OE J. Caldwell, RIII G. Grant, RIII C. Pederson, RIII M. Satorius, RIII A. Boland, RIII S. West, RIII L. Chandler, OGC B. Jones, OGC J. Dyer, NRR D. Holody, Enforcement Officer, RI C. Evans, Enforcement Officer, RII K. OBrien, Enforcement Officer, RIII K. Fuller, Enforcement Officer, RIV R. Pascarelli, Enforcement Coordinator, NRR S. Imboden, Enforcement Coordinator, NRR D. Furst, Enforcement Contact, NSIR E. Brenner, OPA H. Bell, OIG H. Peterson, RIII R. Skokowski, RIII S. Ray, RIII C. Weil, RIII RIII:PA R. Lickus, RIII J. Lynch, RIII J. Kweiser, RIII OEWEB OEMAIL State of Illinois

NOTICE OF VIOLATION Michael R. Hess Docket No. 55-31018

[HOME ADDRESS DELETED License No. OP-30480-4 UNDER 10 CFR 2.390] IA-07-015 As a result of a notification from the Braidwood Station, operated by Exelon Nuclear, dated March 7, 2007, a violation of NRC requirements was identified. In accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy, the violation is listed below:

10 CFR 55.53(d) provides that operator and senior operator licenses are subject to, and the licensee shall observe, all applicable rules, regulations and orders of the Commission.

10 CFR 26.20(a) provides, in part, that each nuclear power plant licensee subject to 10 CFR Part 26 shall establish and implement written policies and procedures designed to meet the general performance objectives and specific requirements of 10 CFR Part 26, and include an overall description of the licensees fitness-for-duty (FFD) policy which must address use of illegal drugs.

Exelon Nuclear Procedure No. SY-AA-102, Revision 10, dated January 10, 2007, Exelons Nuclear Fitness-for-Duty Program, implements 10 CFR Part 26.

Section 4.4.2, Cut-Off Levels for Exelon Fitness-for-Duty Program, of Exelon Procedure SY-AA-102 provides, in part, that the cut-off level for certain substances including cannabinoids (marijuana) has been set at 15 ng/ml for a confirmatory FFD test.

10 CFR 26.27(b)(2) provides, in part, that lacking any other evidence to indicate the use, sale, or possession of illegal drugs onsite, a confirmed positive test result must be presumed to be an indication of offsite drug use.

10 CFR 55.53(j), provides, in part, that a reactor operator or a senior reactor operator licensee shall not use, possess, or sell any illegal drugs.

Contrary to the above, on January 26, 2007, you reported for duty at the Braidwood Station, operated by Exelon Nuclear, after having used an illegal substance, marijuana.

Specifically, on January 26, 2007, Exelon Nuclear required you to submit a specimen for a random FFD test. Initial analysis of your specimen indicated the presence of marijuana. Exelon Nuclear subsequently submitted your January 26, 2007, specimen to a laboratory for confirmatory testing and the results of the confirmatory testing were reported to Exelon Nuclear on January 29, 2007. The confirmatory laboratory testing indicated that marijuana (36 ng/ml) was present in your specimen, which exceeded the 15 ng/ml cut-off level for confirmatory testing of marijuana established in Section 4.4.2 of Exelon Nuclear Procedure SY-AA-102.

This is a Severity Level III Violation (Supplements I and VII).

Notice of Violation Pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.201, Michael R. Hess (Licensee) is hereby required to submit a written statement or explanation to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Regional Administrator, Region III, 2443 Warrenville Road, Suite 210, Lisle, IL 60532-4352, with a copy to the Enforcement Officer at the same address, and marked "Open by Addressee Only" and a copy to the NRC Resident Inspector at the Braidwood Station, with a similar marking within 30 days of the date of the letter transmitting this Notice of Violation (Notice). This reply should be clearly marked as a "Reply to a Notice of Violation; IA-07-015," and should include for each violation: (1) the reason for the violation, or, if contested, the basis for disputing the violation, (2) the corrective steps that have been taken and the results achieved, (3) the corrective steps that will be taken to avoid further violations, and (4) the date when full compliance will be achieved. If an adequate reply is not received within the time specified in this Notice, an Order or a Demand for Information may be issued as to why the license should not be modified, suspended, or revoked, or why such other action as may be proper should not be taken. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the response time.

If you contest this enforcement action, you should also provide a copy of your response, with the basis for your denial, to the Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

Because your response will be made available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRCs document system (ADAMS), accessible from the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov, to the extent possible, it 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 please 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. In addition, this letter will be maintained by the 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 the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov.

Dated this 1st day of May 2007