ML20113G054
| ML20113G054 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | River Bend  |
| Issue date: | 06/15/1995 |
| From: | Maher J ENTERGY OPERATIONS, INC. |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20113F955 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-96-155 NUDOCS 9609260116 | |
| Download: ML20113G054 (27) | |
Text
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-I UL - s.n..S CF AMERICA i
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"UC :.nn .sr.vvLATCRY COMMISSION I
R _ r . . .
4 OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS .
1 5 NTERVIEW 6 ---------------------------------x )
7 ~N THE MATTER CF- . 1 l
8 INTERVIEW OF Docket No. 4-95-016 ;
9 JOHN CLARENCE MAHER, JR. !
1 1
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-, ....... ____________ ....________x I
Thursday, June 15, '995
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. C:r.ference Room 25 5455 U.S. Highway 61 l
- E St. Francisville, Louisiana l
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. The a'cve-entitled o interview was conducted at 10:30 l l
i I 20l a.m., when where present: i i
1 1
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(M.EliO. M.- - D 5 - 0 'i d , .. ... . .#. f. . . : . .s 3
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2 51
, NEAL R. GROSS
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1 ON BEHALF OF THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION:
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2 JONATHAN ARMENTA, JR., Investigator 3 DENNIS BOAL, Investigator 4 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 5 Office of Investigations 6 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400' 7 Arlington, Texas 76011 8
9 ON BEHALF OF THE WITNESS:
10 (None) 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ,
20 21 22 23 24 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTER $ AND TRANSCRSERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE N W.
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EEOCEEDlHGS
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2 MR. BOAL: For the record, this is an i
3 interview of Mr. John C. Maher, Jr. Is that correct?
4 MR. MAHER: Correct.
5 MR. BOAL: And what does the C stand for in i 6 your name?
7 MR. MAHER: -Clarence.
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8 MR. BOAL: And could you provide me with a 9 home address and phone number.
i .
! 10 MR. MAHER: Mailing address?
I 11 MR. BOAL: Yes, sir.
12 MR. MAHER:
! 13 )Phonenumber--
14 MR. BOAL: Home phone, please.
I 15 MR. MAHER:4 i l A l 16 MR. BOAL: And your date of birth, sir? l 17 MR. MAHER:
i 18 MR. BOAL: Your employer? l
.l 19 MR. MAHER: Entergy Operations, Incorporated.
20 MR. BOAL: And your job title?
1 21 MR. MAHER: Engineer III.
22 MR. BOAL: Which organization are you with?
23 MR. MAHER: Licensing.
24 MR. BOAL: In addition, present at this 25 interview is Mr. Jonathan Armenta, Jr., investigator, NRC i
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( ,I /* l s
I 1 Office of Investigation, Region IV; Mr. Dennis Boal, : (
2 investigator, NRC Office of Investigation, Region IV. And ;
J J
i 3 this interview is being tape recorded by a court reporter, 4 Mr. Joseph Gillis.
I t 5 This is an interview pertaining to violations i .
6 of 10 CFR 50.7, and this is a voluntary interview with Mr. i i
l 7 Maher. Is that your understanding also? l s
l I
1 8 MR. MAHER: Correct. You had pointed out l 4
9 previously that I was picked by Riverbend, as opposed to i
! 10 requested by yourself.
11 MR. BOAL: Correct. We requested it. <
l i 12 Riverbend -- we requested to interview you. However, i !
4 13 Riverbend would direct you to meet with us, but they l 14 cannot nor can we tell you that you have to be present.for J
15 this interview at this time. It is strictly voluntary on 4
i l 16 your part. And that is your understanding also?
! t 17 MR. MAHER: Correct.
i 18 MR. BOAL: Very good. At this time, could I l
i I 19 ask you to please stand, so I could administer an oath to a
' 20 you.
21 Whereupon, i
22 JOHN CLARENCE MAHER, JR.
23 having been first duly sworn, was called as a witness 24 herein and was examined'and testified as follows:
25 MR. BOAL: Thank you, sir. Please be seated.
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1 EXAMINATION 2 BY MR. BOAL: l 3 Q Mr. Maher, could you provide us with your l
4 educational and nuclear employment experience, please.
5 A Education, I have a bachelor of science in I
6 nuclear engineering from Pennsylvania State University, ;
I 7 and a master's in business administration from Louisiana 8 State University. I have been employed by GSU since 1 9 October 1989. In January of 1994, GSU and Entergy merged, t
10 at which time I was employed by Entergy Operations, f 11 Incorporated and have been since that time. ,
12 Q What is the date of your degrees, sir?
13 A The bachelor of science in nuclear engineering,j 14 thatwouldbeDecemberh- )andtheMBAisMayof[L Jb
/ / !
I 15 O Currently your supervisor is -- ;
l 16 A Timothy Gates. !
i 17 O Timothy Gates, and that is in licensing?
18 A Correct.
19 Q And what is your area.of responsibility in l
20 licensing?
21 A Inspections to some extent; in fact, currently l 22 working with an ir.spection. Also fire protection is a key 23 area. Generic issues to some extent, depending on the 24 issues; those have been split to an extent also. Some 25 areas of ASMI. It depends on what work is necessary or NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHOOE ISLAND AVENUC. N W (202) 234 4433 WASHINGTON. O C 20005 / (202) 2344433
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.. ~_ .- -. - - _ . . - - . _ - . . - . - . . . . . - . . _ - . . .. - - _. - ..
I what projects are going on.
2 Q And that is assigned by Mr. Gates to you. Is 3 that correct?
4 A Correct.
5 Q During your employment here at Riverbend 6 Station, have you worked for or with a Mr. Roger Backen?
7 A I have worked with as interdepartmental 8 function; never in the same department, though, and I have 9 never worked fcr Roger Backen. No.
10 0 But you have worked with Mr. Backen.
11 A Correct, 12 O Could you expand upon your work with Mr.
13 Backen?
14 A As , I guess, explained previously, other than 15 just, say, NRC inspections, during which I was required to 16 get informaticn from Mr. Backen to help the inspectors; 17 also after he had switched functions to supervisor over a 18 group that included nondestructive' examination, I had 19 worked with Brad Kimlin (phonetic]. who reports to Roger 20 Backen and had worked with both of them really in 21 providing information to the state.
22 In fact, researching also -- there is a 23 bulleting they had requested. I don't recall the 24 number -- had requested information for a generic letter 25 concerning radioactive programs at utilities. I had NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCR88ERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W (202) 234 4433 WASHINGTON. D C. 20005 (202) 2344433
T I worked with him and Erad Kimlin at that time also, trying f' 2 to pull together the information for that submittal, whichi e
\ 8 3 we never did need to make, because our agreement stated iti ,
4 doesn't require license review of the NRC for radioactive ,
5 program. i 6 Q Have you been evaluated under the EOI's ranking l 7 process recently here at Riverbend Station?
i 8 A I have been told that I have been. Yes. ;
i 9 Q Do you know what your rank was? l, ,
10 A No, I do not. l 11 Q Do you know how that ranking process worked?
I i 12 A They have explained it as a matrix with two ,
13 variables. One is potential; the other being something I i
14 else that begins with a P. l t
15 Q Performance.
l 16 A Performance, correct. Between the two, setting 17 up a matrix, finding a spot in which an individual was 18 ranked on performance and then on potential, and somehow ,
4 19 deriving a number between 1 and 9 that exemplified or '
l l 20 showed the level of the two combined.
I ,
21 Q What was the purpose of that ranking process asl I
22 presented to you?
23 A I guess in general it was as -- I don't know --
l 24 to improve processes, and I guess Riverbend in general. I 25 guess no specific purpose was provided.
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l' Q And in actual purpose, was a reduction in force i 2 achieved by that ranking process?
3 A I never heard the ranking process formally ;
4 be -- that I can recall, I can't remember any formal 5 announcement that the ranking process was going to be used 6 for staff reduction, but I do know that was, well, >
7 discussed by others, but not formally announced or 8 formally stated. And they did have several presentations 9 and articles and publication here on site called, Inside 10 Entergy, 11 O In reality, is it your experience that that is 12 what it achieved?
13 A I can't say it has been my experience, because 14 I am still employed. l 15 Q About your perception of the staff here at 16 Riverbend Station?
l 17 A I couldn't comment on that. ;
18 Q Do you know how -- what was used by your l
19 supervisor to obtain your ranking or your fit into the 20 matrix?
21 A Used by?
22 0 What items were used in order to determine your 23 performance or your potential.
24 A No, I don't. I know that they do have the.PPR, 25 performance planning and review. It is a method of NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRSERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE N W.
(207) 2344433 WASHINGTON. D C. 20006 (202) 2344433 1 i
l 1 you. So I couldn't ask management how you perceive it.
2 A Correct. I understand that.
3 O So I am trying to understand: What is your 1
4 perception as to the purpose of this ranking process?
'S A Other than what I have told, I have not tried 6 to contemplate a purpose behind it. To be honest, I have 7 no opinion with it, simply because the information that l 8 was obtained from it was never shared with the 9 individuals, so it was something that occurred, but it l
10 really didn't impact -- I will be honest; it didn't impact 11 what I did, so I didn't spend much time contemplating its ]
I 12 real purpose, or if it had a purpose other than the l
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13 purpose identified by management.
14 Q Would you be concerned if sometime -- I think 15 it is my understanding that they, management, started 16 informing those who were ranked 9, that they started 17 informing them sometime at the beginning of the year, and 18 I think hopefully by now they would have informed all 9s.
19 :s that your understanding? .
20 A Correct. That is what we were told.
21 Q You are not a 9. Are you a 9?
I 22 A I have not been informed that I am a 9.
l 23 0 So is it.your understanding that they have 24 stopped informing people, or they are still informing 25 people at this point?
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1 avaluations, supposedly that was linked or tied n a way .
2 to the ranking, so I would assume the same information. ,
3 If you assume that all the objectives that you had put in :
4 the PPR and completed those on time and, I guess, in a 5 functional manner, then supposedly that would impact the i i
6 performance side with respect to potential. That i
7 wasn't --
I don't know what went into that. j f
8 0 To your knowledge, was that ranking process, 9 say, the purpose of that ranking process to target groups 10 or individuals for removal from Riverbend Station? .
11 A To my knowledge, no.
12 MR. BOAL: Jonathan?
13 BY MR. ARMENTA:
14 O Mr. Maher, what is the -- what is your .
t ,
8 l 15 understanding of the purpose of the ranking process? ;
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16 A As I had indicated previously, I know we have !
I 17 had a number of meetings here on site; films from Eric 18 Kaiser, Don Hence [ phonetic] indicating that eventually 19 the goal is to be in the upper quartile, and now they have 20 changed that goal to the upper decile of the nuclear f 21 industry. Supposedly this process was just one step in 22 achieving that goal.
23 0 I understand that is management's point of
'24 view. Is that correct?
25 A Correct. ,
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1 Q What is your understanding of the ranking 2 process? How do you interpret it? Why are they ranking 3 personnel as opposed to GSU that never did? Is that j
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4 correct? I-am assuming that. Did GSU ever give you a
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5 ranking number? }
l 6 A There was no announced ranking by GSU that I l 7 know of.
8 0 With EOI, have they given you a rank -- they i
9 have ranked everyone, but they will not tell you.
10 Correct?
11 A Correct. They have stated that they have 12 ranked everyone, but, no, I have not been told what my I
13 rank was.
f 14 Q So what is your interpretation of the ranking :
15 process? I am interested in what you have to say. I ;
16 already know what management has told us, but I want to 17 know what you interpret it to be. l 18 A You are asking for opinion. ;
19 Q That is correct. ,
20 A It would be an unqualified opinion.
21 O Well, I mean, you interpret it -- see, the 22 reason why we are asking you is because we want to get a 23 feel what employees know about the system, how you have 24 interpreted what they told you, and there is no other 25 answer that is correct except you, because we are asking NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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From what I understand, there is a date -- I l
-1 A don't recall the date -- by which all 9s would be 2
3 informed.
4 0 So what was that date?
5 A I don't recall the date, 6 0 Are we past that date already?
I 7 A I believe so. Yes.
8 Q So you are not a 9.
9 A I guess we could assume that, based upon those 10 two facts. Correct.
11 0 So if you were -- whatever your ranking number, 12 do you know if you have been ranked a 1 or a 2 or a 3?
13 A No, I do not.
14 0 Do you know if -- I think at possibly some 15 meetings that you were told, some personnel were told at meetings -- and I don't know if you attended meetings, so 16 17 let me know -- whether the 9s would be advised, and the 18 upper tier people, or maybe even just the is -- I don't 19 know -- would be advised because,of a career development 20 plan for them.
21 Is that correct? is that your understanding, 22 that if you ranked real high, you would also be --
23 A At one of the meetings, yes. I do recall-them 24 indicating that individuals ranked 1 or ranked high would 25 be notified also. In fact, I guess it was is and 9s would NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRSERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N W.
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l 1 he told, and the Is were to put together individual 2 development plans, IDPs or something of that nature, and 3 9s were putting together improvement plans, a device by 4 which they could improve their rankings in the next 5 like --
6 O Have you been contacted on this career I 7 development improvement plans? j 8 A No. No, I have not. f 9 O So you don't rank a 9 and you don't rank a 1.
10 Would that be safe to assume that? ,
11 A Correct. ;
12 Q You are in between a 2 and an 6. i l
i 13 A That would -- applying logic, yes. That j l I l 14 would -- l l
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15 0 Okay. And your understanding as to who ranked l l
16 you is what? Who ranked you?
17 A The way the process was described, apparently 18 the supervisor ranked their group. I don't know if 19 specific numbers were assigned, but at least had an idea l l
20 where they thought the person stcod within their group. ;
21 At that time, the supervisors met with the manager and 22 actually developed a list or a rank -- I am sorry; a list.
23 Everybody was put into a sequential list.
24 O So it goes f rom the supervisor phase, and then 25 from there, they get the listing that you are saying; then NEAL R. GROSS COURT AEPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBEAS 1323 AMODE ISLAND AVENUE. N W (202 234M33 WASHINGTON D C 20005 L202) 234433
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- these superviscrs get together with other supervisors, andl l l
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. 2 ternaos that ;s cassed on to another tier. i
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3 A Ccrrect. Until it got to directors, and then !
i i 4 even there was a site-wide ranking. j l 5 0 In your case, you could have been ranked a 2 ;
I 6 and ended up with a 5 or a 7.
1 7 A In the large --
l 1
8 o Yes.
9 A Correct. !
10 0 Is that correct? )
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__ n Correct. ;,
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_2 O Is _: true that Mr. Fisicaro in a meeting said !
. ill : r.a : if fou der' know what tier you are in, in the upper,l ;
I !
.4i, middle, or bott m tier, you procably -- I don't know what I
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_Ell was said.
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- 4R. ARMENTA: Dennis, do you recall? l 1
l' MR. BCAL: I don't know that he would be in a ! i l
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_ meeting with Mr. Fisicaro.
1 1
.9 BY MR. ARMENTA: 4 1
1 Ultimately you are in licensing. l j 23 C i 1
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__i n It would be Tim Gates, and I will be honest
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__ witr you. *4 hen the rankings were completed, I was working
. I l
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_I' f:r Juv. Davant. Tim Gates rec. orts to Otto Bulich who t, i
14N cer :r:s : 2r Fisicare.
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_?p ; Sc were you :n that meeting when he said i j
e -
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na; -/ou snCu1G /.nCw Wnat Cler
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A : :new :.u::all/ everybody was under the l
- D.
4tl ;mpress;cn they werer going to be informed, either of rank ll 5i or at least tier, 1, 2 cr 3. That was not -- in fact, if i
E you look at the PPR, or at least most recent evaluation, :
I 7 there is a block on it that indicates a spot for rank or, 2, or 3. I don't recall which. And )
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- guess, tier, ' . ,
'l.
9 that is blank on mine.
'3
. O Are there any 9s in your group?
A Not : hat : am aware of, but, again, that was --
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^: : don't think :nere wr a public announcement of 9s, or at
.lu. cas: --
14- ? Are you aware cf some people within your group i
- El that are 9s?
I Currently, 'c.
- Ei A .
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_ ~ll : o /cu -;ncw cf :ther EOI employees that are 9s?
.q n .t e s ,
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.H :- Are they friends of yours or --
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- ll A tes.
t I
- P : Were /cu surcr:. sed : hat perhaps they were i
2llrane.ed9, er n :?
. . A One ;ndifidual in particular, yes. Well,
.,- .; :ua__ . w: ;r.d:/ cuais -- : am scrry -- in particular.
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, ~s Are they w;th;r the nuclear licenstng group? i i
ll A No. t ,
l l
lil.,. ; Or nuclear safety group or other departments? l 4 A Other departments. Engineering.
5 0 Engineering? Have you known them a long time, 6 cr more than a year or two? !
7 A More than a year or two, yes.
8 0 Have you worked with them?
9 A Yes.
1 10 0 Have you been on assignments together?
f 11] A Yes.
1
- i O So y:u .<now more or less how they perform or
- ' s tr.e of their work
- ng hao::s.
.,, .s Some :f their working habits. Again, that ;
l
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would be in a sense a short percent of their working day, l
15 16] anc these would be periodic assignments as opposed to
- !renstant, so that would be only, say, several weeks, maybe
- 7l1 I,
1 81 a total of several months out of a year.
I 15p O Do y:u think that they were treated unfairly by
!l 2 01 the system, or ne rank 9?
I 1
.-N., A We are going cack to --
i 2 : 11 ; Yes. Your perception --
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- A -
qual _fied perceptions?
- 24. iour percepti r : mean, you said you know
- E- ne , you work .;tn ther. You surely have an idea as to I
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1- :ne cerformance _evel. I Ilf A Other car:acles .nvolved; I don't -:now what i 4
'f i
-ll tar:acles were
- aken ;.n
- : acccunt, as I indicated. I i
, s well, i;dn': -- : think that we talked about El performance and pctential.
6 A Right, right.
7 Q Under those two criteria that EOI is using, do 8 you --
9 A But : am sure there are a number of subareas, 10 we could call i:. Obv.ously somebody is not going to look 11 at an individual and ::me up with a number immediately. I I
I l 12ll :n :ne case of :ne of :ne two individuals, I could I
i
_2i; naerstand wny Me pr:cacly knew why, but I am sure that 141 w __ be resolved.
t i
15l 0 why .e was ranked a 9?
16 A Correct. And I am sure that will be resolved.
17 The other individual, ;ust wrong place at the wrong time, 18 and he kind of agreed, but now he is still here and still 19 working with the system.
s 2: O Are cc;n gentlemen under a corrective action 21 plan?
- A No. One has _ eft.
i
- I
- - I '
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'his ranking process, other than to -- from my I i 141' ;ncerstanding, :: deter,;ne your performance _evel --
25 i, _er'3 take /cu. f:r example. Other than to determine --
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~.I Tay : call you John? f; i ' T I ,
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- ; '~ hat way : won' mispronounce your last name.
i 4 John, other than to determine your performance level, l
5 whether it is below average or average or above average, 6 do you know of any other reasons why they would rank 4 I
7 employees?
8 And for the record, I see hesitation in your 9 answer, so let me ask another question, in that: If you 10 have all above average performers and there's ten, my understanding was that one of them, even if he were above i
- 1 t
average, you -- that one of the ten was going to be rated ,
12 : :s that scrrec 7 :s that your understanding? i i
14l A Correct. .
1 15 0 All rignt. So if he is above average, he is
.. t .:: actually a poor performer, what --
- 7 A
- guess that should be qualified --
1 15 C That is where : am coming from with the
_9 a u e s t ;. c n .
i 20 A You are assuming they are in the same group.
.' ',i l
Yes, sure. :
- l ;
i
- l A Let's say we have ten people -- !
I I
I
- 3 H,
- '.e t ' s take a hypothetical situation.
_4! A .Eay :na ?DO pecple on site -- well, we will i
- h ~ a .-;e :: easy; we wil. T.ake 1: -- well, nine people on i d t
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- '.d' 3 ;e, :ne thrcugh nine, and :na _ s a '.1 i t takes to run a l l
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- :ll nur. ear clant. ies. :ne :f -- oe;;, they would have been 4!
21 fan /.ed. ~ don' knCw Ana their --
4 A
4 Again, we have gc: two different sets of E! numoers, tco. Supposedly there is a sequential ranking. !
6 O A what? .
l 7 A Sequential. Start at 1, down to however many j a people here on site, or at least within nuclear safety. l 9 So we have, you know, a person take everybody's name in 20 the nuclear safety group, and, say, there are 90 people. l I
11f : believe there arcund PC people, maybe 100 people. And ,
. 1 l )
- nev were each given a numrer netween 1 and the last
- 1 I
)
. 2!fnumrer, sav, :^ -
7;a: s a ranking.
1
. Il And the.n we a:e a.so talking about assigning
.5l ca.ues :o their performance, another ranking. I don't --
- 6i : guess the way it was explained, they never specifically i
- 7l stated nat the perscn a
- the cottom of the list for i i
18 nuclear safety would be given a 9.
.specia.,.y ::, say, nuclear sa,&ety ,;or some
_f r
- reason. the ; ors they do or the requirements for those l-
_. :cs, wnere everycody ;r :nere was thought m be
- cerf rming tne r :00 at ar acceptacle level, then it would !
' \
l
- p ce ther groups cr -- ce s . : nuess c:ner groups cr, say,
_ 4 11 . inee .ng er :pera:::ns ~aintenance, that would end up i 1
- Ei .avi ng , say. .c re f :ne is i
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1 But supposeoly there was a numeric value ZI i
assigned performance, and then also a ranking by -- :
I
- _uess
- rt was using tnat numerte value, as well as other ,
t 4 variaoles, to come up with a sequential ranking of l' l
5 everyone. So I guess I am trying to figure out. You are 6 saying that just the ranking by evaluation, number 1 l 7 through 9.
8 And, say, we have 100 people on site, and you '
l 9 are saying that at least -- well, say, 90 people on site; ,
i No, it was j
~D
- at least ten of them would have received a 9.
< i
- ~. .ot explained that way.
a
'l '
- l! 0 :s that the way it works, though?
l
- JH A
- h, ; -- from the explanations and -- ]
14ll anf ertunately I didn't get to see enough of the results, 1 a
15 haven't seen any cf the results, so I couldn't tell you. ,
j i I
'6 If we had a bean count with numerics, we could probably 1 j
- ~i snow that cne way or another, whether it did happen or i 18 didn't, but I couldn't tell you without seeing those 19 results. '
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MR. ARMENTA: : don't have any more questions.
2 :l
- l BY MR. BOAL
il Since this part of Our interview is j 22l ,
2 ',
- 29 specifically referenced to case number 4-95-016 and it is 4l> titled ar aAleged dtscriminatt:r against an indivtdual El' .amed Mr. Roger E c r.e n , what : would like to ask vou now l
i NEAL R. GROSS !
ll "OVAT AEPOATERS AND T AANSCRIBERS 1323 AHOCE ISLAND ANENUE N W 2021 234 4433 W ASHINGTON D C 20005 (2C2) 23m33 ,
l
li :.s _f f u cculd expand upon fcur recall of your interface l i.
'l .
4 5
. :l w : : .-~ Mr. Eacken fcr us, p_ ease, ;ust how you went -- how i I
h /t workec witn him and v ur cp;n cn of the working 4 relationship.
5 A I guess when : first started at Riverbend, 6 worked with inspections, frequently inspections overlapped 7 with OA, their employee information for inspectors. In 8 fact, there is a periodic NRC inspection of the QA i
9 department itself. Rogsr was a supervisor in QA, and I 10 ended up working with him for those inspections. I guess 11 that is when we probably first met.
- l Also exit meetings, NRC exit meetinas, QA was l
l
_. :.r: cal an attendee. Far.li:V. review committees, FRC 3 1
l
)
- 4 meetings, : nose are a most weekly, :r they are weekly now, !
15 and he was typical;y an attendee or was typically an 16 attendee of :hese meet;ngs.
- 7 ?.en also mere recently, as I had indicated,
- 8
- ne nondestructive examination, and I had worked with the
- 9 rad:cgraphy license that -- ! guess it is UI has with the
- state, anc guess sucmittals, changes to the license,
- als: :nspect;ons by :ne state of the radiography program,
- anc betn Ken Garner and : had workec with those and had
. : l' w:r'.+c w;;h':.cger and pr: ari_ Erac Luinlan {phcnetic),
-:ce: _z Erad ;u;n_3 s surerv;scr a i !. .. n t
e
._ E j ; ucw wc d ecu :narar:er :e ycur exper:ence with I
l NEAL R. GROSS l
+ COuAT AE AOATE AS AND %ANSCRBE AS 323 AwODE 'SLAND AVENUE N W 2006 234-4433 W ASM!NGTON O C 20005 (20?l 234 4433
Was it pleasant. .npleasant, professional, l
'. Mr. Bacr.en? 1 2 unprefessicnal?
A You could say pleasant. I had no proolems with 2
4 working with him. Never -- at least there were no -- say, 5 professional, pleasant, if those were the two descriptors.
6 Yes.
7 0 Through the -- realizing what you told us !
8 earlier that there was no formal announcement of anyone's 9 ranking, are you aware informally of Mr. Backen's ranking 10 here at Riveroend Station?
11 A No.
.: O Nould you surprised to hear that Mr. Backen was
.3 ranr.ed a 17 14 A No.
'. 5 0 You would not be surprised?
.' 16 A Again --
- ~ C Using your personal opinien, is what we are 19 asking for.
19 A Oh, personal opinion? No. Interface with 20 Roger wasn't infrequent. I often saw him in the hall or
- 21. saw him in passing, cut, say, reviewing his work, he is a
- l ^_evel acove mysel# ua 4s a sucervisor, so I didn't see
, 1 3 ll .. worn tvolcal cw ir response to issues, he was l
24ll /e: surrertr/e er zerv .e:rru. in responcing :c issues ; ,
. (
25' that developed, say, dur:ng NRC inspections or with j NEAL R. GROSS COUAT AEDOATE AS AND T AANSCA'BE AS
{
1323 AMODE ISLAND AVENUE. N W WASHINGTON D C 20005 (202) 234-4433 202i 234 4433
resc.ect to tne rac;cc.ran.nv. crcc. ram ano state tnsc.ections
-I, l
Zi! -- - = acicaracnv crteram.
1 ll '
' ' - : really wouldr't ce able to make an l 4 evaluation of 1 tc 9. :f '.e was ranked a 9, no, I 5 wouldn't be surprised; or a 1, : wouldn't be surprised.
6 :f he was ranked a 9, I wouldn't be able to tell. I u
i 7 O So basically could : conclude that your l' i
I 8 characterization of M:. . Backen is he was competent in your 9 interface, in the position he held, and that you really 10 are not able to draw a performance type evaluation of him?
11 A Correct. : never reviewed work that Roger did,l 1
i
. ;l cut in the interface : had wirr him, I cannot complain. ,
' 1 I
.3! i -le were able tc rescite, as : ct:nted out, issues that l
.4tl were _dentified cy tne state :r by the IJRC, anc trying to [
i i
- E prepare documents fcr submitta;. I l
". 6 MR. ARMENTA: I don' have any questions.
l, l
_7l MR. ECAL: At this point, that is going to l
.B :erminate our questicas pertaining to this specific topic
_ E- wn:ch is the alleced '.arassment and intimidation of Mr. '
l
- I Roger Backen, case numcer 4-95-:16 !
i I
I
- j But c'efore we go cif record, we would just 3
- _ _ .< e to ask you if ycu might have any ccmments you would
.c offer as far as the interview has gone thus far. j
- lil ..ee 41: TF.E '4:T::E55 : : auess : am a 1;ttle puccled asI
.Eli : wny a perscna; :p;n::n :f :ne rank:ng process was --
i e
i I
NEAL R. GROSS l OOVAT AEPopf E AS AND T AANSCRiBEAS
'323 AMODE ISLAND AuNUE. N W 202)2344433
- ASMiNGTON O C 20005 (202) 234 4433
. 'I y.R . EDAL: We_;, ;f : may try to address that,!
, 21 ,tu .<now, we have oeen previded Entergy ocerations, I I
I i
- ~
- ncorporated their cffi;:al package as to what they have i l
l l \
4 provided to the employees as a ranking system. As we 5 informed you, we have some -- we have five cases of I
6 individuals, alleging that they have been ranked unfairly 7 or in violation of 10 CFR 50.7, so we have their i 8 perceptions of it.
9 We have Entergy Operations, Incorporated's 10 perceptions of what they provided to those employees, and 11 so you can see that they are on opposite ends. So what we
- are doing now is trying to interview people who both know i 12 these --iividuals or worr.ed with these individuals, who ,
l I 14 nave also been, fcu know, presented with the same !
I
! i 15 information.
16 So obviously there is a difference in l 17 perceptions, and the perceptions are, you know, indicative 18 of opinions also. So that is why we are asking for yours.
1 19 So I am not sure. Perhaps that might clarify it a little 20 b:t.
21 THE WIT"ESS: Uh-huh.
- - MR. ECAL: But really from the information we l l
- 2i , ave. .: appears tnat there were some gray areas in what j l
l
_4 ll Er:ergy Operat; nc pr:fided, as far as how people were I i
- 5 li r a r '< e o . And sc wnat we are try
- ng to do is find out what I d l
j NEAL R. GROSS
! COVAT AE AORTERS AND TAANSCAiBERS j 1323 AMODE ISLAND AVENUE N W l 202i2344433 w ASHINGTON D C 20005 6202) 234 4433 l
, '.j .ceop_e celieve :r wna: :ne:r opinion cf how tne ranking ;
'.il zystem was made r how eas., individual was ranked.
ll 4 So cas cally :: would reduce down to opinions t
I 4 :r perceptions, and sc we are asking perhaps a sampling of E the employees here at Riveroend Station, and once again, 6 who may or may not know these people that we are working ,
1 7 with. ,
1 I
8 THE WITNESS: Okay. j 9 MR. BOAL: Actually that may know them or may 10 have worked with him. We are trying to isolate our sample j l
'1
_ into people who have been ranked and who know the people j i
- l wno have filed the allegations.
_3l : rea__:e : c: _. failed -- it is kind of l l
14 i:ggy, but we are trying :: explain why we are asking the l
.5 auestions, and pernaps mayce make you a little bit more 16 ccmfortable in wnat we are trying --
, .HE WITNESS: That does make sense. Almost a 18 scatter, and that would make sense.
.9 MR. ECAL: All right. Thank you. j 20 Okay. It is now approximately 11:05 a.m., and 21 we are going to terminate this interview.
t (Whereupon, at 11:C5 a.m., the interview in 2:f 23I :ne acove-entitlec matter was concluded.)
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! 323 AHODE ISLAND AVENUE. N W l WASMiNGTON D C 20005 (202)2344433 gl 202) 234 4433
-. .. . ~ . .
4 Thts is to certify that the attached f
proceedings before the Untred States Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the matter of:
Name of Proceeding: JOHN CLARENCE MAHER Docket Number (s)- 4-95-016 Place of Proceeding: St. Francisville, LA were held as herein appears, and that this is the original transcript thereof for the file of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission taken by me and thereafter reduced to typewriting by me or under the direction of the court reporting ccmpany, and that the transcript is a true and accurate record of the foregoing proceedings.
m / '
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s f l' i
o
.W c? ' A LN k
/'
I Joe Gillis Official Reporter 4
Neal R. Gross and Cc., Inc.
t.
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NEAL R. GROSS COURT AEPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RNODE ISLAND AVENUE. N W 202) 234m33 WASHINGTON D C 20005 (202) 234 4 33
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EXHIBIT 79 j l
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Inform tion in th:s reccid was deleted in a:ccrdance with the freedom of information EXHIBIT 79 At 2 cmp :Ty ~
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