ML20151V486

Forwards Notice of Violation & Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty in Amount of $1,000 Re Inattentiveness of Operators in Control Room.Info Deleted (Ref 10CFR2.790)

ML20151V486
Person / Time
Site:	Peach Bottom, 05504756
Issue date:	08/09/1988
From:	Taylor J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Alwood E PECO ENERGY CO., (FORMERLY PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC
Shared Package
ML20151V490	List: ML20151V486 ML20151V506
References
EA-88-076, EA-88-76, NUDOCS 8808220303
Download: ML20151V486 (4)

Text

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UNITED STATES i l 8

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LE3IGHATED ORIGIN 1Il

           ....,                                                  Cortiflod By                   g. COA    l Cocket No. 55-4756                           09 AUB 1988 License No. SOP-10085 EA 88-76
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Mr. Edward G. Alwood l HOME ADDRESS DELETED UNDER 10 CFR 2.790

Dear Sir:

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SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND PROPOSED IMPOSITION OF CIVIL PENALTY In March 1987, the NRC received information that control roca operators at Philadelphia Electric Company's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station had been f observed sleeping while on duty in the control room, reading materials not I directly job related, and being otherwise inattentive to the obligations of their licenses. The NRC promptly confirmed this information during the initial  ; phase of an investigation of this matter. As a result, the NRC no longer ha6  ; reasonable assurance that the facility would be operated in a manner to assure i that the health and safety of the public would be protectef, and therefore, issued an Order to Philadelphia Electric Company (PECo) on March 31, 1987 suspending operations of the Peach Bottom reactors, effective imediately. Subsequently, the NRC found that the inattentiveness describsd in tht Order had occurred over an extended period of time and was pervasive. Other examples of inattentive behavior not known at the time of the Order were also identified such as control room personnel being routinely reclined in a resting position with their heads back and eyes closed for indeterminate periods of timet play-ing hand held computer games or video games on one of the creputer display , screens in the control room, and engaging in horseplay. 0 >erators. were aware l of these conditions and failed to take actiun to correct tiem. As a result of I these findings, the NRC conducted an enforcement coaference with you on March 29, 1988 for the purpose of discussing y9ur understanding of (1) these inattentiveness issues, (2) their safety significance, (3) their causes, and (4) corrective , actions taken by both yru and the utility. During that conference, you ' specifically admitted to ywr personal involvement in at least some of this inattentive behavior. Your actions constituted a violation of your individual senior reactor operator license. The violation is described in the enclosed Notice and is classified at Severity Level II in accordance with the "General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions," 10 CFR 2, i AppendixC(EnforcementPolicy)(1988). The NRC recognizes that your license has been teminated. Nonetheless, the i activities described in the Notice were engaged in by you while you were 1 performing duties under your license. Your participation in those activities l was ongoing for an extended period prior to the shutdown and was indicative of l

a complacent and unprofessional attitude by you toward the privileges and I responsibiliMes of your license, contrary to safety, and constituted serious l dereliction of duties in carrying out those responsibilities. Further, in your I role as a shift superintendent, you set a poor example for those individuals l c under your supervision and failed to exercise the command and control /[

responsibilities expected of a person in your position. You should be reminded k i G i 880822,0303 980809 9g

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       . Edward G. Alwood                                    that you held a license from the United States government which conferred upon                     '

you the special trust and confidence of the Anerican people in the safe operation of nuclear facilities and placed you in a position where your performance was expected to be above reproach. Consequently, I have detennined that additional action should be taken to emphasize that license holders are not only accountable to their management, but also are individually accountable to the NRC and have a responsibility to remain alert and attentive at all times to ensure protection of the public health and safety. During the NRC deliberations concerning appropriate enforcement action, the NRC considered the entire spectrum of possible enforcement actions, including , a Letter of Reprimand, Notice of Violation, Civil Penalty, and Orders to Modify, Suspend or Revoke your license. Since your license is not current at this time, an order against your license is not appropriate. Nonetheles:, in light of your involvement in this conduct and your failure to take corrective  ; action concerning subordinates involved in cuch conduct and.after consultetion with the Comission, I have decided to issue to you the enclosed Notice of Violation and Proposed Imporition of Civil Penalty in the amount of $1,000 for the violation in the enclosed Notice. The violation is classified at Saverity L'evel !! in view of your past supervisory role. Althou0h the Enforcement Policy does not provide a schedule of civil penalty arounts for civil penalties issued against individuals, the penalty is based on the schedule provided f:r in Table 1A for other materials licenses. The staff has considered the factors for increasing and decreasing the base civil penalty and has detennined that a j 25 percent increase of the base civil penalty is appropriate in this case to i reflect the added ressensibility you had as the individual in charge of a shift on which a prolonged )reakdown of proper shift operation occurred. You are required to respond to the enclosed Notice and should follow the instructions specified therein when preparing your response. Although you currently do not hold a license, if you should seek any future NRC i approval as a licensed individual, the NRC may require that you either (1) I participate in a rehabilitation program equivalent to the "People. Foundation l for Excellence" course completed by shift supervisots and reactor operators who  : have retained their license, or (2) tustify to the NRC why participation in such a progron is unnecessary, in accordance with Section 2.790 of the NRC's "Rules of Practice," Part 2 Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, a copy of this lei.ter and its enclosures will be placed in the NRC Public Document Room. The responses directed by this letter and the enclosed Notice are not subject to the clearance procedures o' the Office of Manssewnt and Budget as required . by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-511.  ! I Sincerely, s M. Taylor, puty Executive Director ) for Regional Operations

Enclosure:

Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty ec w/ encl: (see next page) 4

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3, .,a .e  : i 3_ 4 ce w/ enc 1: Corbin McNeill, Executive Vice President. Nuclear , PublicDocurentRoom(PDR), localFuhlicDocumentRoom(LPDR) l NRC Resident Inspector  : e Cossenwealth of Pennsylvanta Smith B. Gephart Esq. . l P a

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1 DISTRIBUTION:  ; bec w/ enc 1: , RegionIDocketRoom(w/ concurrences)  ! IECY  ! Congressional Affairs  ! . J. Taylor, DED0  ! W. Russell, RI . D. Holedy, RI J. Lieberman, OE Enforcement Directors, RII-RIII Enforcement Officers, RIV-Y  : F. Ingvar., PA E. Jordan, AE0tD B. Hayes, 01 S. Connelly, OIA F. Miraglia, NRR D. Nussbaumer, 0GPA 0'd/ES File OE/EA File EDO Rdg File

DCS L. Chandler, OGC l

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