[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 54 (Friday, March 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13705-13706]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-7276]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-245, 50-336, 50-423]


Northwest Utilities Millstone Nuclear Power Station, Units 1, 2, 
and 3 Receipt of Petition for Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that on February 2, 1998, Ms. Deborah Katz, 
Ms. Rosemary Bassilakis, and Mr. Paul Gunter (Petitioners) filed a 
Petition, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206, on behalf of the Citizens Awareness 
Network and the Nuclear Information and Resources Service. The Petition 
requests immediate action to:
    1. Revoke Northeast Utilities' (NU's, the licensee's) license to 
operate Millstone Units 1, 2, and 3 as the result of ongoing 
intimidation and harassment of its workforce by NU management.
    2. Revoke NU's license to operate Millstone Units 1, 2, and 3 as 
the result of persistent licensee defiance to adherence of NRC 
regulations and

[[Page 13706]]

directives to create a ``questioning attitude'' for its workers to 
challenge management on nuclear safety issues without fear of 
harassment, intimidation, or reprisals by NU.
    3. Refer the Nuclear Oversight Focus 98 List and the reported NU 
management attempt to destroy the list to the Department of Justice for 
investigation of a potential coverup.
    As a basis for the Petitioners' request to revoke the Millstone 
licenses, the Petition states that an NU document (Nuclear Oversight's 
Focus 98 List dated January 11, 1998) directs the group to address 
areas needing improvement by focusing on the ``inability to isolate 
cynics from the group culture'' and ``pockets of negativism.'' The 
Petition further states that the list demonstrates the sustained and 
unrelenting policy of NU's senior management to undermine a safety-
conscious workplace at Millstone and that despite 2 years of increased 
regulatory scrutiny of the managerial mistreatment of its workers and 
the corporation's mismanagement of its employees' safety concerns 
program, a ``chilled atmosphere'' remains intact and entrenched.
    As a basis for the Petitioners' request for a Department of Justice 
investigation, the Petition makes the following statement: ``Since it 
has been reported that NU management employees attempted to destroy the 
list, NRC has a duty to refer this apparent deliberate attempt to evade 
the otherwise lawful exercise of authority by NRC to the Department of 
Justice for complete investigation. This alleged attempt to cover up 
wrong doing by NRC's licensee is a potential obstruction of justice 
that should be fully and fairly investigated.''
    The NRC staff is also concerned about the issues the Petitioners 
raised in their Petition. As a result, the staff issued a letter dated 
February 10, 1998, to the licensee requesting more information on this 
issue. The NRC staff will consider the licensee's response to the 
staff's request for additional information before the Commission allows 
restart of any Millstone unit. To this extent, the Petitioners' request 
for immediate action is partially granted. The Petitioners' specific 
requests to immediately revoke the operating licenses and refer the 
incident to the Department of Justice are denied because immediate 
action is not required to protect public health and safety while 
additional information is obtained from the licensee.
    The issues in the Petition are being treated pursuant to 10 CFR 
2.206 of the Commission's regulations and have been referred to the 
Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. As provided by 10 
CFR 2.206, appropriate action with regard to these issues will be taken 
in a reasonable time.
    A copy of the Petition is available for inspection at the 
Commission's Public Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, 
NW., Washington, DC, and at the local public document room located at 
the Learning Resources Center, Three Rivers Community-Technical 
College, 574 New London Turnpike, Norwich, Connecticut, and at the 
temporary local public document room located at the Waterford Library, 
ATTN: Vince Juliano, 49 Rope Ferry Road, Waterford, Connecticut.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of March 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 98-7276 Filed 3-19-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P