[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 90 (Monday, May 11, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25886-25887]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12394]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-335, 50-389, 50-250, 50-251 License Nos. DPR-67, NPF-
16, DPR-31, DPR-41]


Florida Power and Light; Receipt of Petition for Director's 
Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that by Petitions dated February 26 and 27, 
March 6, 15, 17, 29, and 30, and April 4, 1998, Thomas J. Saporito, Jr. 
and National Litigation Consultants (Petitioners) have requested that 
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) take action with regard to 
Florida Power and Light's (FPL's) St. Lucie Plant, Units 1 and 2, and 
Turkey Point Plant, Units 3 and 4.
    Petitioners request that the NRC take numerous actions, including 
certain immediate actions, with regard to the FPL St. Lucie and Turkey 
Point facilities. These actions include that the NRC: (1) Take 
escalated enforcement action, including modifying, suspending, or 
revoking FPL's operating licenses until it demonstrates that there is a 
work environment which encourages employees to raise safety concerns 
directly to the NRC, and the issuance of civil penalties for violations 
of the NRC's requirements; (2) permit Petitioners to intervene in a 
public hearing regarding whether FPL has violated the NRC's employee 
protection regulations and require FPL to allow the National Litigation 
Consultants to assist its employees in understanding and exercising 
their rights under these regulations; (3) conduct investigations

[[Page 25887]]

and require FPL to obtain appraisals and third-party oversight in order 
to determine whether its work environment encourages employees to 
freely raise nuclear safety concerns; (4) inform all employees of their 
rights under the Energy Reorganization Act and NRC's regulations to 
raise such concerns; and (5) establish a website on the Internet to 
allow employees to raise concerns to the NRC. As grounds for these 
requests, Petitioners assert that there is a widespread hostile work 
environment at FPL's facilities and that certain employees have been 
subjected to discrimination for raising nuclear safety concerns, and 
that the NRC's process for handling allegations and responding to 
concerns of discrimination has been ineffective. In addition, the 
Petition requests that the NRC immediately investigate concerns that 
contamination occurred and remains uncorrected because of the flow of 
water from a radioactive contaminated area at St. Lucie into an unlined 
pond, that FPL is improperly grouping work orders, thereby reducing the 
number of work open orders, that an excessive amount of contract labor 
remains onsite, and that, because NRC inspectors are only assigned to 
the day shift, many employees do not have access to the NRC onsite and 
inspectors cannot monitor safety-related work functions outside the day 
shift. As grounds for these requests, Petitioners assert that the storm 
drains from FPL's radioactive contaminated area flow into the pond and 
that FPL is aware of the problem but has failed to identify or correct 
this and directs its Health Physics personnel to survey the pond by 
sampling only surface water.
    The requests are being treated pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 of the 
Commission's regulations. The requests have been referred to the 
Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. The Petitioners' 
requests for immediate action were denied by letter dated May 4, 1998. 
Copies of the Petitions are available for inspection at the 
Commission's Public Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 
20555.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of May 1998.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission.
[FR Doc. 98-12394 Filed 5-8-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P