[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32071-32072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-15103]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-220 and 50-410 and License Nos. DPR-63 and NPF-69]


Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation; Receipt of Petition for 
Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that by Petition dated April 5, 1999, Mr. 
Robert Norway (the Petitioner) has requested that the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) take action with regard to Nine Mile Point 
Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2. The Petitioner requests that the NRC 
(1) take enforcement action against Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation 
(NMPC) and its senior nuclear and corporate management and, as a 
minimum, against three named individuals for submitting an altered 1994 
employee record to the NRC at an enforcement conference on May 10, 
1996; (2) take enforcement action against these same parties for 
presenting at this enforcement conference a false written record of the 
Administrative Law Judge's (ALJ's) determination in the Department of 
Labor proceeding in Case No. 95-ERA-005; (3) take enforcement action 
against these same parties for the placement of confidential employee 
information into the public record in violation of 10 CFR 2.790; and 
(4) take enforcement action against these same parties for an 
additional act of discrimination, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.7, for 
destroying the Petitioner's credibility and reputation in the nuclear 
industry. In addition, the Petitioner requested that the NRC forward 
these issues to the Department of Justice for consideration of criminal 
prosecution.
    Finally, in addition to these requests for enforcement actions, the 
Petitioner also requested that various other actions be implemented. 
These actions include the following: (1) that the agency perform an 
independent review of all NMPC's docketed files associated with the 
individuals who committed the alleged fraud; (2) that the NRC forward a 
complaint to the Office of the Inspector General for investigation of 
possible deliberate misconduct on the part of the NRC staff; (3) that 
an Independent Oversight Group be established to provide oversight of 
the NMPC Human Resources Department and Employee Concerns Program; (4) 
that a public meeting be held to obtain public comments pertaining to a 
number of issues, including discrimination and the placement of 
fraudulent documentation into public records; and (5) that the NRC 
publicly post NMPC's Nine Mile Point Unit 2 Residual Heat Removal (RHR) 
Alternate Shutdown Cooling Safety Evaluation 96-091 to make it 
available for public comment or require NMPC to re-perform this safety 
evaluation.
    As a basis for all of the Petitioner's requests, he alleged that 
NMPC deliberately created a false employee record and fraudulently 
submitted this record, as well as a false written record of an ALJ 
decision, into the public record, under false pretenses and perjury, 
during a 1996 enforcement conference with the NRC. Regarding the 
alleged false written record of an ALJ decision, correspondence from 
Mr. James Lieberman, Director of the Office of Enforcement, to the 
Petitioner, dated May 3, 1999, stated that the NRC staff had reviewed 
the transcript of the enforcement conference and had determined that 
the NRC staff understood that the document represented the position of 
NMPC management and not that of the ALJ. Therefore, the submittal of 
such a document cannot be the basis for taking enforcement action 
against NMPC. In addition, the Petitioner also submitted a technical 
concern about his continued efforts to address RHR alternate shutdown 
cooling safety.
    The remaining 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 Section 2.206, appropriate action will be taken on this Petition 
within a reasonable time.
    By letter dated June 9, 1999, the Director acknowledged receipt of 
the Petition. A copy of the Petition is available for inspection at the 
Commission's Public Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, 
D.C. 20555-0001.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of June 1999.


[[Page 32072]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Roy P. Zimmerman,
Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-15103 Filed 6-14-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P