[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 15, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50117-50119]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-24059]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-213].


Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co.; Issuance of Director's 
Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation, has issued a Director's Decision concerning a petition 
dated March 11, 1997, filed by Rosemary Bassilakis pursuant to Title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations, Sec. 2.206 (10 CFR 2.206), on 
behalf of the Citizens Awareness Network and the Nuclear Information 
Resource Service (Petitioners). The petition requested that the NRC (1) 
commence enforcement action against the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power 
Company (CY) by means of a large civil penalty to assure compliance 
with safety-based radiological control routines; (2) modify CY's 
license for the Haddam Neck Plant, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, to 
prohibit any decommissioning activity, which would include 
decontamination or dismantling, until CY manages to conduct routine 
maintenance at the facility without the occurrence of any contamination 
events for at least 6 months; and (3) place the Haddam Neck Plant on 
the NRC Watch List.
    The Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, determined that 
a decision on the first request listed above should be deferred and 
that the second and third requests should be denied for the reasons 
stated in Partial Director's Decision DD-97-19, issued on September 3, 
1997. Subsequently, the Director has determined that the first request 
listed above should be granted in part and denied in part for the 
reasons stated in the ``Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206'' (DD-
99-11) the complete text of which follows this notice and is available 
for public inspection and copying at the Commission's Public Document 
Room, the Gelman Building, 2210 L Street, NW, Washington, DC, and at 
the local public document room located at the Russell Library, 123 
Broad Street, Middletown, Connecticut.
    A copy of the decision will be filed with the Secretary of the 
Commission for the Commission's review. As provided by 10 CFR 2.206(c), 
this decision will constitute the final action of the Commission 25 
days after issuance, unless the Commission, on its own motion, 
institutes a review of the decision within that time.

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

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
 Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Director's Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206 Completion of Previously 
Issued Partial Director's Decision

I. Introduction

    On March 11, 1997, Rosemary Bassilakis submitted a petition 
pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Section 2.206 
(10 CFR 2.206), on behalf of the Citizens Awareness Network and the 
Nuclear Information Resource Service (Petitioners) requesting that the 
NRC (1) commence enforcement action against the Connecticut Yankee 
Atomic Power Company (CY, or licensee) by means of a large civil 
penalty to assure compliance with safety-based radiological control 
routines; (2) modify CY's license for the Haddam Neck Plant, pursuant 
to 10 CFR 2.202, to prohibit any decommissioning activity, which would 
include decontamination or dismantling, until CY manages to conduct 
routine maintenance at the facility without any occurrence of 
contamination events for at least 6 months; and (3) place the Haddam 
Neck Plant on the NRC Watch List. The Petitioners stated that their 
particular concern was the inability of CY management to maintain 
proper radiological controls at the Haddam Neck Plant.
    In support of their requests, the Petitioners noted three 
radiological deficiencies that occurred at the Haddam Neck Plant. The 
first occurred on various dates in 1996 and involved inadequate 
calibration of various

[[Page 50118]]

detectors in the radiation monitoring system. The second occurred in 
November 1996 and involved two individuals who received an unplanned 
exposure while working in the fuel transfer canal. The third occurred 
in February 1997 and involved the release of contaminated video 
equipment to a nonlicensed vendor.
    The Petitioners' requests and the NRC's evaluation and conclusions 
are discussed in the sections below. The Background section provides 
relevant information on NRC oversight and enforcement activities at 
Haddam Neck and briefly describes the Partial Director's Decision sent 
to the Petitioners in September 1997. The Discussion section describes 
the enforcement actions taken in response to the events noted in the 
petition and explains the purpose of assessing civil penalties. The 
Conclusion section presents the Director's Decision.

II. Background

    CY submitted certifications of permanent cessation of operations at 
the Haddam Neck Plant and permanent defueling of its reactor on 
December 5, 1996. Prior to that date, the NRC identified a number of 
significant regulatory concerns regarding the licensee's performance. 
The NRC took a number of actions over the next few months to bring the 
licensee into compliance with applicable regulations. The actions most 
relevant to the Petitioners' requests and concern were the issuance of 
Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL) No. 1-97-007 on March 4, 1997, a civil 
penalty of $650,000 on May 12, 1997, and a supplement to the CAL on 
November 17, 1997. The CAL was issued in response to weakness in 
managing and controlling radiological work at the Haddam Neck Plant. 
The three events noted in the petition were identified in the CAL as 
examples of radiological weaknesses. The civil penalty did not 
specifically address radiological issues, but did identify programmatic 
weaknesses that required prompt and comprehensive correction of 
violations. In the November 17, 1997, supplement to the CAL, the NRC 
found, after conducting several inspections, that CY had achieved 
radiation program improvement in several areas. Subsequently, on May 5, 
1998, the NRC found that the licensee had completed all the commitments 
listed in the CAL and that it could safely conduct significant 
radiological work.
    The NRC issued a Partial Director's Decision (DD-97-19) on 
September 3, 1997, in response to the three requests contained in the 
petition. The first request, to take enforcement action and impose a 
large civil penalty on the licensee, was deferred until inspections and 
investigations could be completed and enforcement actions evaluated for 
the deficiencies noted. The Partial Director's Decision did not 
consider the May 12, 1997, civil penalty to be a response to the 
Petitioners' first request because radiological issues were not 
included in the notice of violation. The second request, to impose a 6-
month moratorium on decommissioning activities, was denied because (1) 
on the basis of experience, there was no reason to expect that 10 CFR 
Part 20 dose limits would be exceeded at the Haddam Neck Plant, (2) a 
senior resident inspector was on site to monitor and inspect the 
licensee's performance on a day-to-day basis, and (3) a confirmatory 
action letter was issued to CY on March 4, 1997, to document the 
licensee's commitments to improve its radiation protection program. The 
third request, to place Haddam Neck on the NRC Watch List, was denied 
on the basis that the inspection program in place at the plant was 
sufficient to monitor licensee performance at a permanently shutdown 
and defueled reactor.

III. Discussion of Petitioners' Deferred Request

    The three radiological deficiencies noted by the Petitioners have 
been inspected and investigated. In considering the Petitioners' 
deferred request, the NRC determined whether violations of NRC 
requirements occurred. Identified violations were then dispositioned in 
accordance with the NRC's Enforcement Policy.
    The first deficiency, involving inadequate calibration of various 
detectors in the radiation monitoring system (RMS) during 1996, was 
identified as a violation by NRC letter dated January 15, 1998. The NRC 
determined that a violation of regulatory requirements occurred in that 
the licensee failed to establish and implement RMS test procedures as 
required by Technical Specification 6.8. Such programmatic deficiency 
on the part of a licensee would normally be subject to escalated 
enforcement action. However, the NRC determined that the provisions of 
Section VII.B.2, ``Violations Identified During Extended Shutdowns or 
Work Stoppages,'' of the Enforcement Policy applied, and it decided to 
exercise enforcement discretion in this case. Therefore, the NRC did 
not issue a notice of violation or propose a civil penalty. This 
decision was made on the basis that (1) the events leading to the 
violation took place before the permanent shutdown of the plant in 
December 1996 and (2) the licensee had already been issued a $650,000 
civil penalty on May 12, 1997, for technical and safety review program 
inadequacies that led to the inadequate RMS calibrations and other 
violations.
    The second deficiency, involving an unplanned radiation exposure, 
resulted in a notice of violation issued to the licensee on April 5, 
1999. The NRC identified several violations that occurred during the 
event and classified them in the aggregate as a Severity Level III 
violation. In accordance with the Enforcement Policy, a civil penalty 
is normally considered for a Severity Level III violation or problem. 
However, the NRC determined that Section VII.B.6 of the Enforcement 
Policy, ``Violations Involving Special Circumstances,'' applied to the 
event, and it exercised enforcement discretion to not impose a civil 
penalty in this case. Therefore, the NRC did not propose a civil 
penalty because (1) the violations occurred before CY's decision, in 
December 1996, to permanently shut down and defuel the Haddam Neck 
facility and (2) CY had already been issued a $650,000 civil penalty on 
May 12, 1997, to address poor performance that existed before the 
decision was made to permanently shut down the reactor.
    The third deficiency, involving release of contaminated equipment, 
was the subject of two enforcement actions, both issued on May 12, 
1999. The first enforcement action was issued as a notice of violation 
to an individual on the basis that he attempted to conceal the release 
of contaminated video equipment to a nonlicensed vendor. The NRC 
classified the violation as Severity Level III. The NRC considered 
issuing an Order to the individual to prevent him from engaging in 
licensed activities at NRC licensed facilities. The NRC did not issue 
an Order to the individual because, among other factors, he was not in 
a management or supervisory position at the facility, and was no longer 
employed in, nor seeking work in, the nuclear industry. The second 
enforcement action was issued to CY for failure to perform an adequate 
survey, with subsequent loss of control of material. However, CY 
promptly achieved compliance by retrieving the contaminated equipment. 
CY then investigated the cause of the release and took corrective 
actions to prevent recurrence. Therefore, because the release of the 
contaminated material and the resultant loss of control of material 
were not willful on the part of the licensee, the NRC classified the 
violation as Severity Level IV and treated it as a noncited violation 
in accordance with Appendix C of the Enforcement Policy. Violations 
treated

[[Page 50119]]

in this manner are not subject to a civil penalty.
    As discussed above, although the events noted by the Petitioners 
constituted violations of the NRC's regulations and certain enforcement 
actions were taken, a civil penalty was not assessed on the licensee. 
This result partially fulfills the Petitioners' request to take 
enforcement action against the licensee. With regard to imposing a 
civil penalty, the NRC Enforcement Policy (NUREG-1600, Revision 1, 
Section VI.B) states, ``Civil penalties are used to encourage prompt 
identification and prompt and comprehensive correction of violations, 
to emphasize compliance in a manner that deters future violations, and 
to serve to focus licensees' attention on violations of significant 
regulatory concern.'' Based on numerous inspections, the NRC has 
concluded that the licensee has taken timely and comprehensive 
corrective actions to improve its radiation protection program, has 
achieved adequate compliance in the time after the events occurred, and 
has focused its attention on maintaining adequate radiological 
controls. An additional civil penalty is unnecessary in light of the 
improvement in the licensee's performance. Consequently, consistent 
with the Enforcement Policy, discretion was exercised to not impose 
civil penalties for these violations. Therefore, the request to take 
enforcement action by means of a large civil penalty on CY in response 
to the events noted in the petition is granted in part, in that 
enforcement action has been taken against the licensee, and denied in 
part, since no civil penalty was imposed.

IV. Decision

    For the reasons stated above and in Director's Decision DD-97-19, 
issued September 3, 1997, the petition is granted in part and denied in 
part. The decision and the documents cited in the decision are 
available for public inspection and copying in the Commission's Public 
Document Room, the Gelman Building, 2210 L Street, NW., Washington, DC.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.206(c), a copy of the decision will be 
filed with the Secretary of the Commission for the Commission's review. 
As provided by this regulation, the decision will constitute the final 
action of the Commission 25 days after issuance, unless the Commission, 
on its own motion, institutes a review of the decision within that 
time.

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

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samuel J. Collins,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 99-24059 Filed 9-14-99; 8:45 am]
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