[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9982-9983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3827]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-498 and 50-499; License Nos. NPF-76 and NPF-80]


STP Nuclear Operating Company; Notice of 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 with regard to a petition 
dated May 16, 2006, filed by Mr. Glenn Adler on behalf of Service 
Employees International Union, hereinafter referred to as the 
Petitioner. The petition was supplemented by letter dated June 26, 
2006, and provided to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
during a meeting with the agency's petition review board (PRB) on June 
27, 2006. Transcripts of the meeting are available, as an attachment to 
the PRB meeting summary, via the Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS) on the agency's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and for inspection at the NRC Public 
Document Room, located at One White Flint North, Public File Area 01 
F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. The 
petition concerns the operation of the South Texas Project (STP) 
Electric Generating Station, Units 1 and 2.
    The Petitioner requested that the NRC issue a demand for 
information (DFI) to STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC), licensee 
for STP, to provide the results of assessments of the safety-conscious 
work environment (SCWE) at STP conducted since January 1, 2004; 
summaries of action plans and results of actions to remedy the problems 
revealed by the assessments, including documents mentioned at an August 
2005 meeting convened to discuss the STP SCWE; summaries of action 
plans and results of efforts to remedy problems revealed by such 
assessments in 2001 and 2003; and all correspondence between the NRC, 
STPNOC, and Wackenhut Corporation concerning the 2001, 2003, and 2005 
comprehensive cultural surveys (CCAs).
    As the basis for the petition, the Petitioner stated that, in 1998 
the NRC found that STP had violated Federal law by subjecting four 
employees to a ``hostile work environment'' after the employees raised 
safety concerns. The Petitioner noted that the NRC issued an order 
requiring STP to hire an independent contractor to conduct periodic 
CCAs.
    The Petitioner stated that the licensee hired Synergy Consulting 
Services Corporation. The Wackenhut Corporation took over security at 
STP in July 2001, after winning a 3-year contract for security, with an 
option for 2 additional years. The Petitioner further noted that in the 
2001 and 2003 CCAs, Wackenhut scored poorly on independent surveys 
assessing the STPNOC nuclear safety culture, SCWE, general culture and 
work environment, leadership, management, and supervisory skills and 
practices.
    The Petitioner stated that, despite apparently repeated efforts by 
STPNOC to remedy the poor performance of Wackenhut, a more recent 
survey revealed that Wackenhut's performance problems continued, as 
indicated in the 2005 CCA, and that the STPNOC action plans apparently 
were not successful with respect to Wackenhut and other entities.
    The Petitioner stated that obtaining the documents it identified 
will facilitate the NRC to be better informed about improvement in the 
licensee's SCWE at STPNOC. In addition, the NRC will be better able to 
assess the effectiveness of previous steps taken with Wackenhut and 
other entities for whom problems persisted, despite repeated efforts to 
remedy them.
    On June 27, 2006, the Petitioner and the licensee's attorney met 
with the staff's PRB. The meeting gave the Petitioner and the 
licensee's attorney an opportunity to provide additional information 
and to clarify issues raised in the petition. The summary of the 
meeting and its transcript are available in ADAMS, as stated above.
    On November 21, 2006, the NRC sent a copy of the proposed 
director's decision to the Petitioner and the licensee for comment. At 
the request of the Petitioner, the NRC extended the end of the comment 
period from December 21, 2006, to January 12, 2007. However, the NRC 
staff did not receive any comments. The NRC has included the latest 
update of the results of its ongoing oversight at STP, and made some 
editorial changes to the text of this director's decision.
    The director's decision [DD-07-01] explains the reasons for this 
decision pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR), Section 2.206, the complete text of which is available on the 
agency's Web site via ADAMS and at the Commission's Public Document 
Room, located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and from the ADAMS 
Public Library component on the NRC's Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).

[[Page 9983]]

    The NRC staff denied the Petitioner's request for a DFI to STPNOC. 
Issuance of a DFI is not warranted because the NRC has already reviewed 
and has ready access to all the information for which the Petitioner 
had requested a DFI. NRC has also denied your request to docket the 
documents for which you requested DFI. The NRC will docket only 
documents which are submitted to the NRC. However, NRC is denying your 
request for a DFI, and NRC did not require submission of the documents 
in its Confirmatory Order Modifying License (Effective Immediately) of 
June 9, 1998. Instead, STPNOC maintains the documents for ready access 
by the NRC at the site.
    A copy of the director's decision will be filed with the Secretary 
of the Commission for the Commission's review in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.206 of the Commission's regulations. As provided for by this 
regulation, the director's decision will constitute the final action of 
the Commission 25 days after the date of the decision, unless the 
Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the director's 
decision in that time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of February 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J.E. Dyer,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E7-3827 Filed 3-5-07; 8:45 am]
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