[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68200-68202]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-23478]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 55-61336; License No. SOP-11801; IA-07-14]
In the Matter of Keith Davis; Confirmatory Order (Effective
Immediately)
I
Keith Davis (Mr. Davis) was previously employed as a licensed
Senior Reactor Operator at the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station
(SSES). Mr. Davis was the holder of Senior Reactor Operator (SRO)
License Number SOP-11801 issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) pursuant to 10 CFR part 55. The license authorized Mr. Davis to
direct the licensed activities of licensed operators at, and to
manipulate all controls of, the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station,
(facility license numbers NPF-14 and NPF-15). The facility is located
on a PPL-Susquehanna, LLC site in Berwick, PA.
II
An investigation was initiated by the NRC Office of Investigations
(OI) on August 4, 2006, at the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station. This
investigation was initiated, in part, to determine if Mr. Davis
deliberately failed to report an arrest as required by station
procedures on June 27, 2006, on his first day back to work after the
arrest for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol on June 19,
2006. As noted in an NRC letter to Mr. Davis on July 2, 2007, OI
substantiated, based on the evidence developed during its
investigation, that Mr. Davis deliberately failed to report the arrest
as required by station procedure. The letter offered Mr. Davis the
opportunity to either attend a Predecisional Enforcement Conference or
to request use of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), to resolve this
matter.
III
In response to the July 2, 2007 letter, Mr. Davis requested the use
of ADR to resolve this matter with the NRC. ADR is a process in which a
neutral mediator with no decision-making authority assists the NRC and
Mr. Davis in reaching an agreement on resolving any differences
regarding the enforcement action. An ADR session was held between Mr.
Davis and the NRC in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania on September 27,
2007, and was mediated by a professional mediator, arranged through
Cornell University's Institute of Conflict Management. During that ADR
session, a settlement agreement was reached. The elements of the
settlement agreement consisted of the following:
1. The NRC and Mr. Davis agreed with the following facts: (1) Mr.
Davis, while employed as a senior reactor operator at the PPL-
Susquehanna nuclear facility, was arrested on June 19, 2006, for
driving under the influence of alcohol; (2) Mr. Davis did not report
the arrest to the Pennsylvania Power Light (PPL)--Susquehanna
management on June 27, 2006, upon arrival for scheduled work, his first
opportunity after the arrest; and, (3) at the time of the arrest, Mr.
Davis understood that he was required to follow all station procedures
under the terms and conditions of his individual senior reactor
operator license (SOP-11801).
2. As a result of the facts agreed to in Item 1, the NRC and Mr.
Davis agreed that Mr. Davis violated NRC requirements, in that on June
27, 2006, contrary to 10 CFR 55.53, as required by 10 CFR 50.34(c) and
PPL-Susquehanna procedure, NDAP-00-2002, Rev 4, ``Fitness for Duty/
Behavior Observation Program,'' Mr. Davis willfully failed to report to
PPL-Susquehanna that he had been arrested for driving under the
influence of alcohol on June 19, 2006.
3. Mr. Davis, subsequent to the NRC's identification of this
violation, took actions to assure that he learned from the violation
and provided the NRC with assurance that it would not recur. These
actions included attending substance abuse counseling and entering into
Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition Program with the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, which included participating in education awareness and
community service.
[[Page 68201]]
4. During the ADR mediation session, Mr. Davis recognized an
opportunity for other licensed operators in the nuclear industry to
learn from his violation. Therefore, Mr. Davis agreed to take the
following actions in the future to sensitize other licensed operators
to the importance of remaining fit for duty, and reporting any arrest
to the facility licensee as part of the behavior observation program:
(a) Writing an Operating Experience report that will address lessons
learned from this violation which will include a discussion of meeting
the intent of procedures as part of procedure adherence; (b) providing
the written report to the NRC for review; (c) submitting the report to
a minimum of 3 national organizations for possible publication,
including INPO, NEI, and a third organization that Mr. Davis will
identify, and inform the NRC of such when submitting the report for
review; (d) providing a written response to the NRC explaining the
reasons why the NRC can have confidence in Mr. Davis following licensee
procedures and meeting NRC regulations should he work in the nuclear
industry in the future; and, (e) preparing a training plan for licensed
and non-licensed operator training at PPL-Susquehanna regarding
procedure compliance as it relates to meeting the intent of the
procedure, and the lessons-learned from the circumstances which
resulted in this ADR. The subject training plan will be provided to PPL
for their potential use.
5. Mr. Davis will inform the NRC before he resumes work involving
NRC licensed activities.
6. Mr. Davis agreed to complete the additional actions described in
Item 4 within three months after issuance of an NRC Confirmatory Order
confirming the commitments agreed to herein, and will send a letter to
the NRC informing the NRC that these actions are complete. Mr. Davis
agreed to send this letter to the NRC within 30 days of completion of
all actions.
7. In light of the actions Mr. Davis has taken as described in Item
3, and those actions Mr. Davis has committed to take as described in
Items 4, 5, and 6, the NRC agrees to issue a Severity Level III Notice
of Violation to Mr. Davis. The NRC will issue a letter with the
aforementioned Notice of Violation and a Confirmatory Order to Mr.
Davis confirming the commitments set forth herein. The letter, Notice
of Violation, and the Confirmatory Order will be publically available
in ADAMS, will appear on the NRC ``Significant Enforcement Actions--
Individuals'' Web site for a period of 1 year, and will also be placed
in Mr. Davis' individual license file (Docket No. 55-61336, License No.
SOP-11801).
8. Mr. Davis agreed to issuance of the letter, Notice of Violation,
and Confirmatory Order confirming this agreement, and also agrees to
waive any request for a hearing regarding this Confirmatory Order.
IV
Since Mr. Davis has agreed to take additional actions to address
NRC concerns, as set forth in Section III, the NRC has concluded that
its concerns can be resolved through the NRC's confirmation of the
commitments as outlined in this Confirmatory Order. I find that Mr.
Davis' commitments as set forth in Section III above are acceptable. In
view of the foregoing, I have determined that these commitments be
confirmed by this Confirmatory Order. Based on the above and Mr. Davis'
consent, this Confirmatory Order is immediately effective upon
issuance.
V
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 103, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182, and
186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 55, it is hereby ordered,
effective immediately that:
1. Within three months of the date of this Order, Mr. Davis will
take the following actions to sensitize other licensed operators to the
importance of remaining fit for duty, and reporting any arrest to the
facility licensee as part of the behavior observation program: (a)
Writing an Operating Experience report that will address lessons
learned from this violation which will include a discussion of meeting
the intent of procedures as part of procedure adherence; (b) providing
the written report to the NRC for review; (c) submitting the report to
a minimum of 3 national organizations for possible publication,
including INPO, NEI, and a third organization that Mr. Davis will
identify and inform the NRC of such when submitting the report for
review; (d) providing a written response to the NRC explaining the
reasons why the NRC can have confidence in Mr. Davis following licensee
procedures and meeting NRC regulations should he work in the nuclear
industry in the future; and, (e) preparing a training plan for licensed
and non-licensed operator training at PPL-Susquehanna regarding
procedure compliance as it relates to meeting the intent of the
procedure, and the lessons-learned from the circumstances which
resulted in this ADR. The subject training plan will be provided to PPL
for their potential use.
2. Mr. Davis will inform the NRC before he resumes work involving
NRC licensed activities.
3. Mr. Davis will provide the NRC with a letter detailing his
completion of all actions specified in Item 1 above within 30 days of
completion of all actions.
The NRC Region I Regional Administrator may relax or rescind, in
writing, any of the above conditions upon a showing by Mr. Davis of
good cause.
VI
Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other
than Mr. Davis, may request a hearing within 20 days of its issuance.
Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the
time to answer or request a hearing. A request for extension of time
must be directed to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, and include a statement of good cause for the
extension.
A request for a hearing must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-
Filing rule, which the NRC promulgated in August, 2007, 72 FR 49,139
(Aug. 28, 2007). The E-Filing process requires participants to submit
and serve documents over the internet or, in some cases, to mail copies
on electronic optical storage media. Participants may not submit paper
copies of their filings unless they seek a waiver in accordance with
the procedures described below.
To comply with the procedural requirements associated with E-
Filing, at least five (5) days prior to the filing deadline the
requestor must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at
[email protected], or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) a
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal
server for any NRC proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2)
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances
when the requestor (or its counsel or representative) already holds an
NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each requestor will need to
download the Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ to access the Electronic
Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing system. The
Workplace Forms Viewer\TM\ is free and is available at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. Information
about applying for a digital ID certificate also is available on NRC's
public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
[[Page 68202]]
Once a requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate, had a
docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit a
request for a hearing through EIE. Submissions should be in Portable
Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance available on the
NRC public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
A filing is considered complete at the time the filer submits its
document through EIE. To be timely, electronic filings must be
submitted to the EIE system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on
the due date. Upon receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-
stamps the document and sends the submitter an e-mail notice confirming
receipt of the document. The EIE system also distributes an e-mail
notice that provides access to the document to the NRC Office of the
General Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the
Secretary that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the
filer need not serve the document on those participants separately.
Therefore, any others who wish to participate in the proceeding (or
their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a digital
ID certificate before a hearing request is filed so that they may
obtain access to the document via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically may seek assistance through the
``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC technical help line,
which is available between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday. The help line number is (800) 397-4209 or
locally, (301) 415-4737.
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file a motion, in accordance
with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing requesting
authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such
filings must be submitted by (1) first class mail addressed to the
Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited
delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852,
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a
document in this manner are responsible for serving the document on all
other participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail
as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or
expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the
provider of the service.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant
to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or
a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to include personal
privacy information, such as social security numbers, home addresses,
or home phone numbers in their filings. With respect to copyrighted
works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the
adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use application,
participants are requested not to include copyrighted materials in
their works.
If a person requests a hearing, that person shall set forth with
particularity the manner in which his interest is adversely affected by
this Order and shall address the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d).
If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely
affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order shall be
sustained. An answer or a request for a hearing shall not stay the
effectiveness date of this order.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated this 26th day of November 2007.
Marc L. Dapas,
Deputy Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. E7-23478 Filed 12-3-07; 8:45 am]
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