[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5238-5240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-1489]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[IA-07-029]
In the Matter of Mr. Oscar Aguilar; Order Prohibiting Involvement
in NRC-Licensed Activities (Effective Immediately)
I
Mr. Oscar Aguilar was employed as a security officer by The
Wackenhut Corporation, which provided security services at Florida
Power & Light Company's Turkey Point Nuclear Plant (Licensee) during
April of 2004. Licensee is the holder of License No. DPR-31 and DPR-41,
issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) on July
19, 1972, and April 10, 1973, respectively, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50.
The license authorizes the operation of Turkey Point Nuclear Plant
(facility) in accordance with the conditions specified therein. The
facility is located on the Licensee's site in Florida City, Florida.
II
On February 16, 2006, the NRC initiated an Augmented Inspection
[[Page 5239]]
Team on-site inspection to review security-related matters at the
facility. Subsequently, an investigation was initiated by the NRC's
Office of Investigations (OI) during February 2006, in response to
concerns identified by the NRC during the on-site inspection. During
the investigation and inspection, the NRC became aware of an incident
involving firing pins that had been removed from two contingency
response weapons in April 2004. NRC inspection confirmed that the
missing firing pins rendered the weapons non-functional, and as a
result, FPL was determined to be in violation of NRC Order and Interim
Compensatory Measures, dated February 25, 2002, Section B.4(f). During
the OI investigation, Mr. Oscar Aguilar confessed under oath to
deliberately removing the firing pins from the contingency response
weapons.
III
Based on the above, it appears that Mr. Oscar Aguilar, a former
employee of The Wackenhut Corporation, has engaged in deliberate
misconduct that has caused the Licensee to be in violation of NRC Order
and Interim Compensatory Measures, dated February 25, 2002, Section
B.4(f). The NRC must be able to rely on the Licensee, its contractors,
and its employees to comply with NRC requirements. Mr. Oscar Aguilar's
actions in causing the Licensee to violate the NRC Order and Interim
Compensatory Measures, dated February 25, 2002, Section B.4(f), have
raised serious doubt as to whether he can be relied upon to comply with
NRC requirements.
Consequently, I lack the requisite reasonable assurance that
licensed activities can be conducted in compliance with the
Commission's requirements and that the health and safety of the public
will be protected, and that common defense and security will be
achieved if Mr. Oscar Aguilar were permitted at this time to be
involved in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, the public health,
safety and interest require that Mr. Oscar Aguilar be prohibited from
any involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of five years
from the date of this Order. Additionally, Mr. Oscar Aguilar is
required to notify the NRC of his first employment in NRC-licensed
activities for a period of three years following the prohibition
period. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, I find that the
significance of Mr. Oscar Aguilar's conduct described above is such
that the public health, safety and interest require that this Order be
immediately effective.
IV
Accordingly, pursuant to sections 103, 104b, 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, 10 CFR 50.5, and 10 CFR
150.20, It is hereby ordered, effective immediately, that:
1. Mr. Oscar Aguilar is prohibited for five years from the date of
this Order from engaging in NRC-licensed activities. NRC-licensed
activities are those activities that are conducted pursuant to a
specific or general license issued by the NRC, including, but not
limited to, those activities of Agreement State licensees conducted
pursuant to the authority granted by 10 CFR 150.20.
2. If Mr. Oscar Aguilar is currently involved with another licensee
in performing NRC-licensed activities, he must immediately cease those
activities, and inform the NRC of the name, address and telephone
number of the employer, and provide a copy of this order to the
employer.
3. For a period of three years after the five-year period of
prohibition has expired, Mr. Oscar Aguilar shall, within 20 days of
acceptance of his first employment offer involving NRC-licensed
activities or his becoming involved in NRC-licensed activities, as
defined in Paragraph IV.1 above, provide notice to the Director, Office
of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, of the name, address, and telephone number of the employer
or the entity where he is, or will be, involved in the NRC-licensed
activities. In the notification, Mr. Oscar Aguilar shall include a
statement of his commitment to compliance with regulatory requirements
and the basis for why the Commission should have confidence that he
will now comply with applicable NRC requirements.
The Director, OE, may, in writing, relax or rescind any of the
above conditions upon demonstration by Mr. Oscar Aguilar of good cause.
V
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Mr. Oscar Aguilar must, and any
other person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer to
this Order within 20 days of its issuance. In addition, Mr. Oscar
Aguilar and any other person adversely affected by this Order may
request a hearing on this Order 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.
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
[[Page 5240]]
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 other than Mr. Oscar Aguilar 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 Mr. Oscar Aguilar or a person whose
interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order
designating the time and place of any hearings. If a hearing is held,
the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order
should be sustained. Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202(c)(2)(i), Mr. Oscar
Aguilar, or any other person adversely affected by this Order, may, in
addition to demanding a hearing, at the time the answer is filed or
sooner, move the presiding officer to set aside the immediate
effectiveness of the Order on the grounds that the Order, including the
need for immediate effectiveness, is not based on adequate evidence but
on mere suspicion, unfounded allegations, or error. In the absence of
any request for hearing, or written approval of an extension of time in
which to request a hearing, the provisions specified in Section IV
above shall be final 20 days from the date of this Order without
further order or proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a
hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in Section IV shall
be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been
received. An answer or a request for hearing shall not stay the
immediate effectiveness of this order.
Dated this 22nd day of January, 2008.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E8-1489 Filed 1-28-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P