[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 20, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9360-9362]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3104]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[IA-07-025]
In the Matter of Mr. Juan Blanco; Order Prohibiting Involvement
in NRC-Licensed Activities (Effective Immediately)
I
Mr. Juan Blanco 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 2005
through February 2006. 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
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 inspection and investigation in February 2006, Mr. Juan Blanco
admitted during an NRC Office of Investigations (OI) interview that
during a previous interview with OI in April 2005, he provided a
statement that was not complete and accurate. Specifically, Mr. Blanco
stated to OI in April 2005 that he had no knowledge of an incident
involving the removal of two firing pins from contingency response
weapons. However, in a February 2006 interview with OI, Mr. Juan Blanco
admitted that he was shown the firing pins after the pins were removed
from the weapon by the security officer who removed the pins. In
addition, Mr. Blanco failed to report information to FPL or Wackenhut
that was adverse to the safety and security of the facility, as
required by the FPL Behavior Observation Program. Specifically, Mr.
Blanco failed to report that firing pins had been removed from
contingency weapons that were considered serviceable by FPL.
As a result, Mr. Juan Blanco's actions were determined to be in
violation of 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2), which states, in part, that an employee
of a contractor may not deliberately submit to the NRC, a licensee, or
a licensee's contractor, information that the person submitting the
information knows to be incomplete or inaccurate in some respect
material to the NRC.
III
Based on the above, the NRC concluded that Mr. Juan Blanco, a
former employee of The Wackenhut Corporation, has engaged in deliberate
misconduct in violation of 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2). The NRC must be able to
rely on the Licensee, its contractors, and its employees to comply with
NRC requirements. Mr. Juan Blanco's deliberate action in violation of
10 CFR 50.5(a)(2), has 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. Juan Blanco were permitted at this time to be involved
in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, the public health, safety and
interest require that Mr. Blanco be prohibited from any involvement in
NRC-licensed activities for a period of three years from the date of
this Order. Additionally, Mr. Juan Blanco is required to notify the NRC
of his first employment in NRC-licensed activities for a period of one
year following the prohibition period. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 CFR
2.202,
[[Page 9361]]
I find that the significance of Mr. Juan Blanco'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, 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. Juan Blanco is prohibited for three 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. Juan Blanco 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 one year after the three year period of
prohibition has expired, Mr. Juan Blanco 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 NRC-licensed
activities. In the notification, Mr. Juan Blanco 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. Juan Blanco of good cause.
V
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Mr. Juan Blanco 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. Juan Blanco
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 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
[[Page 9362]]
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. Juan Blanco 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. Juan Blanco 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 2.202I(2)(i), Mr. Juan Blanco,
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 ground 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.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated this 11th day February 2008.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E8-3104 Filed 2-19-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P