[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 157 (Monday, August 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41455-41458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19642]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No.: 70-1151; NRC-2009-0355; EA-08-244; License No.: SNM-1107]
In the Matter of Westinghouse Electric Company LLC; Confirmatory
Order (Effective Immediately)
I
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (WEC or Licensee) is the holder
of Operating License No. SNM-1107 issued by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR part 70. The license
in effect at the time of the matters described below was most recently
amended via Amendment 5, issued on April 10, 2009. The license
authorizes the operation of WEC in accordance with the conditions
specified therein. The facility is located on the Licensee's site in
Columbia, South Carolina.
This Confirmatory Order is the result of an agreement reached
during an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
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mediation session conducted on July 27, 2009.
II
On August 11, 2008, the NRC's Office of Investigations (OI)
completed an investigation (OI Case No. 2-2008-002) regarding
activities at the WEC facility located in Columbia, South Carolina.
Based on the evidence developed during the investigation, the NRC staff
identified three apparent violations.
The first apparent violation involved the failure to establish
adequate management measures, as required by 10 CFR 70.62(d), to ensure
that Items Relied On For Safety (IROFS) are available and reliable to
perform their function when needed, in that the periodicity of required
ventilation system filter differential pressure readings, which the
Integrated Safety Analysis specified as IROFS Vent 902, was not
specified in implementing procedures.
The second apparent violation involved two examples in which
information provided to the NRC or required to be maintained by the
licensee was not complete and accurate as required by 10 CFR 70.9. In
the first example, information documented in the corrective action
program and provided to the NRC on September 11, 2007 regarding the
circumstances surrounding falsified ventilation system data was
inaccurate and incomplete as to the identification and employment
status of the individual responsible for the falsification. In the
second example, training records documenting employee completion of
required training were incomplete and inaccurate in that the Electronic
Training and Procedures System (ETAPS) indicated training was completed
when, in fact, it was not.
The third apparent violation involved training records that were
falsified by a contractor foreman, who accessed individual electronic
training records of various employees and acknowledged completion of
certain training requirements, when those training requirements were
not accomplished. This action was an apparent willful violation of
Columbia Plant Administrative Procedure CA-002, Columbia Plant
Procedure System, which states that ETAPS End Users must read and then
acknowledge procedures governing their job responsibilities in ETAPS
before performing work assignments or manufacturing processes.
The results of the investigation were sent to the Licensee in a
letter dated May 6, 2009. This letter also offered the Licensee the
opportunity either to: provide a written response, attend a
Predecisional Enforcement Conference, or participate in ADR
mediation. In response to the NRC's offer, the Licensee requested use
of the NRC's ADR process to resolve the apparent violations.
III
On July 27, 2009, representatives of the NRC and WEC met in an ADR
session mediated by a professional mediator, which was arranged through
Cornell University's Institute on Conflict Resolution. ADR is a process
in which a neutral mediator with no decision-making authority assists
the parties in reaching an agreement or resolving any differences
regarding their dispute. This confirmatory order is issued pursuant to
the agreement reached during the ADR process. The elements of the
agreement consist of the following:
1. WEC acknowledged that corrective actions and enhancements were
warranted to preclude recurrence of the matters discussed in the NRC's
letter of May 6, 2009.
2. With respect to the matters described in section II above and
NRC concerns with respect to precluding recurrence, WEC completed the
following corrective actions and enhancements:
a. As part of the Nuclear Criticality Safety Improvement Project,
WEC has updated procedures and provided enhanced markings to delineate
steps that are critical to the availability and reliability of IROFS.
This program was completed June 30, 2009.
b. WEC revised management oversight for maintenance and contractor
activities by establishing: (1) A Maintenance Operations Manager
position responsible for day-to-day Westinghouse maintenance activities
and (2) a Site Maintenance Manager, reporting to the Plant Manager,
responsible for providing direct oversight of contractor operations,
including contractor corrective action program issues and contractor
training.
c. Required primary service providers (i.e., Greggs Construction,
Prime State Insulation (PSI)) to have a safety/compliance officer to
monitor compliance with procedures and ensure safe operation of
contractor activities.
d. Reset ETAPS passwords for all PSI employees.
e. Provided instruction to all WEC and contractors employees via
the annual required refresher training to not share ETAPS passwords,
and trained supervisors on methods to verify employee training
completion.
f. Developed process and procedures by which WEC will audit
completion of required training on a sitewide basis.
g. Required a Performance Improvement Program for PSI which
includes expectations related to safety, reporting of issues,
procedural compliance, training and fitness-for-duty.
h. Provided independent training for human resources, security and
two Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) managers regarding enhanced
investigative training and documentation techniques for issues which
have the potential to include employee wrongdoing.
3. In addition to the actions completed by WEC as discussed above,
WEC agreed to additional corrective actions and enhancements for the
Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility, as fully delineated below in
Section V of the Confirmatory Order.
4. At the ADR session, the NRC and WEC agreed that (1) The actions
referenced in section III.2 and section V would be incorporated into a
Confirmatory Order, and (2) the resulting Confirmatory Order would be
considered by the NRC for any assessment of WEC, as appropriate.
5. In consideration of the completed corrective actions delineated
in section III.2 and the actions to be taken delineated in section V of
this Confirmatory Order, the NRC agreed to refrain from proposing a
civil penalty or issuing a Notice of Violation for all matters
discussed in the NRC's letter to WEC of May 6, 2009 (EA-08-244).
6. This agreement is binding upon successors and assigns of WEC.
On July 31, 2009, the Licensee consented to issuance of this Order
with the commitments described in section III.2 and section V. The
Licensee further agreed that this Order is to be effective upon
issuance and that it has waived its right to a hearing.
IV
Since the licensee has completed the actions as delineated in
section III.2 and agreed to take the actions as set forth in section V,
the NRC has concluded that its concerns can be resolved through
issuance of this Order.
I find that the Licensee's commitments as set forth in section
III.2 and section V are acceptable and necessary and conclude that with
these commitments the public health and safety are reasonably assured.
In view of the foregoing, I have determined that public health and
safety require that the Licensee's commitments be confirmed by this
Order. Based on the above and
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the Licensee's consent, this Order is immediately effective upon
issuance.
V
Accordingly, pursuant to sections 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 and 10 CFR part 70, It Is Hereby Ordered,
Effective Immediately, that License No. SNM-1107 Be Modified as
Follows:
a. WEC will conduct a quarterly management audit, on a sampling
basis, of Apparent Cause Analyses in the WEC Corrective Action Program.
b. WEC will conduct an analysis of the causes of the falsification
issues identified in section II above, and develop additional
corrective actions and enhancements in response to the analysis.
c. WEC will incorporate lessons learned from this incident into new
employee training and annual refresher training to all WEC and
contractor employees. Aspects to be communicated will include, but are
not limited to, the falsification of the multiple records and/or data,
and consequences of such actions.
d. WEC will conduct an independent assessment of the effectiveness
of the employee concerns processes to satisfactorily resolve WEC and
contractor employee concerns.
e. WEC will conduct an independent assessment of the effectiveness
of the enhanced investigative and documentation techniques in section
III.2.h within six months of issuance of the Confirmatory Order. The
independent assessment will be conducted by a party other than the
developer of the program.
f. WEC agrees to complete the items listed in section V within
twelve (12) months of issuance of the Confirmatory Order, unless
otherwise stated.
g. Within three (3) months of completion of the terms of the
Confirmatory Order, WEC will provide the NRC with a letter discussing
its basis for concluding that the Confirmatory Order has been
satisfied.
Notification to the NRC, as outlined above, should be made to the
Regional Administrator, NRC Region II, 61 Forsyth Street, SW., Suite
23T85, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-8931.
The Regional Administrator, NRC Region II, may relax or rescind, in
writing, any of the above conditions upon demonstration by WEC of good
cause.
VI
Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other
than the Licensee, may request a hearing within 20 days of the Order's
publication in the Federal Register. Where good cause is shown,
consideration will be given to extending the time to request a hearing.
A request for extension of time must be directed to the Director,
Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001, and include a statement of good cause for the extension.
If a person other than WEC 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) and (f).
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 should be
sustained.
A request for a hearing must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-
Filing rule, which became effective on October 15, 2007. The NRC E-
filing Final Rule was issued on August 28, 2007 (72 Federal Register
49,139) and was codified in pertinent part at 10 CFR part 2, subpart B.
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 ViewerTM to access the
Electronic Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing
system. The Workplace Forms ViewerTM 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, he/she 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
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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.
VII
A Request for Hearing Shall Not Stay the Immediate Effectiveness of
this Order.
Dated this 6th day of August 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Victor M. McCree,
Deputy Regional Administrator.
[FR Doc. E9-19642 Filed 8-14-09; 8:45 am]
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