Re: DOE Cites Argonne LabSubcontractor for Nuclear Safety Violati

[William V Lipton <liptonw@dteenergy.com>]

This can backfire for everyone if the notice is issued inappropriately;
especially if the licensee has withheld unfavorable information which is
discovered later; and the regulator is embarrassed.  This can also backfire if
it makes the regulator vulnerable to attacks from the pubic.

The regulator's job is to provide independent, disinterested oversight of the
licensee's activities.  Anything which compromises this role hurts both sides.

The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
It's not about dose, it's about trust.

Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com

"Grimm, Lawrence" wrote:

> Hi all:
>
> It's lunch time, so I think I will burn a few more finger calories at your
> expense.
>
> On my previous post, I suggested that regulators consider issuing a Notice
> of Praise (or whatever they want to call it).  I am serious about that idea.
> It is a powerful reinforcer of doing things properly, and the psychology of
> it gets people out of the "scared to talk to the regulator" mode.
>
> For example, I used the technique at a university. Researchers make honest
> mistakes and spill things. If they handled the problem correctly and
> reported it to me, I would send letters of praise to the Department Chair.
> After the first few praise letters, the number of reported incidents grew.
> It was not a question of more incidents, it was that unreported events
> started getting reported.  I actually saw people reporting minor incidents
> in their survey log books (if a lab's survey records show that it is 100%
> contamination free all of the time, you better be suspicious that they are
> afraid to report minor incidents).
>
> Too often we create a climate of fear.  It's a bad thing in my opinion.  And
> you know that this climate of fear spills over into the public domain. Can
> you imagine the effect on the public if the NRC issued Notices of Praise
> that essentially said, "XYZ Company had a problem, but they handled it so
> well that we think they deserve praise."?
>
> To you regulators out there, give this idea some thought. Properly done, you
> might be able to get a promotion for being the brilliant one to pull it off.
> The rest of you Radsafers should encourage them to pursue the idea.  The
> idea is simplistic, but could have tremendous ramifications that would
> benefit us all.
>
>         Larry Grimm
> UCLA Radiation Safety Division
> *       On Campus: CHS A6-060 MS 957061
> *       Off Campus: UCLA Radiation Safety Div, 2195 West Medical
> Building, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1764
> *       lgrimm@admin.ucla.edu   Phone:310/206-0712   Fax 310/794-5825
> *       If this email is not RSD business, the opinions are mine, not
> UCLA's.
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