[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Davis Bessie Messie Now Criminal Investigation
While not downplaying the seriousness of what's happened at DB, I'd like to note that initiating an investigation of this type is not unusual. It is done whenever the NRC believes there is the possibility of "deliberate misconduct.". In this case, the potential deliberate misconduct seems to apply to withholding "material" information, i.e., information that may have impacted a NRC decision.
"Deliberate misconduct" is very difficult to prove, as can be seen by looking at the definition, in 10 CFR 50.5(c): "... deliberate misconduct by a person means an intentional act or omission that the person knows: (1) Would cause the licensee or applicant to be in violation of any rule, regulation, or order; or any term, condition, or limitation, of any license issued by the Commission; or (2) Constitutes a violation or a requirement ..."
Thus, there are 2 parts to deliberate misconduct: (1) It has to be an intentional act or omission; and (2) The person had to know it was wrong. While the incident indicates serious progammatic deficiencies and poor judgment, I do not see any evidence of "deliberate misconduct."
All employees of NRC licensees should also be aware that, in cases where deliberate misconduct is evident, it pierces the corporate veil; i.e., the individual responsible is often held to be personally liable, in addition to the licensee. Look at the "enforcement" section of the NRC web site, under actions against individuals, to see what can happen to you, if you engage in "deliberate misconduct." I saw one case where a health physics technician was found to have engaged in deliberate
misconduct for ignoring a portal monitor alarm.
The opinions expressed are strictly mine.
It's not about dose, it's about trust.
Curies forever.
Bill Lipton
liptonw@dteenergy.com
Norman Cohen wrote:
> > Davis-Besse is focus of U.S. criminal investigation
> >
> > By TOM HENRY
> > TOLEDO BLADE STAFF WRITER
> >
> > OAK HARBOR, Ohio - FirstEnergy Corp. acknowledged yesterday that its Davis-Besse nuclear plant has become the subject of a federal criminal investigation.
> >
> > The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of Investigations - an arm of the NRC that handles criminal matters - has notified the utility that it soon will send its own investigators to Davis-Besse in an attempt to find out if information vital to the safe operation of the plant was withheld illegally, FirstEnergy spokesman Richard Wilkins said.
> >
> > "We will be cooperating with them fully," he said.
> >
> > The NRC would not release such details as the length or parameters of the investigation.
> >
> > "As a policy, we don't comment on any ongoing investigations," said Victor Dricks, a spokesman at the agency's headquarters in the Washington suburb of Rockville, Md.
> >
> > Some high-ranking NRC officials - including Brian Sheron, associate director for project licensing and technical assessment - have said FirstEnergy might not have been allowed to continue operating the plant until the Feb. 16 refueling shutdown if the NRC had been made aware of corrosion evidence during discussions at the agency's headquarters in early December.
> >
> > Mr. Sheron, who was involved in those discussions, has said the NRC was not made aware of the fact that FirstEnergy had been changing air filters in Davis-Besse's containment area every other day since the fall of 1999.
> >
> > While the NRC considers that an important warning sign, the utility has said it never made the connection between dirty filters and a severely corroded reactor head.
> >
> > Company officials have said they believed the rust could have come from other sources.
> >
> > Criminal investigators likely will probe FirstEnergy's explanation for ordering a new reactor head at least a month before notifying the federal agency on March 6 of the unprecedented corrosion problem.
> >
> > Mr. Wilkins said the utility made the decision to order a new reactor head in October. In late January or early February, it signed the final paperwork to buy one from Framatome ANP, Inc., he said. Framatome is a French company with U.S. headquarters in Lynchburg, Va.
> >
> > Though installation of a new reactor head never has been tried at an in-service U.S. nuclear plant, FirstEnergy decided it wanted to attempt that massive project - and take on its total cost in excess of $20 million - regardless of the condition in which the original head would be found after the latest shutdown. That, according to Mr. Wilkins, is because FirstEnergy did not want to deal with a potentially "chronic" problem of diagnosing cracks in nozzles mounted to the reactor head.
> >
> > The nozzle-cracking issue has been around for years, but gained a higher profile from federal regulators last year after a South Carolina nuclear plant with a similar design had unusual circular-type cracks in some of its nozzles.
> >
> > Those type of cracks, according to the NRC, pose a greater danger.
> >
> > FirstEnergy also felt it was prudent to begin thinking about replacing the reactor head now, given that Davis-Besse is 25 years old. The plant is licensed to operate another 15 years, but the utility plans to apply for a 20-year extension within a couple of years, Mr. Wilkins said.
> >
> > Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee had its own investigator at Davis-Besse on a "fact-finding" mission at the request of U.S. Rep. Paul Gillmor (R., Old Fort).
> >
> > Ken Johnson, spokesman for that committee, said last night he hadn't spoken with the committee's investigator, so he couldn't say what the investigator found.
> >
> > 05/23/2002
>
> Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8583 or 609-601-8537; ncohen12@comcast.net UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE: http://www.unplugsalem.org/ COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WEBSITE: http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.
> "First they ignore you; Then they laugh at you; Then they fight you; Then you win. (Gandhi) "Why walk when you can fly?" (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
>
> ************************************************************************
> You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
> send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
> radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
> You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.
You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/