STP Nuclear Operating Company; Receipt of Request for Action Under 10 CFR 2.206, 45586-45587 [E6-12912]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 153 (Wednesday, August 9, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45586-45587]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-12912]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-498 and 50-499; License Nos. NPF-76 and NPF-80]


STP Nuclear Operating Company; Receipt of Request for Action 
Under 10 CFR 2.206

    Notice is hereby given that by petition dated May 16, 2006, and its 
supplement dated June 26, 2006, Mr. Glenn Adler (petitioner) has 
requested that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) take action 
with regard to South Texas Project Electric Generating Station. The 
petitioner requests that NRC take enforcement action in the form of a 
Demand for Information that would require the STP Nuclear Operating 
Company (STPNOC), the licensee for the South Texas Project Electric 
Generating Station (STP), to provide NRC with docketed copies of the 
following:
     Any assessments of the safety conscious work environment 
(SCWE) at STP conducted since January 1, 2004;
     Summaries of any associated action plans and the results 
of any efforts to remedy problems revealed by these surveys, including 
the following documents mentioned at an August 2005 meeting apparently 
convened to discuss the plant's SCWE, which contains--

--a [strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats] SWOT analysis 
to assess the issues and actions required and follow-up on these 
actions to improve station alignment,
--outsourcing lessons learned, and
--an evaluation of information technology, supply chain, technical 
training, and Wackenhut to assess the issues and recommended actions;

     Summaries of any associated action plans and the results 
of efforts to remedy problems revealed by such surveys in 2001 and 
2003; and
     All correspondence between NRC, STPNOC, and Wackenhut 
Corporation concerning the 2001, 2003, and 2005 Comprehensive Cultural 
Assessments (CCAs).
    As a basis for this request, the petitioner states that NRC issued 
an order in 1998 requiring STP to conduct periodic surveys by an 
independent survey research firm, after NRC found that the licensee had 
violated Federal law by subjecting four employees to a ``hostile work 
environment'' after the employees raised safety concerns. The licensee 
hired Synergy Consulting Services Corporation to conduct surveys. The 
Wackenhut Corporation took over security at STP in July 2001, after 
winning a 3-year contract for security, with an option for an 
additional 2 years. The petitioner further states that in the 2001 and 
2003 CCAs, Wackenhut scored poorly on independent surveys assessing the 
STPNOC's nuclear safety culture, safety conscious work environment, 
general culture and work environment, leadership, management, and 
supervisory skills and practices at STP. The petitioner states that the 
STPNOC's performance deteriorated below its 2001 performance and that 
Wackenhut's performance problems continued as indicated in the 2005 
CCA. The petitioner also states that STPNOC's action plans apparently 
were not successful in respect to Wackenhut and other entities and it 
is important for NRC to scrutinize the steps taken by STPNOC to rectify 
problems identified in the 2001, 2003, and 2005 cultural surveys. The 
petitioner concludes that, by obtaining the documents identified, NRC 
will be better informed about any improvements in STPNOC's SCWE. The 
petitioner also concludes that NRC will be better able to assess the 
effectiveness of previous redresses with Wackenhut and other entities, 
for whom problems persisted, despite STPNOC's apparently repeated 
efforts to remedy them.
    The request is being treated pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations Section 2.206 (10 CFR 2.206) of the Commission's 
regulations. As provided by 10 CFR 2.206, the agency will take 
appropriate action on this petition within a reasonable time. A copy of 
the petition is available for inspection at the Commission's Public 
Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area 
O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. 
Publicly available records will be accessible from the Agencywide 
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) Public Electronic 
Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, https://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who 
encounter problems in accessing the documents located in

[[Page 45587]]

ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-
397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of July 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
J.E. Dyer,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E6-12912 Filed 8-8-06; 8:45 am]
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