In the Matter of Mr. Oscar Aguilar; Order Prohibiting Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities (Effective Immediately), 5238-5240 [E8-1489]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5238-5240]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-1489]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[IA-07-029]


In the Matter of Mr. Oscar Aguilar; Order Prohibiting Involvement 
in NRC-Licensed Activities (Effective Immediately)

I

    Mr. Oscar Aguilar 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 of 2004. 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

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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 investigation and inspection, the NRC became aware of an incident 
involving firing pins that had been removed from two contingency 
response weapons in April 2004. NRC inspection confirmed that the 
missing firing pins rendered the weapons non-functional, and as a 
result, FPL was determined to be in violation of NRC Order and Interim 
Compensatory Measures, dated February 25, 2002, Section B.4(f). During 
the OI investigation, Mr. Oscar Aguilar confessed under oath to 
deliberately removing the firing pins from the contingency response 
weapons.

III

    Based on the above, it appears that Mr. Oscar Aguilar, a former 
employee of The Wackenhut Corporation, has engaged in deliberate 
misconduct that has caused the Licensee to be in violation of NRC Order 
and Interim Compensatory Measures, dated February 25, 2002, Section 
B.4(f). The NRC must be able to rely on the Licensee, its contractors, 
and its employees to comply with NRC requirements. Mr. Oscar Aguilar's 
actions in causing the Licensee to violate the NRC Order and Interim 
Compensatory Measures, dated February 25, 2002, Section B.4(f), have 
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. Oscar Aguilar were permitted at this time to be 
involved in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, the public health, 
safety and interest require that Mr. Oscar Aguilar be prohibited from 
any involvement in NRC-licensed activities for a period of five years 
from the date of this Order. Additionally, Mr. Oscar Aguilar is 
required to notify the NRC of his first employment in NRC-licensed 
activities for a period of three years following the prohibition 
period. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202, I find that the 
significance of Mr. Oscar Aguilar'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, 161o, 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. Oscar Aguilar is prohibited for five 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. Oscar Aguilar 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 three years after the five-year period of 
prohibition has expired, Mr. Oscar Aguilar 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 the NRC-licensed 
activities. In the notification, Mr. Oscar Aguilar 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. Oscar Aguilar of good cause.

V

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Mr. Oscar Aguilar 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. Oscar 
Aguilar 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 
HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV, 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 https://
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 https://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 https://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

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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 https://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 
https://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.
    If a person other than Mr. Oscar Aguilar 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. Oscar Aguilar 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 2.202(c)(2)(i), Mr. Oscar 
Aguilar, 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 grounds 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.

    Dated this 22nd day of January, 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
 [FR Doc. E8-1489 Filed 1-28-08; 8:45 am]
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