In the Matter of Mr. Juan Blanco; Order Prohibiting Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities (Effective Immediately), 9360-9362 [E8-3104]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 20, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9360-9362]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3104]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[IA-07-025]


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

I

    Mr. Juan Blanco 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 2005 
through February 2006. 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 
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 inspection and investigation in February 2006, Mr. Juan Blanco 
admitted during an NRC Office of Investigations (OI) interview that 
during a previous interview with OI in April 2005, he provided a 
statement that was not complete and accurate. Specifically, Mr. Blanco 
stated to OI in April 2005 that he had no knowledge of an incident 
involving the removal of two firing pins from contingency response 
weapons. However, in a February 2006 interview with OI, Mr. Juan Blanco 
admitted that he was shown the firing pins after the pins were removed 
from the weapon by the security officer who removed the pins. In 
addition, Mr. Blanco failed to report information to FPL or Wackenhut 
that was adverse to the safety and security of the facility, as 
required by the FPL Behavior Observation Program. Specifically, Mr. 
Blanco failed to report that firing pins had been removed from 
contingency weapons that were considered serviceable by FPL.
    As a result, Mr. Juan Blanco's actions were determined to be in 
violation of 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2), which states, in part, that an employee 
of a contractor may not deliberately submit to the NRC, a licensee, or 
a licensee's contractor, information that the person submitting the 
information knows to be incomplete or inaccurate in some respect 
material to the NRC.

III

    Based on the above, the NRC concluded that Mr. Juan Blanco, a 
former employee of The Wackenhut Corporation, has engaged in deliberate 
misconduct in violation of 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2). The NRC must be able to 
rely on the Licensee, its contractors, and its employees to comply with 
NRC requirements. Mr. Juan Blanco's deliberate action in violation of 
10 CFR 50.5(a)(2), has 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. Juan Blanco were permitted at this time to be involved 
in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, the public health, safety and 
interest require that Mr. Blanco be prohibited from any involvement in 
NRC-licensed activities for a period of three years from the date of 
this Order. Additionally, Mr. Juan Blanco is required to notify the NRC 
of his first employment in NRC-licensed activities for a period of one 
year following the prohibition period. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 CFR 
2.202,

[[Page 9361]]

I find that the significance of Mr. Juan Blanco'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, 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. Juan Blanco is prohibited for three 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. Juan Blanco 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 one year after the three year period of 
prohibition has expired, Mr. Juan Blanco 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 NRC-licensed 
activities. In the notification, Mr. Juan Blanco 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. Juan Blanco of good cause.

V

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Mr. Juan Blanco 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. Juan Blanco 
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 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

[[Page 9362]]

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. Juan Blanco 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. Juan Blanco 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 2.202I(2)(i), Mr. Juan Blanco, 
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 ground 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.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

    Dated this 11th day February 2008.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
 Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E8-3104 Filed 2-19-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P