In the Matter of Edward G. Johnson; Confirmatory Order (Effective Immediately), 6595-6598 [2012-2863]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6595-6598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-2863]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0033; Docket No. 55-33166; License No. OP-31438; IA-11-061]


In the Matter of Edward G. Johnson; Confirmatory Order (Effective 
Immediately)

I

    Mr. Edward G. Johnson is the holder of Reactor Operator License No. 
OP-31438 issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or 
Commission) pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, the 
Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended (Public Law 93-438), 
effective July 18, 2008. The license authorizes Mr. Johnson to 
manipulate the controls of the Palisades Nuclear Plant, Facility 
License No. DPR-20.
    This Confirmatory Order is the result of an agreement reached 
during an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mediation session 
conducted on December 20, 2011.

II

    On December 7, 2010, the NRC Office of Investigations (OI) 
initiated an investigation (OI Case No. 3-2011-003) associated with Mr. 
Johnson's apparent violation of procedure requirements as an at-the-
controls reactor operator at the Palisades Nuclear Plant, by removing 
himself from his watch standing responsibilities without proper 
turnover and approval from the Control Room Supervisor on October 23, 
2010. Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy) is the facility 
licensee for the Palisades Nuclear Plant.
    Based on the results of the OI investigation, the NRC identified 
one apparent violation. The apparent violation involved Mr. Johnson, as 
an at-the-controls reactor operator, leaving the at-the-controls area 
of the Control Room without providing a turnover to a qualified 
individual and obtaining permission from the Control Room Supervisor. 
Mr. Johnson's actions were contrary to Palisades Technical 
Specification 5.4.1.a, as implemented

[[Page 6596]]

through Entergy Nuclear Management Manual EN-OP-115, Revision 9, 
``Conduct of Operations.'' Specifically, EN-OP-115, Section 4.13.b, 
requires that the reactor operator at-the-controls is to remain in the 
at-the-controls area of the Control Room except as necessary to 
transition from one at-the-controls area to another. Section 5.11 
requires that in the case where a Control Room operator needs to be 
relieved during their shift, permission must be granted by the Shift 
Manager or Control Room Supervisor, as applicable, and a verbal 
turnover is conducted to a qualified individual.
    On December 20, 2011, the NRC and Mr. Johnson met in an ADR session 
mediated by a professional mediator, arranged through Cornell 
University's Institute on Conflict Resolution. Alternative Dispute 
Resolution is a process in which a neutral mediator with no decision-
making authority assists the parties in reaching an agreement on 
resolving any differences regarding the dispute. This Confirmatory 
Order is issued pursuant to the agreement reached during the ADR 
process.

III

    In response to the NRC's offer, Mr. Johnson requested use of the 
NRC's ADR process to resolve differences he had with the NRC. During an 
ADR session on December 20, 2011, a preliminary settlement agreement 
was reached. The elements of the agreement consisted of the following:
    1. Prior to resumption of licensed duties, Mr. Johnson agreed to 
participate in the Entergy Remediation Plan developed for Mr. Johnson 
as a licensed operator at Palisades. Significant components of this 
Remediation Plan require that Mr. Johnson:
    (a) Research and provide presentations to senior Palisades 
leadership and Operations personnel on the event and the associated 
duties and responsibilities of a licensed reactor operator;
    (b) Participate in interviews with senior Entergy management to 
assess his eligibility and readiness to resume licensed duties;
    (c) Complete at least 40 hours of ``Under Instruction'' watch on 
each shift as a licensed reactor operator and receive a favorable 
recommendation from each Shift Manager; and,
    (d) Participate in a simulator scenario and associated training 
that include handling stressful situations and conflict management.
    Mr. Johnson agreed to notify the NRC Region III Enforcement/
Investigations Officer in writing within 14 days of either the 
successful completion of the Remediation Plan or the termination of the 
plan by either Mr. Johnson or Entergy.
    2. Mr. Johnson recognizes an opportunity for licensed operators at 
other nuclear facilities to learn from his violation. Mr. Johnson 
agreed to convey his personal lessons learned from this event by 
authoring and submitting an article to the Communicator (the 
publication of the Professional Reactor Operator Society) requesting 
publication therein. Mr. Johnson agreed that the article will contain a 
description of the events of October 22-23, 2010; his personal lessons 
learned from the event, including his understanding of the importance 
of teamwork; the safety and legal responsibilities of a licensed 
reactor operator and the responsibilities to public safety; the 
corrective actions taken by Mr. Johnson; and Mr. Johnson's interactions 
with the NRC resulting from the violation. Mr. Johnson agreed to submit 
the draft article to the NRC Region III Enforcement/Investigations 
Officer within 30 days of the issuance of the Confirmatory Order and 
agreed to submit the final article to the Professional Reactor Operator 
Society for possible publication, after providing 15 days for NRC 
comment, and no later than 60 days of the date of the Confirmatory 
Order. Within 7 days of Mr. Johnson's submission to the Professional 
Reactor Operator Society, Mr. Johnson agreed to provide a copy of that 
submission to the NRC Region III Enforcement/Investigations Officer.
    3. The NRC agreed not to pursue any further enforcement action in 
connection with the NRC's October 28, 2011, letter to Mr. Johnson. This 
does not prohibit NRC from taking enforcement action in accordance with 
the NRC Enforcement Policy, if Mr. Johnson commits a similar violation 
in the future or violates the Order.
    On January 17, 2012, Mr. Johnson consented to issuing this 
Confirmatory Order with the commitments, as described in Section V 
below. Mr. Johnson further agreed that this Confirmatory Order is to be 
effective upon issuance and that Mr. Johnson has waived his right to a 
hearing.

IV

    Since Mr. Johnson has agreed to take additional actions to address 
NRC concerns, as set forth in Section III above, the NRC has concluded 
that its concerns can be resolved through issuance of this Confirmatory 
Order.
    We find that Mr. Johnson's commitments as set forth in Section V 
are acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these commitments 
the public health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the 
foregoing, we have determined that public health and safety require 
that Mr. Johnson's commitments be confirmed by this Confirmatory Order. 
Based on the above and Mr. Johnson's consent, this Confirmatory Order 
is immediately effective upon issuance.

V

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 81, 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 and 10 CFR part 55, it is hereby ordered, 
effective immediately, that:
    1. Prior to resumption of licensed duties, Mr. Johnson shall 
participate in the Entergy Remediation Plan developed for Mr. Johnson 
as a licensed operator at Palisades Nuclear Plant. Significant 
components of this Remediation Plan require that Mr. Johnson shall:
    (a) Research and provide presentations to senior Palisades 
leadership and Operations personnel on the event and the associated 
duties and responsibilities of a licensed reactor operator;
    (b) Participate in interviews with senior Entergy management to 
assess his eligibility and readiness to resume licensed duties;
    (c) Complete at least 40 hours of ``Under Instruction'' watch on 
each shift as a licensed reactor operator and receive a favorable 
recommendation from each Shift Manager; and,
    (d) Participate in a simulator scenario and associated training 
that include handling stressful situations and conflict management.
    Mr. Johnson shall notify the NRC Region III Enforcement/
Investigations Officer in writing within 14 days of either the 
successful completion of the Remediation Plan or the termination of the 
plan by either Mr. Johnson or Entergy.
    2. Mr. Johnson shall convey his personal lessons learned from this 
event by authoring and submitting an article to the Communicator (the 
publication of the Professional Reactor Operator Society) requesting 
publication therein. Mr. Johnson agreed that the article will contain a 
description of the events of October 22-23, 2010; his personal lessons 
learned from the event, including his understanding of the importance 
of teamwork; the safety and legal responsibilities of a licensed 
reactor operator and the responsibilities to public safety; the 
corrective actions taken by Mr. Johnson; and Mr. Johnson's interactions 
with the NRC resulting

[[Page 6597]]

from the violation. Mr. Johnson shall submit the draft article to the 
NRC Region III Enforcement/Investigations Officer within 30 days of the 
issuance of the confirmatory order and shall submit the final article 
to the Professional Reactor Operator Society for possible publication, 
after providing 15 days for NRC comment, and no later than 60 days of 
the date of the confirmatory order. Within 7 days of Mr. Johnson's 
submission to the Professional Reactor Operator Society, Mr. Johnson 
shall provide a copy of that submission to the NRC Region III 
Enforcement/Investigations Officer.
    The Regional Administrator, Region III, NRC, may, in writing, relax 
or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by Mr. 
Johnson of good cause.

VI

    Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other 
than Mr. Johnson, may request a hearing within 20 days of its 
publication in the Federal Register. Where good cause is shown, 
consideration will be given to extending the time to request a hearing. 
A request for extension of time must be made in writing to the 
Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555, and include a statement of good cause for the 
extension.
    All documents filed in the NRC's adjudicatory proceedings, 
including a request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, any 
motion or other document filed in the proceeding prior to the 
submission of a request for hearing or petition to intervene, and 
documents filed by interested governmental entities participating under 
10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule 
(72 FR 49139, August 28, 2007). The E-Filing process requires 
participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the 
internet, or in some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media. 
Participants may not submit paper copies of their filings unless they 
seek an exemption in accordance with the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the 
Office of the Secretary by email at hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by 
telephone at (301) 415-1677, to request: (1) a digital identification 
(ID) certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal 
server for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise 
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a request or 
petition for hearing (even in instances in which the participant, or 
its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-issued digital ID 
certificate). Based upon this information, the Secretary will establish 
an electronic docket for the hearing in this proceeding if the 
Secretary has not already established an electronic docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on the NRC's public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html. System requirements for accessing 
the E-Submittal server are detailed in the NRC's ``Guidance for 
Electronic Submission,'' which is available on the agency's public Web 
site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants 
may attempt to use other software not listed on the Web site, but 
should note that the NRC's E-Filing system does not support unlisted 
software, and the NRC Meta System Help Desk will not be able to offer 
assistance in using unlisted software.
    If a participant is electronically submitting a document to the NRC 
in accordance with the E-Filing rule, the participant must file the 
document using the NRC's online, Web-based submission form. In order to 
serve documents through the Electronic Information Exchange System, 
users will be required to install a Web browser plug-in from the NRC's 
Web site. Further information on the Web-based submission form, 
including the installation of the Web browser plug-in, is available on 
the NRC's public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    Once a participant has obtained a digital ID certificate and a 
docket has been created, the participant can then submit a request for 
hearing or petition for leave to intervene. Submissions should be in 
Portable Document Format (PDF) in accordance with the 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 
documents are submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be 
timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing 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 email notice confirming receipt of the document. The 
E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that provides access 
to the document to the NRC's 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 
documents on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and 
other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for 
and receive a digital ID certificate before a hearing request/petition 
to intervene is filed so that they can obtain access to the document 
via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically using the agency's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC Meta System 
Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's Web site 
at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by email at 
MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a toll-free call at 1-(866) 672-7640. The 
NRC Meta System Help Desk is available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., 
Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, 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. A presiding officer, having 
granted an exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a 
participant or party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer 
subsequently determines that the reason for granting the exemption from 
use of E-Filing no longer exists.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
https://ehd1.nrc.gov/ehd/, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
Commission,

[[Page 6598]]

or the 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, unless an NRC 
regulation or other law requires submission of such information. 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 submission.
    If a person (other than Mr. Johnson) requests a hearing, that 
person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his 
interest is adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order and shall 
address the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).
    If a hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely 
affected, the Commission will issue an order designating the time and 
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered 
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order should be 
sustained.
    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 V above shall be final 20 days from the date this 
Confirmatory Order is published in the Federal Register without further 
order or proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a hearing 
has been approved, the provisions specified in Section V shall be final 
when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been received.
    A request for hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness of 
this order.

    Dated this 25th day of January 2012.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cynthia D. Pederson,
Acting Regional Administrator, NRC Region III.
[FR Doc. 2012-2863 Filed 2-7-12; 8:45 am]
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