In the Matter of South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 1, 18586-18590 [2014-07397]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 2, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18586-18590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07397]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-395; License No. NPF-12; EA-12-140; NRC-2014-0066]


In the Matter of South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, Virgil C. 
Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 1

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Confirmatory order; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
confirmatory order to South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G or 
Licensee), the holder of License No. NPF-12, authorizing the operation 
of Virgil C. Summer Station (SNS), Unit 1. The facility is located on 
the Licensee's site in Jenkinsville, South Carolina. The order was a 
result of Alternative Dispute Resolution between the NRC and SCE&G, and 
required SCE&G to complete a number of corrective actions in response 
to an incident involving an individual who falsified documentation to 
gain site access.

DATES: Effective Date: March 10, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0066 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0066. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For questions about this Order, 
contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 
section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The Order is available in 
ADAMS under Accession No. ML14071A565.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carolyn Evans, Enforcement and 
Investigations Coordination Staff, Region II, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, 245 Peachtree Center Avenue, Suite 1200, Atlanta, Georgia, 
30303; telephone: 404-997-4414; email: Carolyn.Evans@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.

    Dated at Atlanta, Georgia, this 26th day of March, 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Leonard D. Wert,
Deputy Regional Administrator for Operations.

Attachment--Confirmatory Order

Confirmatory Order

I

    South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G or Licensee) is the 
holder of License No. NPF-12, issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50 on August 6, 
1982, and renewed on April 23, 2004. The license authorizes the 
operation of Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station (SNS), Unit 1, in 
accordance with the conditions specified therein. The facility is 
located on the Licensee's site in Jenkinsville, South Carolina.
    This Confirmatory Order is the result of an agreement reached 
during an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mediation session 
conducted on October 8, 2013.

II

    On January 16, 2013, the NRC's Office of Investigations (OI), 
Region II, completed an investigation regarding a security matter at 
SNS. The purpose of the investigation was to: (1) Review the facts and 
circumstances surrounding the actions of a former Environmental Health 
and Safety Specialist, Stone & Webster, Inc. (Shaw) employee, who in 
approximately September of 2010 falsified an SNS Unit 1 Personnel 
History Questionnaire (PHQ) and provided a fictitious court record to 
deliberately conceal potentially disqualifying criminal history 
information in order to obtain employment at the site, and (2) 
determine whether the SNS access officials properly adjudicated 
potentially disqualifying information in this individual's PHQ, and 
supporting materials, prior to granting him unescorted access 
authorization (UAA) during the September 2010 time frame.
    Based on the investigation and NRC staff review, two apparent 
violations were identified, as documented in the NRC's letter to SCE&G 
dated June 4, 2013.
    The first apparent violation involved the willful actions of the 
licensee's access authorization staff, which caused the licensee's 
access authorization program to fail to provide high assurance that 
individuals granted unescorted access are trustworthy and reliable such 
that they do not constitute an unreasonable risk to public health and 
safety, as required by Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations at 
10 CFR

[[Page 18587]]

73.56(c). Specifically, on September 14, 2010, licensee access 
authorization reviewing officials reviewed, adjudicated, and granted an 
individual unescorted access authorization by relying unreasonably on a 
falsified PHQ and fabricated court record to determine his 
trustworthiness and reliability.
    The second apparent violation involved the willful failure to 
comply with the requirements of 10 CFR 50.9(a) which, in part, states 
that ``information required by statute or Commission regulations to be 
maintained shall be complete and accurate in all material respects.'' 
In part, 10 CFR 73.56(o)(2) requires the licensee to retain records of 
information that must be collected under subparts (d) and (e) of 73.56 
that result in the granting of unescorted access for at least 5 years 
after the licensee terminates, or denies an individual's unescorted 
access or unescorted access authorization. On September 14, 2010, the 
licensee collected and maintained a criminal history record to support 
the granting of unescorted access that was inaccurate and incomplete in 
a material respect. Specifically, a fabricated court document was 
accepted by the Licensee to reflect a favorable disposition of a 
criminal matter (i.e., dismissal of arson charges) that, in fact, was 
not favorably resolved. This information was material because it was 
relied upon to provide the requisite high assurance that the individual 
who submitted the document was trustworthy and reliable, and to support 
the granting of unescorted access to SNS.

III

    On October 8, 2013, the NRC and SCE&G met in an ADR session 
mediated by a professional mediator, arranged through Cornell 
University's Institute on Conflict Resolution. ADR is a process in 
which a neutral mediator with no decision-making authority assists the 
parties in reaching an agreement or resolving any differences regarding 
their dispute. This confirmatory order is issued pursuant to the 
agreement reached during the ADR process. The elements of the agreement 
consist of the following:
    1. The NRC and SCE&G agree that the issues described above resulted 
in an individual inappropriately being granted unescorted access to 
SNS, which was inconsistent with the requirements of 10 CFR 73.56(c) 
and 10 CFR 50.9. SCE&G does not agree that the violations were 
committed willfully, and on this point, the parties agree to disagree.
    2. During the ADR, SCE&G described the corrective actions and 
enhancements completed in response to the issues described in the NRC's 
letter of June 4, 2013. These actions included but were not limited to 
the following:
    a. Following the event, SCE&G held a stand down with the access 
control staff to discuss the event (completed on March 3, 2011).
    b. SCE&G performed a root cause analysis of the event (completed on 
April 28, 2011).
    c. SCE&G shared operating experience involving the event with the 
industry through the Nuclear Energy Institute's database, Advanced 
Taskforce Operations Management (ATOM) (completed on July 18, 2013).
    d. SCE&G performed an extent of condition review of favorably 
adjudicated files over the last five years which contained documents 
used to grant unescorted access. SCE&G performed an additional review 
of a sample of 17 files randomly selected from 2010 (the year of the 
event). No issues requiring corrective actions were identified 
(completed on April 28, 2011).
    e. SCE&G performed industry benchmarking of the issues including 
expectations for access officials in reviewing and adjudicating 
documents having raised seals (completed in July 2013).
    f. SCE&G established an immediate interim requirement that in all 
cases where adjudication of a criminal history is required for making 
an access decision, the applicant must provide documentation having an 
official raised seal from the judicial source (e.g., court of law) or a 
telephonic authentication from the appropriate judicial entity 
(completed on March 3, 2011).
    g. SCE&G made program improvements to its access authorization 
procedure, SAP-1005, including requiring a second, independent review 
of significant derogatory information, defining the term 
``independent'', incorporating an in-process checklist, adding a method 
for making corrections to the Personal History Questionnaire (PHQ) 
information and ensuring information is marked as corrected, including 
a requirement that copies/faxes of official documents used to 
adjudicate criminal history must be sent directly to access officials 
(completed on August 4, 2011). SCE&G also defined in SAP-1005 a process 
for management involvement in the adjudication of derogatory 
information and required official documents with raised seals or 
copies/faxes of official documents used to adjudicate criminal history 
be sent directly to and authenticated with the person or entity that 
created the document by access officials without passing through the 
applicant's possession (completed on September 26, 2013).
    h. SCE&G provided training on the revised SAP-1005 to Reviewing 
Officials (completed on September 9, 2011).
    i. SCE&G developed a management observation template in accordance 
with SAP-1354, Management Observations and Worker Interface, for 
performing observations of Reviewing Officials (completed on September 
13, 2011).
    j. SCE&G added a requirement for a periodic self-assessment of the 
Access Control pre-employment screening process; this tasking was added 
to the station's self-assessment backbone schedule and is required to 
be performed at a three year frequency (completed on September 28, 
2011).
    k. SCE&G performed a snap shot self-assessment to serve as an 
effectiveness review for the root cause analysis (completed on March 
14, 2012).
    l. SCE&G developed a training and qualification program for initial 
and continuing training of Reviewing Officials. Training included 
conservative decision making and human performance tools such as 
maintaining a challenging and questioning attitude (Qualification 
program developed on November 3, 2011; Reviewing Officials completed 
qualification requirements on December 1, 2011).
    m. SCE&G added warnings, cautions, and case studies to the PHQ 
which describes the consequences of not properly disclosing information 
(completed on August 4, 2011).
    n. SCE&G emphasized applicant responsibility by requiring all 
applicants for access authorization to sign a statement attesting that 
they have read and understand the warnings and cautions on the PHQ 
which state that falsification/intentional omission of information are 
grounds for denial of unescorted access authorization (completed on 
August 4, 2011).
    o. SCE&G performed an additional snapshot self-assessment of SA12-
NP-04S, Review of Adjudication Records (completed on March 13, 2012).
    p. SCE&G has conducted ongoing management observations of Reviewing 
Officials.
    3. Based on SCE&G's review of the incident and NRC's concerns with 
respect to precluding recurrence of the violations, SCE&G agrees to the 
following corrective actions and enhancements:
    a. By December 31, 2014, SCE&G will share operating experience 
(i.e., discuss the lessons learned and resulting

[[Page 18588]]

enhancements) regarding this event during the NEI Access Authorization/
Fitness for Duty Conference, and will maintain a copy of related 
presentation material for the purposes of NRC verification via follow-
up NRC inspection. In lieu of sharing operating experience during the 
NEI Access Authorization/Fitness for Duty Conference, SCE&G may share 
lessons learned at a similar event, with prior verbal approval from the 
NRC Region II Regional Administrator, or Region II Deputy Regional 
Administrator, Operations.
    b. By June 30, 2014, SCE&G will conduct annual training on 
completeness and accuracy of information, 10 CFR 50.9; deliberate 
misconduct, 10 CFR 50.5 and violations committed with careless 
disregard or reckless indifference to requirements as part of initial 
and continuing plant access training.
    c. By June 30, 2014, SCE&G will provide one-time training to SCE&G 
supervisors and long-term contract supervisors on the topics in Section 
III.3.b above including detailed case studies.
    4. The NRC considers the corrective actions and enhancements 
discussed in Paragraph III.2 and III.3 above to be appropriately prompt 
and comprehensive to address the causes which gave rise to the incident 
discussed in the NRC's letter of June 4, 2013.
    5. The NRC and SCE&G agree that the above elements will be 
incorporated into issuance of a Confirmatory Order.
    6. In consideration of the commitments delineated above, the NRC 
agrees to fully mitigate a civil penalty and issue a Notice of 
Violation (NOV) for all matters discussed in the NRC's letter to SNS of 
June 4, 2013 (EA 12-140). The NOV is incorporated into the resulting 
Confirmatory Order as Paragraph III.7, below. The Confirmatory Order 
will only be considered an escalated enforcement action by the NRC for 
future assessment of violations occurring at SNS within one year of the 
date of the Confirmatory Order.
    7. As referenced in Paragraph III.6 of this Confirmatory Order, the 
following two violations are documented below:
    a. 10 CFR 73.56(c) requires a licensee's access authorization 
program to provide high assurance that the individuals specified in 
paragraph (b)(1), and, if applicable, paragraph (b)(2) of this section 
are trustworthy and reliable, such that they do not constitute an 
unreasonable risk to public health and safety or the common defense and 
security, including the potential to commit radiological sabotage.
    Contrary to the above, on September 14, 2010, the licensee's access 
authorization program failed to provide high assurance that individuals 
granted unescorted access to nuclear power plants are trustworthy and 
reliable and do not constitute an unreasonable risk to public health 
and safety or common defense and security, including the potential to 
commit radiological sabotage. Specifically, the licensee's access 
authorization reviewing officials granted an individual unescorted 
access authorization by relying on deliberate misstatements made in a 
PHQ and on a falsified court record to adjudicate potentially 
disqualifying information.
    b. 10 CFR 50.9(a) requires information provided to the Commission 
by a licensee or required by statute or by NRC regulations, orders, or 
license conditions to be maintained by the licensee shall be complete 
and accurate in all material respects.
    10 CFR 73.56(o)(2) requires licensees to retain records of the 
information that must be collected under paragraphs (d) and (e) of this 
section related to the granting of unescorted access or verifying of 
unescorted access authorization. These records must be retained for at 
least five years after the licensee grants, terminates, or denies an 
individual's unescorted access or unescorted access authorization or 
until the completion of all related legal proceedings, whichever is 
later.
    Contrary to the above, on September 14, 2010, the licensee 
collected and maintained a criminal history record supporting the 
granting of unescorted access to an individual. This information was 
inaccurate and incomplete in a material respect. Specifically, a 
fabricated court document stating that arson charges had been dismissed 
was accepted by the licensee. In fact, the charges had not been 
dismissed and the charges were before a grand jury. This information 
was material to the NRC because it was relied upon to provide high 
assurance that the individual who submitted the document was 
trustworthy and reliable when this was not the case, and allowed the 
improper granting of unescorted access.
    8. This agreement is binding upon successors and assigns of SCE&G.
    On February 28, 2014, SCG&E consented to issuance of this Order 
with the commitments, as described in Section V below. The Licensee 
further agreed that this Order is to be effective 30 days after 
issuance and that it has waived its right to a hearing.

IV

    Since the licensee has agreed to take additional actions to address 
NRC's concerns, as set forth in Item III above, the NRC has concluded 
that its concerns can be resolved through issuance of this Confirmatory 
Order.
    I find that SCE&G'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, I have determined that public health and safety requires 
that SCE&G's commitments be confirmed by this Order. Based on the above 
and SCE&G's consent, this Confirmatory Order is effective 30 days after 
issuance.

V

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 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 and 10 CFR Parts 50 and 52, it 
is hereby ordered, that License No. NPF-12 is modified as follows:
    a. By December 31, 2014, SCE&G will share operating experience 
(i.e., discuss the lessons learned and resulting enhancements) 
regarding this event during the NEI Access Authorization/Fitness for 
Duty Conference, and will maintain a copy of related presentation 
material for the purposes of NRC verification via follow-up NRC 
inspection. In lieu of sharing operating experience during the NEI 
Access Authorization/Fitness for Duty Conference, SCE&G may share 
lessons learned at a similar event, with prior verbal approval from the 
NRC Region II Regional Administrator, or Region II Deputy Regional 
Administrator, Operations.
    b. By June 30, 2014, SCE&G will conduct annual training on 
completeness and accuracy of information, 10 CFR 50.9; deliberate 
misconduct, 10 CFR 50.5 and violations committed with careless 
disregard or reckless indifference to requirements as part of initial 
and continuing plant access training.
    c. By June 30, 2014, SCE&G will provide one-time training to SCE&G 
supervisors and long-term contract supervisors on the topics in Section 
III.3.b above including detailed case studies.
    d. SCE&G will implement the continuing actions and activities as 
previously discussed in the following sections of this Order: Section 
III.2.g (management involvement in the adjudication of derogatory 
information);

[[Page 18589]]

Section III.2.j (self-assessment at a three year frequency); and 
Section III.2.l, (training and qualification program for initial and 
continuing training of Reviewing Officials).
    The Regional Administrator, NRC Region II, may relax or rescind, in 
writing, any of the above conditions upon a showing by SCE&G of good 
cause.

VI

    Any person adversely affected by this Order, other than SCE&G, may 
submit a written answer and/or request a hearing on this Order within 
30 days from the date of this Order, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.302 and 10 
CFR 2.309. 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, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, and include a statement of good cause for the extension.
    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 hearings. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered 
at such hearing shall be whether this Order should be sustained.
    All documents filed in the NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including 
a request for a 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's E-Filing rule at 10 CFR 
2.302. The E-Filing process requires participants to submit and serve 
all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or to physically deliver 
or mail a copy of documents on optical storage media. Participants may 
not submit paper copies of their filings unless they seek and receive 
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 
certificate). Based on 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 NRC'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 obtained 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 
a 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's 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 
document 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 NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contracting the NRC Meta System 
Help Desk thorough the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's public 
Web site at https://www.nrc/gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by email to 
MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a toll free call to 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 extension 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 the reason for the exemption from use of E-
Filing no longer exists.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
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, or the presiding officer. Participants are

[[Page 18590]]

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 submissions.
    If a person other than the licensee requests a hearing, that person 
shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his/her interest 
is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set 
forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).
    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 30 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 V shall be final when the extension expires if a 
hearing request has not been received.

    Dated this 10th day of March 2014.

    For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Leonard D. Wert,

Deputy Regional Administrator for Operations.

[FR Doc. 2014-07397 Filed 4-1-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P