In the Matter of Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, 75051-75057 [2020-25981]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 227 / Tuesday, November 24, 2020 / Notices
generating waste and losing any
equipment due to human error. The
applicant would also conduct activities
under conditions (weather, sea state,
etc.) allowing the applicant and team to
maintain visual contact with
instrumentation and equipment as well
as aid in retrieval as needed.
Multi-sensor, suction cup tags would
be attached to whales. When they are
shed, they float and are retrieved using
radio telemetry tracking tools. While tag
failure is rare, a lost tag would
constitute waste in the form of 300
grams of syntactic foam, 100 grams of
electronics and 20 grams of silicon
suction cups. Biopsy sampling is done
with a crossbow firing a floating dart,
made of aluminum and carbon fiber,
that bounces off the whale’s body after
extracting a tiny plug of tissue. The
biopsy bolt tips are a 40 mm stainless
steel barrel and the bolts also contain a
5x2cm foam float that is used to aid in
dart retrieval. The bolts are highly
visible and remain at the surface for
retrieval. An observer would maintain
visual contact with the bolt until
retrieval. The successful retrieval rate is
very high (only 3 bolts lost in over 500
sampling events). The UAS/RPAS
would be operated by experienced
pilots according to protocols designed to
ensure safe operations and to minimize
the risk of loss. The commercial, off-theshelf aircraft are powered by lithium
polymer batteries and do not require
any fuels. Loss of aircraft would result
in a minor amount of plastic and metal
waste from the frame and camera as
well as non-toxic (no lead or cadmium)
lithium polymer batteries.
Location: Antarctic Peninsula region.
Dates of Permitted Activities:
December 25, 2020–November 30, 2024.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
George A. Wilson,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
The Confirmatory Order became
effective on November 19, 2020.
In the Matter of Armed Forces
Radiobiology Research Institute,
Bethesda, Maryland
DATES:
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket No. 05000170; NRC–2020–0258]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
[FR Doc. 2020–25936 Filed 11–23–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Confirmatory order; issuance.
AGENCY:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is issuing an Order
confirming commitments agreed upon
during an Alternate Dispute Resolution
mediation session with the Armed
Forces Radiobiology Research Institute
SUMMARY:
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ADDRESSES:
Nicole Coleman, Office of Enforcement,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone:
301–287–9007, email: Nicole.Coleman@
nrc.gov.
In the Matter of Armed Forces
Radiobiology Research Institute
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(AFRRI). The NRC determined that an
apparent violation of NRC regulations,
occurred as identified during an
investigation completed on February 27,
2020, by the NRC’s Office of
Investigations. The Order is effective on
the date of issuance.
Please refer to Docket ID
NRC–2020–0258 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of
information regarding this document.
You may obtain publicly available
information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2020–0258. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, 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 obtain publicly
available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, 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. Order EA–20–056, issued to
AFRRI on November 19, 2020, is
available in ADAMS under Accession
No. ML20303A211.
• Attention: The PDR, where you may
examine and order copies of public
documents is currently closed. You may
submit your request to the PDR via
email at PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call
1–800–397–4209 between 8:00 a.m. and
4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
Erika N. Davis,
Program Specialist, Office of Polar Programs.
75051
the Order is attached.
Dated: November 19, 2020.
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The text of
Attached—Confirmatory Order
United States of America
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Docket No.: 05000170; License No.: R–
84; EA–20–056
Confirmatory Order Modifying License
Effective Upon Issuance
I
Armed Forces Radiobiology Research
Institute (AFRRI or Licensee) is the
holder of License No. R–84, issued by
the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or Commission)
pursuant to Part 50 of Title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR).
The license authorizes the operation of
AFRRI Research Reactor (facility) in
accordance with conditions specified
therein. The facility is located on the
Licensee’s site in Bethesda, Maryland.
This Confirmatory Order (CO) is the
result of an agreement reached during
an Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR) mediation session conducted on
September 18, 2020, to address an
apparent violation.
II
On February 27, 2020, the NRC’s
Office of Investigations (OI), issued a
report (1–2019–003) related to AFRRI.
Based on the evidence developed during
its investigation, the NRC identified an
apparent violation of 10 CFR 50.7,
‘‘Employee protection.’’ The NRC
determined that AFRRI placed an
AFRRI employee on a 2-day suspension
without pay on May 14, 2018, in part,
for engaging in protected activity. By
letter dated June 8, 2020, the NRC
notified AFRRI of the results of the
investigation with an opportunity to (1)
attend a pre-decisional enforcement
conference or (2) to participate in an
ADR mediation session in an effort to
resolve this concern.
In response to the NRC’s offer, AFRRI
requested the use of the NRC’s ADR
process to attempt to resolve this issue
with the NRC. On September 18, 2020,
the NRC and AFRRI conducted an ADR
session mediated by a professional
mediator, arranged through Cornell
University’s Scheinman Institute on
Conflict Resolution. The ADR process is
one in which a neutral mediator, with
no decision-making authority, assists
the parties in reaching an agreement to
resolve any differences regarding the
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dispute. This CO is issued pursuant to
the agreement reached during the
September 18, 2020, ADR session.
III
During the ADR session, AFRRI and
the NRC reached a preliminary
settlement agreement. The elements of
the agreement included (1) corrective
actions that AFRRI has already
completed to improve the nuclear safety
culture and safety conscious work
environment (SCWE) at the facility
(provided to the NRC during the
September 18, 2020, ADR session), (2)
agreed upon future actions, and (3)
general provisions.
Previously Completed Corrective
Actions
1. Conducted industry-led AFRRI
leadership SCWE training.
2. Conducted three industry-led
AFRRI employee SCWE training
sessions.
3. Established a SCWE Working
Group to ensure employee involvement
and capture employee insights during
the development of the AFRRI SCWE
program.
4. Appointed a Safety Culture
Program Officer.
5. Issued an email communication
from the AFRRI Director to all AFRRI
staff encouraging participation in the
SCWE training and the command
climate survey by the Uniformed
Services University (USU) Brigade
leadership.
6. Issued a message from the newly
appointed Safety Culture Program
Officer to all AFRRI staff emphasizing
leadership’s focus on safety and
mechanisms for reporting concerns.
7. Participated in monthly National
Organization of Test, Research, and
Training Reactors (TRTR) calls, and
registered several AFRRI staff for the
upcoming annual conference.
8. Solicited feedback from AFRRI staff
regarding the ongoing command climate
survey to serve as a baseline for future
safety improvement metrics.
Agreed Upon Future Actions
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A. Communication
1. Within 60 calendar days of
issuance of the CO, the Uniformed
Services University (USU) President
shall issue a written statement,
communicating the specific strategy to
improve AFRRI’s nuclear safety culture.
a. The communication is to include
(1) a brief summary regarding the
employee protection regulations, (2) the
NRC’s concerns expressed in its March
2020 chilling effect letter, (3) specific
lessons learned from previously applied
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corrective actions, and (4) corrective
actions both taken and planned.
b. USU shall provide a copy of this
communication to the NRC for prior
review.
c. NRC shall provide comments
within 1 week of receipt of the draft
communication.
2. Within 90 calendar days of the USU
President’s statement, AFRRI shall hold
an all-hands meeting for management to
discuss the importance of the above
communication with AFRRI employees.
a. AFRRI shall conduct the all-hands
meeting on multiple levels of
management (i.e., Director level,
Department head) with current
employees. AFRRI employees must
attend at least one of the all-hands
meetings.
b. AFRRI shall require participants to
sign in, confirming their attendance.
Employees unable to attend an inperson/virtual meeting shall complete a
‘‘Read and Sign’’ training.
c. Future employees shall complete a
‘‘Read and Sign’’ training.
B. Safety Culture and Safety Conscious
Work Environment
1. Within 150 calendar days of
issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall ensure
its nuclear safety culture policy,
guidance and related materials are in
place and updated.
a. Ensure a distinct and
comprehensive safety culture policy is
updated, maintained and consistent
with the NRC’s March 2011 Safety
Culture Policy Statement and associated
traits.
b. The safety culture policy shall
include specific definitions for key
safety culture terms, including examples
of what constitutes a protected activity
and safety/security concern(s).
c. The policy shall incorporate
guidance from NUREG 2165, ‘‘Safety
Culture Common Language,’’ and the
industry’s common language initiative
(i.e., INPO 12–012, Revision 1, April
2013).
d. Copies of policy statement
revisions, guidance and related
materials shall be provided to the NRC
for review at least 60 calendar days
prior to issuance.
e. NRC will provide comments to
AFRRI within 2 weeks.
f. Within 45 days of receiving
communication that the NRC review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate
NRC comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC comments
and why comments were not
incorporated.
g. AFRRI will distribute copies of
these documents and materials to
employees and inform employees where
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all related materials can be located.
These materials shall be maintained and
provided to all new employees during
initial orientation.
h. AFRRI shall require employees to
confirm their receipt of the materials by
completing a ‘‘Read and Sign’’.
2. Within 180 calendar days of
issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall
establish a nuclear SCWE program.
a. AFRRI shall ensure that the SCWE
program is consistent with the NRC
Safety Conscious Work Environment
Policy Statements and associated
guidance (i.e., the NRC’s May 1996
Safety Conscious Work Environment
Policy Statement, and the NRC’s
Regulatory Issue Summary 2005–18,
‘‘Guidance for Establishing and
Maintaining a Safety Conscious Work
Environment’’).
b. Initial SCWE Program documents
(guidance and related materials) shall be
provided to the NRC review at least 60
calendar days prior to issuance.
c. Within 2 weeks of receiving the
documents, NRC will provide comments
to AFRRI.
d. Within 45 days of receiving
communication that the NRC review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate
NRC comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC comments
and why comments were not
incorporated.
e. AFRRI shall make NRC aware of
any revisions to SCWE program
documents and make the revisions
available for NRC review, upon request.
This requirement is limited to the initial
2 years of program establishment.
f. AFRRI will distribute copies of
these documents and materials to
employees and inform employees where
all related materials can be located.
These materials shall be maintained and
provided to all new employees during
initial orientation.
g. AFRRI shall require employees to
confirm their receipt of the materials by
completing a ‘‘Read and Sign.’’
h. Within this program, AFRRI shall
document the requirements related to
the Nuclear Safety Culture Program
Officer to include the following:
i. The Safety Culture Program Officer
(Program Officer) function will report
directly to the AFRRI Director.
ii. The Program Officer shall complete
specific training, addressing topics such
as intake of allegations/safety concerns
and trending of concerns (e.g.,
Employee Concerns Program (ECP)
basics course NAECP’s ECP basics
course, or similar training). This
training shall be completed within 180
days of designation as the Program
Officer.
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iii. The Program Officer shall assist
the AFRRI Director in the management
and execution of the SCWE program to
include the intake and processing of
reported safety concerns.
iv. The Program Officer shall review
AFRRI communications related to safety
culture messaging and provide feedback
to the AFRRI Director.
v. The Program Officer shall
encourage better communication
between nuclear materials safety and
security committees associated with
AFRRI.
C. Training
1. By no later than 180 calendar days
after the issuance of the CO, AFRRI
shall develop and/or revise its employee
protection, nuclear safety culture and
safety conscious work environment
training for all AFRRI employees.
a. Training shall include the following
areas:
i. Case studies of discriminatory
practices;
ii. Definitions of key industry terms/
common language;
iii. Behavioral expectations with
regard to each nuclear safety culture
traits;
iv. Expectations for demonstrating
support for raising nuclear safety
concerns and all available avenues
without fear of retaliation; and
v. A statement that all employees
have the right to raise nuclear safety
concerns to USU/AFRRI, the NRC and
Congress, or engage in any other type of
protected activity without fear of being
subject to disciplinary action or
retaliation, as well as, provide a list of
available reporting avenues.
2. Supervisory Training: In addition to
the content areas described within
paragraph C.1 above, supervisory
training shall also include expectations
specific to the role of management and
include specific discussion on how to
(1) effectively manage safety concerns
and (2) ensure employees feel
comfortable raising concerns.
a. If AFRRI conducts the initial
training, the training will be performed
by AFFRI employees trained by the
team who developed the training at
AFRRI or the organization who
developed the program.
b. The supervisory training shall be
completed within 180 calendar days
after the issuance of the CO.
c. Refresher training:
i. Shall be primarily instructor led
and be provided at least every 2 years
for a period of 4 years. This training
may be provided by AFRRI staff.
ii. Thereafter, refresher training may
be computer-based and shall be
provided annually.
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d. AFRRI shall conduct instructor-led
training for any new supervisors hired
after the initial training conducted as
described in paragraphs 1 and 2 above,
as part of the supervisor’s initial
training.
e. Training records shall be retained
for 4 years after the completion of
applicable training and made available
to the NRC upon request.
f. All training material shall be
available to the NRC upon request.
3. Employee (Non-Supervisory)
Training: Initial training, developed in
paragraph C.1 above, shall be conducted
by AFRRI employees trained by the
team who developed the training at
AFRRI.
a. All employee training shall
commence within 180 calendar days
after the issuance of the CO.
b. All training must be completed
within 330 calendar days of the
issuance of the CO.
c. Refresher training may be
computer-based and shall be provided
annually.
d. Training will primarily be
instructor-led for new employees as part
of their orientation program/process.
e. Training records shall be retained
for 4 years after the completion of
applicable training and made available
to the NRC upon request.
f. All training material shall be
available to the NRC upon request.
4. This training is applicable to all
AFRRI employees and management who
are engaged in work associated with
NRC-regulated activities.
5. AFRRI shall provide all training
materials to the NRC for review at least
60 calendar days prior to conducting
training.
a. NRC will provide comments to
AFRRI within 2 weeks of receipt.
b. Within 45 days of receiving
communication that the NRC review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate
NRC comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC comments
and why comments were not
incorporated.
D. Assess and Monitor Nuclear Safety
Culture and Safety Conscious Work
Environment
1. By no later than 18 months after the
issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall hire a
third-party independent organization
and complete a tailored comprehensive
nuclear safety culture assessment to
ensure the effectiveness of the nuclear
safety culture and SCWE programs.
a. The assessment will evaluate all
program components, including insights
from employee surveys, anonymous
reports, interviews and the conduct of
focus groups to assess effectiveness of
the programs.
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b. AFRRI shall conduct the initial
assessment within 1 year of the
establishment of the SCWE program.
c. AFRRI must address and
implement corrective actions as a result
of the assessment report.
2. A follow-up assessment shall be
conducted within 2 years after the
initial assessment. The follow-up
assessment shall be comparable to the
initial assessment to allow for effective
evaluation of trends. This assessment
does not require the use of a third-party
organization.
3. AFRRI shall make available to the
NRC, upon request, the results of the
assessments, surveys, AFRRI’s analysis
of the trends, results and proposed
corrective actions (if any) AFRRI will
take to address the results in order to
verify that a healthy nuclear safety
culture and SCWE exists at AFRRI.
E. Independent Third-Party
Organization
1. Within 120 calendar days of the
issuance of the CO, AFRRI will hire a
third-party, independent organization to
assist AFRRI with updates to its nuclear
safety culture policy and the
establishment of its safety conscious
work environment program and
associated tasks, as described within the
CO. AFRRI may utilize the same
organization as described in paragraph
D above.
a. The third-party organization shall
be unrelated to the proceedings at issue
and experienced within NRC employee
protection regulations, Section 211 of
the Energy Reorganization Act, as
amended, and nuclear safety culture
and SCWE policies/programs.
b. AFRRI shall ensure they receive
assistance from the third-party
organization for the following tasks:
i. Initial revisions/updates to AFRRI’s
nuclear safety culture policy, as AFRRI
ensures consistency with NRC and
industry guidance;
ii. Establishment of AFRRI’s SCWE
program; and
iii. Development and conduct of
AFRRI’s initial Nuclear Safety Culture
and SCWE program assessment.
c. AFRRI will ensure the organization
is provided with all materials to
comprehensively assist AFRRI,
including NRC inspection reports
associated with AFRRI’s SCWE and the
March 2020 CEL.
F. Work Process
1. Within 270 calendar days of the
issuance of the CO, AFRRI will develop
a program for AFRRI employees to raise
concerns.
a. The program shall include the
following:
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i. An electronic, telephonic, or
physical reporting mechanism for
AFRRI employees to submit safety
concerns. This mechanism shall allow
for both standard and anonymous
submission capability.
ii. A means to evaluate information
collected through the reporting
mechanisms available, in order to
analyze the data over time, related to
AFRRI’s nuclear safety culture.
iii. A means to ensure AFRRI’s
nuclear safety culture and SCWE
policies, and associated guidance/
materials, are readily accessible for
employee viewing.
iv. The opportunity for departing
AFRRI employees to participate in an
exit interview/survey to facilitate
identification of nuclear safety issues,
resulting trends and conclusions.
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General Provisions
1. As part of its deliberations and
consistent with the philosophy of the
Enforcement Policy, Section 3.3,
‘‘Violations Identified Because of
Previous Enforcement Action,’’ the NRC
will consider enforcement discretion for
violations of the NRC Employee
Protection Rules that occurred prior to
or during implementation of the
corrective actions aimed at correcting
that specific condition as specified in
the CO.
2. The NRC will not cite a violation
or issue a civil penalty in connection
with the NRC’s June 8, 2020, letter to
AFRRI.
3. This CO will not count as escalated
enforcement in the civil penalty
assessment process for future cases, as
long as the future action is not related
to the NRC Employee Protection Rule.
4. The Director, Office of
Enforcement, may, in writing, relax or
rescind any of the above conditions
upon demonstration by AFRRI of good
cause.
5. The NRC agrees not to pursue any
further enforcement action in
connection with the NRC’s June 8, 2020,
letter to AFRRI.
6. In the event of the transfer of the
operating license of AFRRI to another
entity, the terms and conditions set
forth hereunder shall continue to apply
to AFRRI and accordingly survive any
transfer of ownership or license.
On November 10, 2020, AFRRI
consented to issuing this CO with the
commitments, as described in Section V
below. AFRRI further agreed that this
CO is to be effective upon issuance, that
the agreement memorialized in this CO
settles the matter between the parties,
and that it has waived its right to a
hearing.
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IV
I find that AFRRI’s completed actions,
as described in Section III above,
combined with the 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 require that
AFRRI’s commitments be confirmed by
this CO. Based on the above and
AFRRI’s consent, this CO is effective
upon issuance.
V
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections
104c, 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 50, it is hereby ordered, effective
upon issuance, that License No. R–84 is
modified as follows:
A. Communication
1. Within 60 calendar days of
issuance of the Confirmatory Order
(CO), the Uniformed Services University
(USU) President shall issue a written
statement communicating the specific
strategy to improve AFRRI’s nuclear
safety culture.
a. The communication is to include
(1) a brief summary regarding the
employee protection regulations, (2) the
NRC’s concerns expressed in its March
18, 2020, chilling effect letter, (3)
specific lessons learned from previously
applied corrective actions, and (4)
corrective actions both taken and
planned.
b. USU shall provide a copy of this
communication to the NRC for prior
review.
c. NRC shall provide comments
within 1 week of receipt of the draft
communication.
2. Within 90 calendar days of the USU
President’s statement, AFRRI shall hold
all-hands meetings for management to
discuss the importance of the
communication, described within
Section A.1 above, with AFRRI
employees.
a. AFRRI shall conduct the all-hands
meetings on multiple levels of
management (i.e., AFRRI Director,
Department Heads), with current
employees. AFRRI employees must
attend at least one of the all-hands
meetings.
b. AFRRI shall require participants to
sign-in, confirming their attendance.
Employees unable to attend an inperson/virtual meeting, shall confirm
their receipt of the communication by
completing a ‘‘Read and Sign.’’
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c. Future AFRRI employees shall
complete this requirement via a ‘‘Read
and Sign.’’
B. Safety Culture and Safety Conscious
Work Environment
1. Within 150 calendar days of
issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall ensure
its nuclear safety culture policy (NSC
Policy), guidance, and related materials
are in place and updated.
a. Ensure a distinct and
comprehensive NSC Policy is updated,
maintained, and consistent with the
NRC’s June 14, 2011, Safety Culture
Policy Statement and associated traits.
b. The NSC Policy shall include
specific definitions for key safety
culture terms, including examples of
what constitutes a protected activity and
safety/security concern(s).
c. The NSC Policy shall incorporate
guidance from NUREG–2165, ‘‘Safety
Culture Common Language’’ and the
industry’s common language initiative
(i.e., INPO 12–012, Revision 1, April
2013).
d. Copies of NSC Policy, guidance,
and related materials shall be provided
to the NRC for review at least 60
calendar days prior to issuance.
e. NRC will provide comments to
AFRRI within 2 weeks of receipt of the
document(s)/material(s).
f. Within 45 days of receiving
communication that NRC’s review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate
NRC’s comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC’s comments
and state why NRC’s comments were
not incorporated.
g. AFRRI will distribute copies of the
NSC Policy, guidance, and related
materials to AFRRI employees and
inform AFRRI employees how to access
the documents and materials. These
materials shall be maintained and
provided to all new AFRRI employees
during initial employee orientation.
h. AFRRI shall require both current
and new AFRRI employees to confirm
their receipt of the NSC Policy,
guidance, and related materials by
completing a ‘‘Read and Sign.’’
2. Within 180 calendar days of
issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall
establish a nuclear safety conscious
work environment (SCWE) program.
a. AFRRI shall ensure that the SCWE
program is consistent with the NRC
Safety Conscious Work Environment
Policy Statement and associated
guidance (i.e., NRC’s May 14, 1996,
policy statement ‘‘Freedom of
Employees in the Nuclear Industry to
Raise Safety Concerns Without Fear of
Retaliation,’’ and the NRC’s Regulatory
Issue Summary 2005–18, ‘‘Guidance for
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Establishing and Maintaining a Safety
Conscious Work Environment’’).
b. Initial SCWE program documents
(guidance and related materials) shall be
provided to the NRC review at 60
calendar days prior to issuance.
c. NRC will provide comments to
AFRRI, within 2 weeks of receipt of the
documents.
d. Within 45 days of receiving
communication that NRC’s review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate
NRC’s comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC’s comments
and state why NRC’s comments were
not incorporated.
e. For a period of 2 years following
the establishment of the SCWE program,
AFRRI shall inform NRC of any pending
major revisions to AFRRI’s SCWE
program documents and make the
revisions available for NRC review upon
request. Major revisions, for the purpose
of this CO condition, are considered to
be, but not limited to, removal/addition
of any program element (i.e., avenues to
report safety concerns, program trending
and analysis standards, etc.).
f. AFRRI will distribute copies of the
SCWE program documents and
materials to AFRRI employees and
inform AFRRI employees how to access
the documents and materials. These
materials shall be maintained and
provided to all new AFRRI employees
during initial employee orientation.
g. AFRRI shall require both current
and future AFRRI employees to confirm
their receipt of the materials by
completing a ‘‘Read and Sign.’’
h. Within the SCWE program, AFRRI
shall document the requirements related
to the Safety Culture Program Officer
(Program Officer) to include the
following:
i. The Program Officer function will
report directly to the AFRRI Director.
ii. The Program Officer shall complete
specific training addressing topics such
as intake of allegations/safety concerns
and trending of concerns (e.g., National
Association of Employee Concerns
Professionals’ (NAECP’s) Employee
Concerns Program basics course, or
similar training). This training shall be
completed within 180 days of
designation as the Program Officer.
iii. The Program Officer shall assist
the AFRRI Director in management and
execution of the SCWE program to
include the intake and processing of
reported safety concerns.
iv. The Program Officer shall review
AFRRI communications related to safety
culture messaging and provide
feedback.
v. The Program Officer shall
encourage better communication
between nuclear materials safety and
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security committees associated with
AFRRI.
C. Training
1. Within 210 calendar days of
issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall develop
and/or revise its employee protection,
nuclear safety culture and safety
conscious work environment training
for all AFRRI employees and
supervisors.
a. Training shall include the
following:
i. Case studies of discriminatory
practices;
ii. Definitions of key industry terms/
common language;
iii. Behavioral expectations with
regard to each nuclear safety culture
trait as defined in NRC’s June 14, 2011,
Safety Culture Policy Statement;
iv. Expectations for demonstrating
support for raising nuclear safety
concerns without fear of retaliation; and
v. A statement that all employees
have the right to raise nuclear safety
concerns to USU/AFRRI, the NRC and
Congress, or engage in any other type of
protected activity without being subject
to disciplinary action or retaliation, as
well as, providing a list of available
reporting avenues.
2. Supervisory Training: In addition to
the content areas described within
paragraph C.1.a above, supervisory
training shall also include expectations
specific to the role of management and
include discussion on (1) effectively
managing safety concerns and (2)
ensuring employees feel comfortable
raising concerns.
a. The supervisory training shall be
conducted by either the independent
third-party organization hired to assist
AFRRI, as described in paragraph E
below, or AFFRI employees trained by
the independent third-party
organization.
b. The initial supervisory training
shall be completed within 210 calendar
days after the issuance of the CO.
c. Refresher supervisory training:
i. Initial refresher training sessions
shall be primarily instructor-led and
shall be provided to all supervisors at
least every 2 years for a period of 4 years
from the issuance of the CO. This
training may be provided by AFRRI
staff.
ii. Thereafter, refresher training may
be computer-based and shall be
provided to all supervisors annually.
d. AFRRI shall conduct instructor-led
training for any new supervisors hired
after the initial training, described in
paragraphs C.1 and C.2.b, as part of the
supervisor’s initial training.
e. Training records shall be retained
for 4 years after the completion of
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75055
applicable training and made available
to the NRC upon request.
f. All training material shall be made
available to the NRC upon request.
3. Employee (Non-Supervisory)
Training: The initial AFRRI employee
training described in paragraph C.1
above shall be conducted by AFRRI
employees trained by the team who
developed the training.
a. The initial AFRRI employee
training shall be primarily instructor-led
and all AFRRI employee training shall
commence within 180 calendar days
after the issuance of the CO.
b. All initial AFRRI employee training
must be completed within 330 calendar
days of the issuance of the CO.
c. Refresher employee training may be
computer-based and shall be provided
to all AFRRI employees annually.
d. AFRRI shall conduct instructor-led
training for any new AFRRI employee
hired after the initial training, described
in paragraphs C.1 and C.3.a, as part of
the employee’s orientation program/
process.
e. Training records shall be retained
for 4 years after the completion of
applicable training and made available
to the NRC upon request.
f. All training material shall be made
available to the NRC upon request.
4. The training described in
paragraphs C.1, C.2 and C.3 is
applicable to all AFRRI employees and
management who are engaged in work
associated with NRC-regulated
activities.
5. AFRRI shall provide all initial
training materials to the NRC for review
at least 60 calendar days prior to
conducting training.
6. NRC will provide comments to
AFRRI within 2 weeks of receipt of the
documents.
7. Within 45 days of receiving
communication that NRC’s review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate
NRC’s comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC’s comments
and state why NRC’s comments were
not incorporated.
D. Assess and Monitor Nuclear Safety
Culture and Safety Conscious Work
Environment
1. By no later than 18 months after the
issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall hire an
independent third-party organization
and complete a tailored, comprehensive
nuclear safety culture assessment.
a. The assessment will evaluate all
program components, including insights
from employee surveys, anonymous
reports, interviews and the conduct of
focus groups to assess effectiveness of
the program.
b. AFRRI shall conduct the initial
assessment within 1 year of the
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establishment of the SCWE program and
the assessment must result in a
comprehensive report.
c. AFRRI must address and
implement corrective actions as a result
of the assessment report.
2. A follow-up assessment shall be
conducted within 2 years after the
initial assessment. The follow-up
assessment shall be comparable to the
initial assessment, described in
paragraph D.1, to allow for effective
evaluation of trends. This follow-up
assessment does not require the use of
an independent third-party
organization.
3. AFRRI shall make available to the
NRC, upon request, the results of the
initial and follow-up assessments
(including surveys and AFRRI’s analysis
of trends) and the proposed corrective
actions (if any) AFRRI will take to
address the results, in order for the NRC
to verify that a healthy nuclear safety
culture and SCWE exist at AFRRI.
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E. Independent Third-Party
Organization
1. Within 120 calendar days of the
issuance of the CO, AFRRI will hire an
independent third-party organization to
assist AFRRI with updates to its NSC
Policy and the establishment of its
SCWE program and associated tasks, as
described within the CO. AFRRI may
utilize the same organization as
described in paragraph D above.
a. The independent third-party
organization shall be unrelated to the
proceedings at issue and experienced
within NRC employee protection
regulations, Section 211 of the Energy
Reorganization Act, as amended, and
nuclear safety culture and SCWE
policies/programs.
b. AFRRI shall receive assistance from
the independent third-party
organization for the following tasks:
i. Initial revisions/updates to AFRRI’s
NSC Policy, as AFRRI ensures
consistency with NRC and industry
guidance, as described in paragraph B.1;
ii. Establishment of AFRRI’s SCWE
program, as described in paragraph B.2;
and
iii. Development and implementation
of AFRRI’s initial Nuclear Safety
Culture and SCWE program assessment,
as described in paragraph D.1.
c. AFRRI will ensure that the
independent third-party organization is
provided all materials to
comprehensively assist AFRRI,
including NRC inspection reports
associated with AFRRI’s SCWE and the
March 18, 2020, Chilling Effect Letter.
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F. Work Process
1. Within 270 calendar days of the
issuance of the CO, AFRRI will develop
a program for AFRRI employees to raise
nuclear safety and security concerns.
a. The program shall include the
following:
i. An electronic, telephonic or
physical reporting mechanism for
AFRRI employees to submit nuclear
safety or security concerns. This
mechanism shall allow for both
standard and anonymous submission
capability.
ii. A means to evaluate information
collected through the available reporting
mechanisms in order to analyze the data
related to AFRRI’s nuclear safety culture
over time.
iii. A means to ensure AFRRI’s NSC
Policy, SCWE program, and associated
guidance/materials are readily
accessible for employee viewing.
iv. The opportunity for departing
AFRRI employees to participate in an
exit interview/survey to facilitate
identification of nuclear safety issues,
resulting trends and conclusions.
In consideration for the actions and/
or initiatives that AFRRI agrees to
undertake, as outlined above, the NRC
agrees to the following:
1. As part of its deliberations and
consistent with the philosophy of the
Enforcement Policy, Section 3.3,
‘‘Violations Identified Because of
Previous Enforcement Action,’’ the NRC
will consider enforcement discretion for
violations with similar root causes (i.e.,
associated with the NRC Employee
Protection Rules) that occur prior to or
during implementation of the corrective
actions aimed at correcting that specific
condition as specified in the CO.
2. The NRC will not cite a violation
or issue a civil penalty in connection
with the NRC’s June 8, 2020, letter to
AFRRI.
3. This CO will not count as escalated
enforcement in the civil penalty
assessment process for future cases as
long as the future action is not related
to the NRC Employee Protection Rules.
4. The NRC agrees not to pursue any
further enforcement action in
connection with the NRC’s June 8, 2020,
letter to AFRRI.
In the event of the transfer of the
operating license of AFRRI to another
entity, the terms and conditions set
forth hereunder shall continue to apply
to AFRRI and accordingly survive any
transfer of ownership or license.
The Director, Office of Enforcement
may, in writing, relax or rescind any of
the above conditions upon
demonstration by AFRRI of good cause.
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VI
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and
10 CFR 2.309, any person adversely
affected by this Confirmatory Order,
other than AFRRI, may request a hearing
within 30 calendar days of the date of
issuance of this Confirmatory Order.
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 NRC
adjudicatory proceedings, including a
request for hearing and petition for
leave to intervene (petition), 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 that
request to participate under 10 CFR
2.315(c), must be filed in accordance
with the NRC’s E-Filing rule (72 FR
49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at
77 FR 46562; August 3, 2012). The EFiling process requires participants to
submit and serve all adjudicatory
documents over the internet, or in some
cases to mail copies on electronic
storage media. Detailed guidance on
making electronic submissions may be
found in the Guidance for Electronic
Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC
website at https://www.nrc.gov/sitehelp/e-submittals.html. 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 (1) request a digital
identification (ID) certificate, which
allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign
submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it
is participating; and (2) advise the
Secretary that the participant will be
submitting a petition or other
adjudicatory document (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.
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Information about applying for a
digital ID certificate is available on the
NRC’s public website at https://
www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/
getting-started.html. Once a participant
has obtained a digital ID certificate and
a docket has been created, the
participant can then submit
adjudicatory documents. Submissions
must be in Portable Document Format
(PDF). Additional guidance on PDF
submissions is available on the NRC’s
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/
site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A
filing is considered complete at the time
the document is 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 EFiling 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 adjudicatory
documents are filed so that they can
obtain access to the documents via the
E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using
the NRC’s adjudicatory E-Filing system
may seek assistance by contacting the
NRC’s Electronic Filing Help Desk
through the ‘‘Contact Us’’ link located
on the NRC’s public website at https://
www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html, by email to
MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a tollfree call at 1–866–672–7640. The NRC
Electronic Filing Help Desk is available
between 9 a.m. and 6 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 stating why there is good cause for
not filing electronically and 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,
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17:48 Nov 23, 2020
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express mail, or expedited delivery
service to the Office of the Secretary,
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking
and Adjudications Staff. Participants
filing adjudicatory documents in this
manner are responsible for serving the
document on all other participants.
Filing is considered complete by firstclass 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 the NRC’s
electronic hearing docket which is
available to the public at https://
adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded
pursuant to an order of the Commission
or the presiding officer. If you do not
have an NRC-issued digital ID certificate
as described above, click ‘‘cancel’’ when
the link requests certificates and you
will be automatically directed to the
NRC’s electronic hearing dockets where
you will be able to access any publicly
available documents in a particular
hearing docket. Participants are
requested not to include personal
privacy information, such as social
security numbers, home addresses, or
personal phone numbers in their filings,
unless an NRC regulation or other law
requires submission of such
information. For example, in some
instances, individuals provide home
addresses in order to demonstrate
proximity to a facility or site. 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.
The Commission will issue a notice or
order granting or denying a hearing
request or intervention petition,
designating the issues for any hearing
that will be held and designating the
Presiding Officer. A notice granting a
hearing will be published in the Federal
Register and served on the parties to the
hearing.
If a person (other than AFRRI)
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).
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75057
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 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 30 days
from the date of this Confirmatory 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.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated this 19th day of November 2020.
George A. Wilson,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2020–25981 Filed 11–23–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2020–0144]
Information Collection: NRC Online
Form for Requesting Alternatives to
Regulatory Codes and Standards
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of submission to the
Office of Management and Budget;
request for comment.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) invites public
comment on our request for review and
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) approval of the information
collection that is summarized below.
The information collection is regarding
a NRC Online Form for requesting
alternatives to regulatory Codes and
Standards requirements.
DATES: Submit comments by December
24, 2020. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical
to do so, but the Commission is able to
ensure consideration only for comments
received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to https://www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAMain. Find this
particular information collection by
selecting ‘‘Currently under Review—
Open for Public Comments’’ or by using
the search function.
SUMMARY:
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 227 (Tuesday, November 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75051-75057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25981]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 05000170; NRC-2020-0258]
In the Matter of Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Confirmatory order; issuance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
Order confirming commitments agreed upon during an Alternate Dispute
Resolution mediation session with the Armed Forces Radiobiology
Research Institute (AFRRI). The NRC determined that an apparent
violation of NRC regulations, occurred as identified during an
investigation completed on February 27, 2020, by the NRC's Office of
Investigations. The Order is effective on the date of issuance.
DATES: The Confirmatory Order became effective on November 19, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0258 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0258. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, 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 obtain publicly available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 [email protected]. Order EA-20-056, issued to AFRRI on
November 19, 2020, is available in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML20303A211.
Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of public documents is currently closed. You may submit your request to
the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicole Coleman, Office of Enforcement,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001;
telephone: 301-287-9007, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.
Dated: November 19, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
George A. Wilson,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
Attached--Confirmatory Order
United States of America
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
In the Matter of Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute,
Bethesda, Maryland
Docket No.: 05000170; License No.: R-84; EA-20-056
Confirmatory Order Modifying License Effective Upon Issuance
I
Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI or Licensee) is
the holder of License No. R-84, issued by the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to Part 50 of Title 10 of the
Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). The license authorizes the
operation of AFRRI Research Reactor (facility) in accordance with
conditions specified therein. The facility is located on the Licensee's
site in Bethesda, Maryland.
This Confirmatory Order (CO) is the result of an agreement reached
during an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mediation session
conducted on September 18, 2020, to address an apparent violation.
II
On February 27, 2020, the NRC's Office of Investigations (OI),
issued a report (1-2019-003) related to AFRRI. Based on the evidence
developed during its investigation, the NRC identified an apparent
violation of 10 CFR 50.7, ``Employee protection.'' The NRC determined
that AFRRI placed an AFRRI employee on a 2-day suspension without pay
on May 14, 2018, in part, for engaging in protected activity. By letter
dated June 8, 2020, the NRC notified AFRRI of the results of the
investigation with an opportunity to (1) attend a pre-decisional
enforcement conference or (2) to participate in an ADR mediation
session in an effort to resolve this concern.
In response to the NRC's offer, AFRRI requested the use of the
NRC's ADR process to attempt to resolve this issue with the NRC. On
September 18, 2020, the NRC and AFRRI conducted an ADR session mediated
by a professional mediator, arranged through Cornell University's
Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution. The ADR process is one in
which a neutral mediator, with no decision-making authority, assists
the parties in reaching an agreement to resolve any differences
regarding the
[[Page 75052]]
dispute. This CO is issued pursuant to the agreement reached during the
September 18, 2020, ADR session.
III
During the ADR session, AFRRI and the NRC reached a preliminary
settlement agreement. The elements of the agreement included (1)
corrective actions that AFRRI has already completed to improve the
nuclear safety culture and safety conscious work environment (SCWE) at
the facility (provided to the NRC during the September 18, 2020, ADR
session), (2) agreed upon future actions, and (3) general provisions.
Previously Completed Corrective Actions
1. Conducted industry-led AFRRI leadership SCWE training.
2. Conducted three industry-led AFRRI employee SCWE training
sessions.
3. Established a SCWE Working Group to ensure employee involvement
and capture employee insights during the development of the AFRRI SCWE
program.
4. Appointed a Safety Culture Program Officer.
5. Issued an email communication from the AFRRI Director to all
AFRRI staff encouraging participation in the SCWE training and the
command climate survey by the Uniformed Services University (USU)
Brigade leadership.
6. Issued a message from the newly appointed Safety Culture Program
Officer to all AFRRI staff emphasizing leadership's focus on safety and
mechanisms for reporting concerns.
7. Participated in monthly National Organization of Test, Research,
and Training Reactors (TRTR) calls, and registered several AFRRI staff
for the upcoming annual conference.
8. Solicited feedback from AFRRI staff regarding the ongoing
command climate survey to serve as a baseline for future safety
improvement metrics.
Agreed Upon Future Actions
A. Communication
1. Within 60 calendar days of issuance of the CO, the Uniformed
Services University (USU) President shall issue a written statement,
communicating the specific strategy to improve AFRRI's nuclear safety
culture.
a. The communication is to include (1) a brief summary regarding
the employee protection regulations, (2) the NRC's concerns expressed
in its March 2020 chilling effect letter, (3) specific lessons learned
from previously applied corrective actions, and (4) corrective actions
both taken and planned.
b. USU shall provide a copy of this communication to the NRC for
prior review.
c. NRC shall provide comments within 1 week of receipt of the draft
communication.
2. Within 90 calendar days of the USU President's statement, AFRRI
shall hold an all-hands meeting for management to discuss the
importance of the above communication with AFRRI employees.
a. AFRRI shall conduct the all-hands meeting on multiple levels of
management (i.e., Director level, Department head) with current
employees. AFRRI employees must attend at least one of the all-hands
meetings.
b. AFRRI shall require participants to sign in, confirming their
attendance. Employees unable to attend an in-person/virtual meeting
shall complete a ``Read and Sign'' training.
c. Future employees shall complete a ``Read and Sign'' training.
B. Safety Culture and Safety Conscious Work Environment
1. Within 150 calendar days of issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall
ensure its nuclear safety culture policy, guidance and related
materials are in place and updated.
a. Ensure a distinct and comprehensive safety culture policy is
updated, maintained and consistent with the NRC's March 2011 Safety
Culture Policy Statement and associated traits.
b. The safety culture policy shall include specific definitions for
key safety culture terms, including examples of what constitutes a
protected activity and safety/security concern(s).
c. The policy shall incorporate guidance from NUREG 2165, ``Safety
Culture Common Language,'' and the industry's common language
initiative (i.e., INPO 12-012, Revision 1, April 2013).
d. Copies of policy statement revisions, guidance and related
materials shall be provided to the NRC for review at least 60 calendar
days prior to issuance.
e. NRC will provide comments to AFRRI within 2 weeks.
f. Within 45 days of receiving communication that the NRC review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate NRC comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC comments and why comments were not incorporated.
g. AFRRI will distribute copies of these documents and materials to
employees and inform employees where all related materials can be
located. These materials shall be maintained and provided to all new
employees during initial orientation.
h. AFRRI shall require employees to confirm their receipt of the
materials by completing a ``Read and Sign''.
2. Within 180 calendar days of issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall
establish a nuclear SCWE program.
a. AFRRI shall ensure that the SCWE program is consistent with the
NRC Safety Conscious Work Environment Policy Statements and associated
guidance (i.e., the NRC's May 1996 Safety Conscious Work Environment
Policy Statement, and the NRC's Regulatory Issue Summary 2005-18,
``Guidance for Establishing and Maintaining a Safety Conscious Work
Environment'').
b. Initial SCWE Program documents (guidance and related materials)
shall be provided to the NRC review at least 60 calendar days prior to
issuance.
c. Within 2 weeks of receiving the documents, NRC will provide
comments to AFRRI.
d. Within 45 days of receiving communication that the NRC review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate NRC comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC comments and why comments were not incorporated.
e. AFRRI shall make NRC aware of any revisions to SCWE program
documents and make the revisions available for NRC review, upon
request. This requirement is limited to the initial 2 years of program
establishment.
f. AFRRI will distribute copies of these documents and materials to
employees and inform employees where all related materials can be
located. These materials shall be maintained and provided to all new
employees during initial orientation.
g. AFRRI shall require employees to confirm their receipt of the
materials by completing a ``Read and Sign.''
h. Within this program, AFRRI shall document the requirements
related to the Nuclear Safety Culture Program Officer to include the
following:
i. The Safety Culture Program Officer (Program Officer) function
will report directly to the AFRRI Director.
ii. The Program Officer shall complete specific training,
addressing topics such as intake of allegations/safety concerns and
trending of concerns (e.g., Employee Concerns Program (ECP) basics
course NAECP's ECP basics course, or similar training). This training
shall be completed within 180 days of designation as the Program
Officer.
[[Page 75053]]
iii. The Program Officer shall assist the AFRRI Director in the
management and execution of the SCWE program to include the intake and
processing of reported safety concerns.
iv. The Program Officer shall review AFRRI communications related
to safety culture messaging and provide feedback to the AFRRI Director.
v. The Program Officer shall encourage better communication between
nuclear materials safety and security committees associated with AFRRI.
C. Training
1. By no later than 180 calendar days after the issuance of the CO,
AFRRI shall develop and/or revise its employee protection, nuclear
safety culture and safety conscious work environment training for all
AFRRI employees.
a. Training shall include the following areas:
i. Case studies of discriminatory practices;
ii. Definitions of key industry terms/common language;
iii. Behavioral expectations with regard to each nuclear safety
culture traits;
iv. Expectations for demonstrating support for raising nuclear
safety concerns and all available avenues without fear of retaliation;
and
v. A statement that all employees have the right to raise nuclear
safety concerns to USU/AFRRI, the NRC and Congress, or engage in any
other type of protected activity without fear of being subject to
disciplinary action or retaliation, as well as, provide a list of
available reporting avenues.
2. Supervisory Training: In addition to the content areas described
within paragraph C.1 above, supervisory training shall also include
expectations specific to the role of management and include specific
discussion on how to (1) effectively manage safety concerns and (2)
ensure employees feel comfortable raising concerns.
a. If AFRRI conducts the initial training, the training will be
performed by AFFRI employees trained by the team who developed the
training at AFRRI or the organization who developed the program.
b. The supervisory training shall be completed within 180 calendar
days after the issuance of the CO.
c. Refresher training:
i. Shall be primarily instructor led and be provided at least every
2 years for a period of 4 years. This training may be provided by AFRRI
staff.
ii. Thereafter, refresher training may be computer-based and shall
be provided annually.
d. AFRRI shall conduct instructor-led training for any new
supervisors hired after the initial training conducted as described in
paragraphs 1 and 2 above, as part of the supervisor's initial training.
e. Training records shall be retained for 4 years after the
completion of applicable training and made available to the NRC upon
request.
f. All training material shall be available to the NRC upon
request.
3. Employee (Non-Supervisory) Training: Initial training, developed
in paragraph C.1 above, shall be conducted by AFRRI employees trained
by the team who developed the training at AFRRI.
a. All employee training shall commence within 180 calendar days
after the issuance of the CO.
b. All training must be completed within 330 calendar days of the
issuance of the CO.
c. Refresher training may be computer-based and shall be provided
annually.
d. Training will primarily be instructor-led for new employees as
part of their orientation program/process.
e. Training records shall be retained for 4 years after the
completion of applicable training and made available to the NRC upon
request.
f. All training material shall be available to the NRC upon
request.
4. This training is applicable to all AFRRI employees and
management who are engaged in work associated with NRC-regulated
activities.
5. AFRRI shall provide all training materials to the NRC for review
at least 60 calendar days prior to conducting training.
a. NRC will provide comments to AFRRI within 2 weeks of receipt.
b. Within 45 days of receiving communication that the NRC review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate NRC comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC comments and why comments were not incorporated.
D. Assess and Monitor Nuclear Safety Culture and Safety Conscious Work
Environment
1. By no later than 18 months after the issuance of the CO, AFRRI
shall hire a third-party independent organization and complete a
tailored comprehensive nuclear safety culture assessment to ensure the
effectiveness of the nuclear safety culture and SCWE programs.
a. The assessment will evaluate all program components, including
insights from employee surveys, anonymous reports, interviews and the
conduct of focus groups to assess effectiveness of the programs.
b. AFRRI shall conduct the initial assessment within 1 year of the
establishment of the SCWE program.
c. AFRRI must address and implement corrective actions as a result
of the assessment report.
2. A follow-up assessment shall be conducted within 2 years after
the initial assessment. The follow-up assessment shall be comparable to
the initial assessment to allow for effective evaluation of trends.
This assessment does not require the use of a third-party organization.
3. AFRRI shall make available to the NRC, upon request, the results
of the assessments, surveys, AFRRI's analysis of the trends, results
and proposed corrective actions (if any) AFRRI will take to address the
results in order to verify that a healthy nuclear safety culture and
SCWE exists at AFRRI.
E. Independent Third-Party Organization
1. Within 120 calendar days of the issuance of the CO, AFRRI will
hire a third-party, independent organization to assist AFRRI with
updates to its nuclear safety culture policy and the establishment of
its safety conscious work environment program and associated tasks, as
described within the CO. AFRRI may utilize the same organization as
described in paragraph D above.
a. The third-party organization shall be unrelated to the
proceedings at issue and experienced within NRC employee protection
regulations, Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act, as amended,
and nuclear safety culture and SCWE policies/programs.
b. AFRRI shall ensure they receive assistance from the third-party
organization for the following tasks:
i. Initial revisions/updates to AFRRI's nuclear safety culture
policy, as AFRRI ensures consistency with NRC and industry guidance;
ii. Establishment of AFRRI's SCWE program; and
iii. Development and conduct of AFRRI's initial Nuclear Safety
Culture and SCWE program assessment.
c. AFRRI will ensure the organization is provided with all
materials to comprehensively assist AFRRI, including NRC inspection
reports associated with AFRRI's SCWE and the March 2020 CEL.
F. Work Process
1. Within 270 calendar days of the issuance of the CO, AFRRI will
develop a program for AFRRI employees to raise concerns.
a. The program shall include the following:
[[Page 75054]]
i. An electronic, telephonic, or physical reporting mechanism for
AFRRI employees to submit safety concerns. This mechanism shall allow
for both standard and anonymous submission capability.
ii. A means to evaluate information collected through the reporting
mechanisms available, in order to analyze the data over time, related
to AFRRI's nuclear safety culture.
iii. A means to ensure AFRRI's nuclear safety culture and SCWE
policies, and associated guidance/materials, are readily accessible for
employee viewing.
iv. The opportunity for departing AFRRI employees to participate in
an exit interview/survey to facilitate identification of nuclear safety
issues, resulting trends and conclusions.
General Provisions
1. As part of its deliberations and consistent with the philosophy
of the Enforcement Policy, Section 3.3, ``Violations Identified Because
of Previous Enforcement Action,'' the NRC will consider enforcement
discretion for violations of the NRC Employee Protection Rules that
occurred prior to or during implementation of the corrective actions
aimed at correcting that specific condition as specified in the CO.
2. The NRC will not cite a violation or issue a civil penalty in
connection with the NRC's June 8, 2020, letter to AFRRI.
3. This CO will not count as escalated enforcement in the civil
penalty assessment process for future cases, as long as the future
action is not related to the NRC Employee Protection Rule.
4. The Director, Office of Enforcement, may, in writing, relax or
rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by AFRRI of good
cause.
5. The NRC agrees not to pursue any further enforcement action in
connection with the NRC's June 8, 2020, letter to AFRRI.
6. In the event of the transfer of the operating license of AFRRI
to another entity, the terms and conditions set forth hereunder shall
continue to apply to AFRRI and accordingly survive any transfer of
ownership or license.
On November 10, 2020, AFRRI consented to issuing this CO with the
commitments, as described in Section V below. AFRRI further agreed that
this CO is to be effective upon issuance, that the agreement
memorialized in this CO settles the matter between the parties, and
that it has waived its right to a hearing.
IV
I find that AFRRI's completed actions, as described in Section III
above, combined with the 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 require that
AFRRI's commitments be confirmed by this CO. Based on the above and
AFRRI's consent, this CO is effective upon issuance.
V
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 104c, 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 50, it is hereby ordered,
effective upon issuance, that License No. R-84 is modified as follows:
A. Communication
1. Within 60 calendar days of issuance of the Confirmatory Order
(CO), the Uniformed Services University (USU) President shall issue a
written statement communicating the specific strategy to improve
AFRRI's nuclear safety culture.
a. The communication is to include (1) a brief summary regarding
the employee protection regulations, (2) the NRC's concerns expressed
in its March 18, 2020, chilling effect letter, (3) specific lessons
learned from previously applied corrective actions, and (4) corrective
actions both taken and planned.
b. USU shall provide a copy of this communication to the NRC for
prior review.
c. NRC shall provide comments within 1 week of receipt of the draft
communication.
2. Within 90 calendar days of the USU President's statement, AFRRI
shall hold all-hands meetings for management to discuss the importance
of the communication, described within Section A.1 above, with AFRRI
employees.
a. AFRRI shall conduct the all-hands meetings on multiple levels of
management (i.e., AFRRI Director, Department Heads), with current
employees. AFRRI employees must attend at least one of the all-hands
meetings.
b. AFRRI shall require participants to sign-in, confirming their
attendance. Employees unable to attend an in-person/virtual meeting,
shall confirm their receipt of the communication by completing a ``Read
and Sign.''
c. Future AFRRI employees shall complete this requirement via a
``Read and Sign.''
B. Safety Culture and Safety Conscious Work Environment
1. Within 150 calendar days of issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall
ensure its nuclear safety culture policy (NSC Policy), guidance, and
related materials are in place and updated.
a. Ensure a distinct and comprehensive NSC Policy is updated,
maintained, and consistent with the NRC's June 14, 2011, Safety Culture
Policy Statement and associated traits.
b. The NSC Policy shall include specific definitions for key safety
culture terms, including examples of what constitutes a protected
activity and safety/security concern(s).
c. The NSC Policy shall incorporate guidance from NUREG-2165,
``Safety Culture Common Language'' and the industry's common language
initiative (i.e., INPO 12-012, Revision 1, April 2013).
d. Copies of NSC Policy, guidance, and related materials shall be
provided to the NRC for review at least 60 calendar days prior to
issuance.
e. NRC will provide comments to AFRRI within 2 weeks of receipt of
the document(s)/material(s).
f. Within 45 days of receiving communication that NRC's review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate NRC's comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC's comments and state why NRC's comments were not
incorporated.
g. AFRRI will distribute copies of the NSC Policy, guidance, and
related materials to AFRRI employees and inform AFRRI employees how to
access the documents and materials. These materials shall be maintained
and provided to all new AFRRI employees during initial employee
orientation.
h. AFRRI shall require both current and new AFRRI employees to
confirm their receipt of the NSC Policy, guidance, and related
materials by completing a ``Read and Sign.''
2. Within 180 calendar days of issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall
establish a nuclear safety conscious work environment (SCWE) program.
a. AFRRI shall ensure that the SCWE program is consistent with the
NRC Safety Conscious Work Environment Policy Statement and associated
guidance (i.e., NRC's May 14, 1996, policy statement ``Freedom of
Employees in the Nuclear Industry to Raise Safety Concerns Without Fear
of Retaliation,'' and the NRC's Regulatory Issue Summary 2005-18,
``Guidance for
[[Page 75055]]
Establishing and Maintaining a Safety Conscious Work Environment'').
b. Initial SCWE program documents (guidance and related materials)
shall be provided to the NRC review at 60 calendar days prior to
issuance.
c. NRC will provide comments to AFRRI, within 2 weeks of receipt of
the documents.
d. Within 45 days of receiving communication that NRC's review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate NRC's comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC's comments and state why NRC's comments were not
incorporated.
e. For a period of 2 years following the establishment of the SCWE
program, AFRRI shall inform NRC of any pending major revisions to
AFRRI's SCWE program documents and make the revisions available for NRC
review upon request. Major revisions, for the purpose of this CO
condition, are considered to be, but not limited to, removal/addition
of any program element (i.e., avenues to report safety concerns,
program trending and analysis standards, etc.).
f. AFRRI will distribute copies of the SCWE program documents and
materials to AFRRI employees and inform AFRRI employees how to access
the documents and materials. These materials shall be maintained and
provided to all new AFRRI employees during initial employee
orientation.
g. AFRRI shall require both current and future AFRRI employees to
confirm their receipt of the materials by completing a ``Read and
Sign.''
h. Within the SCWE program, AFRRI shall document the requirements
related to the Safety Culture Program Officer (Program Officer) to
include the following:
i. The Program Officer function will report directly to the AFRRI
Director.
ii. The Program Officer shall complete specific training addressing
topics such as intake of allegations/safety concerns and trending of
concerns (e.g., National Association of Employee Concerns
Professionals' (NAECP's) Employee Concerns Program basics course, or
similar training). This training shall be completed within 180 days of
designation as the Program Officer.
iii. The Program Officer shall assist the AFRRI Director in
management and execution of the SCWE program to include the intake and
processing of reported safety concerns.
iv. The Program Officer shall review AFRRI communications related
to safety culture messaging and provide feedback.
v. The Program Officer shall encourage better communication between
nuclear materials safety and security committees associated with AFRRI.
C. Training
1. Within 210 calendar days of issuance of the CO, AFRRI shall
develop and/or revise its employee protection, nuclear safety culture
and safety conscious work environment training for all AFRRI employees
and supervisors.
a. Training shall include the following:
i. Case studies of discriminatory practices;
ii. Definitions of key industry terms/common language;
iii. Behavioral expectations with regard to each nuclear safety
culture trait as defined in NRC's June 14, 2011, Safety Culture Policy
Statement;
iv. Expectations for demonstrating support for raising nuclear
safety concerns without fear of retaliation; and
v. A statement that all employees have the right to raise nuclear
safety concerns to USU/AFRRI, the NRC and Congress, or engage in any
other type of protected activity without being subject to disciplinary
action or retaliation, as well as, providing a list of available
reporting avenues.
2. Supervisory Training: In addition to the content areas described
within paragraph C.1.a above, supervisory training shall also include
expectations specific to the role of management and include discussion
on (1) effectively managing safety concerns and (2) ensuring employees
feel comfortable raising concerns.
a. The supervisory training shall be conducted by either the
independent third-party organization hired to assist AFRRI, as
described in paragraph E below, or AFFRI employees trained by the
independent third-party organization.
b. The initial supervisory training shall be completed within 210
calendar days after the issuance of the CO.
c. Refresher supervisory training:
i. Initial refresher training sessions shall be primarily
instructor-led and shall be provided to all supervisors at least every
2 years for a period of 4 years from the issuance of the CO. This
training may be provided by AFRRI staff.
ii. Thereafter, refresher training may be computer-based and shall
be provided to all supervisors annually.
d. AFRRI shall conduct instructor-led training for any new
supervisors hired after the initial training, described in paragraphs
C.1 and C.2.b, as part of the supervisor's initial training.
e. Training records shall be retained for 4 years after the
completion of applicable training and made available to the NRC upon
request.
f. All training material shall be made available to the NRC upon
request.
3. Employee (Non-Supervisory) Training: The initial AFRRI employee
training described in paragraph C.1 above shall be conducted by AFRRI
employees trained by the team who developed the training.
a. The initial AFRRI employee training shall be primarily
instructor-led and all AFRRI employee training shall commence within
180 calendar days after the issuance of the CO.
b. All initial AFRRI employee training must be completed within 330
calendar days of the issuance of the CO.
c. Refresher employee training may be computer-based and shall be
provided to all AFRRI employees annually.
d. AFRRI shall conduct instructor-led training for any new AFRRI
employee hired after the initial training, described in paragraphs C.1
and C.3.a, as part of the employee's orientation program/process.
e. Training records shall be retained for 4 years after the
completion of applicable training and made available to the NRC upon
request.
f. All training material shall be made available to the NRC upon
request.
4. The training described in paragraphs C.1, C.2 and C.3 is
applicable to all AFRRI employees and management who are engaged in
work associated with NRC-regulated activities.
5. AFRRI shall provide all initial training materials to the NRC
for review at least 60 calendar days prior to conducting training.
6. NRC will provide comments to AFRRI within 2 weeks of receipt of
the documents.
7. Within 45 days of receiving communication that NRC's review is
complete, AFRRI will either incorporate NRC's comments or provide
acknowledgement of NRC's comments and state why NRC's comments were not
incorporated.
D. Assess and Monitor Nuclear Safety Culture and Safety Conscious Work
Environment
1. By no later than 18 months after the issuance of the CO, AFRRI
shall hire an independent third-party organization and complete a
tailored, comprehensive nuclear safety culture assessment.
a. The assessment will evaluate all program components, including
insights from employee surveys, anonymous reports, interviews and the
conduct of focus groups to assess effectiveness of the program.
b. AFRRI shall conduct the initial assessment within 1 year of the
[[Page 75056]]
establishment of the SCWE program and the assessment must result in a
comprehensive report.
c. AFRRI must address and implement corrective actions as a result
of the assessment report.
2. A follow-up assessment shall be conducted within 2 years after
the initial assessment. The follow-up assessment shall be comparable to
the initial assessment, described in paragraph D.1, to allow for
effective evaluation of trends. This follow-up assessment does not
require the use of an independent third-party organization.
3. AFRRI shall make available to the NRC, upon request, the results
of the initial and follow-up assessments (including surveys and AFRRI's
analysis of trends) and the proposed corrective actions (if any) AFRRI
will take to address the results, in order for the NRC to verify that a
healthy nuclear safety culture and SCWE exist at AFRRI.
E. Independent Third-Party Organization
1. Within 120 calendar days of the issuance of the CO, AFRRI will
hire an independent third-party organization to assist AFRRI with
updates to its NSC Policy and the establishment of its SCWE program and
associated tasks, as described within the CO. AFRRI may utilize the
same organization as described in paragraph D above.
a. The independent third-party organization shall be unrelated to
the proceedings at issue and experienced within NRC employee protection
regulations, Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act, as amended,
and nuclear safety culture and SCWE policies/programs.
b. AFRRI shall receive assistance from the independent third-party
organization for the following tasks:
i. Initial revisions/updates to AFRRI's NSC Policy, as AFRRI
ensures consistency with NRC and industry guidance, as described in
paragraph B.1;
ii. Establishment of AFRRI's SCWE program, as described in
paragraph B.2; and
iii. Development and implementation of AFRRI's initial Nuclear
Safety Culture and SCWE program assessment, as described in paragraph
D.1.
c. AFRRI will ensure that the independent third-party organization
is provided all materials to comprehensively assist AFRRI, including
NRC inspection reports associated with AFRRI's SCWE and the March 18,
2020, Chilling Effect Letter.
F. Work Process
1. Within 270 calendar days of the issuance of the CO, AFRRI will
develop a program for AFRRI employees to raise nuclear safety and
security concerns.
a. The program shall include the following:
i. An electronic, telephonic or physical reporting mechanism for
AFRRI employees to submit nuclear safety or security concerns. This
mechanism shall allow for both standard and anonymous submission
capability.
ii. A means to evaluate information collected through the available
reporting mechanisms in order to analyze the data related to AFRRI's
nuclear safety culture over time.
iii. A means to ensure AFRRI's NSC Policy, SCWE program, and
associated guidance/materials are readily accessible for employee
viewing.
iv. The opportunity for departing AFRRI employees to participate in
an exit interview/survey to facilitate identification of nuclear safety
issues, resulting trends and conclusions.
In consideration for the actions and/or initiatives that AFRRI
agrees to undertake, as outlined above, the NRC agrees to the
following:
1. As part of its deliberations and consistent with the philosophy
of the Enforcement Policy, Section 3.3, ``Violations Identified Because
of Previous Enforcement Action,'' the NRC will consider enforcement
discretion for violations with similar root causes (i.e., associated
with the NRC Employee Protection Rules) that occur prior to or during
implementation of the corrective actions aimed at correcting that
specific condition as specified in the CO.
2. The NRC will not cite a violation or issue a civil penalty in
connection with the NRC's June 8, 2020, letter to AFRRI.
3. This CO will not count as escalated enforcement in the civil
penalty assessment process for future cases as long as the future
action is not related to the NRC Employee Protection Rules.
4. The NRC agrees not to pursue any further enforcement action in
connection with the NRC's June 8, 2020, letter to AFRRI.
In the event of the transfer of the operating license of AFRRI to
another entity, the terms and conditions set forth hereunder shall
continue to apply to AFRRI and accordingly survive any transfer of
ownership or license.
The Director, Office of Enforcement may, in writing, relax or
rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by AFRRI of good
cause.
VI
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR 2.309, any person
adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other than AFRRI, may
request a hearing within 30 calendar days of the date of issuance of
this Confirmatory Order. 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 NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a
request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene (petition), 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 that request to
participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with the
NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 FR
46562; August 3, 2012). 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. Detailed
guidance on making electronic submissions may be found in the Guidance
for Electronic Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. 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 [email protected], or by
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID)
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or
other adjudicatory document (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.
[[Page 75057]]
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a
digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant
can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable
Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the document is 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 adjudicatory documents are
filed so that they can obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing
system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m.
and 6 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
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and
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, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff. Participants filing adjudicatory documents 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 the
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the
Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued
digital ID certificate as described above, click ``cancel'' when the
link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to
the NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access
any publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket.
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information,
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone
numbers in their filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law
requires submission of such information. For example, in some
instances, individuals provide home addresses in order to demonstrate
proximity to a facility or site. 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.
The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for
any hearing that will be held and designating the Presiding Officer. A
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and
served on the parties to the hearing.
If a person (other than AFRRI) 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 hearings. 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 30 days from the date of
this Confirmatory 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.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated this 19th day of November 2020.
George A. Wilson,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 2020-25981 Filed 11-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P