United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Public Affairs, Region I

475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406

Fax: 610/337-5241

Internet: dps@nrc.gov or nas@nrc.gov

I-99-84 September 27, 1999

Contact: Diane Screnci (610/337-5330) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Neil A. Sheehan (610/337-5331)

The following is a statement from Greta Joy Dicus, Chairman of

the Nuclear Regulatory Commission:

I wish to underscore the Commission’s support for the actions

announced today by the United States Attorney’s Office in

Hartford, Conn. These actions help to reaffirm the importance of

trust and reliability for those who participate in activities

regulated by the NRC. The effective cooperation between NRC and

the U.S. Attorney’s Office is important in helping both agencies

to accomplish their missions.

NRC’s ability to accomplish its mission of protection of public

health and safety, the environment and the common defense and

security requires utilization of a continuing oversight program

through resident and region based inspectors. The Commission was

convinced, prior to allowing the restart of two Millstone nuclear

power plants, that the problems in the training program, as well

as other operational and management problems, had been addressed

and corrected. As noted by Regional Administrator Hubert J.

Miller, in his statement (attached) made on behalf of the

Commission, this oversight continues for Millstone even as we see

improvements in licensee performance. The U.S. Attorney’s

actions today act as a complement to those activities as we all

work to correct past deficiencies in Millstone’s performance.

I wish to subscribe to the comments made by Regional

Administrator Miller, as appended to this statement.
Statement

by

Hubert J. Miller

Administrator, NRC Region I

Today’s action, based on falsification of licensed operator

training certifications in 1996, is significant. This type of

violation of federal law has serious consequences. Our

investigative effort demonstrates the NRC’s commitment to work

effectively with the United States Attorney’s Office to

accomplish our mission of protecting public health and safety.

We are very proud of our contribution to this investigation. It

demonstrates again the tremendous talent which we have in our

Office of Investigations.

Trust is fundamental to NRC’s oversight program. We perform

numerous inspections and monitor day to day plant operations. But

because we can only look at a sampling of plant activities and

records, it is important that our license-holders provide

complete and accurate information. Honesty and integrity are

important to ensuring the protection of public health and safety.

The underlying problems that led to today’s action led to the NRC

issuing a Confirmatory Action Letter to the company in 1997, to

address the numerous operator licensing issues. In addition,

there were other matters at Millstone, such as the breakdown of a

safety conscious work environment, that caused the Commission to

issue orders that resulted in the extended shutdown of the

Millstone Units pending Northeast’s correction of these problems.

The NRC undertook one of the most extensive oversight efforts in

the agency’s history to confirm that these problems had been

addressed effectively before restart. Restart was allowed only

after the Commission itself reviewed the situation in detail and

was convinced the actions taken by the company were effective.

In making this decision, the Commission-- which had been briefed

periodically on the status of on-going investigations--

determined it could allow restart because comprehensive

corrective actions had been taken to address the operator

training problems related to the issues under this investigation.

Since restart of the two units, we have continued to closely

monitor their performance to ensure the progress the company made

during the extended shutdown of the two units is sustained and

the units are operated safely.

In this case, the company’s willingness to cooperate with the

government and take responsibility for its actions is a sign of

the current management’s interest in moving forward in a

conscientious manner.