Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 174 / Tuesday, September 9, 1997 / Notices 47523

(PUBLIC MEETING) (Contact: Bill

Borchardt, 301–415–1257)

1:30 p.m. Briefing by DOE and NRC on

Regulatory Oversight of DOE

Nuclear Facilities (Public Meeting)

(Contact: John Austin, 301–415–

7275)

Week of September 22—Tentative

There are no meetings scheduled for

the week of September 22.

Week of September 29—Tentative

There are no meetings scheduled for

the week of September 29.

THE SCHEDULE FOR COMMISSION

MEETINGS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE ON

SHORT NOTICE. TO VERIFY THE STATUS

OF MEETINGS CALL (RECORDING)—(301)

415–1292. CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE

INFORMATION: Bill Hill (301) 415–1661.

The NRC Commission Meeting

Schedule can be found on the Internet

at: http://www.nrc.gov/SECY/smj/

schedule.htm

This notice is distributed by mail to

several hundred subscribers: if you no

longer wish to receive it, or would like

to be added to it, please contact the

Office of the Secretary. Attn: Operations

Branch, Washington, D.C. 20555 (301–

415–1661).

In addition, distribution of this

meeting notice over the internet system

is available. If you are interested in

receiving this Commission meeting

schedule electronically, please send an

electronic message to wmh@nrc.gov or

dkw@nrc.gov.

Dated: September 5, 1997.

William M. Hill, Jr.,

SECY Tracking Officer, Office of the

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–23993 Filed 9–5–97; 3:00 pm]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–M

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–213]

Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power

Company; Issuance of Director’s

Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206

Notice is hereby given that the

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation, has issued a Director’s

Decision concerning a Petition dated

March 11, 1997, filed by Ms. Rosemary

Bassilakis pursuant to Title 10 of the

Code of Federal Regulations Section

2.206 (10 CFR 2.206) on behalf of the

Citizens Awareness Network and the

Nuclear Information and Resource

Service (Petitioners). The petition

requests that, on the basis of the

repeated failures of the radiation

protection program at the plant, the

NRC (1) commence enforcement action

against the Connecticut Yankee Atomic

Power Company (CY) by means of a

large civil penalty to ensure compliance

with safety-based radiological control

routines, (2) modify CY’s license for the

Haddam Neck plant pursuant to 10 CFR

2.202 to prohibit any decommissioning

activity, which would include

decontamination or dismantling, until

CY manages to conduct routine

maintenance at the facility without any

contamination events for at least 6

months, and (3) place the Haddam Neck

plant on the NRC Watch List.

The Director, Office of Nuclear

Reactor Regulation, has determined that

the Petition should be deferred in part

and denied in part for the reasons stated

in the ‘‘Director’s Decision Under 10

CFR 2.206’’ (DD–97–19), the complete

text of which follows this notice and is

available for public inspection at the

Commission’s Public Document Room

at 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, DC,

and at the Local Public Document Room

for the Haddam Neck Plant at the

Russell Library, 123 Broad Street,

Middletown, Connecticut.

A copy of this decision has been filed

with the Secretary of the Commission

for the Commission’s review. As

provided by 10 CFR 2.206(c), this

decision will become final action of the

Commission 25 days after issuance

unless the Commission, on its own

motion, institutes a review of the

decision within that time.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day

of September 1997.

For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. 50–213 (10 CFR 2.206)]

In the Matter of Connecticut Yankee

Atomic Power Company, (Haddam Neck

Plant)

Partial Director’s Decision Under 10

CFR 2.206

I. Introduction

On March 11, 1997, Ms. Rosemary

Bassilakis submitted a petition pursuant

to Title 10 of the Code of Federal

Regulations Section 2.206 (10 CFR

2.206) on behalf of the Citizens

Awareness Network and the Nuclear

Information and Resource Service

(Petitioners) requesting that the NRC (1)

commence enforcement action against

the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power

Company (CY) by means of a large civil

penalty to assure compliance with

safety-based radiological control

routines, (2) modify CY’s license for the

Haddam Neck plant, pursuant to 10 CFR

2.202, to prohibit any decommissioning

activity, which would include

decontamination or dismantling, until

CY manages to conduct routine

maintenance at the facility without any

contamination events occurring for at

least 6 months, and (3) place the

Haddam Neck plant on the NRC Watch

List.

In support of their requests, the

Petitioners claimed that of particular

concern was Northeast Utilities’

inability to maintain proper radiological

controls at the Connecticut Yankee

(Haddam Neck) nuclear reactor. The

Petitioners quoted an NRC press release

describing continuing problems at the

Haddam Neck facility, and stated that in

their view the facility’s management

was making empty verbal assurances to

the NRC that contamination problems

were being properly controlled. The

Petitioners also alleged that the NRC

Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL) of

March 4, 1997, discussing radiological

controls at the Haddam Neck plant, is

clearly insufficient.

II. Background

The NRC staff shares the Petitioners’

concerns regarding the failures of the

Haddam Neck radiological controls

program and has detailed these

concerns in Inspection Reports 50–213/

96–12 (December 19, 1996) and 50–213/

97–02 (March 21, 1997), and in the

aforementioned CAL (discussed in more

detail below). In summary, these

failures resulted in the unplanned

exposure of two individuals,

longstanding discrepancies in the

calibration of several radiation monitors

that are used to monitor and control

radiological effluent releases, and the

inadequate control of radioactive

material that resulted in the undetected

release of contaminated equipment to a

non-licensed vendor.

In response, the NRC has taken

comprehensive and significant actions

to resolve its concerns in the area of

radiological controls, including the

aforementioned CAL, a required

licensee response to the findings in

Inspection Reports 96–12 and 97–02, a

management meeting with the former

CY management held at the NRC Region

I office, and a second management

meeting with the new CY management

held on May 28, 1997, in the NRC

Region I offices on these same issues.

This second management meeting gave

NRC regional and headquarters staff an

opportunity to meet the new Haddam

Neck management and confirm their

commitment to resolve the above

problems. The meetings were open to
47524 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 174 / Tuesday, September 9, 1997 / Notices

1 In a letter dated May 12, 1997, the NRC

proposed a $650,000 civil penalty against CY (EA–

96–001 et al.) for violations found during

inspections conducted between November 21, 1995,

and November 22, 1996; the licensee paid the civil

penalty on June 11, 1997. Although the violations

on which this civil penalty were based do not

involve radiological controls, the May 12 action

clearly demonstrates the NRC’s resolve to impose

significant civil penalties on a licensee when

appropriate.

public observation. As indicated by the

CAL, another meeting between the

Region I Administrator and CY

management will be held before any

NRC determination that the issues noted

in the CAL have been resolved.

Meanwhile, under the CAL, the licensee

has agreed not to perform any

radiological work except that required

to maintain the plant in a safe

configuration.

The CAL identifies four significant

activities to which the licensee has

committed to bring its management and

implementation of radiation control

programs up to a standard acceptable to

the NRC, as follows:

(1) Identify, in writing, specific

compensatory measures that CY will put

in place to ensure sufficient

management control and oversight of

ongoing or planned activities that

require radiological controls.

(2) Hire an independent assessor to

assess the quality and performance of

the CY radiological control programs

and their implementation.

(3) By May 30, 1997, on the basis of

the results of the independent

assessment, (a) identify problems,

determine root causes, and develop

broad-based and specific corrective

actions; (b) identify performance

measures that may be used to determine

the effectiveness of radiological control

programs; and (c) submit a plan and

schedule to the Regional Administrator,

NRC Region I, for implementing

improvements in the radiological

control programs.

(4) Before eliminating any interim

compensatory measures (as committed

to in the response to Item 1, above),

meet with the Region I Administrator to

describe program implementation and

performance improvements achieved or

planned.

With regard to CAL Item 1, above, the

licensee has identified and

implemented compensatory measures

(a) by limiting work in radiologically

controlled areas to only work that is

considered necessary, (b) requiring

specific radiation work permits (RWPs)

for more limited ranges of radiological

work, and (c) placing additional

controls on work requiring a specific

RWP. CY also hired an independent

assessor, Millennium Services

Incorporated, to perform the required

assessments, therefore completing CAL

Item 2. The licensee has most recently

submitted a response in accordance

with CAL Item 3, regarding

improvements to its radiation protection

program.

The primary objective of the

licensee’s Radiation Protection

Improvement Plan is to institute near

and long-term permanent improvements

to the site Radiation Protection Program

by establishing processes to:

• Identify problems, root causes,

improvement items/initiatives and

associated corrective actions using site

programs and processes;

• Establish responsibility for

corrective action implementation;

• Prioritize and implement corrective

actions using a logic scheme based on

potential risk and/or critical facility

decommissioning milestones (e.g.

reactor coolant system decontamination,

major component removal);

• Track, trend and report corrective

action implementation using site

programs and processes;

• Verify corrective action adequacy

and completeness in addressing the

initial improvement initiative through

monitoring and feedback;

• Verify that completion of one or

more identified corrective actions

resolves the identified root cause; and

• Document problem resolution, from

identification through corrective action

closure, using site programs and

process.

The licensee has scheduled completion

of its Plan to occur by the end of 1997.

A meeting with the Regional

Administrator (CAL Item 4) is expected

to occur before the end of 1997.

III. Discussion of Petitioners’ Requests

The first request was for a large civil

penalty to assure compliance with

safety-based radiological control

routines.

The NRC is currently considering

enforcement action in regard to failed

radiation program controls at the

Haddam Neck plant. Therefore, this

request is deferred pending a decision

on NRC action in this area.1 After the

NRC resolves these issues, you will be

informed through a future Director’s

Decision.

The Petitioners also requested that the

NRC impose a 6-month moratorium on

any decommissioning activities at

Haddam Neck until the licensee

demonstrated its competence in

avoiding contamination events while

conducting necessary maintenance. This

request is denied for the following

reasons. Although contamination events

may occur in the future, there is no

reason to believe, based on previous

semiannual environmental reports and

annual exposure reports of plant

workers, that 10 CFR Part 20 dose limits

will be exceeded at the Haddam Neck

plant. Additionally, an NRC Senior

Resident Inspector is currently on site to

monitor and inspect the licensee’s dayto-day performance. Furthermore, the

CAL addresses the radiation protection

program at Haddam Neck by focusing

on the needed improvements in the

licensee’s radiation control program and

by ensuring NRC approval before any of

the interim measures in Item 1 of the

CAL are withdrawn.

The Petitioner’s third request was that

the NRC place Haddam Neck on the

NRC Watch List. As a general policy, an

operating plant is placed on the Watch

List when a licensee’s performance

warrants NRC monitoring beyond that

normally required by the NRC

inspection program. In this case, the

Haddam Neck plant is permanently shut

down and will not be returning to

operation. Additionally, the NRC’s

inspection program has led to several

actions being taken to respond to the

deficiencies identified at Haddam Neck.

As described above, these actions

include the confirmatory action letter,

meetings with licensee management to

emphasize NRC expectations, a

requirement to improve the radiation

protection program, and retention of an

onsite senior inspector to monitor

licensee performance. The NRC believes

that, under these circumstances, the

actions taken adequately protect public

health and safety and that the current

inspection program can appropriately

monitor licensee performance.

Therefore, this request is denied.

III. Decision

For the reasons stated above, the

Petition is deferred in part and denied

in part. The decision and the documents

cited in the decision are available for

public inspection and copying in the

Commission’s Public Document Room,

the Gelman Building, 2210 L Street

NW., Washington, DC.

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.206(c),

a copy of the decision will be filed with

the Secretary of the Commission for the

Commission’s review. As provided by

this regulation, the decision will

constitute the final action of the

Commission 25 days after issuance,

unless the Commission, on its own

motion, institutes a review of the

decision within that time.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day

of September 1997.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 174 / Tuesday, September 9, 1997 / Notices 47525

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Samuel J. Collins,

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 97–23821 Filed 9–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Privacy Act of 1974, As Amended;

Revisions to Existing System of

Records

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Proposed revisions to an

existing system of records.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Privacy Act of 1974, as amended

(Privacy Act), the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) is issuing public

notice of its intent to modify an existing

system of records (system), NRC–21,

‘‘Payroll Accounting Records—NRC,’’ to

add four new routine uses and update

other sections of the system notice.

EFFECTIVE DATE: The revised system of

records will become effective without

further notice on October 9, 1997,

unless comments received on or before

that date cause a contrary decision. If

changes are made based on NRC’s

review of comments received, NRC will

publish a new final notice.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the

Secretary of the Commission, U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention:

Docketing and Service Section. Hand

deliver comments to 11555 Rockville

Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30

am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays.

Copies of comments may be examined,

or copied for a fee, at the NRC Public

Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW.,

Lower Level, Washington, DC.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jona

L. Souder, Freedom of Information/

Local Public Document Room Branch,

Office of Information Resources

Management, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, telephone: 301–415–7170.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NRC

is proposing to amend the system notice

for NRC–21, ‘‘Payroll Accounting

Records—NRC,’’ to add three new

routine use disclosures pursuant to the

Personal Responsibility and Work

Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

(Act). NRC will disclose data from NRC–

21 to the Office of Child Support

Enforcement (OCSE), Administration for

Children and Families, Department of

Health and Human Services (DHHS) for

use in its Federal Parent Locator System

(FPLS) and Federal Tax Offset System,

DHHS/OCSE No. 09–90–0074, last

published in the Federal Register on

July 25, 1996 (61 FR 38754).

FPLS is a computerized network

through which States may request

location information from Federal and

State agencies to find non-custodial

parents and/or their employers for

purposes of establishing paternity and

securing support. Effective October 1,

1997, the FPLS will be enlarged to

include the National Directory of New

Hires, a database containing information

on employees commencing

employment, quarterly wage data on

private and public sector employees,

and information on unemployment

compensation benefits.

Effective October 1, 1998, the FPLS

will be expanded to include a Federal

Case Registry. The Federal Case Registry

will contain abstracts on all participants

involved in child support enforcement

cases. When the Federal Case Registry is

instituted, its files will be matched on

an ongoing basis against the files in the

National Directory of New Hires to

determine if an employee is a

participant in a child support case

anywhere in the country. If the FPLS

identifies a person as being a participant

in a State child support case, that State

will be notified of the participant’s

current employer. State requests to the

FPLS for location information will also

continue to be processed after October

1, 1998.

The data to be disclosed by NRC to

the FPLS includes employees names,

social security numbers, home

addresses, wage amounts, reporting

periods, and employers names and

addresses. Names and social security

numbers submitted by NRC to the FPLS

will be disclosed by the Office of Child

Support Enforcement to the Social

Security Administration for verification

to ensure that the social security

number provided is correct.

The data disclosed by NRC to the

FPLS will also be disclosed by the

Office of Child Support Enforcement to

the Secretary of the Treasury for use in

verifying claims for the advance

payment of the earned income tax credit

or to verify a claim of employment on

a tax return.

A new routine use permitting

disclosures to the National Archives and

Records Administration and the General

Services Administration for records

management inspections conducted

under 44 U.S.C. 2904 and 2906 is also

being added to the system notice at this

time.

In addition, NRC is updating the

following sections of the system notice:

System Location; Authority for

Maintenance of the System; Policies and

Practices for Storing, Retrieving,

Accessing, Retaining, and Disposing of

Records in the System; System

Manager(s) and Address; Notification

Procedure; Record Access Procedure;

Contesting Record Procedure; and

Record Source Categories.

A report on the proposed revisions to

this system of records, required by 5

U.S.C. 552a(r) and the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB)

Circular No. A–130, Appendix I,

‘‘Federal Agency Responsibilities for

Maintaining Records About

Individuals,’’ is being sent to the

Committee on Governmental Affairs of

the U.S. Senate, the Committee on

Government Reform and Oversight of

the U.S. House of Representatives, and

OMB.

Accordingly, the NRC proposes to

amend NRC–21 in its entirety to read as

follows:

NRC–21

SYSTEM NAME:

Payroll Accounting Records—NRC.

SYSTEM LOCATION:

Primary system—Division of

Accounting and Finance, Office of the

Controller, NRC, 11545 Rockville Pike,

Rockville, Maryland.

Duplicate systems—Duplicate systems

exist, in whole or in part, at the

locations listed in Addendum I, Parts 1

and 2.

CATEGORIES OF INDIVIDUALS COVERED BY THE

SYSTEM:

Current and former NRC employees,

special Government Employees, and

consultants.

CATEGORIES OF RECORDS IN THE SYSTEM:

Pay, leave, and allowance histories,

which includes, but is not limited to,

individuals’ names and social security

numbers.

AUTHORITY FOR MAINTENANCE OF THE SYSTEM:

Pub. L. 104–193, Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act of 1996; 5 U.S.C.

6334 (1994); 31 U.S.C. 716, 1104, 1108,

1114, 3325, 3511, 3512, 3701, 3711,

3717, 3718 (1994); Executive Order

9397, November 22, 1943.

ROUTINE USES OF RECORDS MAINTAINED IN THE

SYSTEM, INCLUDING CATEGORIES OF USERS AND

THE PURPOSES OF SUCH USES:

In addition to the disclosures

permitted under subsection (b) of the

Privacy Act, the NRC may disclose

information contained in this system of

records without the consent of the

subject individual if the disclosure is

compatible with the purpose for which