ML092860099
| ML092860099 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Turkey Point  |
| Issue date: | 07/10/2009 |
| From: | NRC/OCM |
| To: | |
| Orf, T J, NRR/DORL/301-415-2788 | |
| References | |
| 2.206 Pettion, G20090107, NRC-2957, OEDO-2009-0091, TAC ME0759, TAC ME0760 | |
| Download: ML092860099 (28) | |
Text
Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Title:
2.206 Petition on Florida Power and Light Company Docket Number:
(n/a)
Location:
(telephone conference)
Date:
Friday, July 10, 2009 Work Order No.:
NRC-2957 Pages 1-27 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.
Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 2
+ + + + +
3 PETITION REVIEW BOARD (PRB) 4 CONFERENCE CALL 5
+ + + + +
6 FRIDAY 7
JULY 10, 2009 8
+ + + + +
9 2.206 PETITION ON FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT COMPANY 10 BY THOMAS SAPORITO 11
+ + + + +
12 13 The conference call was held, Thomas B.
14 Blount, Petition Review Board Chair, presiding.
15 16 NRC HEADQUARTERS STAFF:
17 THOMAS B. BLOUNT, Chairman, PRB 18 TRACY J. ORF, Petition Manager 19 STACEY ROSENBERG, Branch Chief 20 PETER GUARNIERI, Summer Associate with OGC 21 MOLLY BARKMAN, OGC/GCHEA/AGCMLE 22 SHAHRAM GHASEMIAN, Representative, Office of 23 Enforcement 24 25
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PETITIONER:
1 THOMAS SAPORITO 2
3 NRC REGION II STAFF:
4 JEFF HAMMOND, Project Engineer 5
MARVIN SYKES, DRP/PB2 6
7 MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC:
8 DAVID HOFFMAN 9
SHERYL HOFFMAN 10 11 APPEARANCES:
12 13 On Behalf of Nuclear Regulatory Commission:
14 MOLLY BARKMAN, ESQ.
15 Office of General Counsel 16 Nuclear Regulatory Commission 17 One White Flint North 18 Mail Stop O-15D21 19 11555 Rockville Pike 20 Rockville, Maryland 20851 21 (301) 415-1117 22 23 On Behalf of the Florida Power and Light Company:
24 WILLIAM BLAIR, ESQ.
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700 Universe Boulevard 1
Juno Beach, Florida 33408 2
(561) 304-5238 3
4
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P R O C E E D I N G S 1
(10:32:03 a.m.)
2 MR. ORF: Okay. I'd like to thank everyone 3
for attending this meeting. My name is Tracy Orf, and 4
I'm sitting in for Jason Paige, the Turkey Point 5
Project Manager. We are here today to allow the 6
Petitioner, Mr. Thomas Saporito, to address the 7
Petition Review Board regarding the 2.206 petition 8
dated January 11th, 2009. I am the Petition Manager 9
for this petition. The Petition Review Board Chairman 10 is Tom Blount, Deputy Director for the Division of 11 Policy and Rulemaking.
12 As part of the Petition Review Board, or 13 PRB's review of this petition, Mr. Thomas Saporito has 14 requested this opportunity to address the PRB. This 15 meeting is scheduled from 10:30 to 12:00 p.m. The 16 meeting is being recorded by the NRC Operations 17 Center, and will be transcribed by a court reporter.
18 The transcript will become a supplement to the 19 petition, and the transcript will also be made 20 publicly available.
21 I'd like to open this meeting with 22 introductions. And as we go around the room, please 23 be sure to clearly state your name, your position, and 24 the office that you work for, and I'll start it off.
25
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My name is Tracy Orf, and I work for the 1
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
2 MS. ROSENBERG: I'm Stacey Rosenberg. I'm 3
the Branch Chief for the Special Projects Branch in 4
the Division of Policy and Rulemaking, and Office of 5
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
6 MR. BLOUNT: I'm Tom Blount. I'm the PRB 7
Chair. I'm also the Deputy Director for the Division 8
of Policy and Rulemaking in NRR.
9 MR. GUARNIERI: I'm Pete Guarnieri. I'm a 10 summer associate with OGC.
11 MS. BARKMAN: This is Molly Barkman. I'm an 12 attorney with the Office of General Counsel.
13 MR. ORF: Okay. We've completed the 14 introductions at NRC Headquarters. Are there any NRC 15 participants from the Region?
16 MR. HAMMOND: Yes. This is Jeff Hammond.
17 I'm a Project Engineer, Region II.
18 MR. SYKES: And Marvin Sykes, Branch Chief, 19 Branch III here in the Division of Reactor Projects.
20 MR. ORF: Okay. The licensee for Turkey 21 Point is Florida Power and Light. Are there any 22 representatives from Florida Power and Light on the 23 phone?
24 MR. BLAIR: William S. Blair. I'm an 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
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attorney with Florida Power and Light, representing 1
the licensee.
2 MR. ORF: And, Mr. Saporito, would you 3
please introduce yourself for the record.
4 MR. SAPORITO: Yes. For the record, this is 5
Thomas Saporito, I am President of Saporito Energy 6
Consultants, Incorporated, and I am the Petitioner in 7
this proceeding.
8 MR. ORF: Are there any other members of the 9
public?
10 MR. HOFFMAN: Yes. David Hoffman, member of 11 the public.
12 MS. HOFFMAN: Sheryl Hoffman.
13 MR. ORF: I'd like to emphasize that we each 14 need to speak clearly and loudly to insure that the 15 court reporter can accurately transcribe this meeting.
16 If you do have something that you would like to say, 17 please first state your name for the record before you 18 begin.
19 At this time, I'll turn it over to the PRB 20 Chairman, Tom Blount.
21 MR. BLOUNT: Good morning. Welcome to the 22 meeting regarding the 2.206 petition submitted by Mr.
23 Saporito. I'd like to first share some background on 24 our process.
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Section 2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of 1
Federal Regulations describes the petition process, 2
the primary mechanism for the public to request 3
enforcement action by the NRC in a public process.
4 This process permits anyone to petition NRC to take 5
enforcement-type action related to NRC licensees or 6
licensed activities.
7 Depending on the results of this evaluation, 8
NRC could modify, suspend, or revoke an NRC-issued 9
license, or take any other appropriate enforcement 10 action to resolve a problem. The NRC Staff's guidance 11 for the disposition of 2.206 petition requests is 12 Management Directive 8.11, which is publicly 13 available.
14 The purpose of today's meeting is to allow 15 the Petitioner an opportunity to comment on the 16 Petition Review Board's initial recommendation. This 17 meeting is not a hearing, nor is it an opportunity 18 for the Petitioner to question or examine the PRB on 19 the merits or issues presented in the petition 20 request. No decisions regarding the merits of this 21 petition will be made at this meeting.
22 Following this meeting, the Petition Review 23 Board will conduct its internal deliberation. The 24 outcome of the internal meeting will be discussed with 25
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the Petitioner.
1 The Petition Review Board typically consists 2
of a Chairman, usually a manager at the Senior 3
Executive Service level at the NRC. It has a Petition 4
Manager, and a PRB Coordinator. Other members of the 5
Board are determined by the NRC Staff based on the 6
content of the information in the petition request.
7 At this time, I'd like to introduce the 8
Board. I am Tom Blount, the Petition Review Board 9
Chairman. Tracy Orf is the Petition Manager for the 10 petition under discussion today. Stacey Rosenberg is 11 acting in the capacity of the PRB Coordinator for this 12 petition. Marvin Sykes is the NRC's Region II 13 representative. We also obtained advice from our 14 Office of General Counsel, represented by Molly 15 Barkman. We also have a representative from the 16 Office of Enforcement.
17 MR.
GHASEMIAN:
My name is Shahram 18 Ghasemian. I'm stepping in for Lisa Jarriel.
19 MR. BLOUNT: Great. Thank you, Shahram.
20 MR. GHASEMIAN: Thank you.
21 MR. BLOUNT: With our Agency, as our Agency 22 Allegations Advisor.
23 MR. GHASEMIAN: Yes.
24 MR. BLOUNT: Great.
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MR. GHASEMIAN: She is.
1 MR. BLOUNT: She is, yes.
2 As described in our process, the NRC Staff 3
may ask clarifying questions in order to better 4
understand the Petitioner's presentation, and to reach 5
a reasoned decision whether to accept or reject the 6
Petitioner's request for review under the 2.206 7
process.
8 Florida Power and Light, the licensee for 9
Turkey Point, has been invited to this meeting, and 10 will be afforded an opportunity to ask clarifying 11 questions of the Petitioner.
12 For clarification, the licensee is not part 13 of the decision making process, for the NRC's review 14 of the 2.206 petition. We invite the licensees so 15 that they are aware of a request for action against 16 their facility, and provide an opportunity to ask any 17 questions, so that they may understand the details 18 pertaining to their facility.
19 At this time, I would like to summarize the 20 scope of the petition under consideration, and the NRC 21 activities. On January 11th, 2009, Mr. Thomas 22 Saporito submitted to the NRC a petition under 2.206 23 regarding concerns with Turkey Point Employee Concerns 24 program. In this request, Mr. Saporito identified the 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 10 following areas of concern. One, request for issuance 1
of a Notice of Violation with Civil Penalty for $1 2
million. Two, request that NRC issue a confirmatory 3
order modifying the Florida Power and Light license to 4
impose requirements for safety culture assessment, 5
ratings of supervisors and managers by employees, 6
training programs for all supervisors and managers on 7
a safety conscious work environment, and the Employee 8
Protection Rule. And the licensee shall inform all 9
employees of the confirmatory order, and their rights 10 to raise safety concerns.
11 The proffered basis for the two requests are 12 that the licensee did a self-assessment of its ECP, 13 which identified weaknesses and areas for improvement 14 in the ECP, that the NRC has issued two Notices of 15 Violations for violations of the Employee Protection 16 Rule, and that Florida Power and Light has a 20-year 17 history of retaliatory action.
18 The NRC activities to-date have been to 19 review the information provided in the petition, and 20 during our teleconferences with the Petitioner, the 21 NRR Petition Review Board has met internally, and has 22 made an initial recommendation on this 2.206 petition.
23 Following the conclusion of today's call, the 24 Petition Review Board will convene internally to make 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 11 a final recommendation. You will be informed of that 1
recommendation in writing.
2 So, as a
reminder for the phone 3
participants, please identify yourself if you make any 4
remarks, as this will help us in the preparation of 5
the meeting transcript that will be made publicly 6
available. Thank you.
7 Mr. Saporito, you will have approximately 8
one hour to comment on the PRB's initial 9
recommendation, and we will alert you when there is 10 about 10 minutes remaining. With that said, Mr.
11 Saporito, I'll turn it over to you to provide your 12 comments.
13 MR. SAPORITO: All right. Thank you. This 14 is Thomas Saporito with Saporito Energy Consultants, 15 Incorporated, and I note for the record the time is 16 10:41 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
17 As a threshold matter, I would like to 18 advise that to my recollection here today, no 19 representative from the NRC Office of Investigations 20 in Region II is in attendance, nor is any 21 representative from the NRC's Office of the Inspector 22 General. To that extent, I would request that the 23 PRB provide both agencies with a copy of the 24 transcript record for this meeting. Thank you.
25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 12 All right. First, I want to discuss two 1
housekeeping matters that are intertwined with this 2
existing 2.206 petition, as they relate directly to 3
Florida Power and Light's Turkey Point Nuclear plant 4
and the work environment at that facility.
5 First, I would like to discuss a June 5th, 6
2009 letter that Saporito Energy Consultants sent to 7
the NRC Chairman, Mr. Gregory B. Jaczko, regarding the 8
NRC allegation report, R 11-2009-A-0046 related to 9
William Blair, and related to Paul Infanger, a 10 previous employee at the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant 11 who held the position of Licensing Manager for Florida 12 Power and Light.
13 I
wrote Mr.
- Jaczko, I'm sorry if I
14 mispronounce his name, the letter on June 5th because 15 I was concerned about the response, or lack thereof, 16 by NRC Region II in responding to those concerns. I 17 did receive a letter dated July 6th from the Regional 18 Administrator, Louis A. Reyes, R-E-Y-E-S. He's the 19 Administrator of Region II, the NRC Headquarters in 20 Region II in Atlanta, Georgia, responding on behalf of 21 the NRC Chairman. And, quite frankly, Mr. Reyes' 22 letter is extremely confusing, and non-responsive to 23 the central issues of the concerns identified to the 24 NRC Chairman. So, I want to touch again on those 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 13 concerns.
1 The concerns I brought to the NRC Chairman's 2
attention was the fact that Florida Power and Light 3
fired Paul Infanger, spelled I-N-F-A-N-G-E-R, the 4
Licensing Manager for the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant 5
following Mr. Infanger's authoring of the Employee 6
Concerns program critique. He solicited various 7
members from the nuclear industry to assist him to 8
form a team to evaluate the ECP, the Employee Concerns 9
program at Turkey Point, and the result was that the 10 report was very critical of Florida Power and Light 11 management.
12 And based on information and belief, and 13 other evidence, which they may or may not provide at 14 this meeting, because this is a public meeting, but 15 based on that evidence, and other witnesses, I request 16 again that the NRC Office of Investigations conduct a 17 meeting with me personally to provide extensive 18 details on this violation of NRC requirements by 19 Florida Power and Light, violation of 10 CFR 30.7, 20 violation of 10 CFR 50.7 with respect to Mr.
21 Infanger's employment at the Florida Power and Light 22 Company, and raising safety concerns, nuclear safety 23 concerns with the NRC, and suffering retaliation, the 24 ultimate retaliation being discharge for that conduct.
25
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(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 14 I would say on this record, based on 1
information and belief, that FPL attorney, William 2
Blair, is involved in that discriminatory event, and 3
that based on information and belief that the 4
collaboration of other senior executive management at 5
FPL, including Mitch Roth, who is Executive Vice 6
President of FPL, and a managing attorney for FPL, and 7
Mr. J.A. Stahl, who was the Executive Vice President 8
for FPL's nuclear division, but I have received 9
information that he has, apparently, taken another 10 position at FPL, and is no longer in that position.
11 And I believe the collaboration may continue all the 12 way up to the Chief Executive Officer, Louis Hays, 13 III. And just so the PRB is aware, I am personally, 14 along with Saporito Energy Consultants, Incorporated 15 involved in several complaints that were filed under 16 the Energy Reorganization Act, the ERA, with the 17 Department of Labor against Florida Power and Light.
18 And those proceedings are ongoing. And at some point, 19 there will most likely be depositions taken in the 20 discovery process, and we intend to solicit the 21 deposition of Mr. Louis Hays, III, and these other 22 individuals. So, at that time, the NRC may be 23 provided additional follow-up information on the 24 actions of those individuals related to Paul 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 15 Infanger's case.
1 In addition, David Hoffman, who is a Senior 2
Nuclear Plant Operator at Turkey Point Nuclear Power 3
Plant, there was a serious incident there at one of 4
Florida Power and Light's substations back in 2006, 5
failed as a result of a field engineer, I believe, who 6
violated a procedure at that substation, resulting in 7
failure of that substation, caused an unbalance in 8
FPL's high lines, high voltage distribution lines, 9
which tripped several power plants, including the 10 reactors at the Turkey Point Nuclear facility.
11 Mr. Hoffman was on duty at one of those 12 reactors at the time of this incident, and he was in 13 charge for the operation of that nuclear reactor being 14 in the position of the Senior Nuclear Plant Operator.
15 Mr. Hoffman, at the time with his employment at FPL 16 held a separate license issued by the Nuclear 17 Regulatory Commission, in addition to licenses held by 18 FPL, DPR 31 and 41 for Turkey Point facility.
19 Mr. Hoffman's employment ended because he 20 was effectively constructively discharged following 21 pressure from FPL management, i.e., the Plant Manager, 22 Mr. Bill Jefferson, requiring Mr. Hoffman to restart 23 the nuclear reactor in under a 12-hour time frame.
24 Mr. Hoffman could not comply with that order, because 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 16 it would obviously place the health and safety of the 1
public in jeopardy due to the transition of various 2
parameters associated with restarting the nuclear 3
reactor that had just been scrammed. Scram is an 4
emergency shutdown where the rods fall into the 5
reactor core.
6 So, to the extent that this individual was 7
constructively discharged, we believe that this is a 8
violation of the Energy Reorganization Act because Mr.
9 Hoffman was constructively discharged, and being 10 pressured to violate NRC regulations and requirements 11 in the operation of that nuclear reactor. And we 12 would, again, like to meet with the Office of 13 Investigations to discuss that matter further.
14 In addition to those individuals, based on 15 information and belief, we believe there's another 16 plant operator, Mr. Kohl, at the Turkey Point facility 17 who understands and believes that there's a hostile 18 work environment at that nuclear facility, and that 19 the work environment does not encourage nuclear 20 workers to raise nuclear safety concerns either 21 directly to the NRC, or to FPL managers.
22 In addition to those individuals, there are 23 other individuals which I would like to bring to the 24 NRC's attention through the Office of Investigations 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 17 through a personal meeting, who also are knowledgeable 1
and can provide information to the Agency regarding 2
the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant's work environment, and 3
its work environment at the Florida Power and Light 4
St. Lucie Nuclear Plant.
5 In addition to those individuals, based on 6
information and belief, and discussions with Mr. Mike 7
Mulligan, spelled M-U-L-L-I-G-A-N, there is reason to 8
believe and to substantiate that the work environment 9
at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant and the Turkey 10 Point Nuclear Plant is not conducive, and does not 11 encourage nuclear workers to raise safety concerns, 12 either directly to the NRC, or to FPL management. And, 13 again, I'd like to provide details to the NRC's OI 14 through a personal meeting to enhance my knowledge and 15 discussion with Mr. Mulligan.
16 All right. The next housekeeping matter is 17 a letter Saporito Energy Consultants, Incorporated 18 authored to the NRC Chairman. It's dated July 9th, 19 2009, and this letter is regarding an NRC letter dated 20 June 3rd of 2009, authored by Thomas B. Blount, NRC 21 employee, regarding two items, regarding Saporito 22 Energy Consultants' May 2nd, 2009, and May 8th, 2009 23 petitions filed under 10 CFR 2.206, which both 24 petitions sought enforcement action by the NRC against 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 18 Florida Power and Light Company. And, very quickly -
1 MR. ORF: Mr. Saporito?
2 MR. SAPORITO: Yes?
3 MR. ORF: Were those letters related to this 4
petition, or were they related to another petition?
5 MR. SAPORITO: They're intertwined with this 6
petition, because they're dealing with the work 7
environment at the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant. And 8
the letter dated June 5th, 2009 specifically addresses 9
the NRC's response to the safety concerns.
10 First, I would like to talk about one of the 11 petitions, which is -- let's talk about the May 2nd 12 petition. Excuse me, I lost my place. Okay. I 13 believe it's the May 8th petition, talks about my 14 employment at the Turkey Point Nuclear Plant back in 15 1988, where I was fired after I raised nuclear safety 16 concerns directly to the NRC, and where FPL managers 17 had knowledge of that communication.
And I
18 specifically addressed this to the NRC, and I believe 19 Mr. Blount, himself, replied to my concerns in a 20 letter dated June 3rd, 2009.
21 However, Mr. Blount's response was not in 22 conformance with NRC Management Directive 8.11, in so 23 far as the Secretary of Labor made a decision in my 24 Department of Labor case, case number 89-ERA7 and 17, 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 19 to the extent that FPL violated the Energy 1
Reorganization Act regarding my employment at that 2
plant. And the NRC's method of operation in the past 3
is to issue Notices of Violations, and issue civil 4
penalties where need be, which was based on decisions 5
issued by the Department of Labor. NRC has done this 6
consistently in the past, and at least two times 7
concerning retaliation claims filed under the Energy 8
Reorganization Act against FPL specifically at the 9
Turkey Point Nuclear Plant. One dealt with an 10 engineer by the name of Richard Robanez, and another 11 dealt with a plant operator.
12 However, in my case, the NRC never issued --
13 took any enforcement action whatsoever against FPL.
14 Now, Mr. Blount's response indicates all these issues 15 have been addressed in prior petitions, and it has 16 been resolved to the NRC's satisfaction. However, he 17 misses the point, the point being that the NRC did not 18 follow its pattern of practice in issuing enforcement 19 action against FPL when the Department of Labor finds 20 that FPL violated the ERA, which the Secretary of 21 Labor did on June 3rd, 1994. The Secretary of Labor, 22 Robert Reiche, found that FPL violated ERA with 23 respect to my employment at the Turkey Point Nuclear 24 facility. So, again -- once again here, I'm asking 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 20 the PRB, which Mr. Blount is now the Chairman, to 1
reconsider their actions in that matter, because it's 2
certainly relevant here in this proceeding because my 3
case was the first ERA case filed against FPL. And 4
it's consistent -- the requested enforcement action is 5
consistent with prior decisions by the NRC. And the 6
NRC never addressed the issue, they never squared off, 7
even in Mr. Blount's - they never squared off on the 8
issue being that the Secretary of Labor found that FPL 9
violated the ERA with respect to my employment when 10 they fired me in 1988. And, to that extent, the NRC 11 needs to take enforcement action.
12 All right. Now, with respect to this 13 current meeting that we're here today about, I want to 14 discuss Saporito Energy Consultants' expectations of 15 the NRC, should the Agency decide to act on our 16 petition currently before the NRC PRB.
17 If the NRC decides to issue a Notice of 18 Violation and imposition of civil penalty to FPL in 19 this matter, that instead of requiring FPL to make 20 payment of any such civil penalty to the U.S.
21 government, that FPL be required to enhance its 22 existing Employee Concerns program to include the 23 establishment of a monetary fund to be further 24 maintained by FPL through the duration of its NRC's 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 21 licenses at the Turkey Point Nuclear and St. Lucie 1
Nuclear Power Plant, and to be used in the following 2
manner.
3 The fund should be used to enhance FPL's 4
Employee Concerns program by providing payment of cash 5
awards to nuclear workers who raise valid nuclear 6
safety concerns where the licensee was able to 7
identify and correct the safety concern. The amount 8
of cash award could be established based on the 9
significance of the nuclear safety concern identified.
10 The licensee could then maintain a monthly posting 11 through its nuclear facilities of cash award 12 recipients, and a description of the nuclear safety 13 concern, and its resolution.
14 These cash awards could be issued to the 15 recipients during plant meetings in front of the 16 recipient's peers and managers. This Employee 17 Concerns program enhancement would encourage nuclear 18 workers to bring nuclear safety concerns to the 19 licensee's attention, and would obviate any need for 20 confidentiality of concerns on the part of nuclear 21 workers who might otherwise fear retaliation by that 22 licensee for identification of nuclear safety 23 concerns.
24 This proposal would also provide for 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 22 continued payment of wages and benefits to any nuclear 1
worker who identifies a complaint of retaliation or 2
discrimination to the Department of Labor under the 3
Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended, 42 USCA 4
58-51. This benefit continued through the course of 5
the ERA proceeding until a final determination is 6
rendered by the government up to the United States 7
Supreme Court.
8 This Employee Concerns program enhancement 9
would encourage FPL to make certain that its work 10 environment encourages nuclear workers to raise 11 nuclear safety concerns without fear of retaliation or 12 discrimination. These funds would also go to enhance 13 FPL's Employee Concerns program by providing Employee 14 Concerns program training to licensee management from 15 the Executive CEO level down to first line 16 supervision, and to all nuclear plant workers. And the 17 ECP training must include training about, one, the 18 process to report nuclear safety concerns directly to 19 the NRC. And, two, the use of the NRC's website to 20 report nuclear safety concerns. And, three, an 21 explanation of NRC regulations and requirements that 22 FPL maintain a work environment which encourages 23 nuclear workers to raise safety concerns to FPL 24 management, or directly to the NRC without fear of 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 23 retaliation by FPL management for so doing. And the 1
Employee Concerns program training must include 2
training
- about, one, the process to file a
3 discrimination or retaliation complaint with the U.S.
4 Department of Labor, if a nuclear worker believes they 5
have suffered discrimination or retaliation for having 6
brought a nuclear safety concern directly to the NRC, 7
or to FPL management. And, two, the process of filing 8
a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health 9
Administration, or OSHA, and use of OSHA's website 10 describing the method of how and where to file a 11 Whistle Blower complaint. And, three, a description 12 of the Whistle Blower process, once a complaint is 13 filed with OSHA, including, but not limited to, (A) 14 assignment of an OSHA investigator, and interviewing 15 with the OSHA investigator. And (B), the employee's 16 right to object to OSHA's findings, and to request a 17 hearing before a Department of Labor Administrative 18 Law Judge. And (C), the hearing process, including 19 the function of the Administrative Law Judge. And 20 (D), the employee's right to appeal findings of the 21 Administrative Law Judge to the Administrative Review 22 Board. And (E), the function of the Administrative 23 Review Board. And (F), the right of an employee to 24 appeal the Administrative Review Board's decision to 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 24 the relevant Circuit Court of Appeals, and to the 1
United States Supreme Court.
2 The Employee Concerns program training must 3
also advise nuclear workers that filing a complaint 4
with OSHA is a means to provide and make whole 5
remedies to the employee, including, but not limited 6
to, (A) reinstatement to their job at Florida Power 7
and Light, and (B), an award of compensatory damages; 8
and (C), an award of exemplary damages; and (D), an 9
award of back pay and benefits; and (E), an award of 10 attorney's costs and fees.
11 To enhance FPL's Employee Concerns program, 12 the funds would also be used to enhance FPL's Employee 13 Concerns program by upgrading the Employee Concerns 14 program Manager's office
- space, to include a
15 professional office area within the Turkey Point 16 Nuclear Plant, and within the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant 17 facilities, to demonstrate to employees that 18 management is serious about the employee concerns 19 program by providing the Employee Concerns Manager 20 with at least two assistants to provide necessary 21 coverage for both facilities, which include four 22 nuclear reactors, to include providing the Employee 23 Concerns Program Manager with office equipment, like a 24 computer system linked to the FPL server to allow 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 25 interaction by FPL managers with the Employee Concerns 1
Program Manager for resolution of nuclear safety 2
concerns.
3 In closing, Saporito Energy Consultants, 4
Incorporated has requested employment at Florida Power 5
and Light through Louis Hays, III, the Chief Executive 6
Officer of
- FPL, as an independent contractor, 7
specifically to address the Employee Concerns program 8
enhancements discussed here today. Mr. Hays has yet 9
to respond to Saporito Energy Consultants' application 10 for employment as an independent contractor. However, 11 that opportunity remains available to FPL, and 12 Saporito Energy Consultants would welcome such an 13 opportunity.
14 And that ends our presentation to the NRC 15 PRB today, and we remain on line to answer any 16 respective questions.
17 MR. BLOUNT: Thank you, Mr. Saporito. At 18 this time, do we have any questions from the Staff 19 here at headquarters? Then I would make note that the 20 time is 11:04. Do we have any questions from the NRC 21 Staff in the Region?
22 NRC STAFF: No, we do not.
23 MR. BLOUNT: Okay. Do we have any questions 24 from the licensee?
25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 26 MR. BLAIR: No, there are no questions from 1
Florida Power and Light.
2 COURT REPORTER: Excuse me. This is the 3
court reporter. May I kindly request that each person 4
introduces themselves at least once before they 5
continue speaking, so I can get the log note right.
6 MR. BLOUNT: My apologies. This is Tom 7
Blount.
8 COURT REPORTER: Thank you very much, Mr.
9 Blount.
10 MR. BLAIR: This is William Blair from 11 Florida Power and Light. Florida Power and Light has 12 no questions of the Petitioner.
13 MR. SYKES: This is Marvin Sykes in Region 14 II, and Region II has no questions for the Petitioner.
15 MR. BLOUNT: Very good. Before I conclude 16 the meeting, members of the public may provide 17 comments regarding the petition, and ask questions 18 about the 2.206 petition process. However, as stated 19 at the opening, the purpose of this meeting is not to 20 provide an opportunity for the Petitioner or the 21 public to question or examine the PRB regarding the 22 merits of the petition request.
23 I want to thank Mr. Saporito for taking the 24 time to provide the NRC with clarifying information on 25
NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.
(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 27 the petition. Are there members of the public that 1
have questions? Very well. Hearing none, are there 2
any other comments that need to be made? And hearing 3
no other comments, with that, this meeting is 4
concluded, and we will be terminating the phone 5
connection at this time.
6 (Whereupon, the proceedings went off the 7
record at 11:07:06 a.m.)
8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25