Revision of NRC Enforcement Policy

[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 96 (Wednesday, May 19, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27310-27312]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12622]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NUREG-1600, Rev. 1]


Revision of NRC Enforcement Policy

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Policy Statement: Amendment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its 
``General Statement of Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement 
Actions'' (Enforcement Policy) to conform to the amendments to the 
regulations that govern operators' licenses published in the Federal 
Register as a separate action. Those amendments allow nuclear power 
facility licensees to prepare, proctor, and grade the written 
examinations and prepare the operating tests that the NRC uses to 
evaluate the competence of individuals applying for operator licenses 
at the facility licensees' plants. Moreover, the amendment requires 
facility licensees that elect to prepare their own examinations to 
establish, implement, and maintain procedures to control examination 
security and integrity, and it clarifies the regulations to ensure that 
applicants, licensees, and facility licensees understand what it means 
to compromise the integrity of a required test or examination. 
Therefore, the Enforcement Policy is being amended to add examples of 
violations that may be used as guidance in determining the appropriate 
severity level for violations involving the compromise of applications, 
tests, and examinations.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This action is effective May 19, 1999, while comments 
are being received. Submit comments on or before June 18, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to: David Meyer, Chief, Rules Review 
and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, Mail Stop: T6D59, U. 
S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hand 
deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 
7:45 am and 4:15 pm, Federal workdays. Copies of comments received may 
be examined at the NRC Public Document Room, 2120 L Street, NW, (Lower 
Level), Washington, DC 20555-0001. Copies of NUREG-1600 may be 
purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government 
Printing Office, Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328. Copies are 
also available from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 
Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22161. Copies are also available 
for inspection and copying for a fee in the NRC Public Document Room.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Lieberman, Director, Office of 
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone: (301) 415-2741; e-mail: jxl@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission's ``General Statement of 
Policy and Procedure for NRC Enforcement Actions'' (Enforcement Policy) 
was first issued on September 4, 1980. Since that time, the Enforcement 
Policy has been revised on a number of occasions. On May 13, 1998 (63 
FR 26630), the Enforcement Policy was revised in its entirety and was 
also published as NUREG-1600, Rev. 1. The Enforcement Policy primarily 
addresses violations by licensees and certain non-licensed persons, as 
discussed further in the Enforcement Policy in footnote 3 to Section I, 
``Introduction and Purpose,'' and in Section X, ``Enforcement Action 
Against Non-Licensees.''

    By a separate action published in the Federal Register, the NRC is 
amending its regulations in 10 CFR Part 55 to allow nuclear power 
facility licensees to prepare, proctor, and grade the written 
examinations and prepare the operating tests that the NRC uses to 
evaluate the competence of individuals applying for operator licenses 
at the facility licensees' plants. Section 107 of the Atomic Energy Act 
(AEA) of 1954, as amended, requires the NRC to determine the 
qualifications of individuals applying for operator licenses, to 
prescribe uniform conditions for licensing such individuals, and to 
issue licenses as appropriate. Pursuant to the AEA, 10 CFR part 55 
requires applicants for operator licenses to pass an examination that 
satisfies the basic content requirements specified in the regulation. 
Because the NRC considers the integrity of the licensing tests and 
examinations to be essential to the safe operation of nuclear 
facilities, the NRC is also amending 10 CFR 55.49 to clarify that the 
integrity of a test or examination required by 10 CFR part 55 is 
considered compromised if any activity, regardless of intent, affected, 
or but for detection, would have affected the equitable and consistent 
administration of the test or examination. Moreover, the NRC is 
amending 10 CFR part 55 to require power reactor facility licensees 
that elect to prepare their own examinations to establish, implement, 
and maintain procedures to control examination security and integrity.

    The NRC intends to use its enforcement authority to emphasize that 
a compromise of an application, test, or examination required by 10 CFR 
part 55 cannot be accepted. Therefore, the NRC is amending the 
Enforcement Policy by adding examples of violations in Supplement I, 
``Reactor Operations,'' to provide guidance in determining the 
appropriate severity level for violations involving the compromise of 
an application, test, or examination used to evaluate the competence of 
individuals

[[Page 27311]]

applying for operator licenses or to evaluate the continued competence 
of licensed operators. In the case of initial operator licensing, a 
non-willful compromise of an application, test, or examination required 
by 10 CFR part 55 that contributes to an individual being granted a 
license is considered significant and will be categorized normally at 
least at Severity Level III. Similarly, in the case of requalification, 
a non-willful compromise of an application, test, or examination 
required by 10 CFR part 55 that permits an individual to perform the 
functions of an operator or a senior operator is also considered 
significant and will be categorized normally at least at Severity Level 
III. A non-willful compromise that is discovered and reported to the 
NRC before an individual is granted a license, or before an individual 
is permitted to perform the functions of an operator or a senior 
operator, will be categorized normally at Severity Level IV, as will 
other violations of 10 CFR 55.49 that are of more than minor concern, 
such as failures to establish, implement, or maintain procedures to 
control the security of the examination process or failures to take 
adequate corrective action in response to a previous compromise.

    For purposes of determining whether a particular compromise 
contributed to an individual being granted a license, or contributed to 
an individual being permitted to perform the functions of an operator 
or a senior operator, the NRC will presume that an individual involved 
in a compromise was able to pass the test or examination in question 
only because of the advantage received as a result of the compromise. 
For example, consider a situation where an individual answered eighty-
three out of one hundred questions correctly on a licensing examination 
and that as a result of answering more than eighty questions correctly 
the individual was either granted a license or considered eligible to 
perform the duties of an operator or a senior operator. Under the 
policy announced above, if it is later determined that a compromise of 
the examination gave the individual an advantage, the NRC will presume 
that but for the compromise the individual would have failed the 
examination. Unless the licensee can conclusively demonstrate that the 
individual involved would have answered at least eighty out of the one 
hundred examination questions correctly irrespective of the compromise, 
the compromise will be categorized at least at Severity Level III.

    Willful acts to compromise an application, test, or examination 
required by 10 CFR part 55 will add to the significance of the 
compromise and may result in the compromise being categorized at a 
higher severity level in accordance with the guidance in Section IV.C. 
of the Enforcement Policy. Consistent with that guidance, in 
determining the severity level of a compromise involving willfulness, 
the NRC will consider such factors as the degree of willfulness on the 
part of any individual involved in the compromise, the positions and 
levels of responsibility of the individuals involved, the number of 
individuals involved in the compromise, the scope of the compromise, 
the advantage received by any individual as a result of the compromise, 
the timing of the compromise, when the compromise was detected, and the 
facility licensee's response to the compromise. Depending on the 
circumstances of the compromise, there may be a difference in the 
severity level of the violation issued to any individual involved in 
the compromise and the facility licensee. The NRC intends to utilize 
its enforcement authority, as warranted, and issue notices of 
violation, civil penalties, and orders to individuals and facility 
licensees who (1) compromise an application, test, or examination in 
violation of 10 CFR 55.49, (2) commit deliberate misconduct in 
violation of 10 CFR 50.5, or (3) provide incomplete or inaccurate 
information to the NRC in violation of 10 CFR 50.9. In addition, 
willful acts to compromise an application, test, or examination 
required by 10 CFR part 55 may be referred to the Department of Justice 
for criminal prosecution.

    In addition to issuing notices of violation, civil penalties, and 
orders, the NRC may require an individual involved in a particular 
compromise of an application, test or examination required by 10 CFR 
part 55 to be retested or reexamined prior to performing the functions 
of an operator or a senior operator. The NRC recognizes that it may be 
difficult in certain situations to determine whether an individual 
received an advantage as a result of a particular compromise or whether 
but for the compromise the individual would not have been granted a 
license or permitted to continue to perform the functions of an 
operator or a senior operator. Therefore, in any situation where there 
is some doubt as to whether an individual received an advantage as a 
result of a particular compromise, the NRC may require an individual to 
be retested or reexamined to verify that the individual is qualified to 
perform the functions of an operator or a senior operator. When 
determining whether an individual must be retested or reexamined prior 
to performing the functions of an operator or a senior operator, the 
NRC will make its determination irrespective of the severity level of 
the compromise or any enforcement action to be taken against the 
individual or facility licensee as a result of the compromise.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This policy statement does not contain a new or amended information 
collection requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing requirements were approved by the 
Office of Management and Budget, approval number 3150-0136. The 
approved information collection requirements contained in this policy 
statement appear in Section VII.C.

Public Protection Notification

    The NRC may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act

    In accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has determined that this action is not a 
major rule and has verified this determination with the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB.

    Accordingly, Supplement I--Reactor Operations of Appendix B of the 
NRC Enforcement Policy is revised to read as follows:

Appendix B: Supplements--Enforcement Examples

* * * * *

Supplement I--Reactor Operations

    This supplement provides examples of violations in each of the four 
severity levels as guidance in determining the appropriate severity 
level for violations in the area of reactor operations.
    C. Severity Level III--Violations involving for example:
* * * * *
    5. A non-willful compromise of an application, test, or 
examination required by 10 CFR Part 55 that:
    (a) In the case of initial operator licensing, contributes to an 
individual being granted an operator or a senior operator license, 
or
    (b) In the case of requalification, contributes to an individual 
being permitted to perform the functions of an operator or a senior 
operator.

[[Page 27312]]

    D. Severity Level IV--Violations involving for example:
* * * * *
    5. A non-willful compromise of an application, test, or 
examination required by 10 CFR Part 55 that:
    (a) In the case of initial operator licensing, is discovered and 
reported to the NRC before an individual is granted an operator or a 
senior operator license, or
    (b) In the case of requalification, is discovered and reported 
to the NRC before an individual is permitted to perform the 
functions of an operator or a senior operator, or
    (c) Constitutes more than minor concern.

    Dated at Rockville, MD, this 13th day of May, 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 99-12622 Filed 5-18-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P