[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 213 (Thursday, November 5, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57352-57354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-26687]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[IA-09-036; NRC-2009-0483]
In the Matter of: Robert C. Robbirds; Order Prohibiting
Involvement in NRC-Licensed Activities (Effective Immediately)
I
Mr. Robert C. Robbirds was employed as a Nuclear Security Officer
(NSO) at the Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc's (SNC) Joseph M.
Farley Nuclear Plant (FNP) (Licensee) in June of 2008. The Licensee is
the holder of License Nos. NPF-2 (Unit 1) and NPF-8 (Unit 2), issued by
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10
CFR Part 50 on June 25, 1977 and March 31, 1981, respectively, and both
licenses were renewed on May 12, 2005. The licenses authorize the
operation of the Farley Nuclear Plant (facility), Units 1 and 2, in
accordance with the conditions specified therein. The facility is
located on the Licensee's site in Columbia, Alabama.
II
On March 5, 2009, an investigation was completed by the NRC's
Office of Investigations at the Licensee's facility at Columbia,
Alabama. The purpose of the investigation was to review the
circumstances surrounding a fitness-for-duty incident that occurred at
the Licensee's facility on June 27, 2008. The incident involved Mr.
Robert C. Robbirds, an NSO at the time, who deliberately consumed
alcohol for several hours prior to arriving for work at the facility,
and entered the facility with alcohol concealed in bottles containing a
mixture of alcohol and water. After Mr. Robbirds had been on duty as an
armed responder inside the protected area for approximately five to six
hours, he then consumed alcohol and was found shortly thereafter by
Licensee personnel to be in an unresponsive state and not fit for duty.
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 73.55(f) states
that each guard, watchman or armed response individual on duty shall be
capable of maintaining continuous communication with an individual in
each continuously manned alarm station required by paragraph (e)(1) of
this section, who shall be capable of calling for assistance from other
guards, watchmen, and armed response personnel and from local law
enforcement authorities. On June 27, 2008, Mr. Robbirds, an NSO at the
Licensee's facility, consumed alcohol
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before reporting for duty and while on post as an armed responder
inside the protected area, rendering himself incapable of maintaining
continuous communication with an individual in each continuously manned
alarm station.
III
Based on the above, NRC has concluded that Mr. Robert C. Robbirds,
formerly an employee of the Licensee, engaged in deliberate misconduct
in violation of 10 CFR 50.5, ``Deliberate Misconduct'' that caused the
Licensee to be in violation of 10 CFR 73.55(f). The NRC must be able to
rely on the Licensee and its employees to comply with NRC requirements,
including the requirement to maintain continuous communication with an
individual in each continuously manned alarm station.
Mr. Robbirds' actions have raised serious doubt as to his
trustworthiness and reliability and whether he can be relied upon to
comply with NRC requirements.
Consequently, I lack the requisite assurance that licensed
activities can be conducted in compliance with the Commission's
requirements and that the health and safety of the public will be
protected if Robert C. Robbirds were permitted at this time to be
involved in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore, in the interest of the
public health, safety and the common defense and security, Mr. Robert
C. Robbirds shall be prohibited from any involvement in NRC-licensed
activities for a period of three years from the date of this Order.
Additionally, Mr. Robbirds is required to notify the NRC of his first
employment in NRC-licensed activities for a period of one year
following the prohibition period. Furthermore, pursuant to 10 CFR
2.202, I find that the significance of Mr. Robbirds' conduct described
above is such that the public health, safety and interest require that
this Order be immediately effective.
IV
Accordingly, pursuant to sections 103, 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, 10 CFR 50.5, and 10 CFR 150.20, it is
hereby ordered, effective immediately, that:
1. Mr. Robert C. Robbirds is prohibited for three years from the
date of this Order from engaging in NRC-licensed activities. NRC-
licensed activities are those activities authorized by the NRC
including, but not limited to, those activities of Agreement State
licensees conducted pursuant to the authority granted by 10 CFR 150.20.
2. If Mr. Robert C. Robbirds is currently involved with another
licensee in NRC-licensed activities, he must immediately cease those
activities, and inform the NRC of the name, address and telephone
number of the employer, and provide a copy of this order to the
employer.
3. For a period of one year after the three-year period of
prohibition has expired, Mr. Robert C. Robbirds shall, within 20 days
of acceptance of his first employment offer involving NRC-licensed
activities or his becoming involved in NRC-licensed activities, as
defined in Paragraph IV.1 above, provide notice to the Director, Office
of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, of the name, address, and telephone number of the employer
or the entity where he is, or will be, involved in NRC-licensed
activities.
The Director, OE, may, in writing, relax or rescind any of the
above conditions upon demonstration by Mr. Robbirds of good cause.
V
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Mr. Robert C. Robbirds must, and
any other person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer
to this Order within 20 days of its publication in the Federal
Register. In addition, Mr. Robert C. Robbirds and any other person
adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing on this Order
within 20 days of its publication in the Federal Register. Where good
cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the time to
answer or 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 20555-0001, and include a
statement of good cause for the extension.
A request for a hearing must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-
Filing rule in the NRC's Rules of Practice (10 CFR 2). The E-Filing
rule requires participants to submit and serve documents over the
internet or, in some cases, to mail copies on electronic optical
storage media. Participants may not submit paper copies of their
filings unless they seek a waiver in accordance with the procedures
described below.
To comply with the procedural requirements associated with E-
Filing, at least five (5) days prior to the filing deadline the
requestor must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at
[email protected], or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request (1) a
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal
server for any NRC proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2)
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances
when the requestor (or its counsel or representative) already holds an
NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each requestor will need to
download the Workplace Forms ViewerTM to access the
Electronic Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing
system. The Workplace Forms ViewerTM is free and is
available at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. Information about applying for a digital ID certificate
also is available on NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
Once a requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate, had a
docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit a
request for a hearing through EIE. Submissions should be in Portable
Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance available on the
NRC public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
A filing is considered complete at the time the filer submits its
document through EIE. To be timely, electronic filings must be
submitted to the EIE 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 e-mail notice confirming
receipt of the document. The EIE system also distributes an e-mail
notice that provides access to the document to the NRC 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, any others who wish to participate in the proceeding (or
their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a digital
ID certificate before a hearing request is filed so that they may
obtain access to the document via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using the agency's adjudicatory e-
filing system may seek assistance through the ``Contact Us'' link
located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC Meta-System Help Desk, which is
available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through
Friday, excluding government holidays. The Meta-System Help Desk can be
contacted by telephone at 1-866-672-
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7640 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file a motion, in accordance
with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 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, Sixteenth Floor, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852,
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a
document 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.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant
to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or
a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to include personal
privacy information, such as social security numbers, home addresses,
or home phone numbers in their filings. 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 works.
If a person other than Mr. Robert C. Robbirds requests a hearing,
that person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his
interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address the
criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d).
If a hearing is requested by Mr. Robert C. Robbirds or 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
Order should be sustained. Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.202(c)(2)(i), Mr.
Robert C. Robbirds, or any other person adversely affected by this
Order, may, in addition to demanding a hearing, at the time the answer
is filed or sooner, move the presiding officer to set aside the
immediate effectiveness of the Order on the ground that the Order,
including the need for immediate effectiveness, is not based on
adequate evidence but on mere suspicion, unfounded allegations, or
error. 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 IV above shall be final 20 days from the date this
Order is published in the Federal Register without further order or
proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a hearing has been
approved, the provisions specified in Section IV shall be final when
the extension expires if a hearing request has not been received. AN
ANSWER OR A REQUEST FOR HEARING SHALL NOT STAY THE IMMEDIATE
EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS ORDER.
Dated this 29th day of October 2009.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E9-26687 Filed 11-4-09; 8:45 am]
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