Protecting People and the EnvironmentUNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
SSINS No.: 6835
IN 83-15
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF INSPECTION AND ENFORCEMENT
WASHINGTON, DC 20555
March 23, 1983
INFORMATION NOTICE NO. 83-15: FALSIFIED PRE-EMPLOYMENT SCREENING RECORDS
Addressees:
All nuclear power reactor facilities holding an operating license (OL) or
construction permit (CP).
Purpose:
This information notice is provided to describe a potentially prevalent
physical security weakness. Recipients should review the infomation for
applicability to their facilities. No specific action or response is
required at this time.
Description of Circumstances:
A former employee of an internationally recognized security contractor,
alleged to the NRC that pre-employment screening records of security guards
provided to an NRC licensee had been falsified at one specific site.
Falsification of these records was alleged to have occurred in the following
categories: (1) interviews of some references, either developed or
furnished, were not conducted; (2) positive identity of the applicant, which
was supposed to have been verified by showing a photograph to the
interviewee, was not done in some cases and, thus, positive identity was
never verified; and (3) some interviews df references were reported to have
been conducted in person, when, in fact, they were conducted by telephone.
There were no allegations that the contractor had falsified any unfavorable
responses relative to an applicant's reliability. The NRC's regional
investigation and inspections of the licensee's revalidation efforts have
found no instances of unfavorable responses from the interviewed references.
It appears that, for a fee, individuals of a local office of the security
contractor had falsified screening records relative to reference interviews
and traveling costs after completing all other ingredients of the background
investigation without identifying any adverse information. During a meeting
in the NRC Regional Office, the security contractor advised the NRC that its
own audit of the other local office providing the same service to another
NRC licensee had found no such falsification of screening records.
8303040006
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IN 83-15
March 23, 1983
Page 2 of 2
Discussion:
In the absence of 10 CFR Part 73 requirements for pre-employment screening,
all licensees of operating nuclear power plants have comitted in varying '
degrees to the criteria found in ANSI 18.17, as revised by ANSI 3.3. The NRC
has previously issued IE Circular No. 78-17, ctsated October 13, 1978,
titled, "Inadequate Guard Training/Qualification and Falsified Training
Records," and Information Notice No. 82-07, dated March 16, 1982, titled,
"Inadequate Security Screening Programs." Both of these IE notifications
served to alert licensees to the possibility that contractors might submit
falsified security records to meet their commitments to the NRC.
The licensee involved in the circumstances described above has taken the
following action in regard to screening security personnel:
1. Audited pre-employment screening records, certifications, and
supporting documentation to verify accuracy and completeness.
2. Conducted random revalidation of reference interviews to establish the
applicant's positive identity and the absence of unfavorable
information.
3. Conducted random personal observation of the local security contractor
in the conduct of screening efforts.
4. Incorporated into the routine Quality Assurance audit of the Security
Organization a check of the accuracy of the contractor's records, based
on a random revalidation sample.
No written response to this information notice is required. If you desire
additional information regarding this matter, contact the Regional
Administrator of the appropriate NRC Regional Office, or the contact listed
below.
Edward L. Jordan, Director
Division of Emergency Preparedness
and Emergency Response
Office of Inspection and Enforcement
Technical Contact: N. E. Ervin
301-492-7463
Attachment:
List of Recently Issued IE Information Notices
