Home > Electronic Reading Room > Document Collections > News Releases > 1998 > II-98-021

	NRC NEWS U. S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, REGION II 61 Forsyth Street, Suite 23T85, Atlanta, GA 30303
	CONTACT:	Ken Clark (Phone: 404/562-4416, E-mail: kmc2@nrc.gov )
		Roger Hannah (Phone 404/562-4417, E-mail: rdh1@nrc.gov )

No: II-98-21

March 19, 1998

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has scheduled a predecisional enforcement conference in Atlanta on March 31 with Florida power & Light Company to discuss security concerns related to access controls at the St. Lucie nuclear power plant, located near Ft. Pierce, Florida.

The conference, which is open to observation by the public and the press, will be held from 1:30 until 3:30 p.m. at the NRC Region II offices, located on the 24th floor of the Atlanta Federal Center at 61 Forsyth Street, S.W. The meeting is between the NRC and FP&L, but NRC officials will be available at its conclusion to answer questions from interested observers.

NRC officials will discuss with FP&L the circumstances associated with an access control event at St. Lucie which occurred on January 2 of this year. A contract employee was favorably terminated two days earlier on December 31 but was not notified. The individual entered the plant's protected area January 2, immediately notified of the termination, and exited the area eight minutes later. Upon review of termination request records, company personnel determined that two of 21 individuals terminated December 31 had not had their badges pulled, but the second individual did not return to the site.

No problems occurred, but the company determined that both individuals had potential protected and vital area access for two days following their termination.

FP&L has initiated procedures to preclude recurrence of such events.

The decision to hold a predecisional enforcement conference does not mean that a determination has been made that a violation has occurred or that enforcement action will the taken. The purpose of the conferences is to discuss apparent violations, their causes and safety significance; to provide the licensee an opportunity to point our any errors that may have been made in the NRC inspection report; and to enable the licensee to outline proposed corrective actions.

No decision on the apparent violations or any contemplated enforcement action, such as a civil penalty, will be made at these conferences. Those decisions will be made later by senior NRC officials.