Nuclear Employee Safety Concerns: Allegation System Offers Better Protection, but Important Issues Remain
HEHS-97-51
Published: Mar 31, 1997. Publicly Released: Apr 09, 1997.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) and Department of Labor's implementation of legislation pertaining to the protection of nuclear power industry workers who raise health and safety issues, focusing on: (1) how federal laws and regulations protect nuclear power industry employees from discrimination for raising health and safety concerns; (2) the implementation status of recommendations made in recent NRC and Labor internal reviews and audits of the system for protecting workers; and (3) the resulting changes to the system.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Labor | To improve the timeliness of Labor's allegations processing, the Secretary of Labor should establish and meet realistic timeliness standards for all three steps in its process for investigating discrimination complaints by employees in the nuclear power industry. |
The Department of Labor agreed with the intent of this regulation but reported that it is unable to revise the timeliness standards unless Congress revises the statutory 90-day limit for discrimination complaint resolution. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) drafted such legislation in March 2000 to extend the statutory timeframe, and, jointly with Labor, forwarded the proposed legislation to Congress. Congress did not act on the proposed legislation. Neither NRC or Labor plans to either redraft the legislation or work with Congress to address the previously forwarded legislation, noting other priorities on the part of the agencies as well as Congress.
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| Nuclear Regulatory Commission | To improve NRC's ability to monitor the allegation process, the Chairman, NRC, should complete implementation of the NRC review team's recommendation to establish and operate the revised Allegation Management System in all organizational components within NRC. |
In response to the recommendation, NRC electronically linked its Office of Investigations to its Allegation Management System (AMS)in late 1998. However, plans for linking NRC's Office of Enforcement with AMS, originally scheduled for completion in 1999, has been delayed indefinitely. NRC has no plans for additional action to respond to this recommendation, believing that existing linkages are sufficient.
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| Nuclear Regulatory Commission | The Chairman, NRC, and the Secretary of Labor should coordinate efforts to ensure that NRC's Allegation Management System includes information on the status of cases at Labor. |
Labor-related information is put into the AMS as a result of Labor notifying NRC of its cases. In September 1998, the Chairman, NRC, and the Secretary of Labor signed a memorandum of understanding which states that DOL will promptly notify NRC of any complaint filed with DOL alleging discrimination, provide a quarterly listing of complaints received, and keep NRC informed on the status of judicial proceedings.
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| Nuclear Regulatory Commission | To improve NRC's knowledge of the work environment at nuclear power plants, the Chairman, NRC, should ensure the implementation of recommendations to provide information on the extent to which the environment in nuclear plants is favorable for employees to report health or safety hazards without fear of discrimination. This would include recommendations on tracking and monitoring allegation cases and settlements, routinely providing feedback forms in allegation case close-out correspondence, systematically following up on chilling effect letters, and using a survey or other systematic method of obtaining information from employees. |
Actions have been taken on two aspects of this recommendation. NRC is tracking settlements, and in April 1999, the Commission decided to enclose feedback forms in all allegation closure letters for a one-year trial period. However with respect to the recommendation that NRC use a systematic method to obtain safety environment information from employees, the Commission, after reviewing comments on a draft proposal, determined that new procedures to obtain such information at nuclear power plants were not necessary. The Commission decided to continue its current policy, with the addition of additional guidance and training to inspectors.
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Administrative remediesDiscriminationHealth hazardsLabor relationsInteragency relationsInvestigations by federal agenciesNuclear powerplant safetyOccupational safetyRestitutionWhistleblowers