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UNITEDSTATESNUCLEAR EGULATORYOMMISSIONWASHINGTON.D.C. 2055+{D01

0ctober20, 1999

Mr.Mark . Kelly10955 outhForkRoadDil lsboro.ndiana 7018SUBJECT: LLEGATIONO.NRR-1999-4-0057DearMr.Kelly: ,This s n responseo your etter atedSeptember2,1999,egardingourconcernelatedoParl21 ssues nreportability.ouwereconcernedboutX-raydiffractionexture nalysis fzirconiumlloy ubing erformedn he Lambda esearchaboratory. oualso aisedconcernegarding arassmentnd ntimidationor raising nuclear afety oncerno yoursupervisor.Enclosure to this etter ocumentsourconcerns swe understandhem. We have nitiatedactionso examinehe actsandcircumstancesn he basis f ourunderstandingfyourconcerns.f thedescriptionf yourconcernsn he enclosures notaccurate, lease ontactmeso hat canassurehatwe correctly nderstandourconcerns eforewe startour eview.In addition,eryourconversationithNRCstaffon September0,1999,weunderstandthatyoudonotobject o having ourconcernseferredo the icensee, our echnicalconcerns aybe referredo GE Nuclear, owever,our dentity ndposition renotbeingprovided. eryour equest f September0, 1999,wewillcallyoubeforewe refer ourconcerno GE Nuclear. We will eview ndevaluatehe icensee'sctivitiesnd esponseand nform ouof he inaldispositionf thismattersf we refer o GE Nuclear.An evaluationfyour echnicaloncerns illnormally e conducted ithin months, lthoughcomplexssuesmay ake onger. ouwillbe nformedf the results f our eview. n resolvingyourconcerns, RC ntendso takeall reasonablefforts ot o discloseour dentity.InyourSeptember2,1999 etter ou equestedhatwe keep ommunicationsithyouconfidential.ll reasonableffortswillbe madeby heNRC o notdisclose our dentity henresolvingechnicalssues.However, ouarenotconsidered confidentialource nless nexplicitequest f confidentialityasbeen ormally rantedn writing.Theparagraphelowexplains hy heNRCcannot rotecthe dentity f ndividualsho aise iscriminationssues.Oneof yourconcernsnvolvesmploymentiscriminationor raising afety oncerns.However,ased pon ourconversationnOctober , 1999,withSpecial gentFahey ouhave equestedhatno nvestigationf thismatter econductedt his ime. Please eawareCERTIFIEDAILRETURN ECEIPT EQUESTED

ComplainantExhibit77 Pase:\ h tJBirs

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Mr.M. Kelly - 2 - AllegationNo. NRR-1999-A-0057

that he NRCdoesnot nvestigatellallegationsf discriminationsndwilldetermine hetheran nvestigations warrantednyourcaseat such ime hatyoumaywish o pursue nallegationf discrimination. n evaluation ithoutdentifyingouwouldbe extremelyifficult.Therefore,f the NRCdoes nvestigate,leasebe awarehat n evaluatingourclaimofdiscrimination,ournamewillbedisclosed. urthermore,RCevaluationfyour laim femploymentiscriminationay akeup o 18monthso complete.Thestaffmaydeterminehat heconcern ou aisedmayaffect number f facilitiesnd sconsideredeneric.Becausehe resolutionf thisconcern ould equire review f multiplefacilitieshe imenecessaryo resolvehisconcernmaybe extended.However, lease eassuredhat he NRCwill ake appropriatendnecessaryctiono maintain ublic ealth ndsafety.TheNRCbrochure,ReportingafetyConcernso theNRC," reviouslyent o you n earlySeptember999, ontainsnformationhatyoumay indhelpfulnunderstandingurprocessor review f safety oncerns.t includes n mportantiscussiononpages -7)of ouridentity rotectionroceduresnd imitations. leaseead hatsection Thebrochure lsoincludesdiscussionf he ight f an ndividualo ilea complaintith heU.S.DepartmentfLabor DOL)f the ndividualelieves e or shehasbeendiscriminatedgainstorraisingsafety oncerns nd he ndividualesires personalemedy.TheNRC s responsibleor enforcementctions gainst tilities,endors, r ndividualshodiscriminategainstndividualsho aise a fety oncerns. heDOL eviewsa publicprocess.DOL s responsibleorprovidingersonalemedies,uchas reinstatement,ackpay,andso orth,The NRCcannot rovide ouwithpersonalemedies.his ypeof remedy anonlycome romDOL.ForDOL o accept complaint,t mustbe n writing nd t mustbesubmittedo DOLwithin180daysof thediscriminatoryctor he dateyou eceived nywrittennotice fan adverse ersonnelction e.9.,ayoff r suspension),hichever ccursirst.(Please eepages -10of the brochure.) hould oudecideofile, heoffice orprocessingyourDOLcomplaints as ollows:U.S.Departmentf Labor OSHA230SouthDearborn treet,Room3244Chicago,l l inois 0604Phonenumber: 12-353-2220lf you ilea complaintithDOL, lease end copy o us also.

ComplainantExhibitI 7 Page:- / frnsst|

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Mr.M. Kelly - 3 - Allegation o.NRR-1999-A-0057

Thank ou or notifying s of yourconcerns.We willadvise ouwhenwe have ompletedurreview f thismatter.However,hould ouhaveanyquestionsr comments uring he nterimregardinghismatter, lease al lme oll-free t 1-800-368-5642.

Sincerely,

M, tzV tr lL71/tb* / / nfifi,tFiona . Tobler, enior llegations oordinatorOffice f Nuclear eactor egulationEnclosure: s stated

ComPlainant xhibit73 Page:

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| 7'l_ALLEGATIONRR-199.4-0057CONCERNSTHRUTEXTUREANALYSESOFZIRCONIUMALLOY

CONCERNX-raydiffractionexture nalyses f zirconium lloy ubingperformed t LambdaResearchLaboratory re nquestion.Thealleger elieveshatanalyses erforrned t Lambda re n erroranddistortedesultsmayhavebeen eportedo clientsikeGE Nuclear.Healsosuspects therclients ikeWestinghouseettisandWestern irconiummaybe involved.Writtenprocedurestthe aboratory erenot ollowed, ndsomesimply annot e followed, ecause f theproblemswith he procedure,raining, nd software.NRCRESPONSE:Theareaof texture nalysiss veryspecializednd requireshat proper ample reparation,procedures,ersonnelraining ndequipmentreuti l izedo produce ccurateesults.Asloted in a 1982paper, TextureMeasurementechniQuesor Zircaloy ladding: Round-RobinStudy," hichwaspublishedyJ,E.,Lewis, t al. n he FifthCbnferencenZirconiumntheNuclearndustry,herearemanyareas hat equire areful onsiderationhenperformingtexture nalyses, hese reas nclude roper pecimen reparation ith.particularttentionothe latness f hespecimen,roper pecimen lignmentn he goniometerxis,diffractionfocusing ircle, ndselectionf hecorrect 0-peak, mong ther hings.As noted n yourSeptember2,1999,ettertoNRCandothersupportingocuments,ambdaResearcheems o havehadsomeproblemsontroll inghe latness f ihe pecimen ndidentifyinghecorrect 0-peak osition rior o conductingexture nalyses. hesedeficiencies.ggle qP-o$9jl-v,*tf9,allg"q"e*lo=hgygesultedn"distorteo"..i$ensitydjsitiblr.tlqn-FebnsnbStai i1 iataCi .GiYi6dera|occas ionswhich

--FlF-'||-Were ndlcatiVefE30-degree pecimenotation roblem.However,t seems hatLambda,sclientswerecognizant f this ypeof errorand equestedhat Lambda epeathe analysis.Overall,heseproblems re ndicative f theneed or better rainingof LambdaReseaich'spersonnel hopreparehespecimens,un heequipmentnd acquirehedata.With especto hedeficienciesnspecimen reparationnd he texture nalysisechniquei.e.,identificationf thecorrect O-peak osition), e believehat he allegers making veryattemptto correcthe situation ndproducemoreaccurate, onsistent ata. Adherenceo themostrecent STMStandard B1-96,standard estMethodor Preparing uantitativeoleFigures," hich ontains p-to-dateroceduresorconductingexture nalysis ithmodern:x-ray iffractionquipment, ayhelp o preventhese ypes f problemsn he uture.Further,the referencesrovidedt heendof hisdocument aybe useful ormakingorp.riron, -between ambda esearch'sataandother atasets egardinghe exture fvariouszirconium aterials.

Complainant xhibit79 p.dse:tj

f i t l9o4 Enclosure

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developmentf engineeredomponentss nota safety oncern,Therefore,he NRCdidnotpursuewhether istortedesultswere eportedo Lambda's lients.CONCERN:Theownerof thecompanyepeatedlyefusedo allow he alleger r anyone lse o reviewhepastzirconium lloy exture nalysiseports nddata,whichwoulddeterminef the problemswith heanalyses avecaused addata o bereportedo the clients.NRCRESPONSE:Baseduponour responseo Concern andourdeterminationhat he ssuesnvolved erenotsafety ignificanthe NRCwill notpursuehisconcern.CONGERN:Fearof Retaliation:Thealleger elieves,f theownerof tamtOaResearch ere o findout hathe discussedheseconcerns ithNRC,GE Nuclear, r other lients, e wouldprobablymakechanges.NRCRESPONSE:On September 0, 1999,we hada conferenceallwithyou o gather nformationelatingspecificallyo a potential iscriminationssue ou dentifiedo us on September g, 1ggg.OnOctober , 1999,we hada followup conferenceallto dentifyhe agentassignedo theinvestigationnd o schedule n nterview.We explainedhat an investigationy ourOffice flnvestigationsntoyourallegation f discriminationy LambdaResearch ouldnot be pursuedwithout ourapprovalo release our dentity.During urconversationourequested RC oput hediscriminationnvestigationn hold,butpursuehe echnical llegations. aseduponyour equesthe Office f Investigationsil lnotpursue ourallegation f discrimination.Therefore, RCdoesnotplanon aking nyaction nthisconcern.

ComplainantExhibit77 Page:f 'lv'l -3- fi f,$tg,o6