In response to complaints by employees who raised health and safety concerns that they were not being protected from discrimination, NRC has studied and reported on the employee protection system. System for Protecting Employees Involves Multiple Steps in Two Agencies

NRC has the overall responsibility for ensuring that the nuclear plants it licenses are operated safely. Under the Atomic Energy Act, as amended, NRC may take action against the employers it licenses when they are found to have discriminated against individual employees for raising health and safety concerns. Accordingly, NRC has established a process for investigating discrimination complaints and, if appropriate, taking enforcement action against licensees. The ERA, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of Labor to order employers to make restitution to the victims of such discrimination, and Labor has instituted a process for investigating and adjudicating discrimination complaints. Memorandum of Understanding Explains How Labor and NRC Coordinate Activities

NRC and Labor recognized that in view of Labor’s complementary responsibilities, coordination was warranted. Recommendations Implemented Should Improve the System

Many of the implemented recommendations from these studies led to actions at NRC to improve monitoring of cases, expand communication with employees about their cases, and increase the agency’s involvement in allegation investigations; they also led to changes at Labor to improve its timeliness in processing allegation cases. Some recommendations, which could be implemented through administrative procedural changes, could significantly improve the system; these address timeliness standards, case monitoring, and NRC’s knowledge of the employee environment in licensees’ facilities. In response to these concerns, both NRC and Labor have acted on OIG and agency recommendations to enhance their management of nuclear employee discrimination cases. Many changes made by NRC were intended to increase its involvement in the protection system and to make the agency proactive in its role. To obtain the perspective of employees and licensees, we visited two nuclear power plants and, at those facilities and elsewhere, spoke with (1) 10 nuclear industry employees who had filed discrimination complaints with Labor, NRC, or both, including members of the National Nuclear Safety Network; (2) 8 attorneys who have represented employees and licensees in the process; (3) officials of 3 nuclear licensees that have been the subject of numerous discrimination complaints; and (4) officials of the Nuclear Energy Institute, a nuclear power industry association. Recommendation II.E-4

In appropriate cases, the Executive Director for Operations (or other senior NRC management) should notify the licensee’s senior management by letter, noting that NRC has not taken a position on the merits of the allegation but emphasizing the importance NRC places on a quality-conscious environment where people believe they are free to raise concerns, and the potential for adverse impact on this environment if the allegation is not appropriately resolved; requesting the personal involvement of senior licensee management in the matter to ensure that the employment action taken was not prompted by the employee’s involvement in protected activity, and to consider whether action is needed to address the potential for a chilling effect; requiring a full report of the actions that senior licensee management took on this request within 45 days; and noting that the licensee’s decision to adopt a holding period will be considered as a mitigating factor in any enforcement decision should discrimination be determined to have occurred. Recommendation II.C-2

The Commission should support legislation to amend section 211 as follows: (1) revising the statute to provide 120 days from the filing of the complaint to conduct the Labor investigation, 30 days from the investigation finding to request a hearing, 240 additional days to issue an ALJ decision, and 90 days for the Secretary of Labor to issue a final decision, thus allowing a total of 480 days from when the complaint is filed to complete the process; (2) revising the statute to provide that reinstatement decisions be immediately effective following a Labor finding based on an administrative investigation; (3) revising the statute to provide that Labor defend its findings of discrimination and ordered relief in the adjudicatory process if its orders are contested by the employer (this would not preclude the complainant from also being a party in the proceeding).
Why GAO Did This Study

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.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) NRC has overall responsibility for ensuring that the nuclear plants it licenses are operated safely, and the Department of Labor also plays a role in the system that protects industry employees against discrimination for raising health and safety concerns; (2) the Atomic Energy Act, as amended, gives NRC responsibility for taking action against the employers it licenses when they are found to have discriminated against individual employees; (3) NRC can investigate when a harassment and intimidation allegation is filed with NRC or when it receives a copy of a discrimination complaint filed with Labor; (4) NRC's Office of Enforcement may use the results of the NRC investigation or a decision from Labor to support enforcement action; (5) in addition, the Energy Reorganization Act, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of Labor to order employers to make restitution to the victims of such discrimination; (6) restitution can include such actions as reinstatement to a former position, reimbursement of all expenses related to the complaint, and removal from personnel files of any adverse references to complaint activities; (7) concerns raised by employees about a lack of protection under the existing process led to studies begun by NRC and Labor in 1992; (8) these concerns included the inordinate amount of time it took Labor to act on some discrimination complaints and NRC's lack of involvement in cases during Labor's decision process; (9) in response to recommendations in reports from these groups, both NRC and Labor have taken actions intended to improve the system for protecting employees; (10) for example, NRC has established a senior position to centrally coordinate and oversee all phases of allegation management, and it has taken other actions to improve overall management of the system, such as establishing procedures to improve communication and feedback among employees, NRC, and licensees; (11) it has also increased its involvement in allegation cases through several actions, including investigating a greater number of allegations; (12) while NRC and Labor have been responsive to these recommendations, other recommendations, which could be implemented through administrative procedural changes and would further improve the system, still need to be addressed; (13) in addition, NRC and Labor have yet to complete action on recommendations requiring statutory and regulatory changes; and (14) these include recommendations to reduce the financial burden on workers with cases pending and to increase the dollar amount of civil penalties.