Information Notice No. 90-57 Supplement 1:Substandard, Refurbished Potter & Brumfield Relays Represented As New
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
OFFICE OF NUCLEAR REACTOR REGULATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555
November 27, 1991
NRC INFORMATION NOTICE 90-57, SUPPLEMENT 1: SUBSTANDARD, REFURBISHED POTTER
& BRUMFIELD RELAYS REPRESENTED
AS NEW
Addressees
All holders of operating licenses or construction permits for nuclear power
reactors.
Purpose
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing this information
notice (IN) supplement to inform addressees of the final disposition of a
case of wrongdoing that the NRC referred to the Naval Investigative Service
(NIS) and the Department of Justice. This supplement is also intended to
remind addressees and their suppliers, as well as their individual
employees, that they can be subject to criminal prosecution and penalties if
they intentionally violate NRC regulatory requirements or other Federal
criminal laws. It is expected that recipients will review the information
for applicability to their facilities and consider actions, as appropriate,
to avoid similar problems. However, suggestions contained in this
information notice supplement are not NRC requirements; therefore, no
specific action or written response is required.
Description of Circumstances
In NRC IN 90-57, the staff alerted addressees that Stokley Enterprises,
Incorporated (Stokley Enterprises), of Norfolk, Virginia, modified and/or
refurbished 22 rotary, non-latching MDR-type Potter & Brumfield (P&B) relays
and supplied them to the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. P&B,
Princeton, Indiana, originally manufactured these relays. In addition, the
NRC determined that Stokley Enterprises also provided similar relays to the
U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for use on nuclear powered submarines and
notified the NIS. The NRC and the NIS conducted additional investigations
of Mr. William M. Stokley and Stokley Enterprises and provided the results
to the U.S. Department of Justice for appropriate action.
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, based on the results
of the investigations conducted by the NRC and NIS, charged Mr. William M.
Stokley, President of Stokley Enterprises, with selling counterfeit
electronic parts to DOD and the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. The
indictment charged that, from about August 1985 to September 13, 1990, under
the direction of Mr. William M. Stokley, employees of Stokley Enterprises
built or assembled some of the parts with surplus electrical or used
components, painting and cleaning some products to make them appear new.
Mr. Stokley directed his employees to attach counterfeit nameplates to each
part as it was completed to
9111210087
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IN 90-57, Supplement 1
November 27, 1991
Page 2 of 2
make the parts appear to be from established and recognized companies such
as Cutler and Hammer, General Electric Company, or the Westinghouse Electric
Company. All the established companies, except Potter & Brumfield, had
properly registered their trademarks for these products on the principal
register of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C. The
counterfeit nameplates used by Stokley Enterprises contained marks that were
identical with or substantially indistinguishable from the genuine
trademarks that had been registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
On July 24, 1991, William Stokley pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to
traffic in counterfeit goods and Stokley Enterprises, Inc. pled guilty to
one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and two counts of
trafficking in counterfeit goods.
By a judgement dated October 4, 1991, Mr. Stokley was sentenced to two years
in prison, and upon release from prison, he is to be on supervised release
for a term of three years. Mr. Stokley was sentenced to pay a fine of
$7,500 and ordered to make restitution to the U.S. Government in the sum of
$350,000. His company, Stokley Enterprises, Incorporated, was sentenced to
pay a fine of $30,000 ($10,000 for each count) and ordered to pay
restitution in the sum of $2,501,000, less the sum of restitution
contributed by Mr. Stokley himself.
Discussion
All persons involved in NRC-regulated activities (including suppliers and
vendors) have a responsibility to comply with applicable NRC regulatory
requirements and Federal law. The NRC expects and demands compliance and
will seek criminal prosecution of wrongdoing in cases of intentional or
willful violations of these requirements. As evidenced by the case
described in this information notice supplement, criminal sanctions may
include a fine and/or imprisonment.
Addressees may wish to distribute copies of this information notice
supplement to their employees and suppliers.
This information notice supplement requires no specific action or written
response. If you have any questions about the information in this
supplement, please contact the technical contact listed below or the
appropriate Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) project manager.
Charles E. Rossi, Director
Division of Operational Events Assessment
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Technical contact: Kamal R. Naidu, NRR
(301) 492-0980
Attachment: List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices
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