On May 2, 2005, a Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of a Civil Penalty (NOV/CP) in the amount of $60,000 was issued to Exelon for a willful Severity Level III violation involving four contract employees who violated radiation protection procedures associated with entry into high radiation areas. On May 12, 2005, Exelon informed the NRC of its intent to appeal this enforcement action using the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process as a means to obtain resolution. In order to resolve disagreements, Exelon, The Venture, and NRC representatives met with an independent mediator on July 11, 2005. As part of the ADR settlement agreement, Exelon agreed that a willful violation occurred as documented in the NRC's May 2, 2005, NOV/CP and committed to implement numerous comprehensive short-term and long-term corrective actions. Based on the expectation that Exelon will satisfactorily implement these corrective actions, the NRC agreed to reclassify the violation at Severity Level IV, to reduce the civil penalty to $10,000, and to not consider the violation as part of the civil penalty assessment process (NRC Enforcement Policy, Section VI.C.2) should the NRC consider future enforcement actions against LaSalle. Exelon acknowledged concurrence with the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement in an August 25, 2005, letter, and Exelon signed a "Consent and Hearing Waiver Form" on November 18, 2005. Therefore, a Confirmatory Order confirming commitments reached as part of an ADR mediation settlement agreement was issued to Exelon on November 22, 2005.