NRC ORDER – NOV (Order)

On June 18, 2012, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order (Effective Immediately) to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to formalize commitments made as a result of an ADR mediation session. The commitments were made by TVA as part of a settlement agreement between TVA and the NRC regarding an apparent violation of NRC requirements by TVA. The agreement resolves the apparent violation involving two subcontractor employees at Watts Bar Unit 2 who deliberately falsified work order packages for primary containment penetrations which caused TVA to be in apparent violation of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion V, Instructions, Procedures and Drawings, and 10 CFR 50.9, Completeness and Accuracy of Information, which was identified during an NRC Office of Investigations (OI) investigation. TVA agreed to a number of corrective actions as part of this Confirmatory Order, including but not limited to: (1) a prompt cessation of all containment electrical penetration work activities and the initiation of an internal review of the incident; (2) a root cause and extent of condition review; (3) procedural revisions and training related to the importance of 10 CFR 50.9 and procedural compliance; and (4) various site specific (Watts Bar Unit 2) and fleet wide communications which discuss expectations for assuring work activities are performed and documented in a complete and accurate manner. In consideration of these corrective actions and commitments, the NRC agreed to refrain from proposing a civil penalty and issuing a Notice of Violation or other enforcement action in this matter.