NRC ORDER – NOVCP $ 70,000

On December 3, 2014, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order (CO) to Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy), to formalize commitments made as a result of an alternative dispute mediation session held on September 22, 2014. Entergy agreed that a Notice of Violation (NOV) and a civil penalty of $70,000 will be included in the CO. The specific commitments that were made as part of the settlement agreement between Entergy and the NRC regarding the apparent violation of NRC security requirements are discussed in the non-public enclosures to the CO. The violation involved the willful actions of an unidentified security officer which occurred at Entergy's River Bend Station on March 18, 2012. The NRC and Entergy agree that the actions of an unidentified security officer constitute a willful violation of 10 CFR Part 73 requirements. However, the NRC and Entergy disagree on the specific aspects of the willful characterization of the violation. In light of the significant corrective actions Entergy has already taken and the additional actions they have committed to take to enhance their security program at River Bend and across the Entergy Nuclear Fleet, the NRC is exercising enforcement discretion to reduce the severity level of the escalated enforcement sanction that was initially proposed in our preliminary determination. The NRC's rationale behind its decision to exercise enforcement discretion in characterizing the violation is incorporated in an attachment to the CO. The attachment to the CO and the NOV will not be made publicly available because it contains security-related information.