NRC ORDER – ORDER

On December 21, 2015, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order to Northern States Power Company, Minnesota (licensee) to formalize commitments made as a result of an ADR mediation session. The commitments were made by the licensee as part of a settlement agreement between the licensee and the NRC regarding apparent violations of NRC requirements. The agreement resolves the apparent failure to ensure nondestructive examinations (NDE) on spent fuel dry shielded canisters (DSC) were performed in accordance with procedural requirements, and the falsification of records when recording the NDE results, contrary to the requirements of 10 CFR 72.158, 10 CFR 72.11 and 10 CFR 72.154(c). The licensee agreed to a number of corrective actions, including: (1) restore compliance for all affected DSCs, (2) revise applicable procedures, (3) present at an industry forum, (4) submit an article to an industry publication, and (5) assess the effectiveness of improvements. In consideration of these commitments, the NRC agreed to refrain from issuing a Notice of Violation and a proposed imposition of a Civil Penalty.