85 FR 214 pgs. 70203-70205 - In the Matter of Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga, TN
Type: NOTICEVolume: 85Number: 214Pages: 70203 - 70205
Pages: 70203, 70204, 70205Docket number: [Docket No. EA-20-006, EA-20-007; NRC-2020-0244]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2020-24392 Filed 11-3-20; 8:45 am]
Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. EA-20-006, EA-20-007; NRC-2020-0244]
In the Matter of Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga, TN
AGENCY:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION:
Order; issuance.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an Order Imposing Civil Penalty in the amount of $606,942 to Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The NRC determined that four violations of NRC's employee protection regulation occurred as identified during two investigations completed on October 3, 2019, and January 21, 2020, by the NRC's Office of Investigations (OI) relating to activities at the TVA. In the first investigation, the NRC determined that a former employee was first subjected to an investigation and then placed on administrative leave on May 25, 2018, in part, for engaging in protected activity. In the second investigation, the NRC determined that a second former employee was subjected to an investigation, placed on paid administrative leave on October 15, 2018, and terminated on January 14, 2019, in part, for engaging in the protected activity. The order is effective on the date of issuance.
DATES:
The Order was issued on October 29, 2020.
ADDRESSES:
[top] Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0244 when contacting the NRC about the availability of
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0244. Address questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-9127; email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
• NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select "Begin Web-based ADAMS Search." For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. Order EA-20-006, EA-20-007, issued to TVA on October 29, 2020, is available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML20297A544.
• Attention: The PDR, where you may examine, and order copies of public documents is currently closed. You may submit your request to the PDR via email at PDR.Resource@nrc.gov or call 1-800-397-4209 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ian Gifford, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-9216, email: Ian.Gifford@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The text of the Order is attached.
Dated: October 29, 2020.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
George A. Wilson,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
United States of America Nuclear Regulatory Commission
In the Matter of TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE
Docket Numbers: 05000259, 05000260, 05000296, 05000327, 05000328, 05000390, 05000391
License Numbers: DPR-33, DPR-52, DPR-68, DPR-77, DPR-79, NPF-90, NPF-96
EA-20-006, EA-20-007
Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty
I
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) holds Browns Ferry Units 1, 2, and 3 License Nos. DPR-33, DPR-52, and DPR-68 issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), on December 20, 1973, June 28, 1974, and July 2, 1976, respectively. The units are located on the Licensee's site in Athens, Alabama. TVA holds Sequoyah Units 1 and 2 License Nos. DPR-77 and DPR-79 issued by the NRC pursuant to 10 CFR part 50, on September 17, 1980, and September 15, 1981, respectively. The units are located on the Licensee's site in Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee. TVA holds Watts Bar Units 1 and 2 License Nos. NPF-90 and NPF-96 issued by the NRC pursuant to 10 CFR part 50, on February 7, 1996, and October 22, 2015, respectively. The units are located on the Licensee's site in Spring City, Tennessee. The licenses authorize the operation of these facilities in accordance with the conditions specified therein.
II
Two investigations were completed on October 3, 2019 (2-2018-033), and January 21, 2020 (2-2019-015), by the NRC Office of Investigations (OI). The results of these investigations indicated that the Licensee had not conducted its activities in full compliance with NRC requirements, specifically, 10 CFR 50.7, "Employee Protection."
A written Notice of Violation and Proposed Imposition of Civil Penalty (Notice) was served upon the Licensee by letter dated August 24, 2020. The Notice states the nature of the violations, the provisions of the NRC's requirements that the Licensee violated, and the amount of the civil penalty proposed for the violations.
The Licensee responded to the Notice in a letter dated September 23, 2020. In its response, the Licensee denied all four violations and stated that, if the NRC continues to believe that the violations occurred, then at a minimum the NRC should reduce the severity level of the alleged violations and commensurately reduce the civil penalty.
III
After consideration of the Licensee's response and the statements of fact, explanation, and argument for mitigation contained therein, the NRC staff has, as set forth in the Appendix to this Order, determined that the violations occurred as stated and that the penalty proposed for the violations designated in the Notice should be imposed.
IV
In view of the foregoing and pursuant to Section 234 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (Act), 42 U.S.C. 2282, and 10 CFR 2.205, it is hereby ordered that:
The Licensee pay a civil penalty in the amount of $606,942 within 30 days of the date of this Order, in accordance with NUREG/BR-0254. In addition, at the time payment is made, the Licensee shall submit a statement indicating when and by what method payment was made to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852-2738.
V
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, "Orders," TVA must, and any other person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an answer to this Order within 30 days of the date of the Order. In addition, TVA and any other person adversely affected by this Order may request a hearing on this Order within 30 days of the date of the Order. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to extending the time to answer or request a hearing. A request for extension of time must be directed to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and include a statement of good cause for the extension.
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene (petition), any motion or other document filed in the proceeding prior to the submission of a request for hearing or petition to intervene, and documents filed by interested governmental entities that request to participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with the NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 FR 46562; August 3, 2012). The E-Filing process requires participants to submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media. Detailed guidance on making electronic submissions may be found in the Guidance for Electronic Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may not submit paper copies of their filings unless they seek an exemption in accordance with the procedures described below.
[top] To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 days prior to the filing deadline, the
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the time the document is submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document and sends the submitter an email notice confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that provides access to the document to the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants (or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are filed so that they can obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic Filing Help Desk through the "Contact Us" link located on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by email to MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government holidays.
Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this manner are responsible for serving the document on all other participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the provider of the service. A presiding officer, having granted an exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a participant or party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer subsequently determines that the reason for granting the exemption from use of E-Filing no longer exists.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued digital ID certificate as described above, click "cancel" when the link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to the NRC's electronic hearing dockets where you will be able to access any publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket. Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information, such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone numbers in their filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law requires submission of such information. For example, in some instances, individuals provide home addresses in order to demonstrate proximity to a facility or site. With respect to copyrighted works, except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants are requested not to include copyrighted materials in their submission.
If a hearing is requested by a licensee or a person whose interest is adversely affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and place of any hearings. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered at such hearing shall be whether this Order should be sustained. In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the provisions specified in Section IV above shall be final 30 days from the date of this Order without further order or proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a hearing has been approved, the provisions specified in Section IV shall be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not been received. If payment has not been made by the time specified above, the matter may be referred to the Attorney General for collection.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
George A. Wilson,
Director, Office of Enforcement.
Dated this 29th day of October 2020.
[FR Doc. 2020-24392 Filed 11-3-20; 8:45 am]
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