[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 222 (Thursday, November 19, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59995-59997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-27792]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2009-0505; Docket No. 050-00255; License No. DPR-20; EA-09-060]
Confirmatory Order (Effective Immediately)
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., Palisades Nuclear Plant, 27780 Blue
Star Memorial Highway, Covert, MI 49043-9530.
I
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Licensee or Entergy) is the
holder of Reactor Operating License No. DPR-20 issued by the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR
Part 50 on March 24, 1971. The license authorizes the operation of the
Palisades Nuclear Plant in accordance with conditions specified
therein.
This Confirmatory Order is the result of an agreement reached
during an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mediation session
conducted on September 15, 2009.
II
On May 22, 2008, the NRC completed a security baseline inspection
at the Palisades Nuclear Plant. The inspection covered one or more of
the key attributes of the security cornerstone of the NRC's Reactor
Oversight Process. As a result of the inspection observations, the NRC
Office of Investigations (OI) initiated an investigation (OI Case No.
3-2008-020). Based on the evidence developed during the inspection and
investigation, the NRC identified a violation of 10 CFR 50.9 for
inaccurate and incomplete information. This violation is described in
the separate Notice of Violation, included as Enclosure 3 to the
transmittal letter. (Because the Notice of Violation contains Security-
Related information, it is not being made publicly available.)
The results of the investigation were sent to Entergy in a letter
dated July 14, 2009. This letter offered Entergy the opportunity to
either participate in ADR mediation or to attend a Predecisional
Enforcement Conference. On July 28, 2009, the NRC and Entergy agreed to
mediate. On September 15, 2009, the NRC and Entergy participated in an
ADR session mediated by a professional mediator, arranged through
Cornell University's Institute on Conflict Resolution. As used by the
NRC, ADR is a process in which a neutral mediator with no decision-
making authority assists the parties in reaching an agreement on
resolving any differences regarding the dispute. This Confirmatory
Order is issued pursuant to the agreement reached during the ADR
process.
III
During the September 15, 2009, ADR session, a preliminary
settlement agreement was reached. The elements of the agreement
consisted of the following:
1. Entergy will publish the corrective actions set forth in this
Confirmatory Order to the Entergy fleet nuclear workforce, via Inside
Entergy, within one month of the issuance of the Confirmatory Order.
Entergy will provide a copy of the publication to the Regional
Administrator, Region III, within one month of publication of the
article.
2. Entergy agrees to develop and implement a formal process, within
the current Corrective Action Program (CAP), that ensures that
Safeguards and Security-Related information, which would otherwise not
be contained in the CAP, is processed in an auditable manner,
consistent with Entergy's existing CAP. Entergy will develop and
implement this process within 6 months of the date of the Confirmatory
Order and will provide a description of these program changes to the
Regional Administrator, Region III, within one month of their
implementation.
Entergy will complete training for those personnel with Safeguards
access on the program described above within 90 days of the effective
date of the procedure or process described above.
3. Entergy will provide training to Entergy's nuclear workforce on
the sensitivity and importance of providing complete and accurate
information to the NRC. This training will be completed within 1 year
of the date of the issuance of the Confirmatory Order. Entergy will
tailor the training, as appropriate, to reflect the level of the
individuals within the organization and their specific responsibilities
for communicating with the NRC. Entergy will maintain auditable records
of the training and will provide notification to the Regional
Administrator, Region III, within one month of completion of the
training.
4. Entergy will assess its succession planning process with respect
to how that process addresses unanticipated, short-term personnel
losses in key positions. Entergy will complete this assessment, and
will develop corrective actions, as appropriate, within 6 months of the
date of the issuance of the Confirmatory Order. Entergy will provide
the results of this assessment to the Regional Administrator, Region
III, within one month of its completion.
5. An Entergy executive will meet with the three NRC Regional
Administrators for the regions in which Entergy owns and operates
plants, to share and discuss the results of the safety culture
workplace survey conducted at each Entergy nuclear plant in 2009.
Subject to the schedules of the Entergy and NRC executive participants,
Entergy will seek to have these meetings conducted by March 31, 2010.
6. Entergy will provide a lessons-learned presentation to the
Regional Utility Groups for the NRC Regions in which Entergy operates
nuclear facilities within 1 year of the date of the issuance of the
Confirmatory Order. That lessons-learned presentation will address the
events which gave rise to the Confirmatory Order and the corrective
actions taken. Entergy will provide a copy of the proposed presentation
to the Regional Administrator, Region III, for review prior to the
presentation.
7. The NRC agrees to cite Entergy for a single violation of 10 CFR
50.9, associated with incomplete and inaccurate information, based
exclusively on the information contained in Condition Reports CR-PLP-
2007-05448 and CR-PLP-2007-05758 and the February 5, 2008, verbal
communications with the NRC. The NRC will not assign a Severity Level
to the violation and will not issue a civil penalty for the violation.
8. Entergy, by signing the Agreement in Principle, makes no
admission that any employee or former employee deliberately violated
any NRC requirements and that this agreement is settlement of a
disputed claim in order to avoid further action by the NRC.
On October 13, 2009, Entergy consented to issuing this Order with
the commitments, as described in Section V below. Entergy further
agreed that this
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Order is to be effective upon issuance and that it has waived its right
to a hearing.
IV
Since Entergy has agreed to take additional actions to address NRC
concerns, as set forth in Item III above, the NRC has concluded that
its concerns can be resolved through issuance of this Order.
I find that Entergy's commitments as set forth in Section V are
acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these commitments the
public health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the
foregoing, I have determined that public health and safety require that
Entergy's commitments be confirmed by this Order. Based on the above,
and Entergy's consent, this Order is immediately effective upon
issuance.
V
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 104, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and
186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the Commission's
regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 50, it is hereby ordered,
effective immediately:
1. Entergy shall publish the corrective actions set forth in this
Confirmatory Order to the Entergy fleet nuclear workforce, via Inside
Entergy, within one month of the issuance of the Confirmatory Order.
Entergy shall provide a copy of the publication to the Regional
Administrator, Region III, within one month of publication of the
article.
2. Entergy shall develop and implement a formal process, within the
current Corrective Action Program (CAP), that ensures that Safeguards
and Security-Related information, which would otherwise not be
contained in the CAP, is processed in an auditable manner, consistent
with Entergy's existing CAP. Entergy shall develop and implement this
process at all of Entergy's licensed facilities within 6 months of the
date of the Confirmatory Order and shall provide a description of these
program changes to the Regional Administrator, Region III, within one
month of their implementation.
Entergy shall complete training for those personnel with Safeguards
access on the program described above within 90 days of the effective
date of the procedure or process described above.
3. Entergy shall provide training to Entergy's nuclear workforce on
the sensitivity and importance of providing complete and accurate
information to the NRC. This training shall be completed at all of
Entergy's licensed facilities within 1 year of the date of the issuance
of the Confirmatory Order. Entergy shall tailor the training, as
appropriate, to reflect the level of the individuals within the
organization and their specific responsibilities for communicating with
the NRC. Entergy shall maintain auditable records of the training and
shall provide notification to the Regional Administrator, Region III,
within one month of completion of the training.
4. Entergy shall assess its succession planning process with
respect to how that process addresses unanticipated, short-term
personnel losses in key positions. Entergy shall complete this
assessment for all of Entergy's licensed facilities, and shall develop
corrective actions, as appropriate, within 6 months of the date of the
issuance of the Confirmatory Order. Entergy shall provide the results
of this assessment to the Regional Administrator, Region III, within
one month of its completion.
5. An Entergy executive shall meet with the three NRC Regional
Administrators for the regions in which Entergy owns and operates
plants, to share and discuss the results of the safety culture
workplace survey conducted at each Entergy nuclear plant in 2009.
Subject to the schedules of the Entergy and NRC executive participants,
Entergy shall seek to have these meetings conducted by March 31, 2010.
6. Entergy shall provide a lessons-learned presentation to the
Regional Utility Groups for the NRC Regions in which Entergy operates
nuclear facilities within 1 year of the date of the issuance of the
Confirmatory Order. That lessons-learned presentation shall address the
events which gave rise to the Confirmatory Order and the corrective
actions taken. Entergy shall provide a copy of the proposed
presentation to the Regional Administrator, Region III, for review
prior to the presentation.
The Regional Administrator, NRC Region III, may, in writing, relax
or rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by Entergy of
good cause.
VI
Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other
than Entergy, may request a hearing within 20 days of the Confirmatory
Order's publication in the Federal Register. Where good cause is shown,
consideration will be given to extending the time to request a hearing.
A request for extension of time must be directed to the Director,
Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001, and include a statement of good cause for the extension.
A request for a hearing must be filed in accordance with the NRC E-
Filing rule, which the NRC promulgated in August 28, 2007, (72 FR
49139). The E-Filing process requires participants to submit and serve
documents over the Internet or, in some cases, to mail copies on
electronic optical storage media. Participants may not submit paper
copies of their filings unless they seek a waiver in accordance with
the procedures described below.
To comply with the procedural requirements associated with E-
Filing, at least five days prior to the filing deadline the requestor
must contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at
[email protected], or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request: (1) A
digital ID certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign documents and access the E-Submittal
server for any NRC proceeding in which it is participating; and/or (2)
creation of an electronic docket for the proceeding (even in instances
when the requestor (or its counsel or representative) already holds a
NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Each requestor will need to
download the Workplace Forms ViewerJ to access the Electronic
Information Exchange (EIE), a component of the E-Filing system. The
Workplace Forms ViewerTM is free and is available at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. Information
about applying for a digital ID certificate also is available on NRC's
public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/apply-certificates.html.
Once a requestor has obtained a digital ID certificate, had a
docket created, and downloaded the EIE viewer, it can then submit a
request for a hearing through EIE. Submissions should be in Portable
Document Format (PDF) in accordance with NRC guidance available on the
NRC public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
A filing is considered complete at the time the filer submits its
document through EIE. To be timely, electronic filings must be
submitted to the EIE 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 e-mail notice confirming
receipt of the document. The EIE system also distributes an e-mail
notice that provides access to the document to the NRC 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
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participants separately. Therefore, any others who wish to participate
in the proceeding (or their counsel or representative) must apply for
and receive a digital ID certificate before a hearing request is filed
so that they may obtain access to the document via the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using the agency's adjudicatory e-
filing system may seek assistance through the ``Contact Us'' link
located on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html or by calling the NRC Meta-System Help Desk, which is
available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through
Friday, excluding government holidays. The Meta-System Help Desk can be
contacted by telephone at 1-866-672-7640 or by e-mail at
[email protected].
Participants who believe that they have good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file a motion, in accordance
with 10 CFR. 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 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, Sixteenth Floor, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852,
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Participants filing a
document 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.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
http://ehd.nrc.gov/EHD_Proceeding/home.asp, unless excluded pursuant
to an order of the Commission, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, or
a Presiding Officer. Participants are requested not to include personal
privacy information, such as social security numbers, home addresses,
or home phone numbers in their filings. 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 works.
If a person other than Entergy requests a hearing, that person
shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is
adversely affected by this Order and shall address the criteria set
forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).
If the hearing is requested by a person whose interest is adversely
affected, the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and
place of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory 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 V above shall be final 20 days from the date this
Order is published in the Federal Register without further order or
proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a hearing has been
approved, the provisions specified in Section V shall be final when the
extension expires, if a hearing request has not been received.
A request for hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness of
this order.
Dated this 10th day of November 2009.
For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Mark A. Satorius,
Regional Administrator, Region III.
[FR Doc. E9-27792 Filed 11-18-09; 8:45 am]
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