[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 146 (Tuesday, August 1, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35828-35835]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16178]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-390; 50-391; 50-259; 50-260; 50-296; 50-327; 50-328; 
License Nos. NPF-90; NPF-96; DPR-33; DPR-52; DPR-68; DPR-77; DPR-79; 
EA-17-022; NRC-2017-0172]


U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant; Browns 
Ferry Nuclear Plant; and Sequoyah Nuclear Plant

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Confirmatory order; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a 
confirmatory order (Order) to U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority (the 
licensee), confirming the agreement reached in an Alternative Dispute 
Resolution mediation session held on June 9, 2017. This Order will 
ensure the licensee restores compliance with NRC's regulations.

DATES: The Order was issued on July 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0172 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0172. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; e-mail: [email protected]. 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 http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and 
then 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 e-mail to [email protected]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it is available 
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this 
document.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Scott Sparks, Region II, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-1257; telephone: 404-997-
4422; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Order is attached.

    Dated at Atlanta, Georgia, this 27th day of July 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Leonard D. Wert,
Deputy Regional Administrator for Operations.

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-390; 50-391; 50-259; 50-260; 50-296; 50-327; 50-328; 
License Nos. NPF-90; NPF-96; DPR-33; DPR-52; DPR-68; DPR-77; DPR-79; 
EA-17-022; NRC-2017-0172]

In the Matter of U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority, Watts Bar Nuclear 
Plant; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant; and Sequoyah Nuclear Plant

CONFIRMATORY ORDER

(EFFECTIVE UPON ISSUANCE)

I

    U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA or Licensee) is the holder of 
Operating License Nos. NPF-90; and NPF-96; DPR-33; DPR-52; DPR-68; DPR-
77; and DPR-79; issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC 
or Commission) pursuant to part 50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR). The licenses authorize the operation of the Watts 
Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN) Units 1 and 2, Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, 
Units 1, 2 and 3, and Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, in 
accordance with conditions specified therein. These facilities are 
located in Spring City, Tennessee, Athens, Alabama, and Soddy Daisy, 
Tennessee, respectively.
    This Confirmatory Order (CO) is the result of an agreement reached 
during an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mediation session 
conducted on June 9, 2017.

II

    On December 1, 2016, the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
completed a Problem Identification and Resolution inspection at TVA's 
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN), Units 1 and 2 (Inspection Report 
05000390/2016013, 05000391/2016013, ML17069A133). The results of the 
inspection were transmitted to TVA by letter dated March 10, 2017, and 
included the identification of one Apparent Violation (AV) of a 
previously issued CO, (EA-09-009,203, dated December 22, 2009, 
ML093510993). The AV involved the following:
    Confirmatory Order Modifying License, (EA-09-009,203) dated 
December 22, 2009, (ML093510993) states, in part, that by no later than 
ninety (90) calendar days after the issuance of this Confirmatory 
Order, TVA shall implement a process to review proposed licensee 
adverse employment actions at TVA's nuclear plant sites before actions 
are taken to determine whether the proposed action comports with 
employee protection regulations, and whether the proposed actions could 
negatively impact the Safety Conscious Work Environment (SCWE). Such a 
process should consider actions to mitigate a potential chilling effect 
if the employment action, despite its legitimacy, could be perceived as 
retaliatory by the workforce.
    Additionally, by no later than one hundred twenty (120) calendar 
days after the issuance of the Confirmatory Order, TVA shall implement 
a process to review proposed significant adverse employment actions by 
contractors performing services at TVA's nuclear plant sites before the 
actions are taken to determine whether the proposed action comports 
with employee protection regulations, and whether the proposed action 
could negatively impact the SCWE. Such a process will likewise consider 
actions to mitigate a potential chilling effect if the employment 
action, despite its legitimacy, could be perceived as retaliatory by 
the workforce.
    TVA implements the above process through procedure NPG-SPP-11.10, 
Adverse Employment Action. NPG-SPP-11.10, Section 3.2.2, entitled 
``Review Process--Personnel Actions Impacting TVA Employees,'' 
paragraph D, states that the ``Vice President (or designee) will 
complete section 3, Vice President Record of Action of form 41175'' 
(attachment 2 to NPG-SPP-11.10). Form 41175, entitled ``TVA

[[Page 35829]]

41175 Adverse Employment Action Review'', states that ``the purpose of 
the review is to ensure that proposed actions: (1) are warranted; (2) 
do not occur because an individual has engaged in a protected activity; 
and (3) do not create the perception that persons were retaliated 
against because they engaged in a protected activity.''
    Additional actions are delineated in NPG-SPP-11.10 Sections 3.2.2, 
subsections A, B, C, E, F, G, related to the positions of the Vice 
President, Line Manager and the Human Resource Representative, and in 
Section 3.2.3, entitled ``Review Process--Personnel Actions Impacting 
Contractors.''
    Contrary to the above, from November 2014 to August 2016, TVA 
failed to comply with Confirmatory Order (EA-09-009,203), in that WBN: 
(1) failed to implement a process to review proposed licensee adverse 
employment actions at WBN before actions were taken to determine 
whether the proposed action comports with employee protection 
regulations, and whether the proposed actions could negatively impact 
the SCWE; and (2) failed to implement a process to review proposed 
significant adverse employment actions by contractors performing 
services at TVA's nuclear plant sites before the actions were taken to 
determine whether the proposed action comports with employee protection 
regulations, and whether the proposed action could negatively impact 
the SCWE. WBN failed to comply with the CO because the site failed to 
implement procedure NPG-SPP-11.10, ``Adverse Employment Action.'' 
Specifically, the Vice President (or designee) failed to complete Form 
41175, entitled ``TVA 41175 Adverse Employment Action Review'' as 
required by Section 3.2.3.D, for multiple adverse employment actions 
taken against TVA and contractor personnel during this time period. 
Additionally, the Vice President, Line Management, and HR 
Representatives did not perform procedural steps that were required by 
procedure NPG-SPP-11.10, subsection 3.2.2.A, B, C, E, F, and G, and in 
Section 3.2.3.
    In response to the NRC's inspection report of March 10, 2017, TVA 
advised of its desire to participate in the Agency's ADR program to 
resolve the enforcement aspects of this matter.

III

    On June 9, 2017, the NRC and TVA met in an ADR session mediated by 
a professional mediator, arranged through Cornell University's 
Institute on Conflict Resolution. ADR is a process in which a neutral 
mediator with no decision-making authority assists the parties in 
reaching an agreement or resolving any differences regarding their 
dispute. This CO is issued pursuant to the agreement reached during the 
ADR process. The elements of the agreement consist of the following:
    1. The NRC and TVA agreed that the issue described above represents 
a violation of regulatory requirements. The NRC and TVA agree that the 
violation is a significant matter.
    2. Based on a review of the incident, TVA completed a number of 
corrective actions and enhancements to preclude recurrence of the 
violation including, but not limited to, the following:
    a. Performance of a Level I Root Cause Analysis (RCA), COC 
condition report (CR) 1271309, WBN Failure to Implement Adverse 
Employment Action Process, dated May 26, 2017, which identified direct, 
root, and contributing causes of the violation. The RCA also included 
an extent of condition review, an extent of cause review, and 
identified specific corrective actions that were entered into TVA's 
Corrective Action Program. TVA concluded that the causes and corrective 
actions are applicable to all TVA nuclear sites.
    b. TVA took immediate actions to reinforce the requirements in the 
Adverse Employment Action process to TVA Nuclear Suppliers and 
Contractors and to TVA Contract Technical Stewards (CTS).
    c. Establishment of an Executive Review Board (ERB) process to 
review procedurally specified personnel actions to ensure that actions 
do not constitute retaliation based on employee personal participation 
in protected activities. The ERB process and procedure was informed by 
benchmarking other organizations in the nuclear industry. The ERB may 
be advised by representatives from human resources, legal and ECP as 
appropriate, so that ERB is informed if the subject employee has 
engaged in any known relevant protected activity.
    d. TVA communicated the following to nuclear employees, via a 
written Fleet Focus memo from the Chief Nuclear Officer, entitled ``Key 
Revisions to Adverse Employment Action Procedure,'' dated June 6, 2017: 
a summary of the AV, the results of TVA's root cause analysis, purpose 
of the Adverse Action process, planned actions to correct the process, 
and expectations for managers to consider the impact of an adverse 
action on the organizational SCWE and need to communicate effectively 
to employees.
    e. TVA hired an experienced Executive Safety Culture Advisor, to 
review and observe activities at TVA through December 31, 2017. This 
consultant is contracted to conduct leadership observations and provide 
insights to TVA executives regarding leadership behaviors to continue 
to improve TVA's nuclear safety culture and SCWE.
    f. TVA hired a third-party, independent consultant to perform a 
comprehensive nuclear safety culture assessment at Watts Bar Nuclear 
Plant in order to assess the Nuclear Safety Culture and Safety 
Conscious Work Environment programs.
    3. Based on TVA's review of the incident and NRC's concerns with 
respect to precluding recurrence of the violation, TVA agrees to 
implement the following corrective actions and enhancements:

a. Communication

    1) By no later than three months after issuance of the CO, the TVA 
Chief Nuclear Executive Officer (CNO) shall:
    a) Inform all working status TVA nuclear first line supervisory 
employees and above, as of the date of this CO, about employee 
protections and the need to maintain an environment free from even the 
appearance of retaliation or discrimination.
    b) As a followup to the written communication issued by the CNO on 
June 6, 2017, conduct a video briefing by the CNO for all working 
status TVA nuclear employees and contractors who perform NRC regulated 
activities, describing the following: 1) reason why TVA's 
implementation of the Adverse Employment Action process as required by 
the 2009 CO had not been fully effective, 2) a brief summary regarding 
the background and reason the Adverse Employment Action Process exists, 
3) summary of the NRC's concerns expressed in the March 2017 Inspection 
Report, 4) the corrective actions both taken and planned to restore 
TVA's compliance, and 5) informing employees of the possible avenues 
(including to the NRC) that they have to raise concerns as outlined in 
TVA-SPP-11.8.4, Expressing Concerns and Differing Views. TVA shall make 
this video briefing available to the NRC.
    c) Document that all working status TVA nuclear employees and 
contractors who perform NRC regulated activities (i.e. individuals who 
work on safety-related structures, systems, and components) as of the 
date of this CO have received the one time video briefing, which will 
also require responses to one or more questions to document employee 
understanding in order to receive credit for the training.
    d) Each site Vice President shall conduct an All Hands meeting at 
each

[[Page 35830]]

TVA nuclear site. During the meeting employees will be allowed the 
opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions of management related 
to the communications listed above.
    2) By no later than four months after issuance of the CO, TVA shall 
ensure that its nuclear safety culture and safety conscious work 
environment policies and guidance (e.g., procedures), are in place, 
updated, and consistent with: 1) the NRC's March 2011 Safety Culture 
Policy Statement and associated traits described within; and 2) the 
NRC's May 1996 Safety Conscious Work Environment Policy Statement; and 
are informed by: 1) the NRC's Regulatory Issue Summary 2005-18, 
``Guidance for Establishing and Maintaining a Safety Conscious Work 
Environment''; and 2) the industry's common language initiative (i.e. , 
INPO 12-012, Revision 1, April 2013).
    a) TVA shall make updated policies and guidance available to the 
NRC, and
    b) TVA will make updated policies and guidance available to 
employees, and inform employees where related materials are located.
    3) By no later than six months after issuance of the CO, a Senior 
TVA manager shall share the company's experiences and insights with 
respect to the importance of properly implementing an Adverse 
Employment Action process, including lessons learned and actions taken 
by TVA, in a presentation to other nuclear utilities at an industry 
meeting.

b. Training

    1) By no later than three months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall acquire an independent third party who is experienced with NRC 
employee protection regulations (10 CFR 50.7, Section 211 of the Energy 
Reorganization Act, as amended), and nuclear safety culture and safety 
conscious work environment policies to assist TVA in development of 
initial and refresher training on employee protection and safety 
conscious work environment.
    a) Training shall include:
    i) case study examples of discriminatory practices as well as 
examples related to the adverse action process implementation.
    ii) the definition of key terms included in employee protection 
regulations, nuclear safety culture and safety conscious work 
environment policy statements, and be informed by the industry's common 
language initiative (e.g., nuclear safety issue, protected activity, 
adverse action, nuclear safety culture traits).
    iii) behavioral expectations for demonstrating support for raising 
nuclear safety and quality concerns without fear of retaliation, and 
available avenues for raising concerns.
    iv) how to properly implement the adverse employment action process 
including at a minimum discussion on the following:
    (1) Disciplinary action is not taken as a result of an employee's 
engagement in activities protected by the employee protection 
regulations of 10 CFR 50.7;
    (2) Determination if the action could be perceived as negatively 
impacting any individual or organizational aspect of Safety Conscious 
Work Environment, cause a potential chilling effect or be perceived as 
retaliatory, independent of discipline legitimacy.
    b) The training material shall be available to the NRC upon 
request.
    c) Training records shall be retained consistent with applicable 
TVA record retention policies and be made available to the NRC upon 
request.
    2) The training will be provided within one year and on an annual 
basis thereafter, to, at a minimum, all working status nuclear business 
group supervisory employees, contractor supervisory employees involved 
in nuclear related work activities, human resource staff involved in 
the adverse employment action process, employee concerns program staff, 
contract technical stewards for nuclear related work activities, and 
the personnel in the TVA Office of General Counsel who are engaged in 
nuclear related work activities.
    (3) New supervisory employees shall complete initial training 
through in-person or computer based training, within three months of 
their hire or promotion effective date. The training shall require, at 
a minimum, a discussion of the training material with personnel in the 
TVA Office of General Counsel who are engaged in nuclear related work 
activities.
    (4) The initial training for personnel specified in III.3.b.2 who 
work at WBN and personnel in the TVA Office of General Counsel who are 
engaged in nuclear related work activities shall be conducted in-person 
by the independent third-party. Initial training for the other 
employees specified in III.3.b.2 and subsequent refresher training 
shall be conducted by personnel in the TVA Office of General Counsel 
who are engaged in nuclear related work activities.

c. Work Processes

    (1) By no later than six months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall maintain a uniform process to ensure independent management 
review of all proposed adverse actions in accordance with the 
procedure. This process shall be executed by an ERB chaired by a TVA 
Vice President or above. The ERB shall, at a minimum, review proposed 
adverse employment actions to include suspensions (one or more days off 
without pay), terminations for cause, involuntary reduction in force, 
and no-fault terminations of employment.
    (2) By no later than three months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall revise the Adverse Employment Action procedure to require all 
adverse employment actions, as described in III.3.c.1), to be reviewed 
for potential effects on the safety conscious work environment, 
regardless of whether the employee engaged in a protected activity.
    (3) By no later than three years after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall perform in-person benchmarking of at least two external 
organizations in the nuclear industry with developed adverse employment 
action processes, specifically including ERBs.
    (4) Develop individual performance appraisal assessment criteria 
for nuclear vice presidents and plant managers, to evaluate if these 
individuals are meeting expectations with regard to employee 
protection, nuclear safety culture, and safety conscious work 
environment for their respective organizations. The assessment criteria 
and results of the evaluation shall be documented in their performance 
appraisals for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 performance review cycles.
    (5) Within six months following issuance of the CO, TVA shall 
revise Nuclear Safety Culture Monitoring guidance to incorporate a 
requirement for the Senior Leadership Team to conduct a review of 
Adverse Employment Actions to identify potential trends that could 
impact an organization's nuclear safety culture.
    (6) By no later than three months after issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall reinforce through a written fleet communication that personnel 
who may have engaged in work associated with NRC-regulated activities 
departing the company have the opportunity to participate in an 
Employee Concerns Program Exit Interview/Survey to facilitate 
identification of nuclear safety issues and identifying resulting 
trends and conclusions as part of the TVA Employee Checkout process.
    (7) By no later than six months after issuance of the CO, TVA shall 
establish procedural guidance for a safety culture peer team outlining 
additional oversight specifically focused on fleet wide safety

[[Page 35831]]

culture performance and safety conscious work environment at all TVA 
nuclear locations.
    (a) The peer team will assess, at least twice a year, the nuclear 
safety culture trends in process inputs that could be early indications 
of a nuclear safety culture weakness.
    (b) The peer team guidance shall be informed by guidance in NEI's 
09-07, Revision 1, Fostering a Healthy Nuclear Safety Culture.
    (c) The initial implementation of the peer team will be advised by 
an external consultant with extensive nuclear experience.

d. Independent Oversight

    (1) Beginning in 2017, an independent third-party shall perform 
quarterly audits for the first year after the date of issuance of the 
CO, and semi-annually for the next two years, of the adverse employment 
action process to evaluate whether TVA is in compliance with the 
Adverse Employment Action Process. The independent person/group shall 
be experienced with NRC employee protection regulations (10 CFR 50.7, 
Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act, as amended), nuclear 
safety culture and safety conscious work environment, and ERBs. The 
third-party chosen to audit the adverse action process must be 
independent of TVA, and must have had no direct, previous involvement 
with implementation of the adverse employment action process at TVA. 
The audit shall include reviewing all adverse employment actions, 
periodically attending ERBs, reviewing chilling effect mitigation 
plans, and providing recommendations as appropriate. The audit shall 
evaluate whether the process is effective at determining whether 
adverse employment actions comport with employee protection 
regulations, whether adverse employment actions could negatively impact 
the SCWE, and developing plans to mitigate the potential chilling 
effects of adverse employment actions. The third-party shall report all 
findings and recommendations from the audits to the CNO. The audits 
shall be available for NRC review. This shall remain in effect for 
three years after issuance of the CO.
    (2) By no later than three months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall modify its process for conducting pulsing surveys such that it is 
informed by the adverse action process. Pulsing surveys shall be 
conducted, as appropriate, shortly after a SCWE mitigation plan has 
been implemented to assess whether additional mitigation actions are 
necessary.

e. Assess and Monitor Nuclear Safety Culture and Safety Conscious Work 
Environment

    (1) An independent nuclear safety culture (NSC) assessment, 
consistent with industry practices, shall be conducted at WBN in 2017. 
Within one year of issuance of the CO, TVA shall perform an independent 
NSC assessment consistent with industry practices, at Browns Ferry 
Nuclear Plant, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant and Corporate Nuclear. One 
additional independent NSC assessment shall be performed at each site, 
within approximately two years of the first assessment at that site. 
TVA shall compare the result of the assessment with prior years' survey 
results in an effort to identify trends. TVA shall evaluate the results 
and develop, implement, and track to completion corrective actions to 
address weaknesses identified through the assessments. TVA shall make 
the results of each survey and the planned corrective actions available 
for NRC review after the development of the planned corrective actions.
    (2) TVA shall maintain a nuclear safety culture monitoring panel, 
informed by the guidance in NEI's 09-07, Revision 1, Fostering a 
Healthy Nuclear Safety Culture.
    (3) By no later than three months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall develop initial and refresher training for members of the nuclear 
safety culture monitoring panel. The initial and refresher training 
shall be developed by an independent third-party familiar with nuclear 
safety culture, and include behavioral indicators of a declining safety 
culture, as well as actions to address a declining safety culture.

f. Other

    (1) TVA's RCA identified a contributing cause (CC-03) of the 
violation to involve a deficiency in its holistic framework for 
managing COs. To preclude recurrence of the violation related to this 
contributing cause, TVA agrees to the following corrective actions:
    (a) Within four months of issuance of the CO, TVA shall conduct a 
review of all previously issued COs.
    (i) The review shall entail:
    (1) an assessment of the safety impact of CC-03 on the nuclear 
fleet;
    (2) an evaluation of compliance with previously issued COs,
    (3) identification of periods of time when TVA was not in 
compliance with previously issued COs,
    (4) corrective actions taken and planned and timeline to restore 
compliance, and corrective actions taken and planned to preclude 
recurrence.
    (ii) TVA shall submit the results of the review to the NRC within 
one month of completion of the review.
    (b) Within six months of issuance of the CO, TVA shall revise 
corporate and site procedures, as appropriate, to ensure that current 
and future CO requirements continue to be met.
    (c) Three years after issuance of the CO (+/- 3 months), TVA will 
perform an assessment of the effectiveness of corrective actions taken 
in response to CC-03. Any identified violations or other deficiencies 
will be incorporated into the Corrective Action Program (CAP). This 
assessment will be made available for NRC review.
    4. Upon completion of the terms of items of the CO, TVA will 
provide the NRC with a letter discussing its basis for concluding that 
the Order has been satisfied.
    5. The NRC considers the corrective actions and enhancements 
discussed in Items III.2 and III.3 above to be appropriately prompt and 
comprehensive to address the causes which gave rise to the incident 
discussed in the NRC's IR of March 10, 2017.
    6. The NRC and TVA agree that the above elements will be 
incorporated into issuance of a CO.
    7. In consideration of the commitments delineated above, the NRC 
agrees to refrain from proposing a civil penalty or issuing a Notice of 
Violation, for all matters discussed in the NRC's IR to TVA dated March 
10, 2017 (EA-17-022).
    8. This agreement is binding upon successors and assigns of TVA.
    On July 21, 2017, TVA consented to issuance of this Order with the 
commitments, as described in Section V below. TVA further agreed that 
this Order is to be effective upon issuance and that it has waived its 
right to a hearing.

IV

    Because TVA has agreed to take additional actions to address NRC 
concerns, as set forth in Section III above, the NRC has concluded that 
its concerns can be resolved through issuance of this CO.
    I find that TVA's commitments as set forth in Section V are 
acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these commitments, the 
public health and

[[Page 35832]]

safety are reasonably assured. In view of the foregoing, I have 
determined that public health and safety require that TVA's commitments 
be confirmed by this Order. Based on the above and TVA's consent, this 
CO is effective upon issuance.

V

    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 104b., 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, THAT LICENSE NOS. NPF-90, NPF-96, DPR-33, DPR-52, DPR-
68, DPR-77, AND DPR-79 IS MODIFIED FOLLOWS:
    1. TVA agrees to implement the following corrective actions and 
enhancements:
a. Communication
    (1) By no later than three months after issuance of the CO, the TVA 
CNO shall:
    (a) Inform all working status TVA nuclear first line supervisory 
employees and above, as of the date of this CO, about employee 
protections and the need to maintain an environment free from even the 
appearance of retaliation or discrimination.
    (b) As a follow up to the written communication issued by the CNO 
on June 6, 2017, conduct a video briefing by the CNO for all working 
status TVA nuclear employees and contractors who perform NRC regulated 
activities, describing the following: (1) reason why TVA's 
implementation of the Adverse Employment Action process as required by 
the 2009 CO had not been fully effective, (2) a brief summary regarding 
the background and reason the Adverse Employment Action Process exists, 
(3) summary of the NRC's concerns expressed in the March 2017 
Inspection Report, (4) the corrective actions both taken and planned to 
restore TVA's compliance, and (5) informing employees of the possible 
avenues (including to the NRC) that they have to raise concerns as 
outlined in TVA-SPP-11.8.4, Expressing Concerns and Differing Views. 
TVA shall make this video briefing available to the NRC.
    (c) Document that all working status TVA nuclear employees and 
contractors who perform NRC regulated activities (i.e. individuals who 
work on safety-related structures, systems, and components) as of the 
date of this CO have received the one time video briefing, which will 
also require responses to one or more questions to document employee 
understanding in order to receive credit for the training.
    (d) Each site Vice President shall conduct an All Hands meeting at 
each TVA nuclear site. During the meeting employees will be allowed the 
opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions of management related 
to the communications listed above.
    (2) By no later than four months after issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall ensure that its nuclear safety culture and safety conscious work 
environment policies and guidance (e.g., procedures), are in place, 
updated, and consistent with: 1) the NRC's March 2011 Safety Culture 
Policy Statement and associated traits, described within; and 2) the 
NRC's May 1996 Safety Conscious Work Environment Policy Statement; and 
are informed by: 1) the NRC's Regulatory Issue Summary 2005-18, 
``Guidance for Establishing and Maintaining a Safety Conscious Work 
Environment''; and 2) the industry's common language initiative (i.e. , 
INPO 12- 012, Revision 1, April 2013).
    (a) TVA shall make updated policies and guidance available to the 
NRC, and
    (b) TVA will make updated policies and guidance available to 
employees, and inform employees where related materials are located.
    (3) By no later than six months after issuance of the CO, a Senior 
TVA manager shall share the company's experiences and insights with 
respect to the importance of properly implementing an Adverse 
Employment Action process, including lessons learned and actions taken 
by TVA, in a presentation to other nuclear utilities at an industry 
meeting.
b. Training
    (1) By no later than three months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall acquire an independent third party who is experienced with NRC 
employee protection regulations (10 CFR 50.7, Section 211 of the Energy 
Reorganization Act, as amended), and nuclear safety culture and safety 
conscious work environment policies to assist TVA in development of 
initial and refresher training on employee protection and safety 
conscious work environment.
    (a) Training shall include:
    (i) case study examples of discriminatory practices as well as 
examples related to the adverse action process implementation.
    (ii) the definition of key terms included in employee protection 
regulations, nuclear safety culture and safety conscious work 
environment policy statements, and be informed by the industry's common 
language initiative (e.g., nuclear safety issue, protected activity, 
adverse action, nuclear safety culture traits).
    (iii) behavioral expectations for demonstrating support for raising 
nuclear safety and quality concerns without fear of retaliation, and 
available avenues for raising concerns.
    (iv) how to properly implement the adverse employment action 
process including at a minimum discussion on the following:
    (1) Disciplinary action is not taken as a result of an employee's 
engagement in activities protected by the employee protection 
regulations of 10 CFR 50.7;
    (2) Determination if the action could be perceived as negatively 
impacting any individual or organizational aspect of Safety Conscious 
Work Environment, cause a potential chilling effect or be perceived as 
retaliatory, independent of discipline legitimacy.
    (b) The training material shall be available to the NRC upon 
request.
    (c) Training records shall be retained consistent with applicable 
TVA record retention policies and be made available to the NRC upon 
request.
    (2) The training will be provided within one year and on an annual 
basis thereafter, to, at a minimum, all working status nuclear business 
group supervisory employees, contractor supervisory employees involved 
in nuclear related work activities, human resource staff involved in 
the adverse employment action process, employee concerns program staff, 
contract technical stewards for nuclear related work activities, and 
the personnel in the TVA Office of General Counsel who are engaged in 
nuclear related work activities.
    (3) New supervisory employees shall complete initial training 
through in-person or computer based training within three months of 
their hire or promotion effective date. The training shall require, at 
a minimum, a discussion of the training material with personnel in the 
TVA Office of General Counsel who are engaged in nuclear related work 
activities.
    (4) The initial training for personnel specified in V.1.b.2 who 
work at Watts Bar and personnel in the TVA Office of General Counsel 
who are engaged in nuclear related work activities shall be conducted 
in-person by the independent third-party. Initial training for the 
other employees specified in V.1.b.2 and subsequent refresher training 
shall be conducted by personnel in the TVA Office of General Counsel 
who are engaged in nuclear related work activities.
c. Work Processes
    (1) By no later than six months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall maintain a uniform process to ensure

[[Page 35833]]

independent management review of all proposed adverse actions in 
accordance with the procedure. This process shall be executed by an ERB 
chaired by a TVA Vice President or above. The ERB shall, at a minimum, 
review proposed adverse employment actions to include suspensions (one 
or more days off without pay), terminations for cause, involuntary 
reduction in force, and no-fault terminations of employment.
    (2) By no later than three months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall revise the Adverse Employment Action procedure to require all 
adverse employment actions, as described in V.1.c.1), to be reviewed 
for potential effects on the safety conscious work environment, 
regardless of whether the employee engaged in a protected activity.
    (3) By no later than three years after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall perform in-person benchmarking of at least two external 
organizations in the nuclear industry with developed adverse employment 
action processes, specifically including ERBs.
    (4) Develop individual performance appraisal assessment criteria 
for nuclear vice presidents and plant managers, to evaluate if these 
individuals are meeting expectations with regard to employee 
protection, nuclear safety culture, and safety conscious work 
environment for their respective organizations. The assessment criteria 
and results of the evaluation shall be documented in their performance 
appraisals for the 2017, 2018, and 2019 performance review cycles.
    (5) Within six months following issuance of the CO, TVA shall 
revise Nuclear Safety Culture Monitoring guidance to incorporate a 
requirement for the Senior Leadership Team to conduct a review of 
Adverse Employment Actions to identify potential trends that could 
impact an organization's nuclear safety culture.
    (6) By no later than three months after issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall reinforce through a written fleet communication that personnel 
who may have engaged in work associated with NRC-regulated activities 
departing the company have the opportunity to participate in an 
Employee Concerns Program Exit Interview/Survey to facilitate 
identification of nuclear safety issues and identifying resulting 
trends and conclusions as part of the TVA Employee Checkout process.
    (7) By no later than six months after issuance of the CO, TVA shall 
establish procedural guidance for a safety culture peer team outlining 
additional oversight specifically focused on fleet wide safety culture 
performance and safety conscious work environment at all TVA nuclear 
locations.
    (a) The peer team will assess, at least twice a year, the nuclear 
safety culture trends in process inputs that could be early indications 
of a nuclear safety culture weakness.
    (b) The peer team guidance shall be informed by guidance in NEI's 
09-07, Fostering a Healthy Nuclear Safety Culture, Rev. 1.
    (c) The initial implementation of the peer team will be advised by 
an external consultant with extensive nuclear experience.
d. Independent Oversight
    (1) Beginning in 2017, an independent third-party shall perform 
quarterly audits for the first year after the date of issuance of the 
CO, and semi-annually for the next two years, of the adverse employment 
action process to evaluate whether TVA is in compliance with the 
Adverse Employment Action Process. The independent person/group shall 
be experienced with NRC employee protection regulations (10 CFR 50.7, 
Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act, as amended), nuclear 
safety culture and safety conscious work environment, and ERBs. The 
third-party chosen to audit the adverse action process must be 
independent of TVA, and must have had no direct, previous involvement 
with implementation of the adverse employment action process at TVA. 
The audit shall include reviewing all adverse employment actions, 
periodically attending ERBs, reviewing chilling effect mitigation 
plans, and providing recommendations as appropriate. The audit shall 
evaluate whether the process is effective at determining whether 
adverse employment actions comport with employee protection 
regulations, whether adverse employment actions could negatively impact 
the SCWE, and developing plans to mitigate the potential chilling 
effects of adverse employment actions. The third-party shall report all 
findings and recommendations from the audits to the CNO. The audits 
shall be available for NRC review. This shall remain in effect for 
three years after issuance of the CO.
    (2) By no later than three months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall modify its process for conducting pulsing surveys such that it is 
informed by the adverse action process. Pulsing surveys shall be 
conducted, as appropriate, shortly after a SCWE mitigation plan has 
been implemented to assess whether additional mitigation actions are 
necessary.
e. Assess and Monitor Nuclear Safety Culture and Safety Conscious Work 
Environment
    (1) An independent nuclear safety culture (NSC) assessment, 
consistent with industry practices, shall be conducted at WBN in 2017. 
Within one year of issuance of the CO, TVA shall perform an independent 
NSC assessment consistent with industry practices, at Browns Ferry 
Nuclear Plant, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, and Corporate Nuclear. One 
additional NSC assessment shall be performed at each site, within 
approximately two years of the first assessment at that site. TVA shall 
compare the result of the assessment with prior years' survey results 
in an effort to identify trends. TVA shall evaluate the results and 
develop, implement, and track to completion corrective actions to 
address weaknesses identified through the assessments. TVA shall make 
the results of each survey and the planned corrective actions available 
for NRC review after the development of the planned corrective actions.
    (2) TVA shall maintain a nuclear safety culture monitoring panel, 
informed by the guidance in NEI's 09-07, Revision 1, Fostering a 
Healthy Nuclear Safety Culture.
    (3) By no later than three months after the issuance of the CO, TVA 
shall develop initial and refresher training for members of the nuclear 
safety culture monitoring panel. The initial and refresher training 
shall be developed by an independent third-party familiar with nuclear 
safety culture, and include behavioral indicators of a declining safety 
culture, as well as actions to address a declining safety culture.
f. Other
    (1) TVA's RCA identified a contributing cause (CC-03) of the 
violation to involve a deficiency in its holistic framework for 
managing COs. To preclude recurrence of the violation related to this 
contributing cause, TVA agrees to the following corrective actions:
    (a) Within four months of issuance of the CO, TVA shall conduct a 
review of all previously issued COs. TVA shall submit the results of 
the review to the NRC within one month of completion of the review. The 
review shall entail:
    (i) an assessment of the safety impact of CC-03 on the nuclear 
fleet;
    (ii) an evaluation of compliance with previously issued COs,
    (iii) periods of time when TVA was not in compliance with 
previously issued COs,
    (iv) corrective actions taken and planned and timeline to restore

[[Page 35834]]

compliance, and corrective actions taken and planned to preclude 
recurrence.
    (b) Within six months of issuance of the CO, TVA shall revise 
corporate and site procedures, as appropriate, to ensure that current 
and future CO requirements continue to be met.
    (c) Three years after issuance of the CO (+/- 3 months), TVA will 
perform an assessment of the effectiveness of corrective actions taken 
in response to CC-03. Any identified violations or other deficiencies 
will be incorporated into the CAP. This assessment will be made 
available for NRC review.
    (2) Upon completion of the terms of items of the CO, TVA will 
provide the NRC with a letter discussing its basis for concluding that 
the Order has been satisfied.
    (3) The Regional Administrator, NRC Region II, may relax or 
rescind, in writing, any of the above conditions upon a showing by TVA 
of good cause.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR 2.309, any person 
adversely affected by this CO, other than TVA, may request a hearing 
within 30 calendar days of the date of issuance of this CO. 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 made in 
writing to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and include a statement of good cause 
for the extension.
    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing, a petition for leave to intervene, 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 participating under 10 CFR 2.315(c), 
must be filed in accordance with the NRC 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. Participants may not submit paper 
copies of their filings unless they seek an exemption in accordance 
with the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 
ten (10) days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should 
contact the Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by telephone at (301) 415-1677, to request 
(1) a digital identification (ID) certificate, which allows the 
participant (or its counsel or representative) to digitally sign 
documents and access the E-Submittal server for any proceeding in which 
it is participating; and (2) advise the Secretary that the participant 
will be submitting a request or petition for hearing (even in instances 
in which the participant, or its counsel or representative, already 
holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this 
information, the Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the 
hearing in this proceeding if the Secretary has not already established 
an electronic docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on NRC's public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. System requirements for accessing the 
E-Submittal server are detailed in NRC's ``Guidance for Electronic 
Submission,'' which is available on the agency's public Web site at 
https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may 
attempt to use other software not listed on the Web site, but should 
note that the NRC's E-Filing system does not support unlisted software, 
and the NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk will not be able to offer 
assistance in using unlisted software.
    If a participant is electronically submitting a document to the NRC 
in accordance with the E[dash]Filing rule, the participant must file 
the document using the NRC's online, Web-based submission form. In 
order to serve documents through the Electronic Information Exchange 
System (EIE), users will be required to install a Web browser plug-in 
from the NRC Web site. Further information on the Web-based submission 
form, including the installation of the Web browser plug-in, is 
available on the NRC's public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html.
    Once a participant has obtained a digital ID certificate and a 
docket has been created, the participant can then submit a request for 
hearing or petition for leave to intervene through the EIE System. 
Submissions should be in Portable Document Format (PDF) in accordance 
with NRC guidance available on the NRC public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. A filing is considered 
complete at the time the documents are 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 e-mail notice confirming 
receipt of the document. The E-Filing 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 documents on those participants separately. 
Therefore, applicants and other participants (or their counsel or 
representative) must apply for and receive a digital ID certificate 
before a hearing request/petition to intervene is filed so that they 
can 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 by contacting the NRC Electronic 
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC Web 
site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by e-mail at 
[email protected], or by a toll-free call at (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, 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. 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.

[[Page 35835]]

    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in 
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. Participants are requested not to 
include personal privacy information, such as Social Security numbers, 
home addresses, or home phone numbers in their filings, unless an NRC 
regulation or other law requires submission of such information. 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 person (other than TVA) requests a hearing, that person shall 
set forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is 
adversely affected by this CO and shall address the criteria set forth 
in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).
    If a 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 CO 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 30 days from the date of 
this CO 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.

    Dated at Atlanta, Georgia, this 27th day of July, 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Leonard D. Wert,
Deputy Regional Administrator for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2017-16178 Filed 7-31-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P