[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 214 (Wednesday, November 4, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70203-70205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24392]


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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.

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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: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0244 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of

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information regarding this document. You may obtain publicly available 
information related to this document using any of the following 
methods:
     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: [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 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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected] 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: [email protected].

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.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the

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participant should contact the Office of the Secretary by email at 
[email protected], or by telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request 
a digital identification (ID) certificate, which allows the participant 
(or its counsel or representative) to digitally sign submissions and 
access the E-Filing system for any proceeding in which it is 
participating; and (2) advise the Secretary that the participant will 
be submitting a petition or other adjudicatory document (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 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 [email protected], 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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