82_FR_35974 82 FR 35828 - U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant; and Sequoyah Nuclear Plant

82 FR 35828 - U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant; and Sequoyah Nuclear Plant

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 146 (August 1, 2017)

Page Range35828-35835
FR Document2017-16178

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.

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 146 (Tuesday, August 1, 2017)
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 146 (Tuesday, August 1, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35828-35835]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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



                                                  35828                         Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 1, 2017 / Notices

                                                  originally scheduled to close on August                  http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.                  an alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
                                                  2, 2017. The NRC has decided to extend                   html. To begin the search, select                     mediation session conducted on June 9,
                                                  the public comment period on this                        ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then                   2017.
                                                  document until August 16, 2017, to                       select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
                                                                                                                                                                 II
                                                  allow more time for members of the                       Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
                                                  public to submit their comments.                         please contact the NRC’s Public                          On December 1, 2016, the U. S.
                                                                                                           Document Room (PDR) reference staff at                Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
                                                    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day
                                                  of July, 2017.                                           1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by                   completed a Problem Identification and
                                                                                                           e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The                   Resolution inspection at TVA’s Watts
                                                  For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
                                                                                                           ADAMS accession number for each                       Bar Nuclear Plant (WBN), Units 1 and
                                                  Alexander D. Garmoe,                                                                                           2 (Inspection Report 05000390/2016013,
                                                                                                           document referenced (if it is available in
                                                  Acting Chief, Generic Communications                                                                           05000391/2016013, ML17069A133).
                                                  Branch, Division of Policy and Rulemaking,
                                                                                                           ADAMS) is provided the first time that
                                                                                                           it is mentioned in this document.                     The results of the inspection were
                                                  Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
                                                                                                              • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and                   transmitted to TVA by letter dated
                                                  [FR Doc. 2017–16153 Filed 7–31–17; 8:45 am]                                                                    March 10, 2017, and included the
                                                                                                           purchase copies of public documents at
                                                  BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
                                                                                                           the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One                       identification of one Apparent Violation
                                                                                                           White Flint North, 11555 Rockville                    (AV) of a previously issued CO, (EA–
                                                                                                           Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.                      09–009,203, dated December 22, 2009,
                                                  NUCLEAR REGULATORY                                                                                             ML093510993). The AV involved the
                                                  COMMISSION                                               FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                                                                                           Scott Sparks, Region II, U.S. Nuclear                 following:
                                                  [Docket Nos. 50–390; 50–391; 50–259; 50–                                                                          Confirmatory Order Modifying
                                                                                                           Regulatory Commission, Atlanta,
                                                  260; 50–296; 50–327; 50–328; License Nos.                                                                      License, (EA–09–009,203) dated
                                                                                                           Georgia 30303–1257; telephone: 404–
                                                  NPF–90; NPF–96; DPR–33; DPR–52; DPR–                                                                           December 22, 2009, (ML093510993)
                                                                                                           997–4422; e-mail: Scott.Sparks@nrc.gov.
                                                  68; DPR–77; DPR–79; EA–17–022; NRC–                                                                            states, in part, that by no later than
                                                  2017–0172]                                               SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of                ninety (90) calendar days after the
                                                                                                           the Order is attached.                                issuance of this Confirmatory Order,
                                                  U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority, Watts                     Dated at Atlanta, Georgia, this 27th day of         TVA shall implement a process to
                                                  Bar Nuclear Plant; Browns Ferry                          July 2017.                                            review proposed licensee adverse
                                                  Nuclear Plant; and Sequoyah Nuclear                        For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.              employment actions at TVA’s nuclear
                                                  Plant                                                    Leonard D. Wert,                                      plant sites before actions are taken to
                                                  AGENCY:  Nuclear Regulatory                              Deputy Regional Administrator for                     determine whether the proposed action
                                                  Commission.                                              Operations.                                           comports with employee protection
                                                                                                                                                                 regulations, and whether the proposed
                                                  ACTION: Confirmatory order; issuance.                    NUCLEAR REGULATORY                                    actions could negatively impact the
                                                                                                           COMMISSION                                            Safety Conscious Work Environment
                                                  SUMMARY:   The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
                                                  Commission (NRC) issued a                                [Docket Nos. 50–390; 50–391; 50–259;                  (SCWE). Such a process should consider
                                                  confirmatory order (Order) to U.S.                       50–260; 50–296; 50–327; 50–328;                       actions to mitigate a potential chilling
                                                  Tennessee Valley Authority (the                          License Nos. NPF–90; NPF–96; DPR–33;                  effect if the employment action, despite
                                                  licensee), confirming the agreement                      DPR–52; DPR–68; DPR–77; DPR–79;                       its legitimacy, could be perceived as
                                                  reached in an Alternative Dispute                        EA–17–022; NRC–2017–0172]                             retaliatory by the workforce.
                                                                                                                                                                    Additionally, by no later than one
                                                  Resolution mediation session held on                     In the Matter of U.S. Tennessee Valley
                                                                                                                                                                 hundred twenty (120) calendar days
                                                  June 9, 2017. This Order will ensure the                 Authority, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant;
                                                                                                                                                                 after the issuance of the Confirmatory
                                                  licensee restores compliance with NRC’s                  Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant; and
                                                                                                                                                                 Order, TVA shall implement a process
                                                  regulations.                                             Sequoyah Nuclear Plant
                                                                                                                                                                 to review proposed significant adverse
                                                  DATES: The Order was issued on July 27,                  CONFIRMATORY ORDER                                    employment actions by contractors
                                                  2017.                                                                                                          performing services at TVA’s nuclear
                                                                                                           (EFFECTIVE UPON ISSUANCE)
                                                  ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID                                                                           plant sites before the actions are taken
                                                  NRC–2017–0172 when contacting the                        I                                                     to determine whether the proposed
                                                  NRC about the availability of                              U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority                     action comports with employee
                                                  information regarding this document.                     (TVA or Licensee) is the holder of                    protection regulations, and whether the
                                                  You may obtain publicly-available                        Operating License Nos. NPF–90; and                    proposed action could negatively
                                                  information related to this document                     NPF–96; DPR–33; DPR–52; DPR–68;                       impact the SCWE. Such a process will
                                                  using any of the following methods:                      DPR–77; and DPR–79; issued by the                     likewise consider actions to mitigate a
                                                     • Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to                  U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission                    potential chilling effect if the
                                                  http://www.regulations.gov and search                    (NRC or Commission) pursuant to part                  employment action, despite its
                                                  for Docket ID NRC–2017–0172. Address                     50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal                 legitimacy, could be perceived as
                                                  questions about NRC dockets to Carol                     Regulations (10 CFR). The licenses                    retaliatory by the workforce.
                                                  Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463; e-                   authorize the operation of the Watts Bar                 TVA implements the above process
                                                  mail: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For                       Nuclear Plant (WBN) Units 1 and 2,                    through procedure NPG–SPP–11.10,
                                                  technical questions, contact the                         Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2                Adverse Employment Action. NPG–
                                                  individual listed in the FOR FURTHER                     and 3, and Sequoyah Nuclear Plant,                    SPP–11.10, Section 3.2.2, entitled
mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES




                                                  INFORMATION CONTACT section of this                      Units 1 and 2, in accordance with                     ‘‘Review Process—Personnel Actions
                                                  document.                                                conditions specified therein. These                   Impacting TVA Employees,’’ paragraph
                                                     • NRC’s Agencywide Documents                          facilities are located in Spring City,                D, states that the ‘‘Vice President (or
                                                  Access and Management System                             Tennessee, Athens, Alabama, and                       designee) will complete section 3, Vice
                                                  (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-                        Soddy Daisy, Tennessee, respectively.                 President Record of Action of form
                                                  available documents online in the                          This Confirmatory Order (CO) is the                 41175’’ (attachment 2 to NPG–SPP–
                                                  ADAMS Public Documents collection at                     result of an agreement reached during                 11.10). Form 41175, entitled ‘‘TVA


                                             VerDate Sep<11>2014   20:13 Jul 31, 2017   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00086   Fmt 4703   Sfmt 4703   E:\FR\FM\01AUN1.SGM   01AUN1


                                                                                Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 1, 2017 / Notices                                           35829

                                                  41175 Adverse Employment Action                          parties in reaching an agreement or                   consultant is contracted to conduct
                                                  Review’’, states that ‘‘the purpose of the               resolving any differences regarding their             leadership observations and provide
                                                  review is to ensure that proposed                        dispute. This CO is issued pursuant to                insights to TVA executives regarding
                                                  actions: (1) are warranted; (2) do not                   the agreement reached during the ADR                  leadership behaviors to continue to
                                                  occur because an individual has                          process. The elements of the agreement                improve TVA’s nuclear safety culture
                                                  engaged in a protected activity; and (3)                 consist of the following:                             and SCWE.
                                                  do not create the perception that                           1. The NRC and TVA agreed that the                   f. TVA hired a third-party,
                                                  persons were retaliated against because                  issue described above represents a                    independent consultant to perform a
                                                  they engaged in a protected activity.’’                  violation of regulatory requirements.                 comprehensive nuclear safety culture
                                                     Additional actions are delineated in                  The NRC and TVA agree that the                        assessment at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant
                                                  NPG–SPP–11.10 Sections 3.2.2,                            violation is a significant matter.                    in order to assess the Nuclear Safety
                                                  subsections A, B, C, E, F, G, related to                    2. Based on a review of the incident,              Culture and Safety Conscious Work
                                                  the positions of the Vice President, Line                TVA completed a number of corrective                  Environment programs.
                                                  Manager and the Human Resource                           actions and enhancements to preclude                    3. Based on TVA’s review of the
                                                  Representative, and in Section 3.2.3,                    recurrence of the violation including,                incident and NRC’s concerns with
                                                  entitled ‘‘Review Process—Personnel                      but not limited to, the following:                    respect to precluding recurrence of the
                                                  Actions Impacting Contractors.’’                            a. Performance of a Level I Root Cause             violation, TVA agrees to implement the
                                                     Contrary to the above, from November                  Analysis (RCA), COC condition report                  following corrective actions and
                                                  2014 to August 2016, TVA failed to                       (CR) 1271309, WBN Failure to                          enhancements:
                                                  comply with Confirmatory Order (EA–                      Implement Adverse Employment Action
                                                  09–009,203), in that WBN: (1) failed to                  Process, dated May 26, 2017, which                    a. Communication
                                                  implement a process to review proposed                   identified direct, root, and contributing
                                                  licensee adverse employment actions at                   causes of the violation. The RCA also                    1) By no later than three months after
                                                  WBN before actions were taken to                         included an extent of condition review,               issuance of the CO, the TVA Chief
                                                  determine whether the proposed action                    an extent of cause review, and identified             Nuclear Executive Officer (CNO) shall:
                                                  comports with employee protection                        specific corrective actions that were                    a) Inform all working status TVA
                                                  regulations, and whether the proposed                    entered into TVA’s Corrective Action                  nuclear first line supervisory employees
                                                  actions could negatively impact the                      Program. TVA concluded that the                       and above, as of the date of this CO,
                                                  SCWE; and (2) failed to implement a                      causes and corrective actions are                     about employee protections and the
                                                  process to review proposed significant                   applicable to all TVA nuclear sites.                  need to maintain an environment free
                                                  adverse employment actions by                               b. TVA took immediate actions to                   from even the appearance of retaliation
                                                  contractors performing services at                       reinforce the requirements in the                     or discrimination.
                                                  TVA’s nuclear plant sites before the                     Adverse Employment Action process to                     b) As a followup to the written
                                                  actions were taken to determine                          TVA Nuclear Suppliers and Contractors                 communication issued by the CNO on
                                                  whether the proposed action comports                     and to TVA Contract Technical                         June 6, 2017, conduct a video briefing
                                                  with employee protection regulations,                    Stewards (CTS).                                       by the CNO for all working status TVA
                                                  and whether the proposed action could                       c. Establishment of an Executive                   nuclear employees and contractors who
                                                  negatively impact the SCWE. WBN                          Review Board (ERB) process to review                  perform NRC regulated activities,
                                                  failed to comply with the CO because                     procedurally specified personnel                      describing the following: 1) reason why
                                                  the site failed to implement procedure                   actions to ensure that actions do not                 TVA’s implementation of the Adverse
                                                  NPG–SPP–11.10, ‘‘Adverse Employment                      constitute retaliation based on employee              Employment Action process as required
                                                  Action.’’ Specifically, the Vice President               personal participation in protected                   by the 2009 CO had not been fully
                                                  (or designee) failed to complete Form                    activities. The ERB process and                       effective, 2) a brief summary regarding
                                                  41175, entitled ‘‘TVA 41175 Adverse                      procedure was informed by                             the background and reason the Adverse
                                                  Employment Action Review’’ as                            benchmarking other organizations in the               Employment Action Process exists, 3)
                                                  required by Section 3.2.3.D, for multiple                nuclear industry. The ERB may be                      summary of the NRC’s concerns
                                                  adverse employment actions taken                         advised by representatives from human                 expressed in the March 2017 Inspection
                                                  against TVA and contractor personnel                     resources, legal and ECP as appropriate,              Report, 4) the corrective actions both
                                                  during this time period. Additionally,                   so that ERB is informed if the subject                taken and planned to restore TVA’s
                                                  the Vice President, Line Management,                     employee has engaged in any known                     compliance, and 5) informing
                                                  and HR Representatives did not perform                   relevant protected activity.                          employees of the possible avenues
                                                  procedural steps that were required by                      d. TVA communicated the following                  (including to the NRC) that they have to
                                                  procedure NPG–SPP–11.10, subsection                      to nuclear employees, via a written Fleet             raise concerns as outlined in TVA–SPP–
                                                  3.2.2.A, B, C, E, F, and G, and in Section               Focus memo from the Chief Nuclear                     11.8.4, Expressing Concerns and
                                                  3.2.3.                                                   Officer, entitled ‘‘Key Revisions to                  Differing Views. TVA shall make this
                                                     In response to the NRC’s inspection                   Adverse Employment Action                             video briefing available to the NRC.
                                                  report of March 10, 2017, TVA advised                    Procedure,’’ dated June 6, 2017: a                       c) Document that all working status
                                                  of its desire to participate in the                      summary of the AV, the results of TVA’s               TVA nuclear employees and contractors
                                                  Agency’s ADR program to resolve the                      root cause analysis, purpose of the                   who perform NRC regulated activities
                                                  enforcement aspects of this matter.                      Adverse Action process, planned                       (i.e. individuals who work on safety-
                                                                                                           actions to correct the process, and                   related structures, systems, and
                                                  III                                                      expectations for managers to consider                 components) as of the date of this CO
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                                                     On June 9, 2017, the NRC and TVA                      the impact of an adverse action on the                have received the one time video
                                                  met in an ADR session mediated by a                      organizational SCWE and need to                       briefing, which will also require
                                                  professional mediator, arranged through                  communicate effectively to employees.                 responses to one or more questions to
                                                  Cornell University’s Institute on                           e. TVA hired an experienced                        document employee understanding in
                                                  Conflict Resolution. ADR is a process in                 Executive Safety Culture Advisor, to                  order to receive credit for the training.
                                                  which a neutral mediator with no                         review and observe activities at TVA                     d) Each site Vice President shall
                                                  decision-making authority assists the                    through December 31, 2017. This                       conduct an All Hands meeting at each


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                                                  35830                         Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 1, 2017 / Notices

                                                  TVA nuclear site. During the meeting                        iii) behavioral expectations for                   maintain a uniform process to ensure
                                                  employees will be allowed the                            demonstrating support for raising                     independent management review of all
                                                  opportunity to provide feedback and ask                  nuclear safety and quality concerns                   proposed adverse actions in accordance
                                                  questions of management related to the                   without fear of retaliation, and available            with the procedure. This process shall
                                                  communications listed above.                             avenues for raising concerns.                         be executed by an ERB chaired by a
                                                     2) By no later than four months after                    iv) how to properly implement the                  TVA Vice President or above. The ERB
                                                  issuance of the CO, TVA shall ensure                     adverse employment action process                     shall, at a minimum, review proposed
                                                  that its nuclear safety culture and safety               including at a minimum discussion on                  adverse employment actions to include
                                                  conscious work environment policies                      the following:                                        suspensions (one or more days off
                                                  and guidance (e.g., procedures), are in                     (1) Disciplinary action is not taken as            without pay), terminations for cause,
                                                  place, updated, and consistent with: 1)                  a result of an employee’s engagement in               involuntary reduction in force, and no-
                                                  the NRC’s March 2011 Safety Culture                      activities protected by the employee                  fault terminations of employment.
                                                  Policy Statement and associated traits                   protection regulations of 10 CFR 50.7;                   (2) By no later than three months after
                                                  described within; and 2) the NRC’s May                      (2) Determination if the action could              the issuance of the CO, TVA shall revise
                                                  1996 Safety Conscious Work                               be perceived as negatively impacting                  the Adverse Employment Action
                                                  Environment Policy Statement; and are                    any individual or organizational aspect               procedure to require all adverse
                                                  informed by: 1) the NRC’s Regulatory                     of Safety Conscious Work Environment,                 employment actions, as described in
                                                  Issue Summary 2005–18, ‘‘Guidance for                    cause a potential chilling effect or be               III.3.c.1), to be reviewed for potential
                                                  Establishing and Maintaining a Safety                    perceived as retaliatory, independent of              effects on the safety conscious work
                                                  Conscious Work Environment’’; and 2)                     discipline legitimacy.                                environment, regardless of whether the
                                                  the industry’s common language                              b) The training material shall be                  employee engaged in a protected
                                                  initiative (i.e. , INPO 12–012, Revision                 available to the NRC upon request.                    activity.
                                                  1, April 2013).                                             c) Training records shall be retained                 (3) By no later than three years after
                                                     a) TVA shall make updated policies                    consistent with applicable TVA record                 the issuance of the CO, TVA shall
                                                  and guidance available to the NRC, and                   retention policies and be made available              perform in-person benchmarking of at
                                                     b) TVA will make updated policies                     to the NRC upon request.                              least two external organizations in the
                                                  and guidance available to employees,                        2) The training will be provided                   nuclear industry with developed
                                                  and inform employees where related                       within one year and on an annual basis                adverse employment action processes,
                                                  materials are located.                                   thereafter, to, at a minimum, all working             specifically including ERBs.
                                                     3) By no later than six months after                  status nuclear business group                            (4) Develop individual performance
                                                                                                           supervisory employees, contractor                     appraisal assessment criteria for nuclear
                                                  issuance of the CO, a Senior TVA
                                                                                                                                                                 vice presidents and plant managers, to
                                                  manager shall share the company’s                        supervisory employees involved in
                                                                                                                                                                 evaluate if these individuals are meeting
                                                  experiences and insights with respect to                 nuclear related work activities, human
                                                                                                                                                                 expectations with regard to employee
                                                  the importance of properly                               resource staff involved in the adverse
                                                                                                                                                                 protection, nuclear safety culture, and
                                                  implementing an Adverse Employment                       employment action process, employee
                                                                                                                                                                 safety conscious work environment for
                                                  Action process, including lessons                        concerns program staff, contract
                                                                                                                                                                 their respective organizations. The
                                                  learned and actions taken by TVA, in a                   technical stewards for nuclear related
                                                                                                                                                                 assessment criteria and results of the
                                                  presentation to other nuclear utilities at               work activities, and the personnel in the
                                                                                                                                                                 evaluation shall be documented in their
                                                  an industry meeting.                                     TVA Office of General Counsel who are
                                                                                                                                                                 performance appraisals for the 2017,
                                                                                                           engaged in nuclear related work
                                                  b. Training                                                                                                    2018, and 2019 performance review
                                                                                                           activities.
                                                                                                                                                                 cycles.
                                                     1) By no later than three months after                   (3) New supervisory employees shall                   (5) Within six months following
                                                  the issuance of the CO, TVA shall                        complete initial training through in-                 issuance of the CO, TVA shall revise
                                                  acquire an independent third party who                   person or computer based training,                    Nuclear Safety Culture Monitoring
                                                  is experienced with NRC employee                         within three months of their hire or                  guidance to incorporate a requirement
                                                  protection regulations (10 CFR 50.7,                     promotion effective date. The training                for the Senior Leadership Team to
                                                  Section 211 of the Energy                                shall require, at a minimum, a                        conduct a review of Adverse
                                                  Reorganization Act, as amended), and                     discussion of the training material with              Employment Actions to identify
                                                  nuclear safety culture and safety                        personnel in the TVA Office of General                potential trends that could impact an
                                                  conscious work environment policies to                   Counsel who are engaged in nuclear                    organization’s nuclear safety culture.
                                                  assist TVA in development of initial and                 related work activities.                                 (6) By no later than three months after
                                                  refresher training on employee                              (4) The initial training for personnel             issuance of the CO, TVA shall reinforce
                                                  protection and safety conscious work                     specified in III.3.b.2 who work at WBN                through a written fleet communication
                                                  environment.                                             and personnel in the TVA Office of                    that personnel who may have engaged
                                                     a) Training shall include:                            General Counsel who are engaged in                    in work associated with NRC-regulated
                                                     i) case study examples of                             nuclear related work activities shall be              activities departing the company have
                                                  discriminatory practices as well as                      conducted in-person by the                            the opportunity to participate in an
                                                  examples related to the adverse action                   independent third-party. Initial training             Employee Concerns Program Exit
                                                  process implementation.                                  for the other employees specified in                  Interview/Survey to facilitate
                                                     ii) the definition of key terms                       III.3.b.2 and subsequent refresher                    identification of nuclear safety issues
                                                  included in employee protection                          training shall be conducted by                        and identifying resulting trends and
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                                                  regulations, nuclear safety culture and                  personnel in the TVA Office of General                conclusions as part of the TVA
                                                  safety conscious work environment                        Counsel who are engaged in nuclear                    Employee Checkout process.
                                                  policy statements, and be informed by                    related work activities.                                 (7) By no later than six months after
                                                  the industry’s common language                           c. Work Processes                                     issuance of the CO, TVA shall establish
                                                  initiative (e.g., nuclear safety issue,                                                                        procedural guidance for a safety culture
                                                  protected activity, adverse action,                        (1) By no later than six months after               peer team outlining additional oversight
                                                  nuclear safety culture traits).                          the issuance of the CO, TVA shall                     specifically focused on fleet wide safety


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                                                                                Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 1, 2017 / Notices                                             35831

                                                  culture performance and safety                           to assess whether additional mitigation                  (3) identification of periods of time
                                                  conscious work environment at all TVA                    actions are necessary.                                when TVA was not in compliance with
                                                  nuclear locations.                                                                                             previously issued COs,
                                                                                                           e. Assess and Monitor Nuclear Safety                     (4) corrective actions taken and
                                                     (a) The peer team will assess, at least
                                                                                                           Culture and Safety Conscious Work                     planned and timeline to restore
                                                  twice a year, the nuclear safety culture
                                                                                                           Environment                                           compliance, and corrective actions
                                                  trends in process inputs that could be
                                                  early indications of a nuclear safety                                                                          taken and planned to preclude
                                                                                                              (1) An independent nuclear safety                  recurrence.
                                                  culture weakness.
                                                                                                           culture (NSC) assessment, consistent                     (ii) TVA shall submit the results of the
                                                     (b) The peer team guidance shall be                   with industry practices, shall be                     review to the NRC within one month of
                                                  informed by guidance in NEI’s 09–07,                     conducted at WBN in 2017. Within one                  completion of the review.
                                                  Revision 1, Fostering a Healthy Nuclear                  year of issuance of the CO, TVA shall                    (b) Within six months of issuance of
                                                  Safety Culture.                                          perform an independent NSC                            the CO, TVA shall revise corporate and
                                                     (c) The initial implementation of the                 assessment consistent with industry                   site procedures, as appropriate, to
                                                  peer team will be advised by an external                 practices, at Browns Ferry Nuclear                    ensure that current and future CO
                                                  consultant with extensive nuclear                        Plant, Sequoyah Nuclear Plant and                     requirements continue to be met.
                                                  experience.                                              Corporate Nuclear. One additional                        (c) Three years after issuance of the
                                                                                                           independent NSC assessment shall be                   CO (+/¥ 3 months), TVA will perform
                                                  d. Independent Oversight                                 performed at each site, within                        an assessment of the effectiveness of
                                                     (1) Beginning in 2017, an independent                 approximately two years of the first                  corrective actions taken in response to
                                                  third-party shall perform quarterly                      assessment at that site. TVA shall                    CC–03. Any identified violations or
                                                  audits for the first year after the date of              compare the result of the assessment                  other deficiencies will be incorporated
                                                  issuance of the CO, and semi-annually                    with prior years’ survey results in an                into the Corrective Action Program
                                                  for the next two years, of the adverse                   effort to identify trends. TVA shall                  (CAP). This assessment will be made
                                                  employment action process to evaluate                    evaluate the results and develop,                     available for NRC review.
                                                  whether TVA is in compliance with the                    implement, and track to completion                       4. Upon completion of the terms of
                                                  Adverse Employment Action Process.                       corrective actions to address weaknesses              items of the CO, TVA will provide the
                                                  The independent person/group shall be                    identified through the assessments. TVA               NRC with a letter discussing its basis for
                                                  experienced with NRC employee                            shall make the results of each survey                 concluding that the Order has been
                                                  protection regulations (10 CFR 50.7,                     and the planned corrective actions                    satisfied.
                                                  Section 211 of the Energy                                available for NRC review after the                       5. The NRC considers the corrective
                                                  Reorganization Act, as amended),                         development of the planned corrective                 actions and enhancements discussed in
                                                  nuclear safety culture and safety                        actions.                                              Items III.2 and III.3 above to be
                                                  conscious work environment, and ERBs.                       (2) TVA shall maintain a nuclear                   appropriately prompt and
                                                  The third-party chosen to audit the                      safety culture monitoring panel,                      comprehensive to address the causes
                                                  adverse action process must be                           informed by the guidance in NEI’s 09–                 which gave rise to the incident
                                                  independent of TVA, and must have                        07, Revision 1, Fostering a Healthy                   discussed in the NRC’s IR of March 10,
                                                  had no direct, previous involvement                      Nuclear Safety Culture.                               2017.
                                                                                                                                                                    6. The NRC and TVA agree that the
                                                  with implementation of the adverse                          (3) By no later than three months after
                                                                                                                                                                 above elements will be incorporated
                                                  employment action process at TVA. The                    the issuance of the CO, TVA shall
                                                                                                                                                                 into issuance of a CO.
                                                  audit shall include reviewing all                        develop initial and refresher training for
                                                                                                                                                                    7. In consideration of the
                                                  adverse employment actions,                              members of the nuclear safety culture
                                                                                                                                                                 commitments delineated above, the
                                                  periodically attending ERBs, reviewing                   monitoring panel. The initial and
                                                                                                                                                                 NRC agrees to refrain from proposing a
                                                  chilling effect mitigation plans, and                    refresher training shall be developed by
                                                                                                                                                                 civil penalty or issuing a Notice of
                                                  providing recommendations as                             an independent third-party familiar
                                                                                                                                                                 Violation, for all matters discussed in
                                                  appropriate. The audit shall evaluate                    with nuclear safety culture, and include
                                                                                                                                                                 the NRC’s IR to TVA dated March 10,
                                                  whether the process is effective at                      behavioral indicators of a declining
                                                                                                                                                                 2017 (EA–17–022).
                                                  determining whether adverse                              safety culture, as well as actions to                    8. This agreement is binding upon
                                                  employment actions comport with                          address a declining safety culture.                   successors and assigns of TVA.
                                                  employee protection regulations,                                                                                  On July 21, 2017, TVA consented to
                                                  whether adverse employment actions                       f. Other
                                                                                                                                                                 issuance of this Order with the
                                                  could negatively impact the SCWE, and                                                                          commitments, as described in Section V
                                                                                                              (1) TVA’s RCA identified a
                                                  developing plans to mitigate the                                                                               below. TVA further agreed that this
                                                                                                           contributing cause (CC–03) of the
                                                  potential chilling effects of adverse                                                                          Order is to be effective upon issuance
                                                                                                           violation to involve a deficiency in its
                                                  employment actions. The third-party                                                                            and that it has waived its right to a
                                                                                                           holistic framework for managing COs.
                                                  shall report all findings and                                                                                  hearing.
                                                                                                           To preclude recurrence of the violation
                                                  recommendations from the audits to the
                                                                                                           related to this contributing cause, TVA               IV
                                                  CNO. The audits shall be available for
                                                                                                           agrees to the following corrective
                                                  NRC review. This shall remain in effect                                                                           Because TVA has agreed to take
                                                                                                           actions:
                                                  for three years after issuance of the CO.                                                                      additional actions to address NRC
                                                                                                              (a) Within four months of issuance of
                                                     (2) By no later than three months after                                                                     concerns, as set forth in Section III
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                                                                                                           the CO, TVA shall conduct a review of
                                                  the issuance of the CO, TVA shall                                                                              above, the NRC has concluded that its
                                                                                                           all previously issued COs.
                                                  modify its process for conducting                                                                              concerns can be resolved through
                                                  pulsing surveys such that it is informed                    (i) The review shall entail:                       issuance of this CO.
                                                  by the adverse action process. Pulsing                      (1) an assessment of the safety impact                I find that TVA’s commitments as set
                                                  surveys shall be conducted, as                           of CC–03 on the nuclear fleet;                        forth in Section V are acceptable and
                                                  appropriate, shortly after a SCWE                           (2) an evaluation of compliance with               necessary and conclude that with these
                                                  mitigation plan has been implemented                     previously issued COs,                                commitments, the public health and


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                                                  35832                         Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 1, 2017 / Notices

                                                  safety are reasonably assured. In view of                TVA nuclear site. During the meeting                     (iii) behavioral expectations for
                                                  the foregoing, I have determined that                    employees will be allowed the                         demonstrating support for raising
                                                  public health and safety require that                    opportunity to provide feedback and ask               nuclear safety and quality concerns
                                                  TVA’s commitments be confirmed by                        questions of management related to the                without fear of retaliation, and available
                                                  this Order. Based on the above and                       communications listed above.                          avenues for raising concerns.
                                                  TVA’s consent, this CO is effective upon                    (2) By no later than four months after                (iv) how to properly implement the
                                                  issuance.                                                issuance of the CO, TVA shall ensure                  adverse employment action process
                                                                                                           that its nuclear safety culture and safety            including at a minimum discussion on
                                                  V                                                                                                              the following:
                                                                                                           conscious work environment policies
                                                    Accordingly, pursuant to Sections                      and guidance (e.g., procedures), are in                  (1) Disciplinary action is not taken as
                                                  104b., 161b., 161i., 161o., 182, and 186                 place, updated, and consistent with: 1)               a result of an employee’s engagement in
                                                  of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as                     the NRC’s March 2011 Safety Culture                   activities protected by the employee
                                                  amended, and the Commission’s                            Policy Statement and associated traits,               protection regulations of 10 CFR 50.7;
                                                  regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR                   described within; and 2) the NRC’s May                   (2) Determination if the action could
                                                  part 50, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED,                           1996 Safety Conscious Work                            be perceived as negatively impacting
                                                  THAT LICENSE NOS. NPF–90, NPF–96,                        Environment Policy Statement; and are                 any individual or organizational aspect
                                                  DPR–33, DPR–52, DPR–68, DPR–77,                          informed by: 1) the NRC’s Regulatory                  of Safety Conscious Work Environment,
                                                  AND DPR–79 IS MODIFIED FOLLOWS:                          Issue Summary 2005–18, ‘‘Guidance for                 cause a potential chilling effect or be
                                                    1. TVA agrees to implement the                         Establishing and Maintaining a Safety                 perceived as retaliatory, independent of
                                                  following corrective actions and                         Conscious Work Environment’’; and 2)                  discipline legitimacy.
                                                  enhancements:                                            the industry’s common language                           (b) The training material shall be
                                                                                                           initiative (i.e. , INPO 12- 012, Revision             available to the NRC upon request.
                                                  a. Communication                                                                                                  (c) Training records shall be retained
                                                                                                           1, April 2013).
                                                     (1) By no later than three months after                                                                     consistent with applicable TVA record
                                                  issuance of the CO, the TVA CNO shall:                      (a) TVA shall make updated policies
                                                                                                                                                                 retention policies and be made available
                                                     (a) Inform all working status TVA                     and guidance available to the NRC, and
                                                                                                                                                                 to the NRC upon request.
                                                  nuclear first line supervisory employees                    (b) TVA will make updated policies                    (2) The training will be provided
                                                  and above, as of the date of this CO,                    and guidance available to employees,                  within one year and on an annual basis
                                                  about employee protections and the                       and inform employees where related                    thereafter, to, at a minimum, all working
                                                  need to maintain an environment free                     materials are located.                                status nuclear business group
                                                  from even the appearance of retaliation                     (3) By no later than six months after              supervisory employees, contractor
                                                  or discrimination.                                       issuance of the CO, a Senior TVA                      supervisory employees involved in
                                                     (b) As a follow up to the written                     manager shall share the company’s                     nuclear related work activities, human
                                                  communication issued by the CNO on                       experiences and insights with respect to              resource staff involved in the adverse
                                                  June 6, 2017, conduct a video briefing                   the importance of properly                            employment action process, employee
                                                  by the CNO for all working status TVA                    implementing an Adverse Employment                    concerns program staff, contract
                                                  nuclear employees and contractors who                    Action process, including lessons                     technical stewards for nuclear related
                                                  perform NRC regulated activities,                        learned and actions taken by TVA, in a                work activities, and the personnel in the
                                                  describing the following: (1) reason why                 presentation to other nuclear utilities at            TVA Office of General Counsel who are
                                                  TVA’s implementation of the Adverse                      an industry meeting.                                  engaged in nuclear related work
                                                  Employment Action process as required                    b. Training                                           activities.
                                                  by the 2009 CO had not been fully                                                                                 (3) New supervisory employees shall
                                                  effective, (2) a brief summary regarding                    (1) By no later than three months after            complete initial training through in-
                                                  the background and reason the Adverse                    the issuance of the CO, TVA shall                     person or computer based training
                                                  Employment Action Process exists, (3)                    acquire an independent third party who                within three months of their hire or
                                                  summary of the NRC’s concerns                            is experienced with NRC employee                      promotion effective date. The training
                                                  expressed in the March 2017 Inspection                   protection regulations (10 CFR 50.7,                  shall require, at a minimum, a
                                                  Report, (4) the corrective actions both                  Section 211 of the Energy                             discussion of the training material with
                                                  taken and planned to restore TVA’s                       Reorganization Act, as amended), and                  personnel in the TVA Office of General
                                                  compliance, and (5) informing                            nuclear safety culture and safety                     Counsel who are engaged in nuclear
                                                  employees of the possible avenues                        conscious work environment policies to                related work activities.
                                                  (including to the NRC) that they have to                 assist TVA in development of initial and                 (4) The initial training for personnel
                                                  raise concerns as outlined in TVA–SPP–                   refresher training on employee                        specified in V.1.b.2 who work at Watts
                                                  11.8.4, Expressing Concerns and                          protection and safety conscious work                  Bar and personnel in the TVA Office of
                                                  Differing Views. TVA shall make this                     environment.                                          General Counsel who are engaged in
                                                  video briefing available to the NRC.                        (a) Training shall include:                        nuclear related work activities shall be
                                                     (c) Document that all working status                     (i) case study examples of                         conducted in-person by the
                                                  TVA nuclear employees and contractors                    discriminatory practices as well as                   independent third-party. Initial training
                                                  who perform NRC regulated activities                     examples related to the adverse action                for the other employees specified in
                                                  (i.e. individuals who work on safety-                    process implementation.                               V.1.b.2 and subsequent refresher
                                                  related structures, systems, and                            (ii) the definition of key terms                   training shall be conducted by
                                                  components) as of the date of this CO                    included in employee protection                       personnel in the TVA Office of General
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                                                  have received the one time video                         regulations, nuclear safety culture and               Counsel who are engaged in nuclear
                                                  briefing, which will also require                        safety conscious work environment                     related work activities.
                                                  responses to one or more questions to                    policy statements, and be informed by
                                                  document employee understanding in                       the industry’s common language                        c. Work Processes
                                                  order to receive credit for the training.                initiative (e.g., nuclear safety issue,                  (1) By no later than six months after
                                                     (d) Each site Vice President shall                    protected activity, adverse action,                   the issuance of the CO, TVA shall
                                                  conduct an All Hands meeting at each                     nuclear safety culture traits).                       maintain a uniform process to ensure


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                                                                                Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 1, 2017 / Notices                                            35833

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


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                                                  35834                         Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 1, 2017 / Notices

                                                  compliance, and corrective actions                       which allows the participant (or its                  the submitter an e-mail notice
                                                  taken and planned to preclude                            counsel or representative) to digitally               confirming receipt of the document. The
                                                  recurrence.                                              sign documents and access the E-                      E-Filing system also distributes an e-
                                                     (b) Within six months of issuance of                  Submittal server for any proceeding in                mail notice that provides access to the
                                                  the CO, TVA shall revise corporate and                   which it is participating; and (2) advise             document to the NRC Office of the
                                                  site procedures, as appropriate, to                      the Secretary that the participant will be            General Counsel and any others who
                                                  ensure that current and future CO                        submitting a request or petition for                  have advised the Office of the Secretary
                                                  requirements continue to be met.                         hearing (even in instances in which the               that they wish to participate in the
                                                     (c) Three years after issuance of the                 participant, or its counsel or                        proceeding, so that the filer need not
                                                  CO (+/¥ 3 months), TVA will perform                      representative, already holds an NRC-                 serve the documents on those
                                                  an assessment of the effectiveness of                    issued digital ID certificate). Based upon            participants separately. Therefore,
                                                  corrective actions taken in response to                  this information, the Secretary will                  applicants and other participants (or
                                                  CC–03. Any identified violations or                      establish an electronic docket for the                their counsel or representative) must
                                                  other deficiencies will be incorporated                  hearing in this proceeding if the                     apply for and receive a digital ID
                                                  into the CAP. This assessment will be                    Secretary has not already established an              certificate before a hearing request/
                                                  made available for NRC review.                           electronic docket.                                    petition to intervene is filed so that they
                                                     (2) Upon completion of the terms of                      Information about applying for a                   can obtain access to the document via
                                                  items of the CO, TVA will provide the                    digital ID certificate is available on                the E-Filing system.
                                                  NRC with a letter discussing its basis for               NRC’s public Web site at https://                        A person filing electronically using
                                                  concluding that the Order has been                       www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/                   the agency’s adjudicatory E-Filing
                                                  satisfied.                                               getting-started.html. System                          system may seek assistance by
                                                     (3) The Regional Administrator, NRC                   requirements for accessing the E-                     contacting the NRC Electronic Filing
                                                  Region II, may relax or rescind, in                      Submittal server are detailed in NRC’s                Help Desk through the ‘‘Contact Us’’
                                                  writing, any of the above conditions                     ‘‘Guidance for Electronic Submission,’’               link located on the NRC Web site at
                                                  upon a showing by TVA of good cause.                     which is available on the agency’s                    https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-
                                                     In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202 and                   public Web site at https://www.nrc.gov/               submittals.html, by e-mail at
                                                  10 CFR 2.309, any person adversely                       site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants             MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a toll-
                                                  affected by this CO, other than TVA,                     may attempt to use other software not                 free call at (866) 672–7640. The NRC
                                                  may request a hearing within 30                          listed on the Web site, but should note               Electronic Filing Help Desk is available
                                                  calendar days of the date of issuance of                 that the NRC’s E-Filing system does not               between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern
                                                  this CO. Where good cause is shown,                      support unlisted software, and the NRC                Time, Monday through Friday,
                                                  consideration will be given to extending                 Electronic Filing Help Desk will not be               excluding government holidays.
                                                  the time to request a hearing. A request                 able to offer assistance in using unlisted               Participants who believe that they
                                                  for extension of time must be made in                    software.                                             have a good cause for not submitting
                                                  writing to the Director, Office of                          If a participant is electronically                 documents electronically must file an
                                                  Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory                     submitting a document to the NRC in                   exemption request, in accordance with
                                                  Commission, Washington, DC 20555,                        accordance with the E-Filing rule, the                10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper
                                                  and include a statement of good cause                    participant must file the document                    filing stating why there is good cause for
                                                  for the extension.                                       using the NRC’s online, Web-based                     not filing electronically and requesting
                                                     All documents filed in NRC                            submission form. In order to serve                    authorization to continue to submit
                                                  adjudicatory proceedings, including a                    documents through the Electronic                      documents in paper format. Such filings
                                                  request for hearing, a petition for leave                Information Exchange System (EIE),                    must be submitted by: (1) first class mail
                                                  to intervene, any motion or other                        users will be required to install a Web               addressed to the Office of the Secretary
                                                  document filed in the proceeding prior                   browser plug-in from the NRC Web site.                of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear
                                                  to the submission of a request for                       Further information on the Web-based                  Regulatory Commission, Washington,
                                                  hearing or petition to intervene, and                    submission form, including the                        DC 20555–0001, Attention: Rulemaking
                                                  documents filed by interested                            installation of the Web browser plug-in,              and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier,
                                                  governmental entities participating                      is available on the NRC’s public Web                  express mail, or expedited delivery
                                                  under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in                  site at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-              service to the Office of the Secretary,
                                                  accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule                    submittals.html.                                      Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North,
                                                  (72 FR 49139, August 28, 2007, as                           Once a participant has obtained a                  11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
                                                  amended at 77 FR 46562, August 3,                        digital ID certificate and a docket has               Maryland, 20852, Attention:
                                                  2012). The E-Filing process requires                     been created, the participant can then                Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.
                                                  participants to submit and serve all                     submit a request for hearing or petition              Participants filing a document in this
                                                  adjudicatory documents over the                          for leave to intervene through the EIE                manner are responsible for serving the
                                                  internet, or in some cases to mail copies                System. Submissions should be in                      document on all other participants.
                                                  on electronic storage media. Participants                Portable Document Format (PDF) in                     Filing is considered complete by first-
                                                  may not submit paper copies of their                     accordance with NRC guidance                          class mail as of the time of deposit in
                                                  filings unless they seek an exemption in                 available on the NRC public Web site at               the mail, or by courier, express mail, or
                                                  accordance with the procedures                           https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-                      expedited delivery service upon
                                                  described below.                                         submittals.html. A filing is considered               depositing the document with the
                                                     To comply with the procedural                         complete at the time the documents are                provider of the service. A presiding
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                                                  requirements of E-Filing, at least ten                   submitted through the NRC’s E-Filing                  officer, having granted an exemption
                                                  (10) days prior to the filing deadline, the              system. To be timely, an electronic                   request from using E-Filing, may require
                                                  participant should contact the Office of                 filing must be submitted to the E-Filing              a participant or party to use E-Filing if
                                                  the Secretary by e-mail at                               system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern               the presiding officer subsequently
                                                  hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by telephone                  Time on the due date. Upon receipt of                 determines that the reason for granting
                                                  at (301) 415–1677, to request (1) a                      a transmission, the E-Filing system                   the exemption from use of E-Filing no
                                                  digital identification (ID) certificate,                 time-stamps the document and sends                    longer exists.


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                                                                                Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 146 / Tuesday, August 1, 2017 / Notices                                            35835

                                                     Documents submitted in adjudicatory                   ACTION:   Biweekly notice.                            and subject, when contacting the NRC
                                                  proceedings will appear in NRC’s                                                                               about the availability of information for
                                                  electronic hearing docket which is                       SUMMARY:   Pursuant to Section 189a. (2)              this action. You may obtain publicly-
                                                  available to the public at https://                      of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
                                                                                                                                                                 available information related to this
                                                  adams.nrc.gov/ehd/, unless excluded                      amended (the Act), the U.S. Nuclear
                                                                                                                                                                 action by any of the following methods:
                                                  pursuant to an order of the Commission,                  Regulatory Commission (NRC) is
                                                                                                           publishing this regular biweekly notice.                 • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
                                                  or the presiding officer. Participants are
                                                                                                           The Act requires the Commission to                    http://www.regulations.gov and search
                                                  requested not to include personal
                                                  privacy information, such as Social                      publish notice of any amendments                      for Docket ID NRC–2017–0169.
                                                  Security numbers, home addresses, or                     issued, or proposed to be issued, and                    • NRC’s Agencywide Documents
                                                  home phone numbers in their filings,                     grants the Commission the authority to                Access and Management System
                                                  unless an NRC regulation or other law                    issue and make immediately effective                  (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-
                                                  requires submission of such                              any amendment to an operating license                 available documents online in the
                                                  information. With respect to                             or combined license, as applicable,                   ADAMS Public Documents collection at
                                                  copyrighted works, except for limited                    upon a determination by the                           http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
                                                  excerpts that serve the purpose of the                   Commission that such amendment
                                                                                                                                                                 adams.html. To begin the search, select
                                                  adjudicatory filings and would                           involves no significant hazards
                                                                                                                                                                 ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then
                                                  constitute a Fair Use application,                       consideration, notwithstanding the
                                                                                                           pendency before the Commission of a                   select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS
                                                  participants are requested not to include                                                                      Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS,
                                                  copyrighted materials in their                           request for a hearing from any person.
                                                                                                              This biweekly notice includes all                  please contact the NRC’s Public
                                                  submission.                                                                                                    Document Room (PDR) reference staff at
                                                     If a person (other than TVA) requests                 notices of amendments issued, or
                                                                                                           proposed to be issued, from July 4, 2017              1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by
                                                  a hearing, that person shall set forth                                                                         email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The
                                                  with particularity the manner in which                   to July 17, 2017. The last biweekly
                                                                                                           notice was published on July 18, 2017.                ADAMS accession number for each
                                                  his interest is adversely affected by this
                                                                                                           DATES: Comments must be filed by                      document referenced (if it is available in
                                                  CO and shall address the criteria set
                                                  forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f).                        August 31, 2017. A request for a hearing              ADAMS) is provided the first time that
                                                     If a hearing is requested by a person                 must be filed by October 2, 2017.                     it is mentioned in this document.
                                                  whose interest is adversely affected, the                ADDRESSES: You may submit comments                       • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and
                                                  Commission will issue an order                           by any of the following methods (unless               purchase copies of public documents at
                                                  designating the time and place of any                    this document describes a different                   the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One
                                                  hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to              method for submitting comments on a                   White Flint North, 11555 Rockville
                                                  be considered at such hearing shall be                   specific subject):                                    Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
                                                  whether this CO should be sustained.                        • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to
                                                     In the absence of any request for                     http://www.regulations.gov and search                 B. Submitting Comments
                                                  hearing, or written approval of an                       for Docket ID NRC–2017–0169. Address
                                                                                                           questions about NRC dockets to Carol                    Please include Docket ID NRC–2017–
                                                  extension of time in which to request a
                                                                                                           Gallagher; telephone: 301–415–3463;                   0169, facility name, unit number(s),
                                                  hearing, the provisions specified in
                                                                                                           email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For                   plant docket number, application date,
                                                  Section V above shall be final 30 days
                                                                                                           technical questions, contact the                      and subject in your comment
                                                  from the date of this CO without further
                                                  order or proceedings. If an extension of                 individual listed in the FOR FURTHER                  submission.
                                                  time for requesting a hearing has been                   INFORMATION CONTACT section of this                     The NRC cautions you not to include
                                                  approved, the provisions specified in                    document.                                             identifying or contact information that
                                                  Section V shall be final when the                           • Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey,                  you do not want to be publicly
                                                  extension expires if a hearing request                   Office of Administration, Mail Stop:                  disclosed in your comment submission.
                                                  has not been received.                                   TWFN–8–D36M, U.S. Nuclear                             The NRC posts all comment
                                                                                                           Regulatory Commission, Washington,                    submissions at http://
                                                    Dated at Atlanta, Georgia, this 27th day of
                                                                                                           DC 20555–0001.                                        www.regulations.gov as well as entering
                                                  July, 2017.
                                                                                                              For additional direction on obtaining
                                                    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.                                                                       the comment submissions into ADAMS.
                                                                                                           information and submitting comments,
                                                  Leonard D. Wert,                                                                                               The NRC does not routinely edit
                                                                                                           see ‘‘Obtaining Information and
                                                  Deputy Regional Administrator for                        Submitting Comments’’ in the                          comment submissions to remove
                                                  Operations.                                              SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
                                                                                                                                                                 identifying or contact information.
                                                  [FR Doc. 2017–16178 Filed 7–31–17; 8:45 am]              this document.                                          If you are requesting or aggregating
                                                  BILLING CODE 7590–01–P                                   FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:                      comments from other persons for
                                                                                                           Paula Blechman, Office of Nuclear                     submission to the NRC, then you should
                                                                                                           Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear                      inform those persons not to include
                                                  NUCLEAR REGULATORY                                       Regulatory Commission, Washington,                    identifying or contact information that
                                                  COMMISSION                                               DC 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415–                    they do not want to be publicly
                                                  [NRC–2017–0169]                                          2242, email: Paula.Blechman@nrc.gov.                  disclosed in their comment submission.
                                                                                                           SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:                            Your request should state that the NRC
mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with NOTICES




                                                  Biweekly Notice; Applications and                                                                              does not routinely edit comment
                                                  Amendments to Facility Operating                         I. Obtaining Information and
                                                                                                           Submitting Comments                                   submissions to remove such information
                                                  Licenses and Combined Licenses                                                                                 before making the comment
                                                  Involving No Significant Hazards                         A. Obtaining Information                              submissions available to the public or
                                                  Considerations                                                                                                 entering the comment submissions into
                                                                                                             Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2017–
                                                  AGENCY:Nuclear Regulatory                                0169, facility name, unit number(s),                  ADAMS.
                                                  Commission.                                              plant docket number, application date,


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Document Created: 2018-10-24 11:44:11
Document Modified: 2018-10-24 11:44:11
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
ActionConfirmatory order; issuance.
DatesThe Order was issued on July 27, 2017.
ContactScott Sparks, Region II, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-1257; telephone: 404-997- 4422; e-mail: [email protected]
FR Citation82 FR 35828 

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