ML20140H745
Text
{pa ancu e
UNITED STATES 4,
r g
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
- 7. -
~f W ASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 May 17, 1985
.b r
I The Honorable Edward Markey, Chairman Subcomittee on Energy Conservation and Power Comittee on Energy and Comerce United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairinan:
Enclosed for your information is an announcement that the Nuclear Regulatory Comission staff has proposed a $50,000 civil penalty against Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for an alleged violation of NRC security requirements at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant.
This announcement will be mailed to the news media today.
Sincerely,,
l/
/
/
,, 3
}
-/
tDamere, Direclo~r' I
~
Office of Congressional Affairs
Enclosure:
As stated cc: Rep. Carlos Moorhead l
i TDEN7KAL LETTERS SEN T To:
{
SEN. SMPacN fCC: SEA 1. HAAT PEP. UDA%fcc.; EEp. LU3AN i
$6N. DENTchl
$EN. IIEfuAl Re'P. FuPPC I
8510230097 851004 PDR FOIA JACOBS85-478 PDR l
\\\\
l
~.
/* "*%
UNITED STATES igd /j Office of Public Affairs a(
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 1
/
\\. /,',. *#'
Washington, D.C. 20556 No. 85-70 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tel. 301/492-7715 (Friday,May 17,1985)
~
NRC STAFF PROPOSES TO FINE TVA $50,000 FOR ALLEGED VIOLATION AT BROWNS FERRY The Nuclear Regulatory Comission staff has proposed a $50,000 civil penalty against Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for an alleged violation of hRC security requirements at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant near Athens, Alabama.
This action is based on the findings of a routine inspection on February 4, 1985, when the NRC resident inspector found that some vital equipment did not have the level of protection required by the plant's physical
~
security plan because a guard was asleep at his post. The guard was one of several who had been posted after an NRC security inspector found in August 1984 that various pieces of equipment were inadequately protected.
(NRC regulations define vital equipment as that which, directly or indirectly, could endanger public haalth and safety by exposure to radiation if the equipment failed, or was damaged or destroyed. NRC regulations also prohibit public disclosure of the specific equipment involved or other physical security plan details.)
The Administrator of the NRC's Region II Office in Atlanta, Dr. J. Nelson Grace, told TVA in a letter that the proposed fine could have been escalated by as much as 50 percent because of TVA's poor prior performance in the safeguards area. He cited a similar violation which was addressed in an NRC letter to TVA in September of 1983. He said, however, that a decision was made not to escalate the proposed civil penalty because of TVA's performance related to "imediate corrective actions taken and proposed following this event."
TVA has 30 days from receipt of the notice of the proposed action to either pay the civil penalty or to protest its imposition, in whole or in part.
-