ML25195A306
| ML25195A306 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Quad Cities  |
| Issue date: | 07/30/2025 |
| From: | Jack Giessner NRC/RGN-III |
| To: | Case J - No Known Affiliation |
| References | |
| EAI-RIII-2025-0083, OI-RIII-2023-0013, IR 2024403 | |
| Download: ML25195A306 (1) | |
See also: IR 05000254/2024403
Text
EAI-RIII-2025-0083
Jerome Case
[HOME ADDRESS DELETED
UNDER 10 CFR 2.390(a)]
SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION, NRC INSPECTION REPORT NO. 05000254/2024403,
NRC INVESTIGATION REPORT 3-2023-013 AND EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT
DISCRETION
Dear Jerome Case:
This letter refers to an inspection that was performed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) Region III office at the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, which
concluded on April 16, 2025. The purpose of the inspection was to review activities surrounding
a Unit 1 reactor pressure vessel (RPV) drain down event due to the mispositioning of
approximately 177 safety-related hydraulic control units (HCU) accumulator drain valves that
occurred on March 28, 2023. This letter also refers to an investigation that was conducted by
the NRCs Office of Investigations (OI). The purpose of the investigation was to determine
whether personnel at the Quad Cities Nuclear Station (Quad Cities) who had knowledge of a
human performance error that occurred on March 28, 2023, deliberately took action to cover up
the event. The investigation was completed on September 11, 2024. A factual summary of
Investigation 3-2023-013, which substantiated willful behaviors by you, is provided as Enclosure
1. NRC Inspection Report No. 05000254/2024403 can be found in the NRCs Agencywide
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at ML25114A211.
On June 10, 2025, a predecisional enforcement conference was conducted in the Region III
Office with you to discuss the apparent violations, their significance, their root causes, and your
corrective actions.
Based on the information developed during the investigation and inspection and the information
that you provided during the conference, the NRC has determined that a deliberate violation
of NRC requirements occurred. The violation is cited in the enclosed Notice of Violation (NOV)
(Enclosure 2). On March 28, 2023, as a Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) overseeing the Unit 1
outage work activities, you became aware of an RPV drain down event due to the
mispositioning of the safety-related HCU accumulator drain valves. Despite this knowledge, for
10 days, you inaccurately attributed the event to broken hoses and submitted an inaccurate
Corrective Action Program document based on this false claim on April 6, 2023. You did not
rectify this inaccurate information until April 7, 2023. This information was material to the NRC,
as it left inspectors unaware of the drain down event and the performance issues causing it
within a timeframe necessary to assess appropriate event response and follow-up inspection
activities. Your deliberate actions placed Quad Cities in violation of 10 CFR 50.9 and placed you
in violation of 10 CFR 50.5, Deliberate Misconduct.
July 30, 2025
J. Case
- 2 -
This violation is normally categorized in accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy at
Severity Level II (see example 6.9.b.1); however, after consultation with the Director, Office of
Enforcement, I have been authorized to exercise discretion to reduce the significance of this
violation to Severity Level III, consistent with Section 3.5, Violations Involving Special
Circumstances, of the Enforcement Policy. Discretion is being exercised due to relevant
circumstances which include: (1) you withdrawing the inaccurate work group evaluation (WGE)
from the corrective action program within 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> of the initial submittal; (2) you then revised
the WGE and informed your supervisor of the actual cause of the event; (3) your NRC license
was terminated effective June 7, 2023; and, (4) you admitted wrongdoing and accepted
responsibility while attending the conference.
The NRC has concluded that information regarding: (1) the cause of the violation, and (2) the
corrective actions to address the violation were adequately addressed by actions taken by you
and Quad Cities. Therefore, you are not required to respond to this letter. However, should you
choose to respond, your response should be sent to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
ATTN: Director, Division of Operating Reactor Safety, 2056 Westings Avenue, Suite 400,
Naperville IL, 60563-2657, include EAI number, EAI-RIII-2025-0083, and marked Open by
Addressee Only, within 30 days of the date of this letter. You may contact Diana Betancourt-
Roldan, Enforcement/Investigations Officer, if you have any questions at 630-810-4373.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's Rules of Practice, a copy of this letter, its
enclosure(s), and your response, if you choose to provide one, will be made available
electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from ADAMS,
accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To the extent
possible, your response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or safeguards
information so that it can be made available to the Public without redaction. The NRC also
includes significant enforcement actions on its Web site at
(http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/enforcement/actions/).
In addition, this letter will be maintained by the Office of Enforcement in an NRC Privacy Act
system of records, NRC-3, Enforcement Actions Against Individuals. This system, which is not
publicly accessible, includes all records pertaining to individuals who are being or have been
considered for enforcement action, whether such action was taken or not. The NRC-3 system
notice, which provides detailed information about this system of records, can be accessed from
the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/privacy-systems.html. Finally, a copy of
this letter will be placed in your 10 CFR Part 55 docket file.
Please feel free to contact Nestor J. Feliz Adorno of my staff at 630-829-9739 if you have any
questions.
Sincerely,
John B. Giessner
Regional Administrator
Enclosures: 1. Factual Summary
Signed by Giessner, Jack
on 07/30/25
J. Case
- 3 -
Letter to J. Case from J. Giessner dated July 30, 2025.
SUBJECT: NOTICE OF VIOLATION, NRC INSPECTION REPORT NO. 05000254/2024403,
NRC INVESTIGATION REPORT 3-2023-013 AND EXERCISE OF ENFORCEMENT
DISCRETION
DISTRIBUTION:
Jeremy Francis
Phillip McKenna
Nestor Feliz Adorno
Chris Hunt
Eric Brothman
RidsOemailCenter Resource
ADAMS Accession Number: ML25195A306
Publicly Available
Non-Publicly Available
Sensitive
Non-Sensitive
OFFICE
RIII-EICS
RIII-DORS
RIII-DORS
NAME
GEdwards:bw
NFeliz Adorno
JKozal
DBraqdley for
JPeralta
DATE
7/15/2025
7/15/2025
7/15/2025
7/22/2025
OFFICE
RIII-EICS
RIII-ORA
NAME
SRogers for
SKirkwood
GEdwards for
DBetancourt-
Roldan
JGiessner
DATE
7/24/2025
7/28/2025
7/30/2025
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Enclosure 1
Factual Summary of NRC Office of Investigations Cases No. 3-2023-013
On August 18, 2023, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Office of Investigations
(OI), Region III, initiated investigation No. 3-2023-0013 to determine whether personnel at the
Quad Cities Nuclear Station (Quad Cities or licensee) who had knowledge of a human
performance error that occurred on March 28, 2023, deliberately took action to cover up the
event. The investigation was completed on September 11, 2024.
Title 10 CFR § 50.9(a), Completeness and Accuracy of Information, requires, in part, that
information required by statute or by the Commission's regulations, orders, or license conditions
to be maintained by the applicant or the licensee shall be complete and accurate in all material
respects. The investigation showed that on March 28, 2023, Jerome Case, at the time a Senior
Reactor Operator (SRO) overseeing the Unit 1 outage work activities, became aware of a
reactor pressure vessel (RPV) drain down event due to the mispositioning of 177 safety-related
hydraulic control units (HCU) accumulator drain valves. Despite this knowledge, for 10 days, he
inaccurately attributed the event to broken hoses and submitted an inaccurate Corrective Action
Program document (Work Group Evaluation (WGE)) that contained inaccurate information. He
did not rectify this inaccurate information until April 7, 2023. Through his sworn testimony and
admission, he was aware of the facts of what happened on March 28, 2023, and admitted to
investigators that he submitted an incomplete and inaccurate WGE to the licensee. He also
stated in his testimony that he knew the WGE he submitted was false and that he was aware it
was false at the time he sent it. He stated that fear of a particular senior managers anger kept
him from providing complete and accurate information.
Enclosure 2
Jerome Case
[HOME ADDRESS DELETED
UNDER 10 CFR 2.390]
EAI-RIII-2025-0083
During the performance of the Inspection Procedure 71152, Problem Identification and
Resolution, at the Quad Cities Nuclear Generating Station (Quad Cities), on April 16, 2025, and
NRC Investigation Report 3-2023-013 which was completed on September 11, 2024, the NRC
identified a violation of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirements concerning a
licensed operator. In accordance with the NRC Enforcement Policy, the violation is listed below:
Senior Reactor Operator License Number SOP-500475-1 issued to Jerome Case on
May 17, 2022, states, in part, While performing licensed duties you shall observe the
operating procedures and other conditions specified in the facility licensee authorizing
operation of the facility.
Title 10 CFR 50.5(a)(2) requires, in part, that any employee of a licensee may not
deliberately submit to a licensee information that the person submitting the information
knows to be incomplete or inaccurate in some respect material to the NRC.
Title 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion V, Instructions, Procedures, and Drawings,
states Activities affecting quality to be prescribed by documented instructions,
procedures, or drawings, of a type appropriate to the circumstances and shall be
accomplished in accordance with these instructions, procedures, or drawings.
The licensee established procedure OP-AA-106-101-1001, Event Response
Guidelines, Revision 32, provides instructions for responding to significant plant issues
and events. Step 4.4.1, states, Ensure an IR is written for the event. Step 4.4.2, states,
Review the event to determine if the event is significant and if a prompt investigation is
necessary. Significant equipment failures and human performance events require equal
consideration for prompt investigations. Step 4.4.2 clarifies that examples of a
significant event include a level 1, 2, or 3 configuration control event.
Contrary to the above, from March 28, 2023, through April 7, 2023, Jerome Case, at the
time a licensed Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) at Quad Cities, deliberately submitted to
the licensee information that he knew at the time to be incomplete and/or inaccurate and
material to the NRC. Specifically, on March 28, 2023, as an SRO overseeing Unit 1s
outage work activities, you became aware of an RPV drain down event due to the
mispositioning of the safety-related HCU accumulator drain valves. Despite this
knowledge, you deliberately failed to accurately evaluate or report the event for a period
of 10 days. Instead, you knowingly misattributed the water spill to broken hoses and
willfully submitted an inaccurate WGE on April 6, 2023, based on that false explanation.
You did not correct the record until April 7, 2023.
This information was material to the NRC, as it left inspectors unaware of the drain down
event and the performance issues causing it within a timeframe necessary to assess
appropriate event response and follow-up inspection activities.
This is a Severity Level III violation (Enforcement Policy Section 6.9).
2
The NRC has concluded that information regarding: (1) the cause of the violation, and (2) the
corrective actions to address the violation were adequately addressed by actions taken by you
and Quad Cities. However, you are required to submit a written statement or explanation
pursuant to 10 CFR 2.201 if the description therein does not accurately reflect your corrective
actions or your position. In that case, or if you choose to respond, clearly mark your response as
a Reply to a Notice of Violation; EAI-RIII-2025-0083 and send it to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, ATTN: Document Control Desk, Washington, DC 20555-0001, with a copy to the
Regional Administrator, Region III, 2056 Westings Avenue, Suite 400, Naperville, IL, 60563-
2657, and a copy to the NRC Resident Inspector at the Quad Cities Nuclear Power Plant within
30 days of the date of the letter transmitting this Notice of Violation (Notice).
If you contest this enforcement action, you should also provide a copy of your response, with
the basis for your denial, to the Director, Office of Enforcement, United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
If you choose to respond, your response will be made available electronically for public
inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the NRCs document system (ADAMS),
accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Therefore, to
the extent possible, the response should not include any personal privacy, proprietary, or
safeguards information so that it can be made available to the Public without redaction.
This letter will be maintained by the Office of Enforcement in an NRC Privacy Act system of
records, NRC-3, Enforcement Actions Against Individuals. This system, which is not publicly
accessible, includes all records pertaining to individuals who are being or have been considered
for enforcement action, whether such action was taken or not. The NRC-3 system notice, which
provides detailed information about this system of records, can be accessed from the NRC Web
site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/privacy-systems.html.
Dated this 30th day of July 2025.