Press Release-III-16-022, NRC Issues Confirmatory Order to Firstenergy Regarding Davis-Besse Nuclear Station

Press Release-III-16-022: NRC Issues Confirmatory Order to Firstenergy Regarding Davis-Besse Nuclear Station

ML16250A060
Person / Time
Site:	Davis Besse
Issue date:	09/02/2016
From:	Office of Public Affairs Region II
To:
Category:Press Release
References
Press Release-III-16-022
Download: ML16250A060 (1)

Text

No: III-16-022 September 2, 2016 CONTACT: Viktoria Mitlyng 630-829-9662 Prema Chandrathil 630-829-9663 NRC Issues Confirmatory Order to FirstEnergy Regarding Davis-Besse Nuclear Station The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a Confirmatory Order to FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC). The company has committed to a series of actions following an investigation that concluded that a licensed operator at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station deliberately failed to provide complete and accurate medical information as is required by the NRC.

The order stems from a settlement reached under the NRCs Alternative Dispute Resolution Process (ADR), requested by plant-owner FENOC to address the violations identified in the NRCs investigation. The ADR process involves mediation facilitated by a neutral third party to assist the NRC and a licensee to reach an agreement regarding an enforcement action.

The NRC determined that on multiple occasions between February 2013 and July 2014, a licensed operator failed to comply with requirements for medical qualifications, which are a condition of the NRCs reactor operator license, and deliberately provided inaccurate medical information to the Davis-Besse facility. As a result of the operators actions, the plant provided the NRC with false medical records violating the agencys requirement for complete and accurate information.

As a result of the ADR meeting, the company agreed to:

• reinforce knowledge of and compliance with requirements for medical qualifications and completeness and accuracy of information with plant operators at Davis-Besse and across the FENOC fleet;

• complete an effectiveness review of those actions;

• revise existing procedures on updating operators medical records;

• communicate about this issue across the nuclear industry;

• update the NRC on the status of those actions by the dates noted in the order.

Prior to the NRCs offer to engage in ADR, FirstEnergy had already taken several actions to address the causes of the violations which include:

• addressing the situation with the licensed operator in question;

• making sure licensed operators at Davis-Besse understand requirements for maintaining medical qualifications and medical reporting;

• reinforcing expectations and requirements in this area with Davis-Besse and FENOC management;

• conducting an independent survey to verify the effectiveness of these communication efforts;

• completing a review of corrective actions to identify potential trends in medical reporting.

Even though this incident had no actual impact on the safe operation of the facility, the NRC order emphasizes our expectation that nuclear plants must have strong programs to ensure operators fully understand NRC requirements for retaining their medical qualifications and providing complete and accurate information, said NRC Region III Deputy Regional Administrator Darrell Roberts. An NRC reactor operator license comes with great responsibility for maintaining plant and public safety.

The plant is located in Oak Harbor, Ohio, 21 miles east southeast of Toledo.

A copy of the Confirmatory Order will be available on the NRC's website.

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