Nuclear Regulatory Commission - News Release
No: 20-054 October 27, 2020
NRC Fines TVA More Than $900,000 for Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant Violations; Cites Three Individuals for Their Roles in the 2015 Incident
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued notices of violation and three civil penalties totaling $903,471 to the Tennessee Valley Authority, and issued violations to two managers and a plant operator for their roles in a 2015 incident.
The enforcement actions are the result of an NRC investigation into events that occurred during and after the startup of Watts Bar Unit 1 following a maintenance outage in November 2015. During the startup, operators failed to follow plant procedures and subsequently failed to properly document their actions in the control room log. Shift managers also failed to review the logs to ensure their accuracy.
Through numerous inspections, interviews, and predecisional enforcement conferences over more than four years, the NRC identified five TVA violations associated with non-conservative decision making, procedural violations, and incomplete and/or inaccurate information regarding the events provided by the utility to the NRC.
TVA and the three cited individuals have 30 days to respond to the NRC’s enforcement actions.
Footnote: Supporting documents will be available through the NRC’s electronic document database, ADAMS.
