NRC Action Number(s) and
Facility Name |
Action Type
(Severity) &
Civil Penalty
(if any) |
Date
Issued |
Description |
EA-23-071
River Bend Station |
NOV (White) |
08/15/2023 |
On August 15, 2023, the NRC issued a notice of violation associated with a white significance determination process finding to Entergy Operations, Inc. (licensee) at the River Bend Station. The white finding, an issue of low-to-moderate safety significance, involved the failure to properly calibrate radiation monitors and the associated impacts on emergency action level classification and dose assessment to meet the requirements in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Appendix E, and the planning standards of 10 CFR 50.47(b), as required by 10 CFR 50.54(q)(2). |
EA-23-055
River Bend Station |
NOV (White) |
07/20/2023 |
On July 20, 2023, the NRC issued a notice of violation associated with a white significance determination process finding to Entergy Operations, Inc. at River Bend Station. The white finding, an issue of low-to-moderate safety significance, involved the licensee’s failure to adequately inspect the high-pressure core spray transformer wiring in accordance with site maintenance procedures as required by Technical Specification 5.4.1.a and Regulatory Guide 1.33. |
EA-21-017
EA-21-030
EA-21-050
River Bend Station |
NOVCP
$150,000 |
09/30/2021 |
On September 30, 2021, the NRC issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) and Proposed Imposition of a Civil Penalty (CP) in the amount of $150,000 to Entergy Operations, Inc. for a Severity Level (SL) III violation involving the unauthorized exchange of a critical digital asset key at River Bend Station. In addition, the NRC issued two SL III violations involving incomplete operator rounds and an unauthorized copy of an exam by an exam proctor. No CP was proposed for these violations. All three violations were determined to be willful and were identified through three separate investigations completed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Office of Investigations. |
EA-18-174
River Bend Station |
NOV |
04/19/2019 |
On April 19, 2019, the NRC issued a Notice of Violation to Entergy Operations, Inc. (Entergy) for violations of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 50, Appendix B, Criterion V, and 10 CFR 50.9 at River Bend Station, associated with a Severity Level III Problem identified through an investigation conducted by the NRC Office of Investigations. Contrary to the requirements, Entergy watchstanders, on numerous occasions, failed to tour all required areas of their watchstations resulting in the licensee's failure to maintain information required by the NRC's regulations that was complete and accurate in all material respects. Credit was given to the licensee for identification and corrective action so no civil penalty was issued to the licensee. |
EA-15-043
River Bend Station |
NOV (White) |
09/10/2015 |
On September 10, 2015, the NRC issued a Notice of Violation associated with a White Significance Determination Process finding to Entergy Operations, Inc. for a violation of 10 CFR Part 55.46(c), "Plant-Referenced Simulators," involving River Bend Station's simulator failure to accurately reproduce the operating characteristics of the facility. Specifically, as of January 30, 2015, the simulator failed to demonstrate expected plant response to operator input and to normal, transient, and accident conditions to which the simulator has been designed to respond. These simulator modeling issues led to negative training of operators, which contributed to operator challenges to control the plant and maintain plant parameters during a reactor scram in the actual plant that occurred on December 25, 2014. |
EA-14-009
River Bend Station |
NOVCP
$ 70,000 |
12/03/2014 |
On December 3, 2014, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order (CO) to Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy), to formalize commitments made as a result of an alternative dispute mediation session held on September 22, 2014. Entergy agreed that a Notice of Violation (NOV) and a civil penalty of $70,000 will be included in the CO. The specific commitments that were made as part of the settlement agreement between Entergy and the NRC regarding the apparent violation of NRC security requirements are discussed in the non-public enclosures to the CO. The violation involved the willful actions of an unidentified security officer which occurred at Entergy's River Bend Station on March 18, 2012. The NRC and Entergy agree that the actions of an unidentified security officer constitute a willful violation of 10 CFR Part 73 requirements. However, the NRC and Entergy disagree on the specific aspects of the willful characterization of the violation. In light of the significant corrective actions Entergy has already taken and the additional actions they have committed to take to enhance their security program at River Bend and across the Entergy Nuclear Fleet, the NRC is exercising enforcement discretion to reduce the severity level of the escalated enforcement sanction that was initially proposed in our preliminary determination. The NRC's rationale behind its decision to exercise enforcement discretion in characterizing the violation is incorporated in an attachment to the CO. The attachment to the CO and the NOV will not be made publicly available because it contains security-related information. |
EA-11-159
River Bend 1 |
NOVCP
(SL III)
$ 140,000 |
01/05/2012 |
On January 5, 2012, the NRC issued a Notice of Violation and Proposed Civil Penalty in the amount of $140,000 to Entergy Operations, Inc. (Entergy) for a Severity Level III violation as a result of an investigation at the River Bend Station. An investigation conducted by the NRC Office of Investigations determined that on multiple occasions multiple reactor operators willfully failed to follow an Entergy procedure that prohibited internet access in the “At-the-Controls” area of the control room, except as specifically authorized by the Operations Manager. These reactor operators put Entergy in violation of the River Bend Station Technical Specifications. |
EA-11-096
River Bend 1 |
ORDER |
08/24/2011 |
On August 24, 2011, the NRC issued a Confirmatory Order (Effective Immediately) to Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc. and Entergy Operations Inc. (collectively Entergy) to formalize commitments made as a result of an ADR mediation session held on July 18, 2011 in Washington DC. By letter dated May 20, 2011, the NRC identified an apparent violation of 10 CFR 50.7 to Entergy Operations Inc. based on the NRC's Office of Investigations, March 17, 2011 report (OI Case No. 4-2010-053). Specifically, the NRC had reached a preliminary conclusion that an employee at the River Bend Station was rated lower in his/her 2008 annual performance appraisal based in part on the employee questioning the qualifications necessary to perform certain work activities in compliance with applicable plant procedure(s).
Prior to the issuance of the NRC's May 20, 2011 letter but following a separate NRC inquiry, Entergy conducted its own internal investigation of the circumstances giving rise to the apparent violation. The NRC recognized that as a result of its investigation, Entergy took several specific actions at the River Bend Station and several fleet-wide actions. The fleet-wide actions included conducting supervisory and Employee Concerns Program personnel training on 10 CFR 50.7; reviewing all closed internal retaliation type cases in 2008 and 2009; reviewing all 2009 appraisals for employees with overall "improvement required" rating; and revising several quality-affecting procedures.
As a result of the settlement agreement from the ADR mediation session, Entergy agreed to take a number of additional fleet-wide actions. A summary of those fleet-wide actions are: (1) reorganizing the quality control organization's reporting structure; (2) reinforcing the company's commitment to a safety conscious work environment through a written communication from a senior Entergy nuclear executive; (3) reviewing and, as necessary, revising the existing general employee training on 10 CFR 50.7 to include insights from the circumstances giving rise to this matter; (4) reviewing and, as necessary, revising training to new supervisors for 10 CFR 50.7 to include insights from the circumstances giving rise to this matter; and (5) conducting an effectiveness review of the Employee Concerns Program enhancements and training that were implemented relating to the underlying matter. Entergy also agreed to conduct a plant wide safety culture survey at the River Bend Station prior to December 31, 2012.
In recognition of Entergy's prior actions and in exchange for the additional actions Entergy agreed to take as described in the enclosed confirmatory order, the NRC agreed not to pursue further action relating to this matter which may have otherwise resulted in the issuance of a Notice of Violation with a base civil penalty had it not reached a settlement agreement.
|
EA-03-077
River Bend 1 |
NOV
(White) |
12/29/2003 |
On December 29, 2003, a Notice of Violation was issued for a violation associated with a White SDP finding involving a loss of feedwater flow to the reactor. The violation cited the licensee's failure to lock open the Condensate Prefilter Vessel Bypass Flow Control Valve as required by their Technical Specifications. |
EA-02-036
River Bend 1 |
NOV
(White) |
07/31/2002 |
On July 31, 2002, a Notice of Violation was issue for a violation associated with a white SDP finding involving emergency planning standards. The violation cited that the licensee's emergency plan was not adequate to assure that information was made available to members of the public using River Bend Station's owner controlled area regarding how members of the public would be notified of an evacuation order and what their initial actions should be in an emergency. |
EA-99-158
River Bend 1 |
NOV
(SL III) |
10/05/1999 |
Inadequate work instructions for the emergency diesel generator fuel booster pump that rendered the generator inoperable. |
EA-98-478
River Bend 1 |
NOVCP
(SL III)
$ 55,000 |
02/01/1999 |
Violations relate to a design deficiency in the Division I and II emergency diesel generators (EDGs) at the River Bend Station. |
EA-98-132
River Bend 1 |
NOVCP
(SL III)
$ 55,000 |
01/05/1999 |
Deliberately provided an NRC inspector with information that was incomplete and inaccurate. |
EA-97-497
River Bend 1 |
NOVCP
(SL III)
$ 55,000 |
12/23/1997 |
Inadvertent mode change. |
EA-96-329
River Bend 1 |
NOV
(SL III) |
11/07/1996 |
Six violations of Technical Specification surveillance requirements. |