NRC: News Release - Region III - 2005-045 - NRC Issues Confirmatory Order and Reduces Fine for Radiation Safety Violation at LaSalle

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NRC NEWS
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region III
801 Warrenville Road, Lisle IL 60532
www.nrc.gov

No. III-05-045		November 29, 2005
CONTACT:	Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663 Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662	E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov
NRC ISSUES CONFIRMATORY ORDER AND REDUCES FINE FOR RADIATION SAFETY VIOLATION AT LASALLE Printable Version
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff issued an Order confirming commitments made to the NRC by Exelon Generation Co. and reduced the amount of a fine as part of a settlement agreement concerning a violation of radiation safety requirements at the company’s LaSalle County Nuclear Power Station. The plant, which has two reactors, is located near Seneca, Ill. The violation occurred when four employees of a contractor working at the LaSalle Station entered a high radiation area without authorization on Jan. 25, 2004. NRC investigators determined that the violation was willful in that the foreman and two of the workers were aware they were not authorized to enter the high radiation area and had not received the briefing by radiation protection personnel necessary to enter the area. The workers did not receive a significant radiation exposure. The maximum radiation exposure received was 5 millirem, which is a small fraction of the NRC limit of 5,000 millirem per year for workers at nuclear facilities. The NRC issued Exelon a Notice of Violation and proposed a $60,000 fine on May 2, 2005 (see NRC press release issued May 4, 2005). On May 12, 2005, Exelon announced its intention to appeal the NRC’s enforcement action through the use of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR), a process used to help the NRC and the utility to reach agreement. As part of this process, the utility and the NRC staff met with an independent mediator and reached a settlement agreement. The utility acknowledged that the violation had occurred and committed to carrying out extensive corrective action to address the problem. The NRC reduced the fine from the proposed $60,000 to $10,000 as a result of the utility’s commitments to improve radiation safety rules, procedures and awareness at the plant. Exelon has until December 22 to pay the fine. "The commitments made by the utility to make sure radiation safety rules and procedures are properly understood and enforced will help the NRC gain stronger confidence that nuclear workers are protected from excessive doses of radiation at the LaSalle plant," said James Caldwell, NRC Regional Administrator. The Confirmatory Order to Exelon and other documents related to this case are available from the Region III Office of Public Affairs and on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Enter docket number 05000373 as a search term.