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 NRC’s Alternative Dispute Resolution 

Process (ADR), requested by plant-owner FENOC to address the violations identified in the NRC’s

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 NRC’s reactor operator license, and deliberately provided inaccurate medical information to the 

Davis-Besse facility. As a result of the operator’s actions, the plant provided the NRC with false 

medical records violating the agency’s 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 NRC’s 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;
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• 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.