Who Should Pay for Turkey Point Shutdown - FPL or You?

November 6, 2008

BY JOHN DORSCHNER
[email protected]

In March 2006, a tiny hole -- a mere one-eighth of an inch -- was discovered in a critical pipe at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant. The hole ended up costing at least $6 million.

This week, a heated debate has been going on in Tallahassee about who should pay the $6 million -- Florida Power & Light or its customers.

New information obtained by state regulators shows that the prime suspect in the case was a contract employee who drilled the hole because he was angry with the utility. According to a federal document, he had failed an FPL psychological test and had a criminal background that included charges of criminal mischief.

The new material also caused one Florida regulator to question federal nuclear safety standards because another employee knew about the drilled hole and didn't come forward until after the $6 million had been spent.

Many of the costs associated with that hole are unknown, such as the expense of the 1,100-plus interviews conducted by the FBI and a parallel investigation done by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. What is known is that while the power plant was shut down for the investigation and repairs, FPL had to spend $6 million to purchase power from elsewhere.

In hearings Wednesday and Thursday before the Public Service Commission, the consumer-oriented Office of Public Counsel maintains that FPL should have been aware of the problems of the contract employee and should be responsible for paying the $6 million.

FPL, owner of the nuclear plant, insists its actions were ''reasonable and prudent'' and customers should foot the bill.

The suspect in the case has never been publicly identified. He first denied drilling the hole, but after failing a lie-detector exam, he ''admitted to being in the immediate area of where the hole was found,'' according to an FBI document that was obtained by the PSC staff last week.

The suspect ''further admits that he could have in fact drilled into the insulation covering the pipe, directly above the hole,'' according to the FBI report. 'When asked whether he could have drilled the hole by accident, the examinee said that `nothing is out of the realm of possibility,' but the chance of him doing it [accidentally] was less than 5 percent.''

Last year, federal authorities decided not to prosecute the individual because it could not prove criminal intent.

The worker, a Bud Light drinker from Indiana with a new pickup truck, according to the FBI report, was a sheet metal worker looking for work when he heard Turkey Point was hiring.

He had been arrested for criminal recklessness and criminal mischief in 1990, the FBI reported, but the charges were dismissed in 1994. He pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in 1990 and had charges dismissed in 1991 concerning discharging a firearm in public. In 1989, charges were dismissed for public intoxication and reckless driving.

The FBI investigation revealed that the worker was upset that he had to go through a long background check that cost him time he wasn't paid for, including four computer tests, instructions on the site and radiation hazards and a 600-question psychological test.

The FBI report stated the worker failed the psychological test and had to go to a psychiatrist for further evaluation before he was hired by an independent contractor working with the plant.

An FPL official told the PSC on Wednesday that the written test was simply the first part of a psychological evaluation. The worker really hadn't ''failed'' it, but his responses raised questions that required the psychiatric evaluation. The psychiatrist approved the worker, as did a backup behavioral specialist who often did work on nuclear-related issues.

FPL attorney John Butler said the utility fulfilled all requirements in the man's hiring as dictated by federal regulators. ``Somebody slipped through the cracks. We wish it weren't the case.''

Commissioner Nathan A. Skop, who is a trained nuclear engineer, said he was particularly concerned that a second contract employee knew that a worker had mischievously drilled a hole and didn't come forward until days later, after the plant had been shut down to find out what happened.

''It's just not one person, but it's two persons,'' Skop said Thursday morning.

He said that if he weren't a commissioner, he'd write a letter to the NRC complaining, ``Hey, there's a problem here. A second person knew about a hole in a nuclear pipe and he didn't tell anyone? And the NRC is not concerned about that? Then frankly, they're not doing their job. This is a critical safety concern. . . . I don't sleep well at night knowing that.''