NRC: PA nuclear Plant Workers Fear Retaliation

January 28, 2009

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press Writer

Some workers at a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant are afraid to
raise safety issues because they fear retaliation, federal regulators
said Wednesday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a warning letter to
Allentown-based PPL Corp. about its Susquehanna plant in northeastern
Pennsylvania, citing indications that workers are unwilling to come
forward with their concerns.

The Susquehanna plant led the nation last year in the number of
anonymous allegations its employees made to the NRC regarding
perceived improprieties or inadequacies, according to agency
statistics.

PPL must take steps to preclude a "chilled" work environment at
the power plant, regulators said. The utility was given 30 days to
respond.

Joe Scopelliti, community relations manager at the power plant,
said PPL encourages all its employees to speak up about safety issues.
Workers can go to their supervisors or plant management, or submit their
concerns anonymously to an "employee concerns representative" or to
the NRC itself, he said.

"Of course, PPL takes all concerns raised by our employees
seriously.
And it's vitally important that they feel they can raise any issues
freely without any fear of retaliation," Scopelliti said.

Regulators did not identify any instance of a worker not
reporting a safety violation for fear of retribution, agency spokesman
Neil Sheehan said Wednesday. Rather, the agency is concerned about a
worsening climate at the plant, he said.

About 1,000 people work at the plant outside Berwick.
Susquehanna's two reactors, built in the 1980s at a cost of $2 billion each, are
responsible for 25 percent of PPL's annual output.

The NRC first raised its concerns with PPL in December 2006, and
the company took steps to address "work environment issues" at the
plant, according to a letter from NRC Regional Administrator Samuel J.
Collins.

Then, in early 2008, employees made fresh allegations about the
plant's "safety conscious work environment," the NRC said. In June,
after hiring an outside firm to survey the plant's workers, PPL itself
"concluded that the work environment at Susquehanna had declined," the
letter said.

Employee complaints about Susquehanna to the NRC rose from 13 in
2007 to 33 in 2008, the most in the nation, according to agency
statistics.

PPL has asked regulators for a license to build and operate a new
nuclear plant near Susquehanna. The company's PPL Electric Utilities
subsidiary supplies power to about 1.4 million customers in
Pennsylvania.