nuclear-news

NBC 5 Investigates has learned that Nery Fajardo, 40, and Black Speckman, 24, were in training to become licensed reactor operators at the Dresden plant, located in Morris, Ill., just southwest of Chicago.

But the two were arrested in September at an offsite party. Speckman is accused of tackling an officer, and Fajardo is charged with throwing a beer can at another officer and resisting arrest.

Nuclear safety experts say it’s further proof that there’s a breakdown in how employees are screened and trained at Dresden.

David Lochbaum, one of the nation’s leading independent experts on the subject, says “controls are not as tight as they should be.” The Dresden plant is one of six Illinois nuclear power plants operated by Exelon. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ordered Exelon to retrain all workers in those plants on proper security procedures, specifically on how to recognize and report suspicious behavior among employees.

It’s the direct result of the activities of Michael Buhrman and Landon Brittain, two former high-ranking Dresden employees who were senior nuclear operators at the plant.

Brittain is awaiting trial in DuPage County Jail, and Buhrman was just returned to the U.S. by federal marshals after being arrested in Venezuela.

Both men fled to the South American country after a wild diversion from their day jobs at Dresden. The NRC confirms Burhman recruited Brittain at the plant and tried to recruit others to help him in a carjacking and bank robbery based on his fascination with the movie “The Town.” Then, the men vanished………: http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/Arrests-Call-Into-Question-Nuclear-Plant-Employee-Training-229795161.html#ixzz2jKgRZ5b1