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Inspection records were faked at USA nuclear power station

Nuclear plant contractors faked 10 months of inspection records By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune  December 27 2015 Contractors at Entergy‘s Waterford 3 nuclear power plant on the west bank of St. Charles Parish failed to conduct required hourly fire inspections and falsified records for 10 months to show the inspections occurred, according to the results of a 15-month-long investigation announced Wednesday (Dec. 23) by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In a Dec. 14 letter notifying Entergy of its findings, the commission’s regulatory staff also said an Entergy Operations Inc. supervisor “deliberately failed to identify and take corrective actions upon being provided with information of suspected wrongdoing by contract fire watch individuals.”

Further, the agency found that a manager for the contracting firm providing the fire inspection workers “deliberately provided incomplete and inaccurate information to an access authorization reviewing official regarding the trustworthiness and reliability of a contract fire watch individual.” Entergy identified the company that provided the fire watch workers as GCA Contractors.

The NRC has given Entergy the opportunity of requesting a “pre-decisional enforcement conference.” Or the company may request “alternative dispute resolution,” before the commission decides on enforcement penalties.

The hourly fire watch tours are required to assure that no fires break out in parts of the huge nuclear power plant building where sensitive equipment is located, including wiring and piping involved in operating the nuclear reactor during accidents or emergencies. The inspections were skipped, and the records falsified, between July 2013 and April 2014. …….. http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2015/12/contractors_skipped_fire_inspe.html

December 28, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA