nuclear-news

Federal regulators say TVA willfully violated safety standards in firing nuclear engineers, Chattanooga Times Free Press TVA disputes NRC findings, claims employee concerns program improving.by Dave Flessner   March 3, 2020,The Tennessee Valley Authority improperly fired two nuclear engineers after they raised concerns about safety and management in TVA’s nuclear power program, according to federal regulators.

In a letter to TVA made public Tuesday, the head of regulatory enforcement at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said TVA violated whistleblower protections for nuclear workers by disciplining and then dismissing the nuclear engineers who worked on programs at the Sequoyah and Watts Bar nuclear power plants. George A. Wilson, director the NRC’s Office of Enforcement, said “the actions taken against (by TVA) these former employees were in apparent violations (of NRC safety standards) and the apparent violations were willful” and “are being considered for escalated enforcement action,” which could include a civil penalty against TVA.

The NRC did not identify the affected employees. But they are similar to concerns reviewed in an earlier U.S. Department of Labor finding that ordered TVA to rehire a nuclear engineer after she raised safety concerns and questioned the performance of her boss in TVA’s corporate nuclear program.

Despite objections by TVA, the NRC said the engineers working on programs at the Sequoyah and Watts Bar nuclear plants were first subject to a harassment investigation, then placed on paid administrative leave and ultimately were discharged after raising concerns about safety problems and corporate nuclear licensing activities from 2015 to 2018.

NRC has yet to issue a notice of violation, but a civil penalty for the violations could be forthcoming………..

The NRC finding comes after the U.S. Department of Labor ordered TVA earlier this year to reinstate nuclear engineer Beth Wetzel after she was fired for raising safety concerns and complaining about her boss. The Labor Department ordered TVA to give Beth Wetzel her job back and pay more than $200,000 in back pay, lost bonuses and benefits, compensatory damages and legal fees, according Department of Labor records obtained by the Knoxville News Sentinel.

TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said the disputes in the DOL investigation were resolved, but he said under the agreement details of the settlement are not publicly disclosed……

Wetzel filed a series of nuclear safety complaints with Henderson and the NRC, including violations of worker fatigue rules, as part of her job, according to the Labor Department…….

The NRC is continuing to inspect and evaluate the safety conscious work environment at all three of TVA’s nuclear sites after the regulatory agency found in 2016 that TVA had a “chilling” environment for worker concerns at its Watts Bar Nuclear Plant near Spring City, Tennessee.

NRC cited TVA for the ongoing problem and confirmed the chilled work environment at TVA again in 2017. In 2018, TVA’s Inspector General also found that TVA was not adequately addressing nuclear safety concerns voiced by its workers. ……https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2020/mar/03/federal-regulators-tva-violated-safety-standards/517214/