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Nuclear Regulatory Commission bans TVA executive over whistleblower retaliation

Nuclear Regulatory Commission bans TVA executive over whistleblower retaliation, Jamie Satterfield, Knoxville News Sentinel, 31 Aug 20

The nation’s nuclear power watchdog says a Tennessee Valley Authority executive’s retaliation against a safety whistleblower was so egregious he is banned from the industry for five years.

TVA Vice President Joseph Shea is barred from working for five years in any activities that require licensing by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency said in a news release. The agency said the penalty is warranted to protect the public.

Shea, the regulatory agency concluded, “played a significant role” in the 2018 firing of nuclear engineer Beth Wetzel after she repeatedly raised safety concerns about TVA’s nuclear power program.

The U.S. Department of Labor last year ruled TVA executives, including its corporate attorney, cooked up a fake reason to fire Wetzel after she criticized one of her bosses. TVA later brokered a secret settlement with her……….. https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2020/08/31/nuclear-regulatory-commission-bans-tva-executive-joseph-shea-over-whistleblower-retaliation/3442778001/

September 1, 2020 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | legal, USA