Ex-supervisor at Indian Point nuclear plant charged with falsifying test reports

[bananas]

Source: NBC News

A former supervisor at the Indian Point nuclear plant in New York has been accused of falsifying test results involving emergency generators so the plant would not have to shut down.

Daniel Wilson, 57, of Walden, N.Y., was charged in federal court for the Southern District of New York with engaging in deliberate misconduct and making false statements, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement Tuesday.

The charges stem from tests of the diesel fuel used in emergency power generators that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires the plant to maintain as part of its license.

A criminal complaint says that 2011 tests showed particulate matter in the diesel fuel exceeded NRC limits. Wilson, chemistry manager at the plant from 2007 through 2012, is accused of fabricating resample tests to show that the fuel was within limits, then lying to other employees at the Buchanan, N.Y., plant about it.

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Read more: http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/23/19643670-ex-supervisor-at-indian-point-nuclear-plant-charged-with-falsifying-test-reports?lite

[bananas]

1. Indian Point supervisor arrested for deliberately falsifying critical safety records

Posted in Good Reads, has more details of what happened: http://www.democraticunderground.com/101669427

http://enformable.com/2013/07/indian-point-supervisor-arrested-for-deliberately-falsifying-critical-safety-records/

Indian Point supervisor arrested for deliberately falsifying critical safety records

24 Jul 2013

Entergy announced on Tuesday that a former supervisor, who worked at the Indian Point nuclear power plant north of New York City for twenty-nine years, had been arrested for deliberately falsifying critical safety records and lying to federal regulators last year. The utility said that Daniel Wilson, age 57, who was in charge of ensuring compliance in critical safety areas, falsified tests and records related to the quality of fuel in back-up tanks for the emergency diesel generators installed at the nuclear power plant which are necessary to prevent core damage in the event of a loss of power. Federal charges have been brought against the former employee by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, who was released on bail and could be sentenced up to 7 years in prison.

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In a press release U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “Any alleged deliberate misconduct at a facility like Indian Point is a matter of grave concern to this Office. One need look no further than recent natural disasters to know that at important facilities, backup generators and other systems must be maintained in working order because in an emergency they may be critical.”

While Entergy has claimed that the findings were discovered by employees at the nuclear power plant, they were really found during the period while workers were preparing for a pending NRC inspection, when they knew that federal regulators would want to look at the diesel fuel due to the 2011 findings. During those preparations, Indian Point workers were unable to locate the necessary documentation for the resampling, because resampling had never actually been done by the chemistry manager. When they confronted Wilson, he did not admit what had happened, rather falsified additional official documents which could be used to cover up the problem with the NRC. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission regularly relies on Condition Reports to document incidents of non-compliance and the steps taken by a licensee to correct the problem.

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[kristopher]

2. That has to be bullsh*t

Indian Point supervisor arrested for deliberately falsifying critical safety records
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Everyone knows that the men and women of our glorious and brilliant nuclear priesthood are dedicated first and foremost to the public's safety and welfare.

They don't care a whiff about profits - what do you think, they are like the coal or petroleum industries?

Don't you know that nuclear plants are nearly free to build and operate? That means they don't need to care about profits right?

And as far as safety goes, the only reason they have all those safety regulations that this poor fellow has been WRONGLY ACCUSED is because of the irrational fears of the ENVIRONMENTALISTS - and everyone knows that all those treehugging GREENPEACERS are actually working for the COAL INDUSTRY.

The only victim here is this persecuted nuclear plant and the heroes that are staffing it.

[Throckmorton]

3. No, its quite real, and it has happened before, and will happen again.

Oh, and I'm no hero, just a workaday nuclear wage slave.

Don't worry, within 10 years, there will be next to no domestic nuclear plants still on-line. Natural gas is seeing to that, and I am not so sure it is a bad thing.