Plant employees afraid to raise safety issues

January 29, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Some workers at a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant are afraid to raise safety issues because they fear retaliation, federal regulators said Wednesday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a warning letter to Allentown-based PPL Corp. about its Susquehanna plant in northeastern Pennsylvania, citing indications that workers are unwilling to come forward with their concerns.

The Susquehanna plant led the nation last year in the number of anonymous allegations its employees made to the NRC regarding perceived improprieties or inadequacies, according to agency statistics.

PPL must take steps to preclude a “chilled” work environment at the power plant, regulators said. The utility was given 30 days to respond.

Joe Scopelliti, community relations manager at the power plant, said PPL encourages all its employees to speak up about safety issues. Workers can go to their supervisors or plant management, or submit their concerns anonymously to an “employee concerns representative” or to the NRC itself, he said.

“Of course, PPL takes all concerns raised by our employees seriously. And it’s vitally important that they feel they can raise any issues freely without any fear of retaliation,” Scopelliti said.

Regulators did not identify any instance of a worker not reporting a safety violation for fear of retribution, agency spokesman Neil Sheehan said Wednesday. Rather, the agency is concerned about a worsening climate at the plant, he said.

About 1,000 people work at the plant outside Berwick. Susquehanna’s two reactors, built in the 1980s at a cost of $2 billion each, are responsible for 25 percent of PPL’s annual output.

The NRC first raised its concerns with PPL in December 2006, and the company took steps to address “work environment issues” at the plant, according to a letter from NRC Regional Administrator Samuel J. Collins.