Word: nrc
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...APRIL 1994, TWO YEARS AFTER HE DIScovered the problems with Millstone's cooling system, Galatis reported the matter to the NRC. He spoke to a "senior allegations coordinator," waited months, then refiled his charges in a letter describing 16 problems, including the cooling system, the pipes that couldn't withstand seismic shock, the corporate culture. "At Northeast, people are the biggest safety problem," Galatis says. "Not the guys in the engine room. The guys who drive the boat...
Galatis told DeBarba and Kacich that he was going to the NRC. He continued to experience what he calls "subtle forms of harassment, retaliation and intimidation." His performance evaluation was downgraded, his personnel file forwarded to Northeast's lawyers. DeBarba "offered" to move him out of the nuclear group. He would walk into a meeting, and the room would go suddenly silent. DeBarba says he is unaware of any such harassment...
With missionary zeal, Galatis continued to forward allegations to the NRC. Yet four months passed before Galatis finally heard from Donald Driskill, an agent with the NRC's Office of Investigations (the second watchdog unit inside the NRC, this one tracks wrongdoing by utilities). Galatis felt that Driskill was too relaxed about the case. Driskill talked to Northeast about Galatis' charges--a breach of confidentiality that the NRC calls "inadvertent." When Hadley complained to him about Northeast's alleged harassment of Galatis, Driskill suggested he talk to Northeast's lawyer: "He's a really nice...
While playing detective--sniffing through file drawers and computer directories--Galatis found items that he felt suggested collusion between the utility and its regulator. Safety reports made it clear that both on-site inspectors and officials from the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation had known about the full-core off-loads since at least 1987 but had never done anything about them. Now, to clear the way for the fall 1995 off-load, NRC officials were apparently offering Northeast what Galatis calls "quiet coaching." One sign of this was a draft version of an NRC inspection report about...
...June 10, 1995, Jim Andersen visited the site to discuss Galatis' concerns with Kacich's staff. Andersen wouldn't meet with Galatis but huddled with Kacich's team, trying to decide how to bring Millstone's habits into compliance with NRC regulations, either by requesting a license amendment--a cumbersome process that requires NRC review and public comment--or by filing an internal form updating the plant's safety reports. This was the easier path, but it could be used only if the issue didn't constitute an unreviewed safety question. Andersen told DeBarba and Kacich that the license amendment...