NRC eases rules at Northeast's Millstone

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Thursday March 11, 6:03 pm Eastern Time

NRC eases rules at Northeast's Millstone

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission said Thursday it lifted an order requiring independent, 
third-party oversight of employee complaints at the Millstone 
nuclear power plant.  

The agency said its own monitoring of the programs showed that 
conditions that led the NRC to issue the oversight order to 
Northeast Utilities in 1996 have been corrected.  

The special oversight at the Millstone plant was ordered by the 
NRC after workers alleged that managers had harassed anyone 
who raised safety concerns.  

``The NRC staff has concluded that Northeast Utilities has 
sustained an acceptable level of performance in its employee 
concerns program and in creating a safety-conscious work 
environment,'' the agency said in a statement.  

The NRC said it would continue to hire its own independent 
consultant, Little Harbor Consultants, to periodically assess 
employee concerns during the next year.  

Northeast Utilities, New England's biggest electric utility, recently 
said it hopes to have its idled 880-MW Millstone unit 2 ready for 
restart by mid-April. The plant's unit 3 is already in operation, and 
the utility permanently shut unit 1 after concluding it was not 
economically viable.

------------------------
Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

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