Northeast Pleads Guilty To Nuclear Violations

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

Monday September 27 3:47 PM ET 

Northeast Pleads Guilty To Nuclear Violations

HARTFORD, Conn. (Reuters) - Northeast Utilities (NYSE:NU - news) 
Monday agreed to pay the biggest fine in the 40-year history of the 
U.S. nuclear power industry for lying about the qualifications of 
some of its plant-operator trainees and for illegally discharging 
pollutants into Long Island Sound, authorities said.  

Berlin, Conn.-based Northeast, New England's biggest electric 
utility, will pay $10 million after two of its subsidiaries pleaded 
guilty to 25 felony counts of making false statements to federal 
nuclear regulators and environmental violations at the Millstone 
nuclear power plants in Waterford, Conn.  

The utility also pleaded guilty to environmental violations at the 
Devon station coal-fired plant in Milford, Conn.  

``The $5 million to be paid by Northeast Nuclear Energy Co. is the 
largest penalty, civil or criminal, in the history of the commercial 
nuclear power industry,'' U.S. Attorney Stephen Robinson said at a 
news conference.  

``The $5 million to be paid by the Northeast Utilities Service Co. is 
the largest criminal penalty ever to be paid in an environmental case 
in Connecticut,'' Robinson said.  

The Northeast subsidiaries pleaded guilty before U.S. Judge Robert 
Chatigny in federal court in Hartford, Conn., earlier Monday.  

``We are not going to make any excuses,'' Northeast Chairman, 
President and Chief Executive Michael Morris said in a statement. 
``We are going to work hard to prevent anything like this from 
happening again.''  

Morris is among the new senior managers brought in by Northeast after 
its nuclear woes came to light in 1996.

There is no evidence that the misdeeds, which occurred between 1994 
and 1996, ever posed an immediate threat to the public, federal 
officials said.  

``This is not a case where there was identifiable harm... (but) 
potential harm,'' Robinson said.

Northeast's three Millstone plants were closed for safety reasons 
from early 1996 to mid-1998. In early 1996, federal authorities 
launched a criminal probe into the shutdowns, sparked by citizens' 
groups and corporate whistle-blowers  

Northeast Nuclear pleaded guilty to lying about the qualifications of 
19 candidates to become licensed operators of nuclear plants -- in 
charge of taking the plant from start-up to full power, among other 
duties. The false claims came to light when six out of seven 
candidates for licenses at Millstone Unit 1 failed their exams 
administered by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December 
1996.  

``These failures occurred at a time when Northeast Nuclear was 
seeking to increase efficiency and profit margins while preparing to 
operate in a deregulated environment,'' the U.S. Attorney's office 
said in a statement.  

In addition, Northeast violated the Clean Water Act by failing to 
report the routine discharge of hydrazine -- a highly toxic, 
corrosive material used to clean out industrial piping -- into Long 
Island Sound, separating Connecticut from New York's Long Island. The 
company was also violated the act by knowingly diluting the chlorine 
samples of its plant discharges with sea water.  

The corporate end of the investigation is now complete, but U.S. 
officials are still probing possible liability by individuals,
Robinson said.

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

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html