A former Indian Point employee was arrested Tuesday, accused of falsifying documents in an apparent attempt to prevent the nuclear power plant from being shut down.
Daniel Wilson, 57, who worked at the Buchanan plant as a chemistry manager from 2007 to 2012, faces up to seven years in prison on federal charges that he made false statements and violated Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules.
Wilson allegedly falsified reports on the quality of fuel in back-up tanks used in the plant’s emergency generators, according to the U.S. Attorney Office of New York”™s Southern District. Tests in 2011 showed the fuel used to power the generators contained pollutants that exceeded limits set by the NRC, which could have led to a temporary shutdown of the plant.
Wilson is said to have fabricated February 2012 test data for samples of fuel that did not exist, showing they met the NRC limit. In advance of an inspection of the NRC, Wilson wrote a report in which he gave a false explanation for the lack of supporting documentation in his fabricated results, then later admitted he had falsified the results to prevent the power plant from shutting down, according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
“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,” Bharara said.
Entergy Corp., which owns Indian Point Energy Center, said in a press release that Wilson ended his employment during the company”™s internal investigation into the falsification. The company said the plant was never in an unsafe condition. “We completed an evaluation of the fuel and oil and determined that all the generators would have performed as designed,” the release stated.
Entergy is seeking to relicense Indian Point”™s dual reactors for another 20 years of operation amid opposition from environmental groups and some politicians who think it poses a health risk, which is amplified by its location within the New York City metro area. Entergy”™s current license expires this fall and it first applied for renewal in 2007, making its process for relicensing the lengthiest process of its kind in U.S. history.
