Entergy (ETR -0.60%) released a statement yesterday outlining details of the arrest of a former employee on Tuesday on federal charges of falsifying documents at the company's Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, N.Y.
According to the utility, the individual most likely falsified documents last year related to the quality of fuel in back-up tanks used for the emergency generators at Entergy's Indian Point Energy Center. Entergy did not name the ex-employee in its press release.
However, in a Tuesday press release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York laid out details of charges brought against Daniel Wilson, 57, of Walden, N.Y., a former Indian Point supervisor. Wilson was the chemistry manager at Indian Point from 2007 to 2012, according to the U.S. Attorney's statement that alleges he engaged in "deliberate misconduct in violation of the rules of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission" by fabricating records detailing particulate matter levels in the tanks' diesel fuel.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement:
Any alleged deliberate misconduct at a facility like Indian Point is a matter of grave concern to this Office. 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.
Entergy said other Entergy employees were the first to notice the discrepancies, which were then reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Entergy conducted its own investigation, during which the employee left the company, the company said.
Although the utility found that the fuel quality in question would not have affected the plant's performance or safety, it noted that "[f]alsification of records is totally unacceptable, and there are swift and real consequences for workers who do not exhibit the highest standards of integrity." Entergy said it will cooperate fully with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
