Peach Bottom Nuclear Generating Station - Safety Concerns

Safety Concerns

In 1987, PECO was ordered by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)to shutdown Peach Bottom-2 and -3 on March 31, 1987 due to operator misconduct, corporate malfeasance and blatant disregard for the health and safety of area.

Among the incidents cited by the NRC: security guards were overworked, and one guard was found asleep on the job; 36,000 gallons of "mildly radioactive water" leaked into the Susquehanna River; PECO mislaid data on radioactive waste classification causing misclassification of a waste shipment; at the turbine building on March 4, 1987, Unit 3 a major fire occurred at the maintenance cage.

In September 2007, former employee Kerry Beal videotaped Peach Bottom security guards sleeping on the job. Beal had previously tried to notify supervisors at Wackenhut Corp. and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He was eventually fired during the Exelon security transition, a decision which made a list of the 101 "dumbest moments in business" in the Jan 16, 2008 issue of Fortune.

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