{news} Millstone Deactivates Security When Wind Blows: Boston Globe

Wed Mar 1 15:21:08 EST 2006

Nancy Burton is quoted in the last paragraph.  Situations like this one at 
Millstone are the reason she is running for Attorney General.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/03/01/official_at_nuclear_power_station_alleges_retaliation

The Boston Globe

Official at nuclear power station alleges retaliation
Contends he lost post after raising security concerns

By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff  |  March 1, 2006

WASHINGTON -- A senior official at Millstone Nuclear Power Station in 
Waterford, Conn., was recently relieved of his duties after he complained 
that the plant's electronic security system was seriously flawed and that 
site managers had turned it off on multiple occasions to avoid false alarms, 
according to a complaint to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Sham Mehta, 58, contends he was retaliated against after repeatedly lodging 
the allegations with his superiors at Dominion Nuclear Connecticut as well 
as a federal inspector at the plant. Mehta -- who was removed on Jan. 31 and 
is now on paid leave -- is seeking reinstatement while the NRC, state 
Department of Public Utility Control, and US Department of Labor investigate 
his allegations.

While Dominion refuses to talk about security matters, state investigators 
last month found there were ''sufficient grounds" to believe Mehta was 
punished for raising the concerns about the plant's defenses.

The allegations about inadequate security at Millstone are occurring as the 
federal government is crafting new security standards for the nation's 64 
nuclear power plants, and watchdog groups say the case highlights the need 
for more stringent oversight. The Millstone plant, which was temporarily 
shut down in 1997 by the NRC due to safety concerns, has passed all current 
tests to see whether attackers could penetrate the facility. But critics 
insist the tests are too easy to pass.

''They give them six months' warning that they're coming to test the 
defenses," said Peter Stockton, a senior investigator at the nonpartisan 
Project on Government Oversight and a former Energy Department security 
official.

''Perimeter fences are a key part" of plants' defenses, he said, referring 
to the type of electronic system allegedly turned off at Millstone. ''They 
should be testing these systems much more aggressively."

Mehta, whose job was to field complaints from fellow plant workers, first 
notified Dominion officials in late 2004 that thousands of false alarms in 
the Intrusion Detection System were the result of rainy and windy weather 
coming off Long Island Sound or flocks of birds -- as many as 1,000 false 
alarms per day, according to the NRC report.

He also reported that the network of motion sensors and security cameras had 
been purposely turned off, posing what he described as ''an unacceptable 
risk" of sabotage.

He said in the NRC complaint that he had personally noted that the system 
was off at one point and that workers had told him of other times when it 
had been turned off by security managers.

''I discussed my . . . concern with the security manager that potential 
intruders may take advantage of an unguarded area of the fence when the IDS 
is not functioning," he wrote in the December complaint.

The plant tried to compensate for the lack of adequate electronic 
surveillance by having guards drive around the exterior of the plant, Mehta 
said.

During an investigation he performed as part of his official duties, Mehta 
said in the complaint, he obtained signed statements from many security 
guards reporting that they were ''desensitized" by the frequent false alarms 
and sometimes declined to investigate them.

Mehta, a mechanical engineer who has worked in the nuclear industry for 30 
years, further alleged that security managers altered federal reports to 
contend that ''extreme weather" was responsible for the false alarms even 
though they were triggered by average conditions.

State lawyers who reviewed the case concluded in a Feb. 1 internal memo that 
Mehta ''did suffer an adverse employment action within a year of his 
reporting his safety concerns" and that ''this establishes sufficient 
grounds to establish the rebuttable presumption that Mr. Mehta was 
retaliated against."

They recommended that Mehta's allegations be fully investigated and that he 
be reinstated.

Dominion is opposing efforts to reinstate Mehta, contending his position has 
been downsized. The plant's lawyer, David W. Bogan, argued in papers filed 
to the state that ''Mr. Mehta failed to meet his burden to provide facts and 
supporting evidence" that he was punished for his safety concerns, while 
''Dominion provided clear and convincing evidence that its actions were 
taken for reasons unconnected" to Mehta's safety complaints.

But the company declined to discuss the specific allegations, citing 
security concerns.

''We have investigated every one of the allegations he has brought forward, 
and we simply disagree with his findings," said Peter A. Hyde, a Millstone 
spokesman. He later declined to say whether he was referring to the security 
concerns or Mehta's contention that he was wrongly relieved of his duties.

The NRC's regional office near Philadelphia said it, too, cannot discuss 
security-related matters, but spokesman Neil Sheehan said security 
complaints are usually forwarded to the Office of Investigations. If found 
to have merit, ''We could take enforcement action against the company, or we 
could refer the matter to the Department of Justice for their review."

The NRC is currently drafting new rules for nuclear-plant security based on 
guidelines in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The act ordered that the NRC 
must take into account a dozen possible scenarios, including attacks by 
multiple teams; the potential that insiders might assist terrorists; and the 
possibility of water-based or airborne attacks.

But there are growing concerns that the rule-making process is not stringent 
enough. Watchdog groups say current proposals assume that an attack would be 
launched by fewer than half of the 19 hijackers responsible for the Sept. 
11, 2001, attacks.

''Instead of looking at the actual threat, the NRC bases security standards 
on what the NRC, or perhaps the nuclear industry, believes a private guard 
force can be expected to handle," said Stockton.

The nuclear industry argues, however, that there are limits to private 
security forces and that plants must be able to draw on local and state 
police to supplement their forces in the event of an attack.

''What gets lost in the dialogue is that our facilities are protected by 
private forces," said David Walters, director of security for the Nuclear 
Energy Institute. He said the nation's 64 nuclear plants have increased the 
number of guards by 30 percent since 2001 and invested an additional $1.2 
billion in security.

''When you talk about defending against enemies of the United States, you 
reach a limit of your capabilities," Walters said. ''That doesn't mean we 
are not going to respond, but we may have to rely on local law enforcement, 
state resources, the federal government."

Still, many are expressing concerns that the NRC is shortchanging security 
standards.

Representative Edward J. Markey, a Malden Democrat who was instrumental in 
passing the 2005 legislation, said the federal government must take a 
stronger role in overseeing the security of nuclear plants.

''We cannot simply outsource the security of nuclear facilities to the 
nuclear utility industry and its subcontractors, with little or no federal 
oversight," he said in an e-mailed response to questions. ''We have learned 
that without strict government guidelines, private companies do not always 
act with national security as their first priority."

At a minimum, local activists are calling for a new electronic security 
system at Millstone.

''The safety system is more than 35 years old," said Nancy Burton of the 
Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone, a citizens action group. 
''Millstone's owner has refused to spend the money required for its upkeep."