Nuclear Power in the news.

[DDMurray]

Heard about this a couple of months ago.  Ouch!
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/us/technicians-web-surfing/index.html?iref=allsearch

[Starkist]

Heard about this a couple of months ago.  Ouch!
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/us/technicians-web-surfing/index.html?iref=allsearch

Allow me to add some more "Flavor". No one was fired. All the operators in question were ATC operators... and this happened about a year and a half ago.  The RO's were all removed from watch, and had to "requalify".


Figured their massive switch gear fire and tritium leak would be more "pressing news" then this... -.-

[Higgs]

It is a big deal.

Peach bottom, in contrast, fired the last guy they caught surfing in the room. No fines.

[Starkist]

It is a big deal.

Peach bottom, in contrast, fired the last guy they caught surfing in the room. No fines.

Its a big deal for those that have an understanding of the system.  Look at the asinine comments below to find it out why it really doesn't need to be publicized like that.

In any case, why are they JUST NOW reporting it? 

edit: Its a sea of ignorance.

They didn't have the nerve to leave their stations and use the bathroom too, did they? talk about abusing their position - fire everyone of them immediately!

And the moral of the story is, bring in a newspaper or magazine instead.

Not sports and fishing websites!!! That is appalling, to think they would rather spend a few minutes reading sports than gauges. These are some hardened criminals the NRC has found

[Neutron_Herder]

The reason that it's just coming out now is because the letter of violation was just finalized... Jan 5th, I think.

[Higgs]

The real moral of the story is..., Big Brother is watching.

If you want to do a serious job, then take the job seriously.

[Neutron_Herder]

It shouldn't matter if Big Brother is watching or not...

Do the right thing because that's what you get paid to do!

As my SM put it the other night... "if you're on a computer doing something that you think you have to close when the boss walks in then you're effing up. "

That pretty much sums it up.

[Starkist]

It shouldn't matter if Big Brother is watching or not...

Do the right thing because that's what you get paid to do!

As my SM put it the other night... "if you're on a computer doing something that you think you have to close when the boss walks in then you're effing up. "

That pretty much sums it up.

What if the boss didnt care? Thats pretty much what happened.

[Starkist]

Thanks for insight into what someone else was thinking when, according to the news article, operators "deliberately violated" the safety procedures and exhibited "deliberate misconduct".  I did not realize you had your fingers on the pulse of RB Operations when this all went down.

I was friends with some of the RO's that were apart of it(worked with one during the outage because he was removed from watch). I was working there as an operator when this happened, so YES, I did "have my fingers on the pulse of RB operations when this all went down."

Any more astute observations matt?

[Higgs]

You say burned as if they didn't do anything wrong.

[Starkist]

You say burned as if they didn't do anything wrong.

Oh no, they were dead wrong. I will change it to say punished. I was shocked they werent fired.... strong union for the win!

[Higgs]

Ok just making sure. I doubt they could handle firing that many at once. Reactor operators don't grow on trees. The fine is miniscule compared to shutting down or some other crazy idea they would come up with to fix the manpower shortage.

[Higgs]

What if the boss didnt care? Thats pretty much what happened.

I just saw this.

There is only one name on a license.

[Starkist]

I just saw this.

There is only one name on a license.

Fair enough.

Ok just making sure. I doubt they could handle firing that many at once. Reactor operators don't grow on trees. The fine is miniscule compared to shutting down or some other crazy idea they would come up with to fix the manpower shortage.

Makes sense.

[Roll Tide]

If you are the OATC (or whatever your station uses to designate the primary Licensed Reactor Operator), you must be attentive to the controls.
In the case of this station, the procedure specifically stated the prohibition. That made it easy for the NRC to say the RO violated the station procedure, and the company didn't enforce the procedure. That is why both the ROs and the utility were cited.

You could be more distracted from monitoring the controls by discussing with a coworker the recent national college football championship game and if some other team should have played. Of course, that wouldn't leave a trail like the surfing.....

My understanding from the earlier NRC letters is the NRC took such a strong stand because the station did not do enough to satisfy the NRC.

[CT-Mike]

I'm surprised the company didn't block internet access in the control room to prevent things such as this.

[Starkist]

I'm surprised the company didn't block internet access in the control room to prevent things such as this.

It did/does. They found away around it using a search function that opens an unblocked browser. That method has been fixed of course.

[CT-Mike]

It did/does. They found away around it using a search function that opens an unblocked browser. That method has been fixed of course.

As I learned early on in my Navy career, bored nukes are dangerous.