A former Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant chemist says that he was forced out of his job for reporting an alleged problem with the plant's emergency water pumps.
NHPR Correspondent Roger Wood reports.
Mark Gillespie of Raymond says that he reported deficiencies in the plant’s emergency feedwater system to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
He contends that the plant doesn’t have enough auxiliary feedwater pumps to cool the reactor in case of a shutdown.
Federal regulations require three pumps, but Gillespie says that one of them at Seabrook Station isn’t designed to function in an emergency.
(Gillespie 1) :07
“They are required to be in a seismic building with seismically qualified power supplies. Now this is actually dictated by the N.R.C.”
But Gillespie says that the Start-up feed pump isn’t located in a seismically protected area.
(Gillespie 2) :06
“So if they have an earthquake, that pump’s gone, and that’s basically the issue.”
Seabrook Plant spokesman Alan Griffith says that he won’t respond to Gillespie’s specific allegation,
But he points out that the plant and all of its systems are designed and certified by the NRC to withstand earthquakes, fires and other disasters.
(Griffith 1) :14
“Seabrook Station has always been operating safely with three auxiliary feedwater pumps. We’ve always been and always will be totally compliant with the technical specifications of the plant’s operating license.”
And says Griffith, Gillespie has a history of reporting allegations of safety deficiencies at the plant.
After this latest report, he says he was forced to resign last year, through what he terms constructive discharge.
(Gillespie 3) :13
“One day they came up to me and they said you have to work overtime. They played around with the list. I’m no where near being forced to work overtime. The next day they said they misunderstood the list.”
Gillespie says he saw the writing on the wall, and resigned.
Seabrook’s Alan Griffith says there is a policy of not commenting on personnel matters.
But he points out that any employee is encouraged to raise concerns on safety and other issues.
(Griffith 2) :09
“Any allegation is thoroughly vetted, and if there are reasons or there is a credible or viable safety concern, then we fix it, we address it, we fix it.”
Griffith’s comments have been backed up by the NRC, which says that the plant has an adequate number of feedwater pumps to do the job.
Meanwhile, Gillespie has been unemployed since resigning his position.
For NHPR News, this is Roger Wood.
