Can Eastern WA nuclear workers raise safety issues without retaliation? Feds concerned

Energy Northwest needs to do more to address the fear of retaliation among some workers if they raise safety concerns at the Northwest’s only commercial nuclear reactor , according to results of a new federal inspection.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission initially raised concerns about workers’ hesitation to call out safety issues after an inspection at Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station near Richland in Eastern Washington in September 2023.

During that inspection nearly half of employees in the operations department said they were aware of multiple events in which senior management’s reactions to other workers raising concerns could be perceived as retaliation.

A follow-up NRC inspection was completed in early June, with results released Wednesday.

The recent inspection questioned whether corrective actions taken by Energy Northwest since September were adequate and if improvements were being made without delay.

As a result, the NRC plans to continue to monitor what it calls Energy Northwest’s “ safety conscious work environment ” and will schedule an additional follow-up inspection.

“Energy Northwest senior leadership team takes this very seriously and we are fully committed to addressing the issue raised,” Bob Schuetz, Energy Northwest chief executive officer , said in a statement. “We recognize that most of the actions needed for long-term sustainable improvement have only just begun.”

The followup inspection found no safety reporting issue in most departments — including those responsible for radiation protection, security, engineering and licensing. All workers interviewed with those responsibilities said they would raise nuclear safety issues without fear of retaliation, according to the inspection results.

But the majority of workers interviewed by the NRC in the department that operates the nuclear reactor said that while Energy Northwest management took some actions to address the work environment operations, operators were in a “wait and see” mode about the effectiveness of the actions.

After talking to workers, NRC inspectors were “concerned that the recovery plan was only recently compiled and that it seemed to address the symptoms and not the underlying problems with respect to the chilled environment,” the report said.

Some operators told inspectors that the corrective action plan appeared to be created in response to the timing of the NRC inspection, the report said.

“In addition, the team heard that many operators feel that the recovery plan actions are not robust and that many of them are only going to treat symptoms but not the underlying root case of the issues in the department,” the report said. “The operations staff are concerned about the sustainability of the action items and the changes they have seen.”

Energy Northwest manager communication

NRC inspectors also were concerned about a lack of corrective actions formulated for senior management, indicating they may not have taken ownership of the issues in the operations department, the inspection report said.

Workers were comfortable raising safety concerns through the acting operations manager, according to the inspection report, but not to higher management. They also were concerned about who would be named the permanent operations manager.

Communication did increase from management down to site employees, the followup inspection report said.

But the communication would have been more effective in building trust with staff it it was more complete and prompt, it said.

In September, NRC inspectors heard that senior management was not adequately communicating the basis for decisions, including on equipment issues and staffing.

The level of staffing in the operations department was requiring overtime and causing “tremendous strain,” inspectors heard. But when staff brought the issue up repeatedly with management, they found management’s response to be slow and inadequate.

The report on the latest inspection concluded that Energy Northwest may be able to reevaluate the level and type of information shared with staff to make it more timely and comprehensive, even if it is connected to sensitive topics, such as legal concerns or human resources.

Workers told NRC inspectors they were satisfied with some new initiatives, including how equipment deficiencies were being addressed, but were concerned about whether that would be sustained.

The NRC inspectors also heard in September that some workers would not use the Employee Concerns Program, because they feared information they shared would not be kept confidential.

Some operations workers still had a negative opinion of the program at the most recent inspection, but recognized that the new manager of the program was working to restore trust, the report said.

Energy Northwest responds

“Maintaining a healthy safety conscious work environment requires ongoing dedication and diligence,” Schuetz said. “Our senior leadership team remains committed to fostering an environment where all employees feel comfortable raising concerns.”

Some the actions Energy Northwest said it has taken since the September inspection include:

▪ Hiring an independent consultant who specializes in conducting investigations related to safety conscious work environment matters. The consultant has been used by the NRC to perform similar investigations.

▪ Increasing communication and meetings with operations department staff.

▪ Benchmarking industry best practices.

▪ Creating a recovery plan with a goal of ensuring that initiatives address worker concerns and are effective and sustainable. The plan continues to be updated.

▪ Creating a robust internal communication plan.

▪ Conducting training for senior leaders, managers and supervisors.

“We are committed to restoring the trust necessary for all Energy Northwest workers to feel they can safely bring their concerns to leaders,” Schuetz said.