Northeast pleads guilty to U.S. nuclear violations; Record fine

Reuters, 28 September 1999

HARTFORD, Conn. - Northeast Utilities , New England's biggest electric utility, yesterday pleaded guilty in federal court to violating regulations governing its nuclear facilities and agreed to pay $10 million in fines and contributions, the company said.

The violations occurred between 1994 and 1996 at the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, Conn., and the Devon Generating Station in Milford, Conn. The company pleaded guilty to 19 violations of the Atomic Energy Act and six violations of the Clean Water Act.

We failed to live up to what was required of us as a responsible corporate citizen and a leader in our community, Northeast Chairman, President and Chief Executive Michael Morris said in a statement. Today, we are paying a very steep price for that failure. The government has sent a very strong message and we get it, loud and clear.

Northeast's three Millstone nuclear plants were closed for safety reasons from early 1996 to mid-1998.

The violations of the Atomic Energy Act, by the company's Northeast Nuclear Energy Co. (NNECO) subsidiary, occurred in 1996, when inaccurate reactor operator license applications were submitted to federal regulators, Northeast said.

The Clean Water Act violations occurred between 1994 and 1996, and involved two instances at Millstone station and one at Devon station. In a 1996 Millstone incident, the corrosion inhibitor hydrazine was improperly discharged. As a result of the guilty pleas, two Northeast subsidiaries - NNECO and Northeast Utilities Service Co. - will be on probation for three years.