When A Strike is a Possibility at a Plant
Posted by on November 24, 2015
Senior Public Affairs Officer
Region I
Unionized workers at the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in Oswego, N.Y. recently voted to accept a new contract days before the current pact was to expire. The union representing operations, maintenance and radiation protection staff and Entergy, the company that owns the plant, reached a new four-year agreement.
While it was good news to learn an agreement had been reached, the agency had been tracking the status of the negotiations all along and was prepared to oversee that the unit would be operated safely during any job action.
We have procedures to make sure the owner is taking all of the appropriate steps to ensure continued safe operation in the event of a strike. For example, as a contract expiration is drawing near, the NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the site and specialist inspectors from the Regional Office in King of Prussia, Pa., review the company’s contingency plans for staffing and other actions to prepare for a strike.
We don’t get involved in contract negotiations. We ensure that the requirements of the facility’s license and technical specifications are maintained at all times. At FitzPatrick and other plants facing an impending contract expiration, NRC inspectors ensure all emergency plan positions are properly staffed and that qualified licensed operators operate the plant. They also review the qualifications of replacement workers to verify they were properly trained to step in.
In the event of a strike at any plant, the NRC Resident Inspectors would be supplemented by additional NRC inspectors to provide round-the-clock NRC inspection coverage for the first 48 hours. We’d have continued additional site coverage for at least the first two weeks. If need be, we could continue enhanced inspector coverage for as long as necessary.
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