Sun.
Change my location 
|
|
DELTA, Pa. (Map, News) - The whistle-blower who taped his fellow guards sleeping on the job at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant was fired, prompting anger from government watchdogs who say he should have been a hero.
Kerry Beal, who secretly videotaped guards sleeping near the nuclear reactor at Peach Bottom this summer, had his computer hard drive seized as part of the federal investigation into the plant after the videos were leaked to a New York TV station in September.
Earlier this week, Warrenville, Ill.-based Exelon Nuclear fired Beal because he “did not meet the selection criteria” for continuing to work at the plant as it transitions to an in-house security staff, according to a letter obtained by the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight.
“Of all the guards, he’s the one guard they should have kept,” said David Walthel, the Washington lawyer representing Beal. “Without Kelly Beal, they never would have found out anything was wrong.”
Beal had been working for Palm Beach-based Wackenhut Security. Wackenhut was phased out in favor of security guards overseen directly by Exelon, Wackenhut spokesman Marc Shapiro said.
Beal had never submitted an application and has been on administrative leave since the investigation began, but he received the letter notifying him of his “non-hiring” on Oct. 25 — also the last day of Wackenhut’s contract at the plant.
An investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found fault with the 10 guards taped sleeping.
The NRC investigation pointed to a culture that encouraged the cover-up of the sleeping guards, with managers who were told of the problem but never reported it to their superiors or interceded themselves.
“This is the stupidest thing they could have done. Now, they’ll ensure no one else will be brave enough to come forward and try to fix problems,” said Danielle Brian, POGO’s executive director.
 Not ranked |
 EMAIL ME THIS STORY |
Comments from Examiner Readers
1:25 PM MST on Tue., Mar. 18, 2008 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
6:21 PM MST on Sat., Jan. 12, 2008 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
5:54 PM MST on Sat., Jan. 12, 2008 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
5:48 PM MST on Sat., Jan. 12, 2008 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
3:20 PM MST on Sat., Dec. 15, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
4:14 PM MST on Sat., Nov. 3, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
4:45 AM MST on Sat., Nov. 3, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
6:31 AM MST on Fri., Nov. 2, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
6:25 AM MST on Fri., Nov. 2, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
5:49 AM MST on Fri., Nov. 2, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
3:14 AM MST on Fri., Nov. 2, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
11:31 PM MST on Thu., Nov. 1, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
6:42 PM MST on Thu., Nov. 1, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
8:40 AM MST on Thu., Nov. 1, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
7:46 AM MST on Thu., Nov. 1, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
6:53 AM MST on Thu., Nov. 1, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower fired"
Report as inappropriate
6:39 AM MST on Thu., Nov. 1, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower loses job after taping guards"
Report as inappropriate
4:28 AM MST on Thu., Nov. 1, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower loses job after taping guards"
Report as inappropriate
3:18 AM MST on Thu., Nov. 1, 2007 re: "Peach Bottom whistle-blower loses job after taping guards"
Report as inappropriate
8:02 PM MST on Wed., Oct. 10, 2007 re: "Probe points to 1 shift of sleeping guards"
Report as inappropriate
1:23 PM MST on Wed., Oct. 10, 2007 re: "Probe points to 1 shift of sleeping guards"
Report as inappropriate
Examiner Reader said:
"Beal had never submitted an application" I'm betting this has more to do with it than anything. He was not fired by Exelon, he simply was not hired. If he files a lawsuit about this I will follow a lawsuit for every job that hired someone durring any period of unemployment I have had as they did not hire me. Doesn't matter that I didn't apply for the job.
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Since when has society become so indifferent about these large powerful companies terminating the "whistle blower" instead of the perpetrater? We've even given these people a name which perpetuates a negative connotation: "Whistle Blower". If this isn't WRONG, I don't know what is!!!
54 agree | 34 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Terry said:
I'm sure Wackrnhut took much more pleasure out of terminating Mr. Beal, instead of tranferring him to a different job site, which they can easily do.
44 agree | 49 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Red said:
Is Kerry Beal seeking a lawsuit against the Wacenhut Corp. For terminating him? There must be some legal boundaries crossed here by Wackenhut for terminating him for shedding lifgt on this outrageous derilection of duty by his co-workers.
31 agree | 31 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
EMT's,firefighters,The Minutemen project (they shoot the big bad nukes!) they all sleep on the Job. And they all get the job done. They do there job safe and are more Alert when they need to act! I think every one of the Guards that lost there job could have responded to any attack in time, stoped the terroist and done there job. One good thing did come from this... they need to let the Guards read, watch TV, play video games, Anything to stay awake in Vital response areas.
47 agree | 34 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Well, let's see. You claim to have told your supervisors and ultimatley cost a lot of people their jobs. Then you sit at home for 30 days on the company dime and you didn;t have time to fill out an application to the new company in charge. Fired? NO! Lazy? Maybe-- you can't expect to get e job with a new company without filling out an application!
72 agree | 66 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Times must have changed, as a former Nuclear Power Plant guard (company not private security) in the 80's we were constantly monitored by our supervisors so this type of incident would never happen. Our daily shift was always busy, monitoring the perimeter, people checked as they entered and left the plant, vehicle and foot patrols of the area and facility, ect. sleep came to mind after a double shift, but the threat of being fired when caught, and being constantly monitored by security cameras and our supervisors, prevented that. Mr. Beal met with frustration, and did what he thought was right. If he had prevented a major incident he would have been a hero and given a job with the company, but instead he is labled a rat. But, we can all deal with a little nuclear incident, right?
76 agree | 74 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
The press had the national resposiblity in days of terror to report this to National Security. No brains!
75 agree | 64 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
I wonder if the guards glow at night ????
73 agree | 74 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
"if he wanted to blow the whistle he should have written a statement and sent it up the chain of command and not to a news station in another state." This would be the start of the correct way to handle the work issues; I agree.
97 agree | 77 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
"Dear Mr. Beal: Thank you for publicly embarrassing our company and costing us millions of dollara in existing and potential contracts. In view of these accomplishments, we would like to offer you a permanent position and increase your salary. Sincerely, Exelon Nuclear HRMO" Right.
80 agree | 64 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
well they had good reason to fired kerry beal, im sure he violated security protocol by bring a camera into a secured area. then leaking photos of that area to an outsider. he could be looking at some serious charges himself.... ha ha ha dumbass! if he wanted to blow the whistle he should have written a statement and sent it up the chain of command and not to a news station in another state.
90 agree | 80 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
way to shed light into this secret world where so many thousands of lives hang in the balance.
94 agree | 71 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Boo Hoo said:
Peach Bottom should have put Mr. Beal in charge of overseeing security instead of allowing a new company to "non-hire" him. What a disgrace.
92 agree | 75 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Mr. Beals employer, Wackenhut, was fired. If the company you work for shuts down, what happens to you? Duh!
82 agree | 72 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Just another example of whistle blower protection. You'll learn to keep your mouth shut !!!!!
97 agree | 86 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
Peach Bottom is just one of many nuclear power plants in this country and all over the world. I applaud Mr. Kerry Beal, and he should be highly praised and rewarded for his actions. None of us should feel secure knowing that these guards, who are being paid to protect us from a nuclear disaster, are not doing their job and instead are sleeping on their shifts. I am sure alQaeda is following this story with much interest. Wake up, America! But again thank you, Mr. Beal, for warning us. If only Congress would wake up and take note.
101 agree | 105 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
The Nuclear Industry should come down on Exelon like a ton of bricks for firing a person for bringing this to their attention. With this action, they are saying to the public that they condon coverups. One would think that the utility would want to discourage unprofessional behavior and would have encouraged all employees to report unprofessional behavior by rewarding the whistleblower.
106 agree | 108 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
reader said:
This was correct procedure.
108 agree | 89 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
Examiner Reader said:
ok i have some insite into the security guards and what they do. since they were in a ready room,that means they were sitting in a room with their equipment and when they are there they have a certain amount of time to respond to an alarm.In other words they sit around waiting for something to happen and that can be very boring and hard on the person just sitting there wearing gun belts carrying helmuts body armour etc etc. now guess what people it is boring and it is long and what happens is they may dose off for a few minutes or longer its human nature to do so.i am confident that when that alarm sounds that they will be up and responding within the aloted time frame and will do what is needed.like the article says there are several other types of security just not human. so cut the guys some slack write them up maybe suspend them for a few days and let them get back to work. oh and to the other responder the same would happen w/ federal guards also...its human nature.
101 agree | 79 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree
EXAMINER READER said:
oh please, sleeping on the job and being paid is still a no no, and in a nuclear plant!!!! get rid of contract security, and let the NRC hire their own private security teams to work in these plants all trained the same and have the same boss!!!!
82 agree | 77 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree