three indicted in nuke plant coverup

great, some indictments. wonder what took so long?

Three Indicted in Ohio Nuclear Plant Case

By CONNIE MABIN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 10 minutes ago

CLEVELAND - A federal grand jury indicted two former nuclear power plant employees and a contractor Thursday on charges of hiding information about serious damage to a reactor from regulators.

The indictment accuses the trio of misleading regulators in the fall of 2001 into believing that the Davis-Besse plant was safe so federal inspectors would delay visits until the spring of 2002, during a scheduled shutdown for refueling.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors found an acid leak in 2002 that nearly ate through a 6-inch steel cap on the reactor vessel at the plant, which sits along the Lake Erie shore about 30 miles east of Toledo.

Officials said it was the most extensive corrosion ever seen at a U.S. nuclear reactor.

The plant was closed for two years but returned to full power in 2004. Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., which owns the plant, spent $600 million making repairs and buying replacement power because of the shutdown.

Company and NRC investigations concluded that the rust hole had been growing for at least four years and that Davis-Besse's managers had ignored the evidence because they were focused on profits rather than safety.

Indicted were former engineering design manager David Geisen, former engineer Andrew Siemaszko and Rodney Cook, a consultant who was working for Davis-Besse.
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