Sep 25, 2007 11:50 pm US/Eastern
Exclusive: Nuke Plant Whistleblower Explains Why
Says Guards Caught On Tape Sleeping Is Unacceptable
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CBS 2 HD's three-month investigation into security issues at our nation's nuclear power plants found something disturbing at Peach Bottom nuclear facility outside of Philadelphia -- security guards charged with protecting the plant sleeping on the job.
CBS
They were supposed to be guarding a nuclear facility but instead they were caught sleeping on the job. On Monday night, CBS 2 HD showed you the shocking videotape and Tuesday we had the man who taped it.
What's more, that man said he alerted his security company of the security breach but his warnings were ignored.
"I was amazed that it was going on," the whistleblower said.
The whistleblower caught his fellow officers sleeping while on-duty at one of the nation's largest nuclear power plants. We hid his identity to protect him from retaliation.
Carrying a gun and wearing a flak jackets, he was part of a team of security officers at Peach Bottom Nuclear Plant just outside of Philadelphia.
Their job? To be ready for the enemy.
"We're supposed to be always alert, ready to go," the whistleblower said.
To be caught off guard could be the edge a terrorist needs to damage a reactor. Experts tell CBS 2 HD that radiation from a nuclear fire at Peach Bottom would spread and could kill thousands of people as far away as Washington D.C. and New York City.
Our whistleblower caught on tape almost a dozen of these officers sleeping at different times of the day on three different days. Before he decided to even shoot the video he says he tried to warn his supervisors.
But the reaction he received wasn't what he expected:
"Let's not talk about that. There's going to be a big investigation. You're going to find yourself in the middle of that. It'll be harder for you to work here. You need to concentrate on being part of this team."
CBS 2 HD went to Exelon, the multi-billion dollar company that owns the plant to find out if they knew whether Wackenhut, the company that provides security at Peach Bottom, may have been warned.
Wanting to respond to our investigation, Exelon CCO Christopher Crane invited us to the company's headquarters in downtown Philadelphia.
Scott Weinberger: "If you find that people came forward and that information was suppressed that sounds like a cover-up?
Crane: "Definitely"
Weinberger: "And your response?"
Crane: "Well, first we are responsible. We should ensure that all of our employees and all of our contractors should feel free to bring up issues and issues will be resolved. This is nothing we can just dismiss to say it's a Wackenhut problem."
Exelon has even gone a step further and announced that because of our investigation it has decided to fire Wackenhut.
As for our whistleblower, he says he had to come forward.
"It's not just my life that's in danger, but my family's, my friends' and the communities that live around it," he said.
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