Fitzpatrick plant.JPG

Two U.S. senators say nuclear regulators backed away from investigating the financial fitness of the FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County, and other plants, after owner Entergy Corp. objected.

(U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Two U.S. senators have accused the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of backing away from a probe of the worsening finances of Entergy Corp.'s nuclear plants, including the FitzPatrick plant in Oswego County, after Entergy complained about the inquiry.

In a letter Thursday to NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane, Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., said nuclear safety regulators are duty-bound to evaluate the financial fitness of plant operators.

The senators expressed "grave concern'' over reports that NRC staff members were told to stop asking Entergy for financial information after Entergy complained to higher-ups at the NRC.

"In our opinion, financial distress and the failure to maintain sufficient operating funds would be expected to signal the potential for future degradations in safety brought about by a licensee's need to conserve funding,'' they wrote.

Entergy has acknowledged financial challenges at some of its six Northeastern nuclear plants, including FitzPatrick, but the company says it will not allow financial issues to compromise safety. Entergy announced in August that it will close Vermont Yankee, one the six, because the facility is losing money. The company says it has no current plans to shutter any other plants.

According to Markey and Sanders, both frequent critics of the nuclear industry, NRC staff members sent formal requests to Entergy in June seeking information about the financial health of the company's six Northeastern plants. Ordinarily, such information requests would be made public, the senators said.

Instead, following discussions with Entergy, senior NRC officials told their staff to abandon the inquiries, the senators said. Markey and Sanders have demanded that the NRC turn over documents related to the incident by Tuesday.

NRC officials had no comment Thursday. "We just received the letter from the senators today and we will be responding to it in a timely manner,'' said Neil Sheehan, speaking for the commission.

Entergy officials issued a brief statement acknowledging that they contacted NRC officials to object to the financial inquiries, which they said represented a "deviation" from normal regulatory oversight.

"We appropriately expressed concern to the NRC earlier this year that certain financial information requests were not consistent with their long-standing guidance and practice, and that they evaluate the need for the deviation in process,'' the company said. "We are not aware of what internal discussions they may or may not have had. The safe operation of our nuclear plants is our first priority.''

In March, a coalition of anti-nuclear groups, including Syracuse-based Alliance for a Green Economy, filed a petition arguing that the NRC should suspend Entergy's license to operate FitzPatrick and Vermont Yankee because the plants no longer generate sufficient cash to ensure safe operation. The NRC has said it will formally review the groups' arguments.

Jessica Azulay, a member of Alliance for a Green Economy, said she is troubled by the senators' assertion that senior NRC officials quashed a probe of Entergy's finances. "We're concerned about what will happen to the investigation we were promised,'' she said.

Contact Tim Knauss at tknauss@syracuse.com or 315-470-3023 or on Twitter @TimKnauss.

Markey-Sanders letter to NRC chairman by tknauss