Screening problems halt Georgia nuke plant work

Trouble with worker background checks halts construction at proposed Georgia nuclear plant

ATLANTA (AP) -- Construction on a proposed nuclear power plant in eastern Georgia has been halted because a contractor failed ask its workers in writing about past drug or alcohol abuse as required by law, officials said Wednesday.

The nuclear subsidiary of The Southern Co. told federal regulators on Friday that its construction contractor, The Shaw Group Inc., was voluntarily halting work at Plant Vogtle. The Atlanta-based Southern Co. is trying to win approval for the first groundbreaking on a nuclear plant in a generation.

Work will resume at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro once the screening problem is fixed, likely in a matter of days, Shaw Group spokeswoman Gentry Brann said.

An internal audit conducted by The Shaw Group showed it failed to give its workers a written questionnaire asking about past or current drug and alcohol abuse. That questionnaire is required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is investigating the incident, NRC spokesman Joey Ledford said.

Workers were still asked about drug and alcohol abuse during a verbal screening, Brann said. She said all other required background checks were completed.

Since the written questionnaires were not given, Shaw temporarily stopped its workers from placing backfill inside excavated footprints that could eventually house the foundation of two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, assuming those reactors are approved by federal regulators as early as next year.

The Southern Co. has permission to excavate, but it cannot start assembling the reactor buildings and other components until receiving a final approval from the NRC.

Construction will continue on other facilities that are not directly part of the planned nuclear plant, including a large hanger where nuclear plant components would be assembled and a training facility for plant workers.

Workers at the construction site do not have access to the two existing nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, said Southern Nuclear spokeswoman Beth Thomas. She said the work stoppage is not expected to delay a construction schedule that has the proposed reactors starting commercial operation in 2016 and 2017.

The Atlanta-based Southern Co. earlier this month accepted $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees to help fund the expansion at Plant Vogtle.

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