Former Worker Says AmerenUE, NRC Dropped Inquiry

An NRC official concurred that the federal agency considers the matter closed after an investigation that included nearly 100 interviews led to "procedural shortcomings" that Ameren has since addressed.

"We conducted a very thorough investigation of this incident," said spokesman Victor Dricks. "We have gone to great lengths to ensure that every public issue brought to our attention has been addressed. ... No stone was left unturned."

In the documents obtained by The AP, Criscione says that two of the plant managers involved in the 2003 incident have since been promoted.

That response worries Oxford, who conveyed her concerns to NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko in a May 29 letter also obtained by The AP.

"Operators who cover up their mistakes and managers who 'look the other way' instead of thoroughly investigating ... cannot be tolerated," she wrote. "We, the public, must be assured of the honesty and credibility of the operators and managers of our nation's nuclear facilities."

A year before Criscione's settlement, former Callaway plant employee Clark Fuhlage reached his own confidential agreement with Ameren after he was fired the previous summer. He claimed that supervisors ordered him to downgrade the performance appraisals of his own employees who had spoken candidly with inspectors from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, an industry group.