Information obtained from anonymous staffers at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reveals far-reaching retaliation against whistle-blowers who raise concerns about nuclear safety, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said today.

Markey asked outgoing NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko in a letter to investigate claims from anonymous agency workers that top managers are suppressing information and punishing whistle-blowers. Jaczko, Markey's former staffer, should also investigate claims that NRC Inspector General Hubert Bell is not conducting fair reviews of whistle-blower complaints, according to the letter.

"Every individual who contacted my office expressed concerns that they did not trust the NRC IG to resolve their concerns, in part because the NRC IG has a history of reporting whistleblower retaliation concerns back to the very same management accused of the retaliation in the first place," Markey wrote.

Markey renewed calls for NRC to investigate a Texas manager whom anonymous staffers accused of berating inspectors and suppressing information.

The congressman released a letter from unidentified NRC workers last month that accused Troy Pruett, the deputy division director of the Division of Reactor Projects at NRC's office in Arlington, Texas, of overriding staff concerns related to Nebraska's Fort Calhoun power plant, 19 miles north of Omaha.

The facility was closed because of flooding on the Missouri River last year, which was followed by a fire in March that knocked out the cooling system for the used nuclear fuel (E&ENews PM, May 9).

A week later, Pruett asked the House Ethics Committee to reprimand Markey for damaging his credibility as a nuclear regulator without attempting to verify the validity of the letter and its contents (E&ENews PM, May 17).

Pruett was not immediately available for comment.

Markey said he received a second letter from NRC workers at the Texas office that complained of the inspector general being neither impartial nor objective. The congressman said he has since received additional complaints about NRC workers being openly berated in meetings and punished for disagreeing with Pruett's opinion.

But Markey said the problem goes far beyond the Texas office.

Said Abdel-Khalik, chairman of NRC's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, has resigned "due to his concerns about inappropriate nuclear industry influence" on the panel's activities, according to Markey's letter

Workers have also been punished for raising safety concerns about the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California, he said.

"The safety concern was first validated by NRC in 2006, but the licensee allegedly failed to correct the problem and took steps to retaliate against the employee," Markey wrote. Although the individual complained to upper NRC management about the problem, the agency and Bell have not yet addressed the problem, Markey said.

The congressman also said Jaczko, who announced his resignation last month, is being targeted by his fellow commissioners for raising safety issues. His colleagues -- two Democrats and two Republicans -- accused the chairman last year of berating employees and withholding information.

Today, Jaczko asked NRC staff to provide an agencywide assessment to examine the agency's safety culture. The effort will help the NRC "tackle the challenges now and in the future," the agency said.