Former Indian Point Supervisor Gets Probation for Misconduct

A former supervisor at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan who was charged with falsifying records has been sentenced to 18 months' probation.

Daniel Wilson was sentenced in White Plains Federal Court Thursday for deliberate misconduct while serving as the facility's chemistry manager, authorities said. US District Judge Nelson Román also imposed a $500-fine. He falsified records to show that diesel fuel in the backup generators met official specifications.

"Indian Point maintains a backup system of emergency generators for use in part to provide power in the event of a power outage and shutdown," Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement describing the information Wilson, a 57-year-old Walden resident, pleaded guilty to in October 2013. Wilson was the chemistry manager 2007 through 2012. He "was responsible for, among other things, ensuring that certain aspects of the operation at Indian Point were in compliance with technical specifications required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). One such requirement related to the amount of particulate matter in the diesel fuel used to power emergency generators at Indian Point, which could not exceed a set limit. In 2011, tests of the diesel fuel maintained for use in powering the emergency generators at Indian Point showed that the ratio of particulate matter in the diesel fuel exceeded the limit set by the NRC."

"In February 2012, Wilson concealed material facts from his employer and the NRC by fabricating test data, falsely showing that resampling tests of diesel fuel tested below the applicable NRC limit," the statement continues. "In fact, no such resamples were taken, and the purported test data were fabrications. Later in February 2012, Wilson, in response to questioning by other employees of Indian Point in advance of an inspection by the NRC, wrote a report—the kind on which the NRC ordinarily relies in inspecting nuclear facilities for safety—in which he gave a false explanation for the lack of supporting documentation for his fabricated test results. In a subsequent interview with NRC personnel, Wilson admitted that he had fabricated the test results so that Indian Point would not have to shut down."

Wilson resigned in April 2012. He was arrested in July 2013.

“The safe operation of the Indian Point nuclear power facility is of critical importance to our communities in and around it," Bharara said. "This office will be vigilant about prosecuting criminal misconduct that takes place at the facility.”

The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Allee is in charge of the prosecution.