Wackenhut security supervisor has been caught sleeping while on duty at Exelon's Limerick nuclear power plant in Sanatoga, PA. The guard has been "disciplined" and is "no longer in the employ of Wackenhut," according to The Mercury. Wackenhut guards nearly half the nation's commercial nuclear power plants and highly sensitive nuclear weapons sites where there have been numerous security problems and is the U.S. government's largest supplier of private guards, holding multimillion dollar contracts with the Department of Energy and other agencies.

This latest "inattentive" guard incident at Limerick occurred about 250 miles from Exelon's Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant where five Wackenhut guards -- including a supervisor in the control room -- were caught sleeping while on duty, as reported in January 2006, by The Patriot-News. News of the sleeping guards at TMI prompted the State of Pennsylvania to conduct surprise inspections at least twice a month at Pennsylvania's five nuclear power plants, including the Wackenhut-guarded Three Mile Island, Limerick, and Peach Bottom facilities. Each of these three plants is owned by Exelon Corporation.

A memo was sent to Wackenhut security supervisors at TMI indicating that veteran guards at the plant were "informing new hires of all the locations that they could catch a quick nap," while on duty, according to The Patriot-News. The memo also maintained that new hires were being told of shortcuts for tasks and warned of the "horrors" of working for Wackenhut.

"Wackenhut has not done enough to ensure that our nation's nuclear facilities are safe and secure. Here they scapegoat the individual guard instead of looking into the company-wide culture that contributes to their core problems, in this case use of excessive overtime," said Stephen Lerner, Director of Property Services of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the nation's largest security officers' union working to raise standards in the security industry.

Guards at TMI work 12-hour shifts, usually for two to three consecutive days, but sometimes longer. The Patriot-News reported the NRC was concerned about reports that security officers were being allowed to work excessive hours. The newspaper has documented one person who worked more than 150 hours during a 14-day period, and averaged more than 54 hours a week for more than 10 months.

Seventy-nine workers at TMI filed a federal lawsuit against Wackenhut in January, alleging that for more than two years the company had failed to pay them for overtime and other time owed them. The guards claim they are entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay.

Fourth Wackenhut-Guarded Nuclear Plant under NRC Investigation

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has conducted four separate investigations into security at Wackenhut-guarded nuclear facilities this year.

Wackenhut is also facing investigation concerning possible falsification of training records at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Reservation, according to the DOE Inspector General. A conviction or civil judgment for falsification of records may be grounds for suspension or debarment of contracts under the U.S. government's federal acquisitions regulations.

Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense Drop Wackenhut

News of Wackenhut's security failures at Limerick follows the Department of Homeland Security dropping Wackenhut's $9.6 million/yr. contract to protect its Washington, D.C. headquarters and the Department of Defense cutting short contracts to protect U.S. Army bases -- including one where Wackenhut is eligible to receive an estimated $47 million/yr. as a subcontractor -- to put them out for competitive bidding. Wackenhut was a loser in 2003 when a portion of the Army base security work had been put out to competitive bidding.

SOURCE Service Employees International Union

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