Washington (Platts)--19Apr2013/143 pm EDT/1743 GMT

A Chicago Bridge & Iron facility building components for nuclear plants being built by Georgia Power and South Carolina Electric & Gas had a "chilled work environment" that prevented workers from raising safety concerns, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a statement Friday.

CB&I's Louisiana facility, formerly known as Shaw Modular Solutions, makes modules being used to assemble four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors being built at the Vogtle and Summer plants.

Workers at the facility believe managers retaliate against those raising safety concerns, NRC said. More than a third of all safety allegations received by NRC from 2010 to 2012 involved the Louisiana module facility, the agency said.

Despite a survey more than a year ago of workers that showed there was a chilled environment for raising safety concerns, the facility, now known as CB&I Lake Charles, took "only minimal actions," NRC said.

NRC ordered CB&I to submit a plan within 30 days to improve the "safety culture" of the facility and an investigation of why management did not respond more forcefully to resolve the issues last year.

The agency has not identified any quality issues stemming from complaints raised by workers, NRC said. The agency has identified quality control issues at the facility in the past, and Georgia Power and SSCE&G have said those problems have affected timely delivery of modules for the reactors under construction.

Georgia Power and SCE&G are, each with partners, building two 1,100-MW reactors at the sites of existing units at the Vogtle and Summer plants, respectively.

CB&I "will take immediate action to create and promote a healthy safety culture, where all employees feel open to identify issues and express concerns," spokeswoman Gentry Brann said in an email Friday.

CB&I acquired The Shaw Group in February. Shaw and Westinghouse and contractors for the four AP1000 reactors being built.

The Louisiana facility, using pipe-bending technology used in Shaw's oil and petrochemical business, was established in 2008 to produce the modules for a series of AP1000 units expected to be built in the US.

The chilled work environment letter is a "shot across the bow" of the company, NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said. It is intended to give the company a chance to correct problems before they lead to violations and/or enforcement action, he said.

Separately, NRC said it will seek a $36,400 fine from CB&I for violations at the former Shaw Nuclear Services business. A worker there was fired for raising safety concerns, NRC said.

--William Freebairn, william_freebairn@platts.com
--Edited by Jason Lindquist, jason_lindquist@platts.com

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