12/29/02

An army of engineers and contractors has toiled for nearly a year to rebuild the reactor and other hardware at the Davis-Besse nuclear plant.

Now comes the hard part: Fixing the intangibles.

Rebuilding the morale of the 800 workers and managers and re-establishing an overriding commitment to safety are two of the last - and highest - hurdles that federal authorities insist must be cleared before they will allow FirstEnergy Corp. to restart the power plant.

The job is more than mending the broken spirits and assuaging the guilt of personnel who let rust eat a hole in the reactor's lid, says the man whose mission is to develop a "safety culture" at Davis-Besse.

"Safety culture is about making sure we always keep plant safety as the first requisite in everything we do," said William Pearce, vice president of oversight for FirstEnergy's nuclear division. "Safety is the very fabric you've got to have in place before even thinking about production. It's about making sure things are done right."

One aspect of safety culture is a safety-conscious work environment in which workers aren't afraid of retaliation for raising safety or other concerns. In such an environment, managers encourage worker involvement - and then actually resolve the issues they raise.

Many of Davis-Besse's workers were concerned about safety during the years that leaking reactor coolant created the rust hole, Pearce said. "But previous management didn't act on the issues, and over time [the workers] lost faith that management would resolve them."

Restoring management's credibility, then, has been step one.

One of the workhorses in that task has been the nuclear division's chief operating officer, Lew Myers, who is leading the effort to restart Davis-Besse.

Myers has for months been spending half-days meeting with groups of about 15 workers, who earlier huddle with an independent consultant to vent their concerns. Myers tries to research their topics before each session. So far, he has sat down with about 400 workers and has another 350 to go.

"He talks about how he wants them to hold him accountable. He values their concerns," Pearce said. "I know this probably sounds odd that we'd talk about it, but it's important that they hear it from the highest level in the plant."

Still, many workers may not want to risk a confrontation with a manager over a perceived safety issue. To that end, the plant is creating an employee-concerns program to supplement its old office of ombudsman.

To avoid potential bias, an independent investigator will delve into unresolved matters. The program will be run by a 35-year nuclear veteran who formerly managed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's division responsible for overseeing nuclear plant employee-concerns programs.

In addition, all managers completed classes in early December on what constitutes harassment of those who bring up safety concerns - and how to spot it if others are engaged in it.

To further foster confidence, Pearce has created a team of high-level managers who will review every disciplinary action against any employee, to make sure it was not retaliatory.

One tried and true method of reporting safety concerns, a written report called a corrective action - which any employee can file - has been computerized so that workers can check whether the problem is being addressed.

"When people have an issue and can see it resolved, that builds trust and confidence," Pearce said.

To reach these Plain Dealer reporters:

jfunk@plaind.com, 216-999-4138

jmangels@plaind.com, 216-999-4842