Armed & Atomic: The Mundane Cases of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Investigations

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Posted to Legal on Mon Apr 16, 2007 at 10:33:56 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

Since 2005, about 30 investigators in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Office of Investigations (OI) have been granted police powers as Deputy Marshals. As such they have the ability to carry weapons and use police authority. According to the Office of Investigations they needed this power because they have "frequent and direct contact with suspected or convicted criminals." The problem? The overwhelming majority of OI cases involve little to no fieldwork and simply require examining paperwork or processing forms in a regional office.

The issue is of concern because the classification now allows the investigators to get a large salary boost with a 25% premium for law enforcement duties to an average of $130,000 a year and as much as $145,000 for non-managerial staff -- plus the law enforcement officer benefit of early retirement at age 50 and 20 years of service. The OI was originally formed in 1982 to investigate license holders and contractors of the NRC - the group that provides oversight to civilian uses of nuclear technology. Previously, if they suspected criminal wrongdoing they were to notify the Department of Justice who would decide whether or not to open a case.

The OI, supervised by Guy Caputo had its investigators deputized at Caputo's request by the US Marshals service until November 2009. The deputization was required to get police powers for its staff as such special duties are not authorized by Congress. However, their investigators are now allowed to: make arrests, serve search warrants, protect confidential informants, conduct electronic eavesdropping and carry firearms.

One critic from the Union of Concerned Scientists, an engineer who worked at nuclear plants for 17 years before joining the watchdog group, has such a low opinion of OI that he sought unsuccessfully in 1998 to get it disbanded. He also can't think of any reasons the office would need deputy status. "At most, they're looking at white collar crimes," he said.

He finds it particularly galling that OI has used witness protection as a reason to seek deputy status. When he tried to get protection for a Tennessee whistleblower who was receiving threats, the critic said, the NRC "said if they kill him or blow him up, something like that, then we can investigate that and see if that violated any of our regulations. But it's not our job to protect these guys."

The tasks listed in Caputo's letters to the Marshals Service also seem at odds with many of the "Significant Cases" listed in the office's recent annual reports: a guard failing to report his arrest for habitual traffic offenses; the operator of a research reactor modifying equipment without authorization; a doctor lying about a licensing matter; a power plant operator sleeping on the job.