On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced a Tennessee Valley Authority contractor to six and a half years in prison for falsifying safety reports during work at TVA nuclear plants.
A grand jury charged Walter Cardin, 55, of Louisiana with eight counts of fraud against the federal utility. His conviction in November followed a six-year investigation by TVA's inspector general into his work as a safety manager for the Shaw Group – formerly Stone & Webster Construction – at Browns Ferry, Sequoyah and Watts Bar unit 1, according to a release from the Department of Justice. The Shaw Group held maintenance contracts at the plants and collected $2.5 million in safety bonuses based, in part, on accident reports prepared by Cardin. The company paid back twice that amount under an agreement reached with the government in 2008.
Prosecutors contended that Cardin generated false information in 2004, 2005 and 2006, including information on more than 80 injuries that included broken bones, lacerations and hernias. Prosecutors also said Cardin misrepresented the severity of injuries and how they occurred, with workers testifying they were denied treatment or made to put it off.
In the release, U.S. Attorney William Killian said, "The defendant’s practices affected the safety of the work environment of nuclear sites. They resulted in employees becoming more reluctant to report injuries, employers failing to address safety issues on the work sites, and employees working through medical conditions that created risks of additional injuries to themselves and others."