Summary: Few issues have so caught the attention of nuclear industry regulators and industry officials as the operation of the federal system to protect employees who raise safety concerns. The actions that a utility takes in response to employee concerns affect its reputation with regulators, which, in turn, influence the amount of trust that regulators afford the utility when employees make allegations against it. This is especially true for a utility that is a regulated organization licensed to operate a nuclear reactor--a "licensee." Members of Congress have raised concerns that the law does not adequately protect nuclear power industry workers who raise health and safety issues. Because of the tension between providing adequate protections for whistleblowers and not burdening industry with an overly intrusive system, this report provides the views of nuclear industry officials on the following: (1) how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Labor Department have implemented federal processes to protect whistleblowers, (2) whether Labor's ruling on protected activities have affected industry's ability to manage its workforce and comply with NRC regulations, and (3) whether abuse of the federal whistleblower protection system exists.
