Topics:<\/b> Character; Circumstances and Faith; Convictions; Dishonesty; Dying to Self; Guidance; Honesty; Integrity; Persecution; Work<\/p>\n
References:<\/b> Psalm 41:12; Proverbs 11:3; Matthew 5:10; 16:24\u201326; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:7\u201317<\/p>\n
George Galatis, an engineer at Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, Connecticut, found several unsafe practices at his plant. Federal guidelines required the Millstone plant to store only one-third of spent fuel rods in holding pools, but Galatis found all of the hot fuel had been dumped into them. Also, fuel was unloaded just 65 hours after a shutdown, far sooner than the mandated period of 250 hours.<\/p>\n
Supervisors winked at the routine violations, knowing they were saving millions through shortcuts.<\/p>\n
Fearing the violations could threaten thousands of lives, Galatis told a colleague they should contact the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The friend warned him, \u201cYou do that and you\u2019re dogmeat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Galatis urged plant managers to stop the hazardous practices, but they refused. Since many of his supervisors were churchgoers, he was baffled. \u201cThis was not splitting hairs,\u201d Galatis says. \u201cThese were moral issues.\u201d Galatis warned his supervisors what could happen: eventual shutdown, decommissioning of the plants, and criminal investigations. But after two years nothing had changed except other workers\u2019 attitudes toward Galatis. When he sat down in the cafeteria, coworkers left. When he entered a meeting, the room fell silent. Rumors spread that he was an alcoholic. His performance evaluation took a hit.<\/p>\n
Galatis searched for God\u2019s guidance, rising every morning at 4:00 a.m. to pray and read Scripture. During lunch breaks, he drove to a secluded place to pray and search the Bible. During one of these prayer times Galatis believed God whispered to him, \u201cWill you die for me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he feared for his safety, Galatis realized there were many ways of dying; his livelihood, his reputation, and his family could also be destroyed. Previous whistleblowers\u2019 families had broken under intense emotional strain. Northeast Utilities, owner of the nuclear plants, would likely hire one of the nation\u2019s top law firms to fight him.<\/p>\n
Still, he pressed on. He contacted the NRC, asking the government agency to suspend Millstone\u2019s license. As the petition became public, pressure at work increased. Coworkers confronted him, calling him a fool and troublemaker. He was harassed for months.<\/p>\n
After four years of battling Millstone, Galatis finally got a severance agreement and left. The NRC never suspended Millstone\u2019s license, but three reactors were shut down for repairs at a cost of over $1 billion. A criminal investigation was launched.<\/p>\n
Galatis went on to graduate from seminary and is now a pastor.<\/p>\n
\u2014Adam Bowles, \u201cA Cry in the Nuclear Wilderness,\u201d Christianity Today<\/i> (October 2, 2000)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Topics: Character; Circumstances and Faith; Convictions; Dishonesty; Dying to Self; Guidance; Honesty; Integrity; Persecution; Work References: Psalm 41:12; Proverbs 11:3; Matthew 5:10; 16:24\u201326; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 3:7\u201317 George Galatis, an engineer at Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, Connecticut, found several unsafe practices at his plant. Federal guidelines required the Millstone plant to store only … Continue reading “REPORTING
\n WORK VIOLATIONS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}