Layoffs Set at Rancho Seco Nuclear Plant
Officials of the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant have told 200 consultants, contractors and other temporary employees that they will be laid off in the next few weeks.
The plant’s chief executive officer, Joe Firlit, said Friday that the layoffs are part of an effort to cut fat at the plant and will not impair its safety.
No full-time utility workers will lose their jobs, he said. About 969 full-time and part-time workers will remain on the payroll while the number of consultants and contractors will drop from 676 to 476, making for a total employment of 1,445, the leanest work force at Rancho Seco in years.
Rancho Seco has not operated since a Jan. 31 auxiliary feed-water pump mishap but is scheduled to start up again in mid-March.
The use of consultants and contractors at Rancho Seco has long been a sore point for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Just Thursday, the district’s president, Joe Buonaiuto, criticized consultants, saying they “are sucking the blood out of ratepayers.”
The utility district last year set aside $304 million for consultants and contractors. This amounts to $700 per customer.
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