HARTFORD, Connecticut, September 28, 2025 (ENS) - Northeast Nuclear Energy Company, owner and operator of the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in eastern Connecticut, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of falsifying environmental records and agreed to pay a record $10 million fine. The case marks only the second time that a that a nuclear power plant owner has been found guilty of felonies.

Northeast pleaded guilty to six federal felony counts stemming from Clean Water Act violations between 1994 and 1996 at its three nuclear reactors at Millstone, in Waterford, Connecticut. The company also admitted to 19 counts of knowingly falsifying training records for employees seeking nuclear plant operator licenses. The $10 million penalty is the largest ever paid by a nuclear plant in the U.S.

"No matter who you are, no matter how big you are, if you endanger our citizens, lie to regulators and choose profits over the public, you will be prosecuted,'' said Stephen Robinson, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, at a press conference after the guilty plea was entered. Robinson said he hoped the record penalty would deter other utilities from similar crimes.

In its guilty plea entered in U.S. District Court in Hartford, Northeast admitted to letting hydrazine, a toxic chemical used to reduce pipe corrosion, spill into Long Island Sound at a rate of one gallon an hour during 1996. The company also admitted that company testers diluted samples with ocean water to hide the problem from federal regulators. Whistleblowers from the company tipped off the U.S. Environmental protection agency about the dumping in 1996.

In court Monday, federal prosecutors said they could not prove that the hydrazine had caused environmental problems. Hydrazine is toxic to fish and other marine life.

Twelve control room operators at Millstone received federal licenses based on fraudulent information that the company submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). In 1996, six of seven Millstone candidates for federal licensing failed federal examinations, bringing problems with Millstone's training program to the attention of the Commission.

Federal prosecutors said the flawed training could have put Millstone’s nuclear reactors in the hands of operators unable to prevent a crisis.

A Northeast subsidiary, Northeast Utilities Service Company, pleaded guilty to two felonies after admitting to using a fire hose to dilute water samples taken at Devon Station, a coal fired power plant in Milford, Connecticut.

Millstone officials say they hope the guilty pleas will end the public’s perception of Millstone as a symbol of nuclear plant mismanagement. In 1997, Millstone was fined $2.1 million by the NRC for design and safety problems, and all three reactors at the site were ordered shut down. Two of the reactors have since been restarted and are producing energy, while the third is being decommissioned.

The NRC released a statement Monday supporting the actions against Northeast, and calling for continued oversight of operations at Millstone. The utility has been placed on three years probation, allowing closer oversight of Millstone operations.

"Trust is fundamental to NRC's oversight program," said Hubert Miller, NRC Region I administrator. "We perform numerous inspections and monitor day to day plant operations. But because we can only look at a sampling of plant activities and records, it is important that our license-holders provide complete and accurate information. Honesty and integrity are important to ensuring the protection of public health and safety."

U.S. District Judge Robert Chatigny, who accepted the companies’ pleas, said he hoped Northeast would now become a better citizen.

"Ultimately the public has to depend on the good faith, honesty and integrity of the people who manage our large corporations,'' he told Northeast Utilities chairman and CEO Michael Morris. "And I trust that this experience will not soon be forgotten."

"Yes sir, I understand your point, and you have our commitment," responded Morris.

Morris replaced retired Northeast chairman Bernard Fox in 1997. Fox was in charge when the crimes at Millstone took place.

In a statement Monday, Morris said, "We failed to live up to what was required of us as a responsible corporate citizen and a leader in our community. Today, we are paying a very steep price for that failure. The government has sent a very strong message and we get it, loud and clear."

As part of the plea agreement, Northeast Utilities will donate $1 million to endow a business ethics chair at the University of Connecticut (UC). Another $650,000 will pay for an environmental clinic at UC’s School of Engineering. One million dollars will assist local towns in buying riverfront property for public parks, and $650,000 will go to Hartford based Riverfront Recapture for its leadership camp for disadvantaged city youth.

Under the plea agreement, the gifts are not tax deductible, but Northeast has pledged not to pass the costs of the penalty on to consumers.

Robinson said the $5 million to be paid by Northeast Nuclear Energy Co. is the largest civil or criminal penalty issued in the history of commercial nuclear power. The $5 million to be paid by the Northeast Utilities Service Co. is the largest criminal penalty in an environmental case in Connecticut history.

The owners of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in the only other felony conviction ever at a U.S. nuclear power plant (Photo courtesy NRC)

The only other case in which a nuclear power plant owner has been found guilty of felonies occurred 15 years ago, when Metropolitan Edison pleaded guilty to falsifying records at the Three Mile Island plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Steven Herman, the EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement, applauded the record penalties.

"Just as you're not supposed to assault your neighbors with fists and guns, you don't assault your neighbors with pollution," said Herman.

Prosecutors said the company hid the violations to save money in preparation for plans to sell the Millstone plant. But Northeast could face additional financial problems from another lawsuit brought by 10 part owners of the

Millstone 3 reactor. That case seeks at least $200 million in costs resulting from the 1996 shutdown of all three reactors.