Misunderstanding Causes Nuclear Plant Evacuation
April 8, 2008 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
The Point Beach nuclear power plant near Milwaukee, Wisconsin was shut down for several hours after a convenience store clerk misunderstood a comment by a contractor who was asking for directions.
The contractor, reporting for his first day on the job, and due to his inexperience had jokingly said to the clerk that he “hoped he wouldn’t blow up the place”. The clerk misunderstood and thought he said that he “came to blow up the place”.
The clerk called police to report what she heard. FBI and local police searched the man’s vehicle at the power plant and determined that he wasn’t a threat.
