ROANOKE TIMES  
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996                TAG: 9607180091
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-8  EDITION: METRO  

IN BUSINESS

Utility fined for firing whistleblower

MIAMI - Federal regulators fined Florida Power & Light $100,000 Wednesday for firing an engineer who blew the whistle on safety concerns at a nuclear plant.

The utility said it will ask the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reconsider the fine if it wins an appeal of an earlier order to rehire the engineer.

Richard Robainas, who claims more than $500,000 in back pay and legal fees, said he was fired in August 1991 after filing complaints with the NRC and the Department of Labor about warning systems at the Turkey Point nuclear plant in south Dade County. He said the systems were not precise enough to prevent a nuclear disaster.

FP&L said Robainas was fired because he refused to submit to psychological testing that ensures employees are competent to work at a nuclear plant.

- Associated Press

Briefly ...

ATT has cut an average of 4 percent from the prices on ATT calling card calls in Virginia, if customers use the (800) CALL-ATT access number. The long-distance carrier said it has ended an agreement with Bell Atlantic that enabled customers to place calling-card calls with the ATT card by dialing zero plus the phone number.

Pan American World Airways, the start-up carrier that bought the name of the former Pan Am, agreed Wednesday to merge with Fort Lauderdale-based Carnival Air Lines, which has 26 planes and employs about 1,350. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Pan Am is awaiting approval from government regulators to begin flights this summer. It owns three planes.

LENGTH: Short :   41 lines