NEW YORK, NY December 22, 2006 —Some workers at the Indian Point nuclear power plants are afraid to raise safety concerns because they fear retribution, that's according to federal regulators. WNYC's Kathryn Herzog has more.

A new report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says workers believe management punished employees who raised safety concerns. As a result, some workers said they were reluctant to raise any safety concerns themselves.

The report criticizes Indian Point owners Entergy Nuclear Northeast for not acting on what it called "a potentially chilling effect" among some workers. While most workers said they wouldn't hesitate to raise safety issues, the NRC says the results still had nuclear safety implications. Entergy issued a statement saying Indian Point managers will discuss the report with workers.

The NRC also announced Thursday it will closely monitor the plants in the coming year due to groundwater contamination near the reactors and faulty emergency sirens. For WNYC, I'm Kathryn Herzog.