VERNON, Vt. (AP) — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says a senior radiation protection technician at the closed Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant deliberately falsified safety records for eight months last year.

In a violation order issued Monday, the NRC says the now-former Entergy technician failed to test employees who were working the night shift for radiation exposure from January to September 2016.

The NRC says that while the violation was considered low-level, the agency increased the significance of the violation because the deception had been “deliberate” and “willful.”

The NRC says that when a second safety technician was on duty the night shift workers were tested as required.

It’s unclear how many workers were involved but employment at the nuclear reactor decreased sharply when it stopped generating electricity in late 2014.

Entergy spokesman Joe Lynch told the Rutland Herald the company will respond to the NRC as required

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