No, it's not "The Simpsons." But with the latest round of safety goofs, pranks, and financial bungles, the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) Plant No. 2 on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation might as well have Homer at the controls. Pass the doughnuts and read on:

• In early April of this year, a maintenance error caused the plant to automatically shut down. Several days later during the restart, supervisors ignored operating procedures that called for a cooling water valve to remain closed. When reminded by workers of the proper procedure, one control room manager responded, "I don't see it as a problem. Let it go."
  In response to the open valve goof, two managers were fired in early May and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $50,000 fine. WPPSS has 30 days to agree or protest the fine. A WPPSS spokesman conceded, however, that a protest is unlikely: "We agree with what they found in their conclusion."
  In announcing the fine, NRC regional administrator Joe Callaghan said, "The violations were found to be safety-significant because they represent a breakdown in the control of licensed activities associated with the control room emergency filtration system."

• At WPPSS, it seems, boneheaded behavior is standard operating procedure. In June of last year, several workers were disciplined for driving around the reactor compound in a golf cart wearing ski masks and ambushing other workers taking a break in a trailer. Later in August, just following a "time out" to discuss inappropriate behavior at the plant, several workers in the maintenance department ambushed another employee, tied the person up with duct tape, shoved a pie in his face and poured lotion down the person's pants, according to an internal memo.

• And, at WPPSS stupidity is an equal opportunity employer. Even executive paper pushers get into the act. In March of this year, chief financial officer James Perko and three subordinates resigned after a shady uranium deal went sour. Last August, WPPSS sold 400,000 kilograms of uranium hexafluoride for $11.7 million to Denver uranium trader Oren Benton. Benton first promised to pay WPPSS by October, then by November.

With a track record like this, it's no surprise that in 1993 WPPSS Plant No. 2 was ranked the most unsafe nuclear plant in the country by the Critical Mass Energy Project, a study of nuclear safety in the U.S. sponsored by Public Citizen. In a memo last summer following repeated safety and security violations, WPPSS managing director Bill Counsil wrote to all the Homers in his command: "To put it bluntly, behavior such as this could lead to the shutdown of Plant 2 and the termination of the Supply System if we do not nip it in the bud immediately." We should be so lucky.