BUCHANAN, N.Y. - Give him a chance, and Fred Dacimo will try to convince you that the Indian Point 2 nuclear plant is not so bad. He will tell you that it generates power for hospitals and police stations, not to mention your air conditioner on hot, sweaty days.

If you change the subject, Dacimo, vice president of operations for the plant, will change it back.

"What we're doing here is an important thing for society," he said. "The real question is not 'Why aren't you shutting us down,' but 'Why aren't you extending our license and building more nuclear plants?'"

Since taking charge a year ago, Dacimo, 49, has been working overtime to turn around a troubled plant with one of the worst safety records in the nation. He has overseen sweeping changes by a new owner, the Entergy Corp., and sought to motivate the plant's 700-member work force, with a forceful management style that mixes tough love with inspirational speeches.

Deflecting criticism

But perhaps his biggest challenge has been deflecting public criticism about Indian Point since the World Trade Center attacks. Dacimo, a big presence with his stocky build and confrontational attitude, has debated the plant's opponents and even invited them to tour Indian Point. Many have accepted his offer.

He often answers his own phone, though he has assistants and a media relations office at his disposal. "I think the adversity makes it more interesting," Dacimo said. "It adds a dimension to the job that keeps you busy."

It is Dacimo's unwillingness to take no for an answer that gets results, his supporters say. In the past year, Indian Point's records show that human errors at the plant have dropped by two-thirds, to 0.35 errors per 10,000 work-hours. The backlog of work orders for equipment repairs has also dwindled to less than 130, from more than 560 a year ago.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission took note of recent improvements when it raised the plant's dismal safety rating, if only slightly, in August. Indian Point no longer has the worst safety rating of the nation's 103 commercial nuclear plants. Instead, it is listed among the six worst.

Dacimo says it is just the first step.

Indian Point's critics remain skeptical, however. "They've fixed the easy things first, and they've been overselling the improvements," said state Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, who represents central Westchester County and has called for the plant's closing.

Motivation

In 1999, Dacimo was hired as the plant manager for Indian Point 3, the other working reactor at the site. Under his supervision, both Indian Point plants have made improvements, but he does not like to take credit alone. He salts his sentences with words like teamwork, accountability and pride. He has printed up plastic cards for his employees that list the plant's 2002 goals on the front, and the requisites for "personal contribution to success" on the back.

Some of his employees say that he can be demanding and impatient, though also dynamic and inspiring. "I think some people here really like him," said Thomas Burns, a health physics supervisor at the plant. "And everybody respects him."

Dacimo has a sense of humor. On a table in his tidy office, he keeps a stash of Tootsie Rolls in a candy tray fashioned from the defective lid of a fuel container. Next to it, a clear glass jar bears the sign, "Failure to Use Phonetic Alphabet."

If an employee forgets to use the phonetic alphabet - alpha, bravo, delta, and so forth - he tells the offender to drop a quarter in the jar. About $5 in bills and coins was in there one recent week.