When is a hole not a hole?

Silly Julie ... (4.00 / 1)

you're just making a mountain out of a hole-hill.

It's over at http://ramabahama.net ... only it's still under construction (but so is the rest of my life)

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by: Rama Schneider @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 10:57:36 AM UTC

And don't forget the companion article ... (4.00 / 2)

In the past year, Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon was operated "in a manner that preserved public health and safety," stated the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in its annual assessment letter to Yankee's site vice president.

(NRC: Yankee operated safely in 2009, Brattleboro Reformer, 03/06/10)

Let's not let a non-existent hole in a non-existent pipe get in our way.

The scariest part for me, however is this tidbit:

"While the NRC does not have jurisdiction over communications between Entergy and the state of Vermont, the NRC is aware that some of these individuals have responsibilities that involve decision-making communications that are material to NRC and/or involve NRC-regulated materials," stated the letter.

(ibid)

So it is safe for Louisiana Entergy to lie to the state government in pursuit of an extended nuclear plant license at a broken down and failing nuclear plant. Because, after all, the people of Vermont are by federal law proscribed from viewing anything nuclear through the eyes of a concerned neighbor.

If not for the Vermont Senate, this whole situation would have become a 3 Stooges episode.

It's over at http://ramabahama.net ... only it's still under construction (but so is the rest of my life)

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by: Rama Schneider @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 11:54:56 AM UTC

Woha! That second quote is a real mind-bender! (4.00 / 3)

Sounds like the NRC has been drinking too much water from the Connecticut River!

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by: Sue Prent @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 15:34:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yeah (4.00 / 1)

Kinda-should-maybe go in some dictionary, somewhere, under the definition of "Bureaucracy".

"GMD's once proud libertarian-socialist"

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by: wdh3 @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 06:36:34 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think this is worse than Bureaucratic ineptitude (4.00 / 2)

The second quote is an admission of intentional disregard for duty. It is not your standard "not my department, Dude!"

This is like the banker who says "I know the appraiser relied on lies and was complicit w/fraud when supplying a $$million dollar appraisal for that tar-paper-shack leaning into the river."  However, as the banker/seller of the mortgage note "I do not have jurisdiction over the material fraud in the underlying appraisal that supports the loan I'm selling on the secondary market."

The second quote is evidence of NRC attempts to ignore a serious issue or facilitate the licensing of a facility that is unworthy of the license.  It is not a demonstration that they respect Vermont's regulatory authority or responsibility.
 

sláinte,
cl

-- Religion is like sodomy: both can be harmless when practiced between consenting adults but neither should be imposed upon children.

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by: Caoimhin Laochdha @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 15:53:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

When is a hole not a hole ? (4.00 / 1)

A hole is not a hole when safe is not safe.

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by: BP @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 14:53:11 PM UTC

Wonder (4.00 / 1)

I wonder how clean and reliable that hole is.

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by: bmike @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 14:55:15 PM UTC

How Zen (4.00 / 1)

When is a hole not a hole?

Can you hear the sound of one hand clapping or visualize only one VY tower collapsing?

If a tritium tree falls in the woods, does anyone hear the shitting bear glow?

sláinte,
cl

-- Religion is like sodomy: both can be harmless when practiced between consenting adults but neither should be imposed upon children.

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by: Caoimhin Laochdha @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 14:55:50 PM UTC

Great post (4.00 / 5)

Give them some credit. After all, anyone can find a hole in a pipe that actually exists. Finding a hole in a pipe that doesn't exist is the real trick.

Think of it: they had to find all the parts of the pipe that previously didn't exist, and then, the last part, the part that they didn't find, was the hole.

That's super-nuclear sleuthing if you ask me.

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by: Jack McCullough @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 15:24:43 PM UTC

Yes; no one is at fault here except the hole. (4.00 / 1)

That's neat.

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by: Sue Prent @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 15:37:13 PM UTC

nice (4.00 / 2)

I was hoping for some tunes with new lyrics for
the Beatles' "Fixing A Hole"

Led Zeppelin's "Hole Lotta Love"
(you need coolin...)

Dylan's "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Leaking)"

and of course, there's "Everything Is Broken"

Broken hands on broken ploughs,
Broken treaties, broken vows,
Broken pipes, broken tools,
People bending broken rules.
Hound dog howling, bullfrog croaking,
Everything is broken.

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by: Doug Hoffer @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 21:10:25 PM UTC

This has potential (4.00 / 2)

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When I get older, leaking my pipes
Many years from now,
Will you still be operating a reactor,
tritium & cobalt, spilling out the door?

I've I'd lost a cooling tower,
would you lose power?
Will you still need me,
will you renew me,
when I'm sixty-four.

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Okay, needs work...

Musician, Web Designer, Photographer

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by: JulieWaters @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 23:09:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Then there's Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like a Hole" (4.00 / 1)

'Don't know the lyrics but it certainly sounds like atomic energy erupting through steam vents!

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by: Sue Prent @ Sat Mar 06, 2010 at 23:48:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Old Folkie (4.00 / 1)

"There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza!
There's a hole in the bucket dear Liza, a hole!"

"Well fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry!
So fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry fix IT!"

"With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza?
With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, with what?"

With chewing gum, dear Henry, dear Henry dear Henary!
with chewing gum, dear Henry, with chewing gum fix IT!

I don't have no chewing gum, no chewing gum, no chewing gum!
I don't have no chewing gum, dear Liza, no gum!

Well go out and get some, dear Henry, dear Henry!
Well go out and get some, dear Henry, just go!

[and on and on for verse after verse about trying to fix the leaky bucket, and after each try, the bucket is still leaking. IIRC (45 years or so ago), they eventually agreed to get a new bucket, that then developed a hole.]

NanuqFC
If nuclear power plants are safe, let the commercial insurance industry insure them. Until these most expert judges of risk are willing to gamble with their money, I'm not willing to gamble with the health and safety of my family. ~ Donna Reed

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by: NanuqFC @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 13:26:47 PM UTC

Not in the environment? (4.00 / 1)

Yankee spokesman reassuring Vermonters:

"The water coming from the pipe gets collected in a sump drain and doesn't reach the environment."

http://www.timesargus.com/arti...

" The ship involved in the oil spill was towed beyond the environment  ,the environment is perfectly safe"

From :The Front Fell off  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

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by: BP @ Sun Mar 07, 2010 at 17:03:22 PM UTC