Yesterday NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko made an unprecedented trip to Vermont to meet with seven intervenor and environmental groups to discuss ongoing safety and aging management issues at Vermont Yankee.
Jaczko had a 90-minute discussion with representatives from the New England Coalition, Citizens Awareness Network, Conservation Law Foundation, Vermont Public Interest Research group, Safe and Green, Nuclear Free in 2012, and the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance in Brattleboro followed by a private tour of Vermont Yankee and meeting with Entergy officials.
While I had a meeting and could not listen to the whole event on the phone bridge provided by NRC, I did hear the first few minutes during which Chairman Jaczko thanked Vermont State Representative Sarah Edwards for setting up this meeting with the representatives of the seven groups. This statement received a round of applause from a majority of the group in attendance. In addition to the seven groups given time to speak, there were a myriad of observers from the press, the Congressional Delegations, state employees like Department of Health health physicist Dr. Bill Irwin, various elected officials, and concerned individuals. I have asked for a transcript and will post it when it is available. In the meantime Nuclear Free Vermont and VPIRG have sent me copies of their statements which are posted in their entirety below the fold.
James Moore of VPIRG was the last to speak and closed with the following points agreed upon by the seven groups. Moore said,
To that end I have been asked by the group to share four requests with you:
1. Cease consideration of ENVY's relicensing application promptly, and turn all regulatory focus toward ensuring safety during the transition to closure of the Vernon reactor, and implementation of comprehensive waste storage procedures. NRC should act with transparency to enforce its regulations and maintain strict vigilance so as to ensure against accidents, mishaps, and accidental releases in the interim.
2. Compile and disseminate a detailed plan for closure of Vermont Yankee. This plan should include a list of tasks and a timeline for their completion, in anticipation of closure in 2012. This plan should reflect NRC staff expertise, lessons learned from other reactors, and the particular expertise of people who have worked at Vermont Yankee or who have relevant knowledge of its operations.
3. Work with the licensee, state and local government officials, Entergy workers, independent experts and affected citizenry to form an advisory panel to advise and monitor activities directed toward a safe transition to closure.
4. Prepare and distribute monthly reports to update the public and elected officials about the closure process.
Ed Anthes of Nuclear Free Vermont, who posts often on Green Mountain Daily had the most detailed comments regarding Vermont Yankee's key safety and reliability issues due to its age and condition. He quoted specifically from the Legislature's oversight of VY and its reliability issues. See these and more information regarding Entergy's response below the fold.
Ed Anthes of Nuclear Free Vermont focused on the recent assessment of VY ordered by the Vermont Legislature. See Anthes entire statement at the end of this post.
In 2008, the Vermont Legislature enacted a law requiring an inspection of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, to help ensure that legislators could make a responsible, informed choice when deciding if Vermont will switch to renewable energy sources, or allow Entergy Nuclear to operate their reactor in Vernon for twenty years past its design life.
A summary of the NSA inspectors' evaluation is Appendix B, Vermont Yankee Benchmark Report. The Benchmark Report compares Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee to all other reactors in the US. ENVY ranks in the worst group of reactors in half of the benchmark measures compared. These include:
•Plant Overall Performance
•Production Cost
•Recordable Injuries
•Number of Systems Supervised by each System Manager
•Industry Equipment Reliability Performance
ENVY vs. Sister Plants Equipment Reliability Performance
ENVY ranks 10th worst of 12 similar reactors ENVY vs. Entergy Fleet Equipment Reliability Performance
ENVY ranks 11th worst of 12 Entergy reactors
Equipment Reliability Index
The NSA report states: "The ER Index performance does not meet industry standards."
In addition, the inspection report identified high personnel turnover, significant staffing vacancies, and poor levels of experience in two key departments: Maintenance and Equipment Reliability. As ENVY enters its final operating run, the importance of some of these critical deficiencies loom larger.
During the group's closing remarks, VPIRG's James Moore began his discussion emphasizing who VPIRG represents and then delineating breaches of NRC trust. In VPRIG's entire statement pasted at the end of this post, Moore said,
I am the clean energy program director for the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG). VPIRG is the largest consumer and environmental organization in Vermont and we have worked on Vermont Yankee related issues since 1972, when Vermont Yankee reactor was commissioned.
We are here today in part because Vermonters have good reason not to trust Entergy Vermont Yankee, and because we have good reason not to trust the NRC.
This mistrust has grown out of NRC's actions and apparent willingness to side with the nuclear industry at the expense of being straight with the public and putting safety first. Vermont Yankee is one of the oldest reactors in the country and we need a real cop on the beat.
Not all Vermonters have been happy with Chairman Jaczko's meeting with the nuclear safety advocacy groups that both the press and the industry try to portray as simply biased anti-nukes.
•Yesterday the Brattleboro Reformer posted a nasty editorial criticizing anti-nuclear activism and theatrics,
•The Vermont Energy Partnership sent a letter to Chairman Jaczko and the different newspapers and blogs criticizing the Chair's private meeting.
•Finally, pro-nuke blogs from around the country, led by Vermont's own Nuclear Energy Institute's connected Yes Vermont Yankee, also jumped in to condemn the NRC meeting with the Intervenors.
It is especially interesting to note that according to Source Watch the allegedly independent Vermont Energy Partnership includes Entergy Nuclear, IBM, Green Mountain Power, and former Governor Tom Salmon as key members.
See Membership List Here.
Pro-nuke blog Yes Vermont Yankee is written by an industry insider who makes her money working for the industry as does Rod Adams with his Atomic Insights. Although they all portray themselves as independent concerned citizens, all receive income from the nuclear industry and are part of an online group that spreads the same biased throughout the country. Like the Vermont Energy Partnership, these blogs are heavily connected to the lobbyists and nuclear industry groups of which they claim to have an unbiased opinion. [Don't believe what I say, do the research yourself via SourceWatch and Google.]
The pro-nuke blogs are similar to the resurrected I AM VY site, which features plant employees supposedly telling their own stories, although former Entergy legislative liaison Dave McElwee is no longer featured. You may remember that he was the Entergy employee who denied the existence of buried underground pipes carrying radioactivity to the legislature and condemned my firm Fairewinds Associates, Inc for bringing this critical environmental issue forward to the Joint Fiscal Committee in a report and testimony.
