| An apparently well meaning man from the NRC was in Vermont last week holding meetings on what could be described as a listening tour.
Here in Vermont NRC Chairman Jaczko was told that the NRC had a credibility problem with regard to Vermont Yankee and its myriad of safety issues. He [Jaczko] said there is a "trust gap" between Vermont residents and the NRC.
What better illustration does the NRC need of what could be fixed, credibility wise than the report from his agency, released days after his visit, of VY’s 65 “relevant” and “non relevant” cracks in the thirty year old plants steam dryer.
The report filed earlier this month with the NRC by Entergy was given the traditional soft entry into the news flow on a quiet Friday afternoon. A relevant explanation of these two cracking classifications, “relevant” and “non-relevant” was not available.
No relevant change in procedures at the NRC, kind of incredible.
BRATTLEBORO —A recent inspection of Vermont Yankee’s steam dryer, considered a critical indicator of aging and stress at the nuclear reactor, showed only one new crack, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said late Friday afternoon.
The new crack brings the total to 65 cracks in the steam dryer. At the same time, Entergy said it reevaluated 39 cracks identified during the 2008 refueling outage which had been determined as “relevant” at the time, and were now “non-relevant.”
Neither Entergy nor the NRC could explain the difference between “relevant” and “non-relevant,” saying technical staff were unavailable Friday afternoon. |
