Dave Gram of the AP has the scoop on that Cesium-37 found at Vermont Yankee in February, which Entergy had tried to fob off on background radiation from 1950s nuclear tests, or Chernobyl, or anything other than that oh-so-reliable plant on the banks of the CT River (enphasis mine). Well, all I can say is "Surprise, surprise, surprise!":
The Health Department statement on Tuesday said the cesium-137 found in the Vermont Yankee soil samples was three to 12 times as high as the background levels attributed to the other causes, meaning it "appears likely the Cs-137 comes from Vermont Yankee reactor related sources."
Vermont Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said he was not surprised by the finding, and that plant officials believe the cesium can be cleaned up as part of their already planned effort to remove some of the soil around plant buildings and ship it off for treatment as low-level radioactive waste.
Today, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to reconsider its plans to hold a private meeting regarding NRC oversight of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY), ENVY's tritium releases, and other issues questions from attendees. The closed meeting for invitees the NRC deemed to be stakeholders is scheduled for April 14 at the Keene Country Club in Keene, NH.
March 30, 2010
The Honorable Gregory B. Jaczko
Chairman
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, D.C. 20555-0001
Dear Chairman Jaczko:
We write to follow up on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's invitation to participate in a closed-door "Government-to-Government" meeting on April 14 in Keene, New Hampshire.
We are committed to open and transparent government and to honoring both the letter and spirit of Vermont's open meeting laws. Avoiding Vermont's open meeting laws by holding this meeting in New Hampshire will only add to the growing public skepticism about the handling of oversight at Vermont Yankee, and could curtail participation from Vermont officials.
While we recognize that the discussion of information relating to security considerations often requires confidential briefings, the discussion of broader issues surrounding this facility is of great interest to Vermonters and is a discussion that should be conducted in a public setting.
We urge you to reconsider, and to hold the April 14 meeting in Vermont so that Vermont's federal, state and local officials can fully participate. We look forward to hearing from you regarding this request.
Sincerely,
Patrick Leahy Bernard Sanders Peter Welch
U.S. Senator U.S. Senator U.S. Representative
I deeply appreciate this letter from our Congressional Delegation. Safe and reliable nuclear power are not issues to be discussed behind closed doors. Entergy has not met its burden of proof on ENVY's reliability to the State of Vermont or its burden of proof on safety issues to the NRC, now matter what public claims are made by NRC spokespersons.
More on this and on Secretary of State Deb Markowitz's comments will be added below the fold.
UPDATE #1: NRC has basically verified all this. Listen to this phone call.
* * *
Once again the NRC is up to its old antics of creating secret meetings for the privileged few it deems as stakeholders. NRC's alleged Government-to-Government meeting is in direct violation of federal and state Sunshine Laws, the NRC Chair's commitment to NRC transparency and inclusiveness, and President Obama's promise for Change to the electorate to usher in a new era of openness in our federal democracy.
According to the private email sent by the NRC to selected public officials:
The meeting is closed to members of the public and the media and it will not be publically noticed. The meeting is open to elected State/Town officials or a member of their staff and selected representatives from your State agencies. The purpose of the meeting being closed is to provide you an opportunity to have an open and frank discussion, ask questions and express your concerns. Our goal is for the invitees to feel comfortable in an environment that won't lead to possible misquotes in the media or misunderstandings with your constituents.
The initial email sent out by NRC included a PDF document detailing the meeting. I have pasted the entire PDF at the bottom of this post.
SUBJECT: U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION, REGION I
VERMONT YANKEE GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT MEETING
Dear:
You are cordially invited to attend a government-to-government meeting among the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); representatives of various Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts state agencies; and Federal and local government officials from the communities surrounding the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. At this meeting, NRC will discuss its independent inspection of Entergy's groundwater initiative program and the NRC's review, to date, of the activities related to the recent tritium leak at the Vermont Yankee site.
The NRC is providing this information in advance of the public release of its inspection report on
this subject to better equip government stakeholders to answer questions they may receive from their constituents. The meeting will be limited to elected officials, or their staff, to best facilitate an open and courteous discussion and will not be open to the public or the media.
At a minimum . . .
. . . I expect the Democratic candidates for Governor with the exception of Matt Dunne who is not an elected official to send staff to this meeting. Why should Dubie get a pass? He should be there with a tape recorder too.
This meeting must be recorded in accordance with Vermont's Open Meeting laws. If these four Vermont government officials send their staff, then all records. . . are public documents. . .
I want to see all four elected candidates commit to upholding open government on one of the biggest liabilities the Douglas administration is hoisting on Vermont's taxpayers and all of us rate payers.
This is a really good idea!
Do you want to know what is happening? Time to get on the phone to Susan Bartlett, Deb Markowitz, Doug Racine & Peter Shumlin. There is no excuse for them, or someone representing them, not to be at that meeting protecting Vermont's interests.
These entities have proven that they can never be trusted behind closed doors. Can we trust our elected representatives to attend and give a full accounting? Let's find out.
* * *
UPDATE #3: The Times Argus has now picked up this story:
Two separate items in the "it would be funny but ..." category:
First, according to Susan Smallheeer over at the Rutland Herald, the new NRC resident inspector at the Vernon nuke plant should fit in easily to the Entergy corporate culture: he is one of its own former employees:
The new senior resident inspector from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission worked for Entergy Nuclear, the owner of Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor, until 2006, before he left to become a federal inspector.
But a spokesman for the NRC said David Spindler stopped working for Entergy Nuclear in 2006, well beyond the two-year hiatus federal regulations call for.
Oh, well, then, that's okay. Especially since the NRC spokesman, Neil Sheehan, added this admonishment:
"If an NRC employee faces a conflict of interest, we expect them to discuss it with their supervisors in a timely manner," he said.
Just like the NRC responded to the tritium leak "in a timely manner." Don't we all feel safer now?
Second, Ed Shamy, publisher and editor of The County Courier, a weekly paper out of Enosburg in Franklin County, has editorialized eloquently on a request for bids for a private contractor to make Vermont's license plates ... which are currently made by Vermont prisoners.
Shamy researched the Vermont prison hourly pay rate: 25 cents an hour ranging up to a max of $1.35 an hour:
The state is asking private vendors if they want to make our license plates, and how much they would charge. There could be cost savings to be had, and Vermont is looking beneath every rock and cow pie for cost savings these days.
Well, don't forget that these prisoners also get room and board, not reflected in the hourly wage.
Perhaps hiring a non-jailed Vermonter could be cheaper. Lots of us can only dream of 25 cents per hour. Another option could be a few thousand school-aged children from mainland China who are looking for work outside the fireworks factory.
Shamy's editorial was well done, and includes an explanation of what makes Vermont license plates special: debossing.
(Note: The Courier has limited online access without subscription, but Ed is working on providing a link for us to this editorial, which I'll add later if it works out. Otherwise you can read this week's free content at www.countycourier.com)
FITNESS FOR DUTY - SUPERVISOR TESTED POSITIVE FOR ALCOHOL was today's posting on the NRC Website for current event notifications.
A non-licensed employee supervisor had a confirmed positive for alcohol during a random fitness-for-duty test. The employee's unescorted access to the plant has been revoked. Contact the Headquarters Operations Officer for additional details.
What is a non-licensed employee supervisor? Well, that means he was not one of the plant operators, but is a supervisor of another group, like engineering, maintenance, purchasing, or even health physics meaning dose measurement.
Not only is Vermont Yankee on a hiring freeze on orders from parent company Entergy, but the VT Legislature's appointed oversight panel (VYOP) noted that staffing problems were endemic throughout the organization. In some departments 80% of the employees had been at VY less than three years, which according to VYOP is an indication of high turnover and inexperience.
Last spring, VY informed the Legislature that it would meet the VYOP recommendations, yet with an Entergy hiring freeze at a plant that already had staff shortages, how will that be possible? Now on top of failing cooling towers, equipment degradation and dose miscalculations we have supervisors arriving to work drunk.
(Ed has the latest with the new NRC report... and it ain't good. - promoted by Christian Avard)
That's the best way I can describe the NRC report released today on the cleanup fund for Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee.
The report ignores the fact that with the falling stock market, the amount in the fund has dropped by 20% since 2007. NRC staff take no notice of the drastic decline in the value of the cleanup fund.
While the report states
Should there be a material decline in the Decommissioning Trust Fund balance, the staff's analysis and preliminary findings may no longer be valid
Entergy has not yet been required to officially report the dramatic loss in the fund to the NRC. So the NRC pretends that the fund has as much money as before the crash.
