BRATTLEBORO -- A revised panel report on Vermont's sole nuclear plant found the facility cannot reliably continue operating past its expiration date in 20 months with the current owner unless changes are made in the corporate culture.
However, if the company addresses several key concerns, the panel does not change its fundamental conclusion that Vermont Yankee can operate reliably for an additional two decades.
The Vermont Yankee Public Oversight Panel, created to review a reliability assessment of the 38-year-old nuclear plant, released an updated version of its March 2009 report Tuesday after lawmakers reconvened the group to assess two major developments since the initial evaluation.
Legislators reconvened the Yankee oversight panel in January to re-evaluate the reliability assessment of the plant after repeated tritium leaks on-site and reports of misstatements provided by Entergy Corp., the owner and operator of Vermont Yankee, to regulators and state officials.
A three-member panel appointed by both executive and legislative branches, reported Vermont Yankee operated continuously for 531 days following a refueling outage in November 2008. While operating for that timeframe without an unplanned shutdown is a "considerable reliability achievement," it is overshadowed by the undetected underground pipe failures causing tritium (a naturally-occurring radioactive isotope) and other radionuclides to leak at the site, according
Panel members also called on Entergy for misleading comments before the Public Service Board (leading to several management changes at the plant), but noted officials did not appear to deliberately mislead.
The new cautionary resolution is the following: Entergy must provide clearer information to state officials than was evidenced with the underground pipes incident earlier this year.
"The ink had hardly dried on the principles of credible and competent verification and public interaction that we endorsed in March 2009 before they were apparently significantly undermined by Entergy's handling of the underground piping question," concludes the public oversight panel. "Entergy cannot operate VY reliably for an additional 20 years unless it successfully reestablishes a corporate culture where its individual employees and the organization as a whole have a questioning attitude, and where adequate resources are consistently spent on non-safety systems."
Opponents of the nuclear plant point to the panel's determination that Entergy has serious deficiencies to address before an assurance of reliability is met.
But Larry Smith, Entergy's manager of communications, said the panel also reaffirms the central finding from 2009 that, with recommendations, Vermont Yankee can operate reliably beyond 2012.
"And Vermont Yankee hopes this central conclusion is given due consideration as Vermont policy-makers consider relicensing in the following months," he said.
The original 2009 conclusion provided the company with approximately 80 recommendations, and Smith told the Reformer that Entergy is continuing to work with state regulators on those issues. Many of the articles have already been addressed, and plant managers are working with the Vermont Department of Public Service to review the rest.
Regarding the comments on non-safety system, Smith said plant officials have focused on appropriate levels of oversight on all non-safety related equipment.
"Safety is our first priority, both nuclear safety and radiological safety. There is no such thing as being overly focused on safety," he said. "Non-safety related equipment in the plant is also important, and we're using the recent root-cause analysis of the tritium leak as a basis to focus our attention and resources on non-safety related equipment moving forward."
Outgoing Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, said Vermont deserves better than what Entergy is offering the state.
"The plant's 2012 retirement date has been scheduled since it was built, giving its out-of-state corporate owners years to make their case. They have failed," said Shumlin, a Democratic candidate for governor, during a Tuesday morning press conference at the Statehouse.
"Instead, they have misled us and attempted to evade their responsibilities for clean-up costs. This report, further demonstrates, that the Vermont Senate made the correct decision to close the aging plant on schedule in its vote this year," he said.
In February, the state Senate voted 26-4 to nix Entergy's bid to continue operations at the Vernon facility past March 2012. Vermont is the only state in the country granting its legislative branch authority in the relicensing of a nuclear plant.
Entergy has applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend its license for another 20 years, but the plant must receive approval at both the federal and state level.
State lawmakers designed the oversight panel to further transparency, as well as public review and involvement in the plant's assessment. The report reiterated many concerns regarding the reliability of Yankee, according to House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morrisville.
"As we pursue a reliable, clean and affordable energy future, it is critical that Vermonters are assured of the reliability and credibility of those running this aging plant," said Smith. "The cultural norms that allowed personnel to repeatedly make misstatements call into question [Entergy's] trustworthiness as an organization."
Vermont Entergy Partnership, a statewide energy group affiliated with Yankee's relicensing, issued a statement following the release of the updated report.
VTEP spokesman Guy Page said the report provides updated guidance in key areas in regards to the recent events at Vermont Yankee, but reaffirms the central finding from the initial report that the facility can continue operating beyond its license.
"Vermont Yankee has also been exhaustively scrutinized from a safety and reliability standpoint by the independent [NRC] and consistently attained high safety ratings. This, too, is very important but often overlooked information," he stated.
Chris Garofolo can be reached at cgarofolo@reformer.com or 802-254-2311 ext. 275.
Font Resize
