NRC to discuss VY assessment on Monday night

BRATTLEBORO -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be in Brattleboro May 12 to discuss this year's annual assessment of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon.

Starting at 6 p.m., the NRC will meet with representatives from Entergy, which owns and operates Yankee, at the Red Roof Inn on Putney Road, to discuss the annual assessment, which covers the period from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2007.

After the NRC meets with Entergy, it will take questions from the public on the plant's 2007 performance and the agency's oversight of the facility.

"Through a combination of inspection findings and performance indicators, we are able to develop a comprehensive picture of how nuclear power plants are performing with regard to safety," stated NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins, in a press release announcing the meeting. "As part of our commitment to make the findings of our reviews accessible to the public, we hold meetings near each plant once a year to share the details of those assessments. We look forward to the opportunity on May 12th to present that information for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant."

According to the NRC, "Overall, Vermont Yankee operated

safely during 2007."

The NRC uses color-coded performance indicators and inspection findings. The colors start with "green" and then increase to "white," "yellow" or "red," commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved.

Yankee received one "white" finding last year, but the rest of the plant's performance indicators were green.

The white finding involved the shipment of a package holding radioactively contaminated equipment from Vermont Yankee to a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania on Aug. 31, 2006, in which the package was not properly prepared and shipped in conformance with U.S. Department of Transportation radiation level limits.

Inspections are carried out by the two NRC resident inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the agency's Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa.

The annual assessment letter for Vermont Yankee, which was issued in March, is available on the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/vy_2007q4.pdf.

Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 273.