A lack of thorough inspections beforehand contributed to two mishaps at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in recent years: a 2004 transformer fire and a 2007 collapse of a cooling tower, according to a state report issued Tuesday.
By DAVE GRAM
Associated Press Writer
A lack of thorough inspections beforehand contributed to two mishaps at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in recent years: a 2004 transformer fire and a 2007 collapse of a cooling tower, according to a state report issued Tuesday.
The Public Oversight Panel found that in both instances Vermont Yankee and its owner, Jackson, Miss.-based Entergy Nuclear, should have relied more on industry experience with similar problems. It also found that inspections were hampered by the physical difficulty of reaching parts of the plant where trouble later started.
The report recommends that Vermont Yankee improve its performance if it wants to operate reliably after 2012. Its current license expires in March of that year and state and federal officials are reviewing whether it should get the 20-year license extension it is seeking.
One author of the report, former nuclear industry executive Arnold Gundersen, said in an interview that the problems are cultural among workers and management at Vermont's lone reactor, and therefore not easy to fix.
Gundersen said Entergy repeatedly brushed off requests for more resources to be devoted to inspecting parts of the plant that later failed.
"Three of their employees asked for extra time and extra money to inspect the cooling towers and Entergy rejected them," he said.
Other problems identified in the report included high staff turnover at the plant. Many employees are approaching retirement age and leaving with important institutional memory about plant operations, it said.
Tuesday's report was part of a two-pronged review — the consultant's report and the oversight panel's critique of that report — ordered by the Legislature as it prepares to decide whether Vermont Yankee should be allowed the 20-year license extension.
In all other states, such extensions usually are reviewed and routinely granted by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Vermont is the only state in which the Legislature has given itself the power to approve or deny an extension, and the state Public Service Board is also reviewing the matter.
Plant spokesman Robert Williams said the report was positive overall.
"The bottom line of all these safety and reliability inspections is that we have a very good combination here of good people, good processes and good equipment," he said in an e-mail. "We've said that this plant is an excellent candidate for continued operation and, to back that up, we now have formal, positive reviews on reliability and safety completed."
Several legislative leaders, to whom Tuesday's report was addressed, released statements in response to it, saying it gave them new cause for concern.
"As we pursue a reliable, clean and affordable energy future it is critical that Vermonters are assured of the reliability of relying on this aging plant," said Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington and chairwoman of the Senate Finance Committee, which reviews utility matters.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2008874140_vermontyankee.html
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