Symington, Shumlin say "false claims" made by PSD over Yankee request
(July 21,2008) During the 2008 session the legislature put in place a collaborative process between the Department of Public Service and a Public Oversight Panel for design and implementation of the independent safety assessment of Vermont Yankee. This Panel is critical to the legislature's upcoming consideration of Vermont Yankee's future.
We are disappointed to learn that the Department of Public Service has chosen not to supply the Panel with the necessary information to evaluate the safety inspection of Vermont Yankee and treated them with a level of disrespect that is unacceptable.
Last week, Mr. Gundersen requested the Department allow him to accompany the NRC during their inspection of Vermont Yankee. The Department falsely claimed to Panel members that the NRC had denied Mr. Gundersen's request. However, the NRC has since made it clear that the Department never made this request of them. There was no request
for them to have denied.
Despite these false claims coming to light, the Department is continuing to deny Mr. Gundersen from accompanying the NRC this week and further denying any Panel member this opportunity for the remainder of the inspection process. The Department claims that this week's NRC inspection is unrelated to the state's independent safety assessment of Vermont Yankee. This too is inaccurate. In an April 11 letter to Governor Douglas, the NRC informed the Governor they had moved up their inspection of the plant in order to assist with some of the questions regarding relicensing for the legislative review next year. Today, we have sent a letter to Commissioner O'Brien, urging him to reconsider and allow Panel members to do the job the legislature intended and accompany the NRC in future inspections.
These recent false claims and obstructionist actions only add to the unfortunate manner in which the Department has chosen to participate in this important collaborative process. The Department began this process by inaccurately labeling the two esteemed nuclear experts as "no-nukers." This unjust allegation was not only inappropriate but incorrect. Both Mr. Gundersen and Mr. Bradford have the experience and expertise necessary to objectively evaluate the audit. Mr. Gundersen is an energy advisor with thirty-eight years of nuclear engineering, operations, and safety oversight experience while Mr. Bradford is a former NRC Commissioner who authorized the permitting of over twenty nuclear power plants during his tenure.
The Oversight Panel was established by the legislature to ensure transparency and public involvement in the independent safety inspection of the plant. We are disappointed the Department of Public Service is choosing to stand in the way of a process designed to ensure the safety of the Vermont nuclear power plant and treating this important panel with such disrespect. Vermonters should not be shut out of the process to ensure the plant's safety and reliability.
Please note that the letter to Commissioner O'Brien is pasted below.
------------------
July 21, 2008
Commissioner David O'Brien
Vermont Department of Public Servicev
112 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05620-2601
Dear Commissioner O'Brien,
In early 2008, the Governor, legislative leaders, and the congressional delegation agreed that an Independent Audit must be conducted at Vermont Yankee prior to a decision to allow the plant to operate beyond the expiration of its current license. The details of that Assessment were codified in Act 189 - The Comprehensive Vertical Audit and Reliability Assessment of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, which the legislature passed and the Governor signed into law on June 5, 2008.
Act 189 puts in place a collaborative process between the Department of Public Service and a Public Oversight Panel for design and implementation of the audit. The Public Oversight Panel is critical to the legislature's upcoming consideration of Vermont Yankee's future.
It has come to our attention that the Department is not complying with the legislation's directive to involve the Panel in an important area of the inspection process.
The Department has denied a member of the Panel his request to accompany NRC inspectors on their visit to Vermont Yankee this week as they begin the Vertical Slice Audit. Furthermore, the Department has refused to request of the NRC that any Panel member accompany them on future plant inspections.
The Public Oversight Panel was created in order to ensure the "maximum amount of transparency and public oversight and involvement" in the audit process (Act 189, Sec. 6). It is not appropriate for the Department of Public Service to restrict members of the Public Oversight Panel's involvement in the audit process. The legislation intended that the Public Oversight Panel be deeply involved in the entire audit process. As was remarked by a member of the sponsor committee during testimony on this legislation, "We have all put our total faith in the Public Oversight Panel and we don't want to do anything that will impede their ability to get the information they need to make the best decision for us. And we also don't want to put restrictions on them so they can't do it in the very short time frame we have laid out." (Representative Kathy LaVoie, House Natural Resources and Energy Committee, 4/18/08)
We expect that for the remainder of this process the Public Oversight Panel will be involved at a deeper level than has been practiced up to this point and we urge you to reconsider your decision not to allow Panel members to accompany the NRC on their inspections of Vermont Yankee. The independent safety assessment of Vermont Yankee is critical to Vermont's energy future. We are confident that the Department of Public Service will follow through with the intent of the legislation and that the remainder of this process will be productive and
successful.
Sincerely,
Senator Peter Shumlin, Senate President Pro Tem
Representative Gaye Symington, Speaker of the
House