Vermont Yankee takes heat over 'miscommunication' involving underground pipes

The revelation last Friday that Vermont Yankee had discovered a radioactive isotope in one of its monitoring wells has led to what is likely to be much more damaging news for the Vernon nuclear plant. Yankee now reports that the tritium could have come from an underground pipe. State officials say they were led to believe by Yankee representatives that there was no radioactive material in underground pipes in the first place. Even the Douglas Administration, perhaps Yankee s greatest ally, sent a scathing message back to Yankee. Vermont Public Service Department Commissioner David O Brien told the Burlington Free Press that, The governor feels this has been a breach of trust.
The timing could hardly be worse for Yankee. The plant is seeking approval from the state to relicense the plant another 20 years beyond 2012, when it is scheduled to be decommissioned. The Legislature must first approve the license extension before the Vermont Public Service Board ultimately rules on the case. The Democratic leadership was skeptical of Yankee s plans even before the two issues came to light this week. Yankee owner Entergy Nuclear also wants to spin off the plant into a new company, which would require separate regulatory approval.
We would like to thank the Department of Public Service for their quick and strong action, said House Speaker Shap Smith in a statement sent to Vermont Business Magazine. The fact that the Department and the Legislature s Public Oversight Panel have been given inaccurate information is disconcerting and frankly threatens the level of trust that Vermonters can have in Entergy Louisiana.
Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin joined Smith in asking that the Vermont Yankee Oversight Panel reconvene and reexamine the conclusions of their March 2009 Report because, they stated, the information provided by Entergy can no longer be guaranteed. The Legislative leaders authorized the Senate Finance and House Natural Resources Committees to assist the panel in their examinations.
The breach of the truth by Entergy Louisiana is extremely concerning and we will be taking steps to reexamine all of the information that we have been given by Entergy Louisiana. said Senator Shumlin. In addition, we want to assure Vermonters that we will do everything in our power to make sure that the tritium leak is found and cleaned up as quickly as possible.
The Vermont Yankee Oversight Panel was formed in 2008 in order to conduct a comprehensive reliability assessment of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The 19 month assessment concluded in March 2009 with a mostly positive report delivered to the Legislature. Shap and Shumlin said in a statement that, These misrepresentations call the conclusions of the entire reliability assessment into question.
Comment from high ranking political figures did not stop there, as Vermont s Congressional delegation also weighed in.
I am deeply concerned about press reports today which suggest that Vermont Yankee officials provided inaccurate information to investigators about the risk of radioactive leaks in the plant s underground pipes, US Senator Patrick Leahy said in a statement. Such a leak could place Vermonters at risk, as well as devastate our land and natural resources. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission should investigate these reports immediately and if Vermont Yankee in fact failed to disclose critical information about the safety of the plant, they must be held accountable.
US Representative Peter Welch issued the following statement Friday concerning Vermont Yankee: I am deeply disturbed by news reports indicating that Vermont Yankee failed to provide accurate information to the state and the public. Vermonters have a right to know the facts and a right to be confident that Vermont Yankee is operating safely. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must immediately conduct a full investigation and hold Entergy accountable for any violation of federal statute or regulation.
Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie, another potential Yankee ally, provided this statement about the latest revelations: I have been briefed by the Public Service Commissioner on what we know now about the inaccurate and conflicting information provided by Entergy concerning underground pipes at the Vernon facility. I consequently call for a full and prompt investigation of Entergy management s conflicting statements. Before considering any further action on Vermont Yankee, we need a factual accounting and resolution of this situation.
Entergy Vermont Yankee spokesman Rob Williams offered the following statement:
Vermont Yankee is reviewing the company s exchanges of information with a consultant from the Legislature s Joint Fiscal Office and a Vermont Department of Public Service contractor that was assessing the plant s expected reliability in the license renewal period after 2012. It appears that there may have been miscommunications about the extent of underground piping that carries radioactivity.
Today (Thursday), the company received a letter related to that question from the Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) that expresses concern that any miscommunication may have had a bearing on the contractor s final report that was presented to the legislature. Vermont Yankee shares the DPS concerns and takes them seriously. The company s senior management has fully acknowledged the DPS concerns and is directing a comprehensive review of the questions received from, and the answers provided to the legislative consultant and the contracted assessment team members. The company s aim is to fully address the DPS concerns by establishing whether there was miscommunication, and if so, to determine the cause and set the record straight.
Williams also state that: A multi-discipline technical team is at work investigating the potential sources that have been identified. The ground water flow will be further characterized with the planned installation of seven new monitoring wells. As the work progresses with the oversight of state and federal regulators, I want to repeat: The existence of tritium in such low levels does not present a risk to public health or safety whatsoever. And, there has been no elevated tritium level found in any drinking water well samples or in Connecticut River water.
Steve Costello from Central Vermont Public Service, sent this statement:
As we have long said, public safety has always been and must always be the first concern in considering the future of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.
Previously, the in-depth analysis of the plant appeared to show that the plant could be safely and reliably operated; we believe the revelations of the past few days raise questions that must be answered to the satisfaction of state and federal regulators.
Vermont Yankee provides enormous economic value to Vermont through jobs, tax payments, local purchases and contributions to the state s renewable development fund. We believe the revenue-sharing agreement and a new power supply contract, at the right price, could also provide significant new benefits if safely and reliability questions can be appropriately answered. Those questions must be answered in an open and transparent way.
Given this new information, we support the Department of Public Service s call for a new inspection of the plant s piping systems, and analysis of the provision of information from the plant to regulators. Even a well-priced contract, absent these steps, would be trumped by our concerns about safety.
CVPS is Vermont s largest buyer of power from Yankee. The 630 megawatt reactor supplies about a third of Vermont s electricity.
_ Vermont Business Magazine. 1.15.2010.