Vermont’s congressional delegation took their concerns over the safety of Vermont Yankee and the credibility of its management straight to the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday. Led by Senator Bernie Sanders, he and Senator Patrick Leahy and Representative Peter Welch met with NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko in Sanders’ DC office. The three emerged to hold a brief conference call with reporters. Their message was unified and clear, the source of the tritium leak at the nuclear power plant in Vernon must be found, it must be fixed, and management must be held accountable for inaccurate statements related to sworn testimony concerning the plant's infrastructure.
The most blunt statement came from Leahy.
“I don’t find the company credible,” Leahy said during the late afternoon conference call. Leahy and his colleagues frequently called into question the veracity of the management team and owner of the facility, Entergy Nuclear of New Orleans.
Plant officials several times last year, including during sworn testimony last May, indicated that there were not underground pipes carrying radioactive materials at the plant in southwestern Vermont. Vermont Yankee now agrees that those statements were inaccurate, after legislators found out there were indeed such underground piping systems.
This all came to light after Yankee reported tritium, a radioactive isotope, was found in a monitoring well in early January. The level of tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, has gone from a trace to varying levels to above federal safety levels. An underground, concrete trench was subsequently found to contain higher levels of tritium plus two other isotopes that are of greater concern: cobalt-60 and zinc-65. These types of isotopes are associated with nuclear fission. Other testing wells are being dug around the plant that sits next to the Connecticut River.
In a statement issued by the congressmen after the conference call, they said: “We remain deeply troubled about the radioactive leak at the Vermont Yankee plant, and called on Chairman Jaczko and the NRC to use all authority granted to the NRC under federal law to investigate the cause of this leak and work to fix it. We also requested that the NRC determine if plant officials have misled regulators in any of their representations. It is unacceptable to have a radioactive leak at the Vermont Yankee plant at levels many times higher than federal standards.
“Recent events have highlighted our ongoing concern about Entergy’s commitment to safety and we will continue to press for rigorous federal oversight of the plant by the NRC, consistent with its mission to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plant facilities. We thank Chairman Jaczko for his efforts to ensure a swift and comprehensive investigation into this matter.”
Jaczko said the NRC is sending additional inspectors to the plant to help find the source of the leak and fix it.
Vermont Yankee has applied to extend its operating license for 20 years beyond its scheduled decommissioning in March 2012. The 620-megawatt plant supplies about a third of Vermont’s electricity. In December, Entergy made public a new power purchase contract for Vermont utilities that would go hand-in-hand with the relicensing. Legislators will have to vote on whether to approve the relicensing before the application moves on to regulators.
Meanwhile, Entergy is promising a full investigation and cooperation with Governor Douglas' office and the Public Oversight Panel. A statement from Vermont Yankee indicates that two new monitoring wells are already online and a third is being dug. The statement also emphasizes that no tritium has been found in any public drinking water sources, nor does the material that has been discovered at the plant pose any health threat to the public. The plant remains at full operation.
For more details on the tritium investigation, the Vermont Department of Health has a status report on the investigation at this web link: http://healthvermont.gov/enviro/rad/yankee/tritium.aspx
Also, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has web page on tritium monitoring: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/ops-experience/grndwtr-contam-trit...
Entergy Statement:
Entergy Pledges Internal Review, Cooperation with State Investigation
No Public Health or Safety Risk from Tritium Leak at Vermont Yankee
Entergy Corporation and the Vermont Yankee management take with utmost seriousness their responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to our regulators and other stakeholders. Entergy has assured Vermont Governor James H. Douglas and the Vermont Public Service Department that it is conducting a thorough, ongoing, comprehensive internal investigation – supported by an independent, outside counsel’s review – to get to the bottom of how and why the company provided conflicting information to the Department and its contractor, Nuclear Safety Associates, about the extent of underground piping that carries radioactivity at Vermont Yankee.
J. Wayne Leonard, Entergy’s chairman and chief executive officer, acknowledged to Governor Douglas in a January 21 telephone conversation that the company had provided some conflicting information to state authorities about the piping and he made a personal commitment to resolve the inconsistencies. Governor Douglas emphasized to Leonard that timeliness and accuracy in reaching such a resolution are all-important. Leonard understands the seriousness of this matter and he promised Governor Douglas that he would keep him regularly and promptly informed as the company’s investigation proceeds. He also assured the governor that this was not how Entergy operates, and that it is not acceptable.
In a January 21 letter to David O’Brien, the Public Service Department commissioner, Entergy President and Chief Operating Officer Richard J. Smith pledged that the company will 1) cooperate fully with the investigations of this matter undertaken by the Vermont Department of Public Service and the Public Oversight Panel, 2) provide for the state’s independent verification an affidavit containing a comprehensive list of all relevant underground pipes and pipe systems, and 3) assist the state’s independent inspection of the applicable piping systems. Note: the company filed the affidavit cited in 2) above on January 24.
As the reviews proceed, it is important for the public to understand that elevated tritium levels found in a monitoring well at Vermont Yankee present no risk to public health or safety. No elevated tritium levels have been found in any drinking-water well samples. Aggressive steps are being taken to locate and stop the source of the leak. In the meantime, the plant continues to operate safely and efficiently.
Source: Vermont Business Magazine. Vermont Congressional Delegation. 1.26.2010. Entergy 1.27.2010