Panel: Serious problems at Yankee
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By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer - Published: March 18, 2009
A state oversight panel that undertook a detailed review of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant said Tuesday serious problems could stand in the way of the Vernon reactor getting a license for another 20 years of operation if they are not fixed.
The problems could be remedied with additional resources and manpower from Entergy Nuclear, the 68-page report stated, but the state must create a process to make sure the changes take place.
Failures at the 37-year-old reactor — the collapse of a cooling tower in 2007 and a transformer fire in 2004 — were both preventable and the result of maintenance short cuts, the report stated.
The report, which was released to the Legislature on Tuesday morning, was requested as a key piece of analysis before the Legislature votes whether to endorse another 20 years of operation of the plant. The plant's federal license expires in 2012.
Panel members are expected to outline findings in their report to key legislative panels Thursday, according to panel Chairman Peter Bradford of Peru.
"Not any one of them is a true make-or-break situation," Bradford said. "There are things that can lead to deterioration or even extended shutdown; not one of them would be a complete showstopper for a 20-year period."
"There are significant cultural problems that will be very difficult to change — the biggest is resources. They are not spending enough," said panel member Arnold Gundersen of Burlington. "They are penny-wise and pound-foolish."
"I think that it highlights some fairly serious issues and concerns on management style and deferred maintenance," said Rep. Tony Klein, D-East Montpelier, chairman of the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee. "I don't think that it's anything addressed overnight …"
The report detailed several new items, particularly that Entergy Nuclear has a very high staff turnover and has trouble attracting people to work at the plant. The report states 83 people were hired in 2008 and there are still 40 vacancies at Entergy Nuclear.
The report states it discovered interviews with several employees who asked plant management for additional funds to address degradation at the cooling towers before the 2007 incident, but their requests were rejected.
Robert Williams, spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, said the company viewed the panel's report as "positive."
"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," Williams said, declining to answer specific questions.
"Most importantly we have demonstrated that we are a learning organization and we thrive on good suggestions," he added.
Bradford and three other panel members are expected to be at the Statehouse on Thursday morning to brief the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee and later two Senate committees.
Bradford, in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C., said the problems could affect the plant's reliability in the future.
He said Vermont Yankee had a relatively high level of reliability, but the concerns outlined in the report could affect that.
Tuesday's report is the second part of a two-part review and analysis of the reactor. The first half, conducted by NSA Associates of Cambridge, Mass., was released in late December and painted a more positive picture.
Raymond Shadis, senior technical adviser for the New England Coalition, said the review was a pale substitute for an independent safety assessment, or ISA, which the coalition has sought for years.
"The panel findings are just not enforceable. Could that be why NEC fought so hard for an NRC-conducted ISA and not this adolescent version of nuclear trivia?" Shadis said.
Williams said the company had taken full responsibility for the 2004 transformer fire, which forced the plant to shut down for several weeks.
susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
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