State withdraws concerns about nuclear power boost

The state is satisfied that a 20 percent power increase at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant will be safe.

 

The Department of Public Service on Tuesday withdrew concerns it raised two years ago about how well an emergency pump would operate with additional heat that could be generated in the plant during an emergency at the boosted power level. 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board has reviewed the concerns and approved the process, said David O'Brien, chairman of the Vermont Department of Service.

Entergy Nuclear also has agreed to a list of stipulations to ensure that the water cooling system will be effective.

Those steps have satisfied the state that the 20 percent power boost will be safe, O'Brien said.

"This got a lot of attention beyond what a normal license review for a normal uprate would have allowed," O'Brien said.

The fact that this was looked at so closely by regulators gave us a lot of comfort. The fact that the ACRS (Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards) signed off on this was very important to us."

The state also was satisfied with Entergy's agreement to do more inspections and testing at the plant.

"We recently agreed to the enhanced inspection and monitoring and that helped address those concerns and we're pleased that the issues are resolved with the state," said plant spokesman Robert Williams.

But Raymond Shadis of the anti-nuclear New England Coalition, said the state's decision to dismiss its contentions means "safety margins are being significantly reduced."

"Going forward with the extended power uprate now means that the public can have no assurance that the emergency pumps will work in the event of an accident," he said.

The basic theory is that the heat of an accident would raise the pressure in the containment to force water into the emergency pumps, Shadis said.

"This is counterintuitive for reactor operators. It has always been their role to try to reduce containment pressure," he said.

Last week Vermont Yankee had to stop short of its goal of increasing its power by 20 percent to address two problems.

The problems were acoustic signals from gauges that are picking up what may be new strains on the plant's steam dryer.

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