ML040970219
| ML040970219 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png |
| Issue date: | 03/30/2004 |
| From: | Cole B - No Known Affiliation |
| To: | Diaz N NRC/Chairman |
| Ennis R, NRR/DLPM, 415-1420 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML041400002 | List: |
| References | |
| G20040236, LTR-04-0189, TAC MC2539 | |
| Download: ML040970219 (5) | |
Text
EDO Principal Correspondence Control FROM:
DUE: 05/17/04 EDO CONTROL: G20040236 DOC DT: 03/30/04 FINAL REPLY:
Barbara and Bruce Cole Wilmington, Vermont TO:
Chairman Diaz FOR SIGNATURE OF :
ROUTING:
Independent Safety Assessment at Vermont Yankee DATE: 04/02/04 Travers Norry Paperiello Kane Collins Dean Burns/Cyr Miller, RI ASSIGNED TO:
NRR CONTACT:
Dyer SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OR REMARKS:
Ref. G20040228.
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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY CORRESPONDENCE CONTROL TICKET Date Printed: Apr 01, 2004 09:43 PAPER NUMBER:
ACTION OFFICE:
LTR-04-0189 EDO LOGGING DATE: 03/31/2004 AUTHOR:
AFFILIATION:
ADDRESSEE:
SUBJECT:
Barbara & Bruce Cole VT Nils Diaz Independent Safety Assessment at Vermont Yankee ACTION:
DISTRIBUTION:
LETTER DATE:
ACKNOWLEDGED SPECIAL HANDLING:
Appropriate Cy RF.
03/30/2004 No ADAMS for Immediate Release via SECY/EDO/DPC NOTES:
FILE LOCATION:
ADAMS DATE DUE:
DATE SIGNED:
EDO -- G20040236
- /Oea /AdQa The Need for an Independent Safety Assessment at Vermont Yank6ee
- Of the nine nuclear plants that once operated in New England, four have been shut down permanently.
- All decisions to shut down these plants came after extraordinary (non-routine) inspections which found them to be improperly designed, built, or maintained, and suffering from age-related degradation.
- Of all the "Yankee family" of nuclear reactors, only Vermont Yankee survives. It has been in commercial operation longer than any plant in New England.
- Vermont Yankee cannot meet current design and safety criteria, but has been "grandfathered in" by NRC. Its obsolete design could not be built or licensed today.
- Entergy Corporation proposes the extraordinary measure of boosting reactor power at Vermont Yankee to 120% of its original 1960's design (the maximum so far permitted or ever attempted for Boiling Water Reactors.)
- The likelihood of accidents under this extreme power uprate is increased, and the potential consequences of an accident are also increased.
- The history of the closed New England power plants has shown that NRC's routine and periodic examinations often do not reveal basic safety flaws.
THEREFORE:
A comprehensive, independent safety assessment-similar to the one conducted several years ago at Maine Yankee-is the prudent, conservative, and appropriate measure to reassure the people of the region that safety margins will at least remain at present levels under the proposed extended power uprate at Vermont Yankee.
C Cl
-:3 CA_
Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee's Extended Power Uprate Talking Points from New England Coalition
- Vermont doesn't need the power and it doesn't need the added risk.
(Entergy was only able to establish a 'need" in Vermont by signing a contract with Vermont Electric Cooperative for power from Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant at below market prices).
- Entergy has been dishonest about this whole project and cannot be trusted. Entergy called this a project "to modify certain electric generating facilities." But the change will be to add twenty percent more nuclear fuel to an already stressed reactor-the equivalent of three nuclear attack submarinesi Entergy representatives have lied to the Public Service Board, to the Legislature, and to the public so many times that nothing the company says should be trusted on face value.
- Vermont Yankee's original owners thought it unwise to attempt a 5%
power uprate, but Louisiana-based Entergy Wants to push the envelope to the maximum allowable 20%.
- Federal regulators have said that with extended power uprate the chances of certain kinds of reactor accidents will be greater, while the ability to recover safe operation once an accident Is underway will be lesser, and the consequences of an accident will be worse. Is it wise to let Louisiana-based Entergy Corporation try such a radical experiment on New England's oldest still-operating Yankee atomic reactor?
- Of the eight nuclear power plants that have attdmpted extended power uprates In the range of 13 to 20%, four have had Internal reactor components break under the added stress. The citizens of Vermont should not be put at increased risk of a nuclear accident or the cost of increased outages just to increase profits to an out-of-state multi-national corporation.
- The "memorandum of understanding" between Entergy and the Vermont
- Department of Public Service is a bad deal for Vermont. The'document is full of loopholes, hidden costs, and unacceptable risks for the people of Vermont. Further, by relying exclusively on ureVenue sharing" (essentially a bribe) to establish a "public good," the memorandum sets a precedent that any kind of permit can be bought in Vermont if the price is right.
- The Vermont Department of Public Service has failed In Its duty to protect the public's health and safety. Instead of representing the public, the department has acted as an advocate for Entergy's extended power uprate. The department's nuclear engineer, Bill Sherman, has misrepresented numerous critical economic, safety, and reliability issues and has deferred to Entergy's engineers, relying almost exclusively on their representations.
Barbam D. Cole P.O. Box 756 Wilmington, VT 05363407569 I
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