Press Release-06-032, NRC Staff Approves Power Uprate for Vermont Yankee

Press Release-06-032: NRC Staff Approves Power Uprate for Vermont Yankee

ML060610249
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Site:	Vermont Yankee File:NorthStar Vermont Yankee icon.png
Issue date:	03/02/2006
From:	Office of Public Affairs
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Press Release-06-032
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NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov Web Site: http://www.nrc.gov No.06-032 March 2, 2006 NRC STAFF APPROVES POWER UPRATE FOR VERMONT YANKEE The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has approved a request by Entergy Nuclear to increase the generating capacity of Vermont Yankee by approximately 20 percent. The agencys review required more than two years and more than 11,000 staff-hours of effort. A related engineering inspection of the plant required an additional 900 hours0.0104 days <br />0.25 hours <br />0.00149 weeks <br />3.4245e-4 months <br /> of work. This is the most extensive uprate review conducted by the NRC to date.

The NRC staff reviewed Entergys modifications to the plants equipment and the companys analyses of the increase (or uprate), and performed independent calculations and evaluations, before determining Entergy could safely increase the reactors power output. The NRCs approval includes several license conditions Entergy must comply with.

The power uprate for the unit, located in Vernon, Vt., will increase its generating capacity by approximately 100 megawatts electric. Under the conditions of the uprate, Entergy will increase Vermont Yankees power level in small increments while NRC staff closely monitor the process until the higher power level is reached. The NRC staff will also continue to monitor and evaluate Vermont Yankees performance in accordance with the agencys Reactor Oversight Process.

The staff at Headquarters, our Region I office in Pennsylvania and the resident inspectors at the plant have thoroughly examined this uprate request, said Jim Dyer, Director of the NRCs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. Weve taken great care to identify and address technical concerns involved with safely operating the plant at increased power.

In July 2004, the NRC published a notice about the power uprate application in the Federal Register, and issued a press release on the notice, which provided the public an opportunity to comment or request a hearing. The Vermont Department of Public Service and the New England Coalition, a public interest group, filed hearing requests, and the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board granted those requests in November 2004. The ASLB has not set a hearing schedule yet, but the hearing is expected to start this summer.

On Jan. 11, 2006, the NRC issued a Federal Register notice seeking public comment regarding the staffs proposed determination that no significant safety considerations are associated with amending Vermont Yankees license for the uprate. After evaluating the comments received, the staff has finalized that determination. Under NRC regulations, that determination allows the staff to issue the license amendment prior to the completion of any pending hearing.

The NRC's safety evaluation of the plants proposed power uprate focused on several areas, including nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, operations, and technical specification changes. The staffs safety evaluation will be available through the NRCs electronic documents database, ADAMS, by entering accession number ML060050028 at this Web page:

http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm .