BRATTLEBORO — A day before Entergy is due back in federal court to seek a preliminary injunction to allow the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to continue operating past March 2012, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will hold a public meeting to discuss its 2010 safety assessment of the Vernon reactor.
The NRC's meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 22, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., at Brattleboro Union High School. It comes on the eve of two scheduled days of hearings regarding the injunction request in U.S. District Court in Brattleboro on June 23 and 24.
In March, the NRC issued a 20-year extension of the operating license for Vermont Yankee. However, the Vermont Senate voted in 2010 to prevent the Vermont Public Service Board from issuing a Certificate of Public Good, which would allow the plant to operate past the expiration of its current operating license.
Entergy contends that Vermont has overstepped its regulatory authority and is suing the state to keep the plant open.
The state contends that Entergy explicitly agreed to allow the Legislature to have a say in the Vernon plant's continued operation, and that Entergy is going back on its word.
The NRC has stated that it will not intervene in the lawsuit. While nuclear safety issues are in the agency's purview, NRC Chairman Gergory Jaczko has said Vermont does have a role in the regulatory process.
The courtroom battle is likely to add an extra edge to the NRC's annual safety assessment meeting.
Expected to be in attendance from the NRC are William M. Dean, Region I Administrator; Donald E. Jackson, Chief of the Division of Reactor Projects, Branch 5; David Spindler, Senior Resident Inspector at Vermont Yankee; and Sarah Rich, Resident Inspector at Vermont Yankee. At the meeting, the public will have an opportunity to present questions to NRC staff.
Vermont Yankee received a “green” rating from the NRC in 2010, meaning that the plant operated safely, and that any performance indicators were of very low safety significance.
However, the NRC is performing additional inspections at the Vernon plant due to a leak of tritium-laced water from its reactor.
Also, since Vermont Yankee shares the same reactor design and spent fuel storage system as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan, which suffered a partial meltdown following a March 11 earthquake, the Vernon reactor became the subject of an NRC safety review.
Vermont Yankee began operation in 1972. Entergy officials say that the company has invested more than $400 million in upgrades since it bought the plant in 2002, and that it plans to spend another $200 million if the plant is allowed to operate past March 2012.
Entergy is expected to decide some time this month whether it will proceed with the next scheduled refueling of the plant. Its last refueling and maintenance outage occurred in April and May 2010. Refueling usually takes place every 18 months.
For more information about the June 22 NRC hearing, contact Jackson at [email protected] or at 610-337-5306.