March 11, 2006

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NEC Asks Supreme Court to Block Uprate
By Kathryn Casa
Vermont Guardian, VT
March 8, 2006

BRATTLEBORO — An anti-nuclear group has appealed to the state Supreme Court to block the Vermont Yankee power uprate until a federal panel hears the group’s safety contentions later this year.

In a motion for an injunction filed today, the New England Coalition contends that the Vermont Public Service Board’s March 3 ruling allowing Entergy to proceed with its power increase constitutes a change in the board’s original order of March 15, 2004. Because no new hearings were held, NEC contends, the change is illegal.

It asks the court to stay the board’s order until the coalition has a chance to argue its contentions before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a quasi-judicial appeals branch of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Both NEC and the Vermont Department of Public Service have safety-related appeals pending before the ASLB, which is not expected to hear their arguments until summer or fall. Their contentions mark the first time in the nation’s history that the NRC has granted a hearing on a power uprate.

At issue in today's motion is whether a federal inspection of the plant in 2004 met the Public Service Board’s criteria for an independent engineering inspection that addresses VY’s continued reliability. NEC maintains it does not.

In its original order, the board called for a “deep vertical slice review” of two VY safety systems and two non-safety systems. Such a review would examine all aspects of a system. Instead, the NRC inspection looked at a broad cross section of 45 components, and found eight problems.

“It was not a deep-slice inspection; it didn’t satisfy the needs of Vermonters; and it did not inform the board about reliability,” Ray Shadis, NEC’s technical advisor, said today.

The board, in it’s original order, also cited concerns about how the uprate may affect the reliability of Vermont Yankee. “Because this potential effect on reliability could have adverse financial impacts upon Vermont consumers, we find a need to ensure that an uprated Vermont Yankee will continue to produce electricity reliably. For that reason … we have asked that the NRC conduct its safety assessment in a way that will be equivalent to an independent engineering assessment, and we condition our approval of Vermont Yankee’s operation at increased power levels upon completion of that assessment.”

With federal and state approval in place, Vermont Yankee increased power by 5 percent on March 4, with the intention of taking the plant up 20 percent within several weeks. But a monitor on the ‘A’ steam line showed vibrations that exceeded acceptable levels, and operators are now holding the uprate at 105 percent until the data is analyzed, according to a press release from the company.

“This uprate has gotten more scrutiny from the NRC, the state and the public than any other uprate application in the country,” according to Jim Steets, a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear in White Plains, NY. “Entergy is proceeding with the uprate and testing in a slow and deliberate fashion with safety as our top priority. We will not proceed further, or past the current level, until we’re satisfied we can, safely.”

Today’s motion argues that the board’s “error” is likely to cause irreparable harm by allowing Vermont Yankee to operate “at thermal energy levels significantly in excess of that for which the plant was originally designed and licensed,” thereby increasing the risk of a nuclear accident or unreliable service.

“Such super-power level experimentation diminishes engineered safety margins and immediately decreases reliability and places area residents at a widespread public health risk,” the motion states.

A stay would allow the plant to continue to run reliably at the capacity for which it was designed, NEC argues.

An administrative staff member at the Public Service Board declined to comment on the case. She said the appeal means the docket remains open.