The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently completed its 2012 performance review for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
In a letter dated March 4, 2013, NRC Branch Chief Ronald Bellamy told Chris Wamser, vice president of Vermont Yankee, that the plant’s safety was up to par.
“The NRC determined that overall, Vermont Yankee operated in a manner that preserved public health and safety and met all cornerstone objectives,” Bellamy wrote.
This finding comes after former Public Service Department Commissioner Liz Miller sent the NRC a series of letters asking why the NRC was not strengthening its oversight of the plant in light of a string of human performance errors in 2012 (for more on that issue).
As the NRC’s letters stated then and the annual assessment letter stated this month, those incidents are considered by the regulatory commission to be “green” or of “low safety significance.”
Such incidents included a missing risk analysis, a missing flood seal and a poorly installed condenser.
