Editor’s note: This article is by the Brattleboro Reformer, in which it was first published May 20, 2014.
BRATTLEBORO — On May 28, starting at 6:30 p.m., in the auditorium of Brattleboro Union High School, representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory will be meeting with the public to discuss the 2013 performance of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon.
The meeting will include a brief presentation on the decommissioning process followed by a formal question-and-answer session regarding plant performance and regulatory oversight topics. There will be a security bag search at the entrance to the meeting.
Overall, the Vermont Yankee plant, which is owned and operated by Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc., operated safely during 2013, with no findings exceeding very low safety significance. As a result, Vermont Yankee will continue to receive the NRC’s normal level of oversight for the remainder of 2014, barring any changes.
The normal level of oversight consists of a detailed regime entailing thousands of hours of inspection. In 2013, the NRC devoted approximately 5,940 hours of inspection at Vermont Yankee, a boiling-water reactor that began operations in 1972 and that is scheduled to permanently cease operations in late 2014.
The NRC issues reports on performance at each plant twice a year: during the mid-cycle, or mid-point, of the year, and at the conclusion of the year. Inspection findings and performance indicators are also updated on a quarterly basis on the agency’s website. Following the release of the annual assessment letters each March, the NRC meets with the public in vicinity of each plant to discuss the results.
Normal inspections are carried out by the two Resident Inspectors assigned to Vermont Yankee. Reviews are also performed at the site by specialist inspectors assigned to the agency’s Region I office in King of Prussia, Penn. Among the areas to be inspected this year at Vermont Yankee are emergency preparedness, radiological protection and control room operator training.
New England Coalition, the region’s longest standing nuclear opponent, is urging activists and area residents to attend the hearing, according to a news release.
The annual assessment letter for Vermont Yankee, as well as the notice for the May 28 public meeting, are available on the NRC website.
