[F]ederal regulators have denied Vermont’s request for a hearing on Entergy’s plan to scale back protective measures at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon next year.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission allowed Entergy to ease emergency planning measures at the power plant, which went permanently offline Dec. 29, because the shuttered plant posed little risk to public health and safety by the time the new emergency plan would take effect in April 2016.
The state argued that would hinder its ability to protect the public from future accidents involving the storage and transfer of spent nuclear fuel. That argument gained little traction after the state requested a hearing on the issues.
The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel deferred to the NRC’s decision in an order Monday when it denied the state’s request for a hearing. The quasi-judicial three-member panel said it “assumes the correctness” of NRC decisions.
“Neither in its pleadings nor at oral argument was Vermont able to articulate a challenge to any aspect of the [exceptions request] … that set forth sufficient factual support or raised a genuine dispute with the application,” the order states.
In June 2014, Entergy asked the NRC for permission to eliminate offsite emergency planning — which includes keeping in place sirens, radios and the stockpiling of potassium iodide used to protect against radiation and other radioactive contaminants — in a 10-mile radius around the plant that includes 18 towns in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Entergy also wants to increase the time for providing emergency alerts to the state from 15 minutes to an hour. The NRC approved the request.
Entergy, which opposed the request for a hearing, says the emergency preparations are not necessary because the plant has shut down and the fuel has been removed from the reactor. The company also says keeping the current emergency plan in place will cost money and delay decommissioning.
State officials say the reductions in emergency planning will hamper its ability to protect residents. And the state said Entergy’s plan to cut emergency planning did not account for all credible emergency scenarios. The state said it would violate NRC regulatory requirements for safety.
The atomic safety panel rejected that argument and deferred to the NRC’s original decision. It also said the NRC does not have regulations that distinguish between the safety of operating and decommissioning nuclear power plants.
“Absent such regulatory distinctions, the NRC has historically granted regulatory exemptions for permanently decommissioned reactors,” the order states.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Entergy’s request for an exemption in March. The state’s appeal is still pending. The state has 25 days to appeal the decision to deny a hearing.
There are 2,996 assemblies in a cooling pool and 884 assemblies already placed into 13 steel-reinforced concrete casks. By 2020, Entergy plans to have all the spent fuel stored in dry casks.
