(We were waiting to front page this story until there was a little more “meat” on the bone; so now we’e bringing it out from under the radar at last. – promoted by Sue Prent)

*revised from previous post – emphasis added

Herald story; Posted on March 6, 2012 by VT Today:

Vermont Yankee reduces power to fix condenser

BRATTLEBORO – The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant had to reduce power Tuesday because of problems with its condenser, a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear said.

http://www.vttoday.com/vermont…

Problem is not new, from the above Herald story:

“It is the second time in recent months that Yankee has had to reduce power because of problems with the condenser.”

Chickens come home to roost:

By: Bob Audette, Reformer Staff, Brattleboro Reformer, [Jun 11,2009]

Earlier this week, Yankee reported that the plant’s condenser, which acts as a radiator to cool down steam from the plant’s reactor, had developed a leak of about one half gallon a minute. About 360,000 gallons of river water flow through the condenser per minute[..]Yankee technicians are planning to power down the reactor to about half its capacity to see if they can find the source of the leak. Last year, technicians were unable to identify the location of a similar leak.

In 2003, Gundersen testified that the condenser could prove to be a problem for continued reliable operation of the plant. He suggested that Entergy is not willing to pay the $100 million price tag for replacement unless it gets approval for extended operation.

The oversight panel found critical issues that need to dealt with quickly if Yankee is to be maintained reliably, wrote Gundersen in his reply to Shumlin.

“The recent discovery of further condenser tube degradation shows just how prescient the panel’s report is and how important the implementation of our recommended modifications and management changes is to the continued reliability of Yankee,” he wrote.

http://fairewinds.com/content/…

Testomony regarding replacement:

http://www.necnp.org/files/doc…

One short year ago:

“If they do decide to remain open, I don’t see them running for longer than until 2016, maybe 2017,” said Gundersen. Why? Because at that point the plant’s main condenser would have to be replaced. A new condenser could cost as much as $200 million – its price is largely dependent on the global cost of copper.”

http://7d.blogs.com/blurt/2011…

Problems presaged by Fairewinds Associates 10 years ago, Arnie Gundersen testimony:

16 Q5 Please give another example of a component likely to have an adverse effect on

17 reliability under extended power uprate conditions.

18 Response:  Another outstanding example of a worn component that is not likely to

19 withstand the stresses of extended power uprate through end of license in 2012 is the

20 steam condenser[..]  

http://www.fairewinds.com/cont…

Much more in this testimony shows the degradation of the plant at that time, it sure didn’t fix itself. Clearly, Entergy Louisiana always intended to run it into the ground & leave the mess to VT.

Backstory & overarching issue here is that key plant components are falling apart & will continue to fail. Embrittlement & metal fatigue are both age related conditions which will not go away, overiding ANY & ALL other issues making them moot. Entire issue of the present & other steady string of ongoing ‘mishaps’ started after  purchase of the plant by Entergy Louisiana & are due to longstanding faulty & incomplete maintenance procedures. A partial listing:

http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/no…

– At present, plant continues to leak radioactive nuclear waste into ground & groundwater

– Entergy Louisiana refuses to test the previously contaminated onsite drinking water well

– Leaking likely began in 2006/2007 as evidenced by sinkholes which were apparant on the site of VY in 2008, although a whistleblower claimed a leaking pipe in 2005 was repaired w/a “sealant.”

“It is likely that the Vermont Yankee leak existed for at least two years prior to its detection in the monitoring. well.”

[Detected 11/2009]

page 10:

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/jfo…

– Pipes are corroding due to microbiological corrosion from the inside out, as well as outside in:

“The pipes in the vault corroded from the inside out and not from the outside inward so there are two different failure mechanisms. Prior to the problems at Vermont Yankee, the NRC had only been concerned about pipes that corrode from the outside. Mr. Gundersen told the NRC that it should also be concerned about pipes that are not in contact with dirt and fail as a result of internal corrosion.”

Related:

http://vtdigger.org/2011/01/15…