(Whoa… – promoted by odum)

Lawrence Auclair, at evacuationplans.org, has a great find today.

Or rather, Lawrence links to a great find by the Keene Sentinel.

Seems Entergy filed 10-Ks with the SEC, citing corporate liablity for ENVY decommissioning. That would be the same Entergy whose staff now say that everything that was said previously is “inoperative.”

The NRC might work that way, but I don’t think the SEC works that way.

“Entergy received the plant, nuclear fuel, inventories, and related real estate. The liability to decommission the plant, as well as related decommissioning trust funds of approximately $310 million, was also transferred to Entergy.”

Keene Sentinel editorial

http://www.sentinelsource.com/…

( – promoted by odum)

The Comprehensive  Vertical Audit means a much more thorough examination than anything done before at ENVY, or done routinely by the NRC. A thorough audit will answer the question, “Does each system still do what it was intended to do, and is it good for another twenty years?”

This bill, the result of hard work by Rep. Sarah Edwards (P-Bratt) and other legislators, with support from Nuclear Free Vermont by 2012, VTCAN, VPIRG and the NEC, includes oversight by independent nuclear experts.

It doesn’t go as far as some would like, but requires close examination of more than seven systems.

An aging nuclear reactor like Entergy’s needs a well-run and meticulous Aging Management System to conduct regular and thorough inspections of every system to look for flaws and weaknesses. With proper Aging Management procedures, Entergy Nuclear could have avoided the transformer fire, collapsed cooling tower, condenser leakage and resulting outages. The CVA Team will examine all corrective action programs for each of the systems audited in order to determine what modifications or maintenance may have been deferred and why those corrective actions were in fact deferred.

The passage of this inspection bill, and the governor’s signature, signal the high level of discomfort, even among ENVY supporters, for the way Entergy does business in Vermont.

The results of this audit will give legislators information they need before deciding in 2009 or 2010 on the ENVY shutdown.

The governor says it’ll cost $1 million, but the cost is more likely to be $3-$4 million for the basic audit. If more problems are found, the cost will rise as more detailed inspections are required to get to the bottom of things.

The governor’s low estimate may mean that his representative will be fighting all the way through to limit the audit, while the Legislature’s representatives will be fighting to do the thorough inspection authorized by the bill.

(Any security breach at Vermont Yankee merits special attention.   – promoted by Christian Avard)

Susan Smallheer in the Herald got a scoop on a February security failure at ENVY. She also covers other older security breaches there and elsewhere by Wackenhut.

Yankee cited for security violations

May 16, 2008

By Susan Smallheer Herald Staff

BRATTLEBORO – The owners of Vermont Yankee nuclear plant have been cited for security violations by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The nature of the violations is not disclosed to the public because of security concerns, said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC.

But Sheehan said the violation was serious enough to warrant increased inspections of Entergy Nuclear’s security at the Vernon reactor. The security breach was termed “an escalated enforcement action,” in a letter sent to Entergy Nuclear site vice president Theodore Sullivan.

Sheehan said the security violation occurred in February, and he would only say that it did not involve “an inattentive security officer.”

“We don’t talk about the findings,” Sheehan said. “Whenever it’s related to security it’s serious.”

“As always, our inspectors will not leave the site until a security issue has either been fully addressed or compensatory measures put in place pending the completion of corrective actions,” he added.

To read more click below.

http://rutlandherald.com/apps/…

Remember a couple years ago the enormous “Buy Local” campaign in Brattleboro that greeted a new Home Depot?

Today’s news:

Press Release Source: The Home Depot

The Home Depot Updates Square Footage Growth Plans

Announces Plans to Close 15 U.S. Stores

The Home Depot will close 15 underperforming U.S. stores that do not meet the Company’s targeted returns.  The store locations are as follows:

                  — #4552 Brattleboro, Vermont

                          — #2015 East Fort Wayne, Indiana

                          — #2032 Marion, Indiana

                        — #2310 Frankfort, Kentucky

                        — #379 Opelousas, Louisiana

                     — #2819 Cottage Grove, Minnesota

                    — #6901 East Brunswick, New Jersey

                     — #6904 Saddle Brook, New Jersey

                          — #6171 Rome, New York

                      — #3702 Bismarck, North Dakota

                           — #3874 Findlay, Ohio

                            — #3865 Lima, Ohio

                       — #4552 Brattleboro, Vermont

                       — #4932 Beaver Dam, Wisconsin

                      — #4933 Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

                      — #4913 NW Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Source: The Home Depot

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/08…

( – promoted by odum)

(UPDATE: After much heated debate, the House passed the bill.  -odum)

When Entergy Nuclear bought the Vermont Yankee reactor, they also got about $300 million in a fund collected from Vt electric ratepayers for the eventual cleanup of the Vernon site.

The total cleanup cost is estimated by Entergy at twice the amount now in the cleanup fund. (The final costs will probably be three times the current balance, when tritium contamination is included.)

The Senate, and the House Commerce Committee, have passed a bill requiring Entergy to pay up the fund before spinning off ENVY to a new “limited liability corporation”.

THIS BILL NEEDS YOUR HELP TO PASS.

S.373

AN ACT RELATING TO FULL FUNDING OF DECOMMISSIONING COSTS OF A NUCLEAR PLANT

We need calls to state representatives today and tomorrow!

Don’t know what to say? Here are some suggestions:

Tell them you want them to pass the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Bill, S.373.

Tell them you want Entergy Nuclear to guarantee the full cleanup amount.

Tell them you don’t want the state of Vermont or electric ratepayers to be burdened with the costs of cleaning up a risky, old, costly reactor.

Then get your friends to call their representatives!

TWO WAYS TO CALL

1. Call the Sergeant-at-Arms in the State House to leave a message for your Rep. “VOTE YES FOR ENTERGY CLEANUP FUNDING, S.373.”

802-828-2228 Sgt at Arms

2. Vermont Legislative Directory – http://www.leg.state.vt.us/leg…

to find your representatives’ phone number.

(Interesting, eh? Thanks Ed!   – promoted by Christian Avard)

…Sen. Barack Obama, standing at the podium, took a few questions. The last one from the audience, delivered via AP chairman W. Dean Singleton, was related to Afghanistan, our troops in Iraq and the threat posed by, as Singleton put it, “Obama bin Laden.

“… the Brattleboro Reformer, with a circulation of 11500, is owned by the Dean Singleton MediaNews Group…”

AP Chairman Refers to “Obama bin Laden” — In Posing Question to Barack Obama

By Joe Strupp

Published: April 14, 2008 3:00 PM ET

WASHINGTON After addressing the journalists gathered at the annual Associated Press luncheon in Washington, D.C., today, Sen. Barack Obama, standing at the podium, took a few questions. The last one from the audience, delivered via AP chairman W. Dean Singleton, was related to Afghanistan, our troops in Iraq and the threat posed by, as Singleton put it, “Obama bin Laden.

http://www.editorandpublisher….

The Reformer today ran a story on an internal member survey conducted by EntergyNuclear’s lobbyist, which they call VT Energy Partnership. The story missed the best parts of the survey:

EntegyNuclear’s own club members prefer water power over nuclear by 28%! They prefer wind power over nuclear by 25%! And they prefer biomass energy generation by 14%!

Even among their own group’s membership, 20% oppose running the Vernon reactor for twenty more years!

Online polls such as this one are notoriously unreliable because they are not random. Only members of EntergyNuclear’s group were surveyed. The poll was stacked in favor of EntergyNuclear from the start, but even so, nuclear loses to other energy sources.

In failing to get comment from the majority of Vermonters, who want a safe, reliable and nuclear-free energy future, the Reformer printed EntergyNuclear’s bought-and-paid for interpretation of their survey results, without noting the real story: Even nuclear boosters like nuclear least.

Nuclear power has had its day. It’s too bad we’re stuck with a crumbling old reactor and a million years of nuclear waste in Vernon, for forty years of electricity.

 

NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS)

Entergy Nuclear VY license Renewal

Status of Review: ENVY still hasn’t resolved issue of metal fatigue.

NRC staff: NRC has worked over last few months to clarify problem. ENVY used software with unconventional methodology to predict metal fatigue. Used simplified calculations, combined six components into one component. It’s a mathematical manipulation but is not an industry standard. It was used before, but it was unknown to the NRC staff.

Method used has never been published in any professional literature.

NRC Conclusion: methodology MAY be used in some situations, but only if component not subject to sheer stress.

NRC asked ENVY to look at six locations with conventional mathematical modeling. Nozzle and pipe to pipe applications.

“WE got the last submission yesterday, so we haven’t evaluated it yet. But we think the applicant is now on the right path.”

Entergy: We made all kinds of improvements to get the 20% power boost.

Steam Dryer– cracks have been a problem,  but I won’t say the word CRACK until later. No fatigue cracking found, only intergranular cracking.

NRC- what do you do when you find cracks?

Entergy- we don’t repair them, we just enter them into our records and look at them again in 18 months.

NRC-No samples taken to determine what kind of cracking it is? Only visual inspection?

ENVY- that’s right.

Corrosion

Entergy- We did 63 inspections, and found no additional corrosion due to power boost.

NRC- Are you still monitoring the steam line?

Entergy- No

NRC You’re only monitoring the water levels?

Entergy- Yes.

NRC- does the noble metals coating cover the stream dryer?

Entergy- probably not. We’ll let you know.

Underground tanks for emergency diesel generators:

Entergy-

I’m not aware that we’ve seen any significant corrosion.

Classic non-denial denial!

Cooling Towers

ENVY- collapse was a significant event for us, that did not meet our expectations.

NRC- explain why

ENVY- Inspection was insufficient. We didn’t predict it, so we didn’t look for it. The safety related cell has a different design.

Environmentally assisted fatigue–

gotta love it!

ENVY- Took our history and mixed it with history from younger, more robust reactor designs to show we’ll be good for another 20 years.

NRC-

Is this a reality?

ENVY consultant- It’s very conservative, used extensively over the life of the industry.

NRC-

I won’t go there! (laughter)

Corrosion  and stress, cont.

ENVY- The nozzles we’ve done calculations for all look great, even though the calculations don’t match up.

NRC- Did you expect the calculations to show different results?

ENVY- We’re so conservative, we expected the confirmatory calculations to be even better than the first analysis.

NRC staff- We’ll be looking into that further for the March meeting.

Dry Well and torus

ENVY- we haven’t seen any of the problems that other similar designs have found.

Sand cushion- corrosion of dry well shell has been seen elsewhere. ENVY is different-no insulating foam, it was a construction material that was removed. We’ve seen dust blowing that confirms that air is flowing, keeping air cushion dry. The sand drains are inspected daily to see if there’s any moisture.

Unasked question: Is there moisture found?

1999- found the moisture barrier degraded. Replaced (repainted?)

NRC- you have no measurements of the shell, because you didn’t think you had to check it?

ENVY-yes

NRC- you didn’t remove the sand to examine the metal?

ENVY-no

1998- de-sludged the torus and recoated it. No generalised corrosion, only localized. Blistering and paint failure.

NRC-why?

ENVY- poorly applied paint the last time.

NRC- not because of oxidation from underneath?

ENVY- Oh, no.

Emergency Back-up Power from the Vernon Dam

ENVY- If the dam generator is out, it takes about 30 minutes to restart it. Someone has to come to restart it. But we can go 2 hours before we get in trouble.

NRC- The dam generates 32 mW. How do you know it wouldn’t overload your incoming power system?

ENVY-Dam operator would only restart one unit at a time.

Safety Evaluation Report

NRC- 2 week on site inspection

19 inspector weeks for aging management systems

We were skeptical of the glowing reports we were getting

re dry wall corrosion. But it’s in good shape.

Some corrosion monitoring was not being done, as ENVY didn’t think it applied to them.

NRC- ENVY re-did the analysis they had submitted in December, this time using commonly accepted  practices. There was no change in the assumptions for water chemistry.

Now we’re happy with the philosophy of their analysis, although we’ve haven’t had time to check the calculations, because we only got them yesterday.

Sarah Hoffman VT DPS- buttering up the staff and ACRS, asks that there be no rush to judgement.

We want to make sure all the tires are kicked properly.

Joe Hoppenfeld (?) NEC consultant- ENVY assumptions need to be examined:

1. heat transfer co-efficients used are not applicable

2. used 10 year old data, not current

3. no evidence that the past history of transients will continue going forward

4. design geometry is not the same as installed geometry

5. corrosion is not a linear process.

(and more I didn’t get...)

ACRS-Is staff aware of new data?

NRC-yes. License renewal data requirements were developed quite a while back. It was decided it wouldn’t be fair to keep updating them.

NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS)

Entergy Nuclear VY license Renewal

Status of Review: ENVY still hasn’t resolved issue of metal fatigue.

NRC staff: NRC has worked over last few months to clarify problem. ENVY used software with unconventional methodology to predict metal fatigue. Used simplified calculations, combined six components into one component. It’s a mathematical manipulation but is not an industry standard. It was used before, but it was unknown to the NRC staff.

Method used has never been published in any professional literature.

NRC Conclusion: methodology MAY be used in some situations, but only if component not subject to sheer stress.

NRC asked ENVY to look at six locations with conventional mathematical modeling. Nozzle and pipe to pipe applications.

“WE got the last submission yesterday, so we haven’t evaluated it yet. But we think the applicant is now on the right path.”

Entergy: We made all kinds of improvements to get the 20% power boost.

Steam Dryer– cracks have been a problem,  but I won’t say the word CRACK until later. No fatigue cracking found, only intergranular cracking.

NRC- what do you do when you find cracks?

Entergy- we don’t repair them, we just enter them into our records and look at them again in 18 months.

NRC-No samples taken to determine what kind of cracking it is? Only visual inspection?

ENVY- that’s right.

Corrosion

Entergy- We did 63 inspections, and found no additional corrosion due to power boost.

NRC- Are you still monitoring the steam line?

Entergy- No

NRC You’re only monitoring the water levels?

Entergy- Yes.

NRC- does the noble metals coating cover the stream dryer?

Entergy- probably not. We’ll let you know.

Underground tanks for emergency diesel generators:

Entergy-

I’m not aware that we’ve seen any significant corrosion.

Classic non-denial denial!

Cooling Towers

ENVY- collapse was a significant event for us, that did not meet our expectations.

NRC- explain why

ENVY- Inspection was insufficient. We didn’t predict it, so we didn’t look for it. The safety related cell has a different design.

Environmentally assisted fatigue–gotta love it!

ENVY- Took our history and mixed it with history from younger, more robust reactor designs to show we’ll be good for another 20 years.

NRC-

Is this a reality?

ENVY consultant- It’s very conservative, used extensively over the life of the industry.

NRC-

I won’t go there! (laughter)

Corrosion  and stress, cont.

ENVY- The nozzles we’ve done calculations for all look great, even though the calculations don’t match up.

NRC- Did you expect the calculations to show different results?

ENVY- We’re so conservative, we expected the confirmatory calculations to be even better than the first analysis.

NRC staff- We’ll be looking into that further for the March meeting.

Dry Well and torus

ENVY- we haven’t seen any of the problems that other similar designs have found.

Sand cushion- corrosion of dry well shell has been seen elsewhere. ENVY is different-no insulating foam, it was a construction material that was removed. We’ve seen dust blowing that confirms that air is flowing, keeping air cushion dry. The sand drains are inspected daily to see if there’s any moisture.

Unasked question: Is there moisture found?

1999- found the moisture barrier degraded. Replaced (repainted?)

NRC- you have no measurements, because you didn’t think you had to?

ENVY-yes

NRC- you didn’t remove the sand to examine the metal?

ENVY-no

1998- de-sludged the torus and recoated it. No generalised corrosion, only localized. Blistering and paint failure.

NRC-why?

ENVY- poorly applied paint the last time.

NRC- not because of oxidation from underneath?

ENVY- Oh, no.

Emergency Back-up Power from the Vernon Dam

ENVY- If the dam generator is out, it takes about 30 minutes to restart it. Someone has to come to restart it. But we can go 2 hours before we get in trouble.

NRC- The dam generates 32 mW. How do you know it wouldn’t overload your incoming power system?

ENVY-Dam operator would only restart one unit at a time.

Safety Evaluation Report

NRC- 2 week on site inspection

19 inspector weeks for aging management systems

We were skeptical of the glowing reports we were getting

re dry wall corrosion. But it’s in good shape.

Some corrosion monitoring was not being done, as ENVY didn’t think it applied to them.

NRC- ENVY re-did the analysis they had submitted in December, this time using commonly accepted  practices. There was no change in the assumptions for water chemistry.

Now we’re happy with the philosophy of their analysis, although we’ve haven’t had time to check the calculations, because we only got them yesterday.

Sarah Hoffman VT DPS- buttering up the staff and ACRS, asks that there be no rush to judgement.

Joe Hoppenfeld (?) NEC consultant- ENVY assumptions need to be examined:

1. heat transfer co-efficients are not accurate

2. used 10 year old data, not current

3. no evidence that the past history of transients will continue going forward

4. design geometry is not the same as installed geometry

5. corrosion is not a linear process.

(and more I didn’t get...)

ACRS-Is staff aware of new data?

NRC-yes. License renewal data requirements were developed quite a while back.

NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS)

Entergy Nuclear VY license Renewal

Status of Review: ENVY still hasn’t resolved issue of metal fatigue.

NRC staff: NRC has worked over last few months to clarify problem. ENVY used software with unconventional methodology to predict metal fatigue. Used simplified calculations, combined six components into one component. It’s a mathematical manipulation but is not an industry standard. It was used before, but it was unknown to the NRC staff.

Method used has never been published in any professional literature.

NRC Conclusion: methodology MAY be used in some situations, but only if component not subject to sheer stress.

NRC asked ENVY to look at six locations with conventional mathematical modeling. Nozzle and pipe to pipe applications.

“WE got the last submission yesterday, so we haven’t evaluated it yet. But we think the applicant is now on the right path.”

Entergy: We made all kinds of improvements to get the 20% power boost.

Steam Dryer– cracks have been a problem,  but I won’t say the word CRACK until later. No fatigue cracking found, only intergranular cracking.

NRC- what do you do when you find cracks?

Entergy- we don’t repair them, we just enter them into our records and look at them again in 18 months.

NRC-No samples taken to determine what kind of cracking it is? Only visual inspection?

ENVY- that’s right.

Corrosion

Entergy- We did 63 inspections, and found no additional corrosion due to power boost.

NRC- Are you still monitoring the steam line?

Entergy- No

NRC You’re only monitoring the water levels?

Entergy- Yes.

NRC- does the noble metals coating cover the stream dryer?

Entergy- probably not. We’ll let you know.

Underground tanks for emergency diesel generators:

Entergy-

I’m not aware that we’ve seen any significant corrosion.

Classic non-denial denial!

Cooling Towers

ENVY- collapse was a significant event for us, that did not meet our expectations.

NRC- explain why

ENVY- Inspection was insufficient. We didn’t predict it, so we didn’t look for it. The safety related cell has a different design.

Environmentally assisted fatigue–gotta love it!

ENVY- Took our history and mixed it with history from younger, more robust reactor designs to show we’ll be good for another 20 years.

NRC-

Is this a reality?

ENVY consultant- It’s very conservative, used extensively over the life of the industry.

NRC-

I won’t go there! (laughter)

Corrosion  and stress, cont.

ENVY- The nozzles we’ve done calculations for all look great, even though the calculations don’t match up.

NRC- Did you expect the calculations to show different results?

ENVY- We’re so conservative, we expected the confirmatory calculations to be even better than the first analysis.

NRC staff- We’ll be looking into that further for the March meeting.

Dry Well and torus

ENVY- we haven’t seen any of the problems that other similar designs have found.

Sand cushion- corrosion of dry well shell has been seen elsewhere. ENVY is different-no insulating foam, it was a construction material that was removed. We’ve seen dust blowing that confirms that air is flowing, keeping air cushion dry. The sand drains are inspected daily to see if there’s any moisture.

Unasked question: Is there moisture found?

1999- found the moisture barrier degraded. Replaced (repainted?)

NRC- you have no measurements, because you didn’t think you had to?

ENVY-yes

NRC- you didn’t remove the sand to examine the metal?

ENVY-no

1998- de-sludged the torus and recoated it. No generalised corrosion, only localized. Blistering and paint failure.

NRC-why?

ENVY- poorly applied paint the last time.

NRC- not because of oxidation from underneath?

ENVY- Oh, no.

Emergency Back-up Power from the Vernon Dam

ENVY- If the dam generator is out, it takes about 30 minutes to restart it. Someone has to come to restart it. But we can go 2 hours before we get in trouble.

NRC- The dam generates 32 mW. How do you know it wouldn’t overload your incoming power system?

ENVY-Dam operator would only restart one unit at a time.

Safety Evaluation Report

NRC- 2 week on site inspection

19 inspector weeks for aging management systems

We were skeptical of the glowing reports we were getting

re dry wall corrosion. But it’s in good shape.

Some corrosion monitoring was not being done, as ENVY didn’t think it applied to them.

NRC- ENVY re-did the analysis they had submitted in December, this time using commonly accepted  practices. There was no change in the assumptions for water chemistry.

Now we’re happy with the philosophy of their analysis, although we’ve haven’t had time to check the calculations, because we only got them yesterday.

Sarah Hoffman VT DPS- buttering up the staff and ACRS, asks that there be no rush to judgement.

Joe Hoppenfeld (?) NEC consultant- ENVY assumptions need to be examined:

1. heat transfer co-efficients are not accurate

2. used 10 year old data, not current

3. no evidence that the past history of transients will continue going forward

4. design geometry is not the same as installed geometry

5. corrosion is not a linear process.

(and more I didn’t get...)