NRC issues new rules for buried cables

Image via WikipediaBRATTLEBORO -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced new rules Tuesday regarding submerged cables at all nuclear plants.
Based on a recent review, the NRC staff identified 269 cable failures at nuclear facilities across the country, including 65 sites and 104 reactor units, Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC wrote in an e-mail.
NRC staff stated that cable failures have a variety of causes, including manufacturing defects, damage caused by shipping and installation and exposure to electrical transients or abnormal environmental conditions during operation.
The likelihood of failure from any of these factors increases over time as the cable insulation degrades and/or is exposed to water, the document states.
"The submerged electrical cable issue is not that the cables fail immediately, it’s that the moisture causes the cable insulation to degrade faster than expected, leading to shorter service lifetime," director of nuclear safety project for the Union of Concerned Scientist, David Lochbaum wrote in an e-mail.
The NRC notes that, "These failure data indicated an increasing trend in underground cable failures and the predominant contributing factor was submergence or moisture intrusion that degraded the insulation."
Vermont Yankee is one of the plants to experience cable submergence, Sheehan wrote. More athttp://www.reformer.com/ci_16803140?source=most_viewed

Entergy Exploring Sale Of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant

http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Entergy_Exploring_Sale_Of_Vermont_Yankee_Nuclear_Plant_999.html
New Orleans LA (SPX) Nov 15, 2010 - Entergy has announced a process is under way to explore the potential sale of Vermont Yankee, its 605-megawatt nuclear plant in Vernon, Vt. The sale process is being conducted on a confidential basis and no additional details will be released at this time. While no decision has been made to sell the plant, the company expects interest from multiple parties. The plant has an outstandi ... more

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An Uncertain Nuclear Countdown By MATTHEW L. WALD

Associated Press The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, Vt., on the banks of the Connecticut River.

If the clock is ticking on the lifetime of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, when will it actually close?
As I write in Friday’s Times, Entergy, which bought the plant in 2002, is looking for a buyer because the state Legislature has refused to give the company permission to run it after Vermont Yankee’s initial 40-year license expires in March 2012. (What is more, one of its top opponents in the Legislature was elected governor on Tuesday.)
But if the Legislature does not relent, it may not last even that long.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/an-uncertain-nuclear-countdown/

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Vermont's Great Green Election Day Victory -- Kick out the Nuclear Plant

Vermont's Great Green Election Day Victory -- Kick out the Nuclear Plant

Vermont's new governor pledged to shut its leaking nuclear site. And the town closest to that reactor has voted to take it by eminent domain if necessary. READ MORE

By Harvey Wasserman / AlterNet

-http://www.alternet.org/story/148755/vermont%27s_great_green_election_day_victory_--_kick_out_the_nuclear_plant 

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• UPDATE 3-Entergy shuts Indian Point reactor after explosion (reuters.com)
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Nuclear Executive Roundtable

As the United States continues to look for clean, reliable energy to cut emissions while providing enough power for the growing country, the nuclear power industry is making plans to expand. On Feb. 16, President Obama awarded the first loan guarantee for a nuclear plant under the provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The award of $8.3 billion for two additional reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia is conditional until the plant receives a combined construction and operating license from the NRC, which is expected in 2011.

Southern Co. is not the only energy provider looking to build the first nuclear reactors in the U.S. Along with modular design and the financial battle of building new nuclear, nuclear power has been grabbing headlines across the globe.

In a series of interviews, Power Engineering magazine Associate Editor Brian Wheeler moderated this year’s Nuclear Power Executive Roundtable.

Participants included John Herron, president, CEO & chief nuclear officer of Entergy Nuclear; Mark Marano, Areva senior vice president of U.S. new build operations; Danny Roderick, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's senior vice president for new plant projects; Christofer Mowry, president & CEO, B&W Modular Nuclear Energy, LLC; and Deva Chari, Westinghouse senior vice president of Nuclear Power Plants.

There has been a lot of talk about the possibility of a nuclear renaissance globally. What is the outlook for new nuclear projects over the next couple of years, especially given the global recession? More at:http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/display/articledisplay/4012739868/articles/powergenworldwide/nuclear/reactors/2010/10/nuclear-roundtable.html

VY plant's closure likely to affect grid

BRATTLEBORO -- An energy needs assessment has identified eventual overload problems on the New England grid in the near-future relating to the expected closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in March 2012.
The computer simulated assessment from the Independent System Operator (ISO) New England reports Vermont and New York could face overloads -- defined as more electricity flowing through the system's equipment than it can handle, which could lead to the lines heating up, sagging, possibly melting and eventually shutting down -- in the system if the nuclear facility goes out of service once its license expires in roughly 17 months.
New Hampshire lines could face severe overloads with certain combinations of large transmission lines out of service, according to the early assessment on the region's transmission grid and its reliability.
Advocates for the 38-year-old Vermont Yankee point to this document as further evidence of the facility's importance to the energy grid. Opponents are not surprised with the assessment, saying that any time a generating source is taken offline there is always a temporary energy shortage.
But local electric companies are reaching out to stakeholders and other interested parties to inform them about the context of Vermont Yankee's possible closure and its impact at the regional level.
Chris Dutton, CEO of Vermont Electric Power Company, Inc. (VELCO), said problems within the state would likely revolve around low voltage issues -- such problems are likely resolvable with minor equipment modifications in different substations.
"In New Hampshire, however, it appears the situation is more acute and that there will actually be lines that overload if Vermont Yankee is not relicensed," he said. "The impacts are greater in New Hampshire in part because the load centers in New Hampshire are closer to the plant than is the load center in Vermont, which is in Burlington."
However, simulated findings showed potential deficiencies were expected to rise under certain conditions in 2018 absent improvements to the grid, which were similar with or without Yankee in operation.
The most recent Vermont Needs Assessment was partially in response to the February vote by the State Senate to block plant owner Entergy Corp.'s relicensing bid. The report was designed to analyze scenarios of the potential affects of Yankee permanently going out of service.
An updated needs assessment focusing on a future without Yankee online is currently under way and is expected to go public at the end of the year. A follow-up solutions assessment report is likely to be released in the first quarter of 2011.
According to Dutton, the idea behind the assessment is to gauge the entirety of the system and test its robustness both in a steady state, but also assuming the largest negative effect that may occur as well.
"Whatever would cause the most disruption; they assume that occurs and they see how the system responds to that adverse affect. That is called the ‘N-minus-1,'" he said.
"They have engaged in this N-minus-1 approach, and what they're doing is they're looking 10 years out to 2020 and they're assuming Vermont Yankee is not relicensed," Dutton added. "And then they look at the system with what they think are appropriate assumptions about the generating plants that are running and the state of the transmission system at that time as they anticipate it would be, and then they say, ‘OK, let's assume the event that has the single biggest impact occurs, how does the system respond?'"
The follow-up assessment expected to come up later this year will also chronicle if another crisis happens in addition to the N-minus-1 approach.
Vermont Yankee, located in Vernon on the banks of the Connecticut River, has generated power since 1972. Energy officials have claimed portions of the regional grid have been built around the plant, so consequently, its closure would have an adverse affect on the New England power supply.
Yankee spokesman Larry Smith concurred with the ISO findings, saying the nuclear facility has a reliable and stable record during its operation.
"We agree with the ISO assessment that there could be some instability within the grid with the loss of Vermont Yankee and its 650 megawatts of baseload power," he said.
VELCO has not taken a position regarding the future of Vermont Yankee as Entergy has lobbied to extend the site's license for 20 years.
"That's a position that we take with every power source and we're required to take. We can't show favorites based on kinds of fuel -- we are zealous protectors of system reliability," said Kerrick Johnson, VELCO's vice president for external affairs.
But given the timing, VELCO must plan as if Yankee is not going to operate past its licensing date, Johnson added.
"It is our job to make sure the system is reliable and we assume that Vermont Yankee is there. We find that it has benefit to the grid when it runs ... but it is our responsible simply to make sure the system stays reliable," Dutton said.
Sandy Levine, senior attorney for the environmental nonprofit Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), said the loss of Vermont Yankee's energy was expected; as it would be when any significant power supply goes offline.
"It highlights some change that need to be made to address Yankee no longer producing power," she said. "It also highlights some transmission upgrades to address that. It's possible to address any problems with the grid through generation and energy efficiency that is more local to the power demand."
Groups such as CLF and NEC, both of whom oppose the relicensing of Yankee, also describe the recent assessment as "unalarming" because of a continuing excess of power in the region, claiming the grid does not require the nuclear facility in its long-term power supply needs.
http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_16538647

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AMERICAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF EXPERTS TO DISCUSS NUCLEAR ENERGY ISSUES Leading Industry Professionals Available to Share Knowledge and Expertise Concerning Nuclear Issues of Importance to Vermont

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT:
November 8, 2010Jackie Clark, 301-987-7113, 301-641-3750 cell
Fritz Schneider:  (301) 728-4811

AMERICAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY
ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF EXPERTS TO DISCUSS
NUCLEAR ENERGY ISSUES
Leading Industry Professionals Available to Share Knowledge and Expertise
Concerning Nuclear Issues of Importance to Vermont

WHAT:Nuclear industry experts to inform audiences about scientific and regulatory issues

WHEN:Available Now!

WHO:Edward L.  Quinn:
Former American Nuclear Society (ANS) President
ANS member for more than 25 years

Candace Davison:
 Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering
 ANS member for more than 15 years
Chairperson of American Nuclear Society Public Information Committee
Senior Reactor Operator

Mary Lou Dunzik-Gougar
ANS member for more than 20 years
Incoming Chairperson of the Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Division of ANS Nuclear Engineer
Professor of Nuclear Engineering

Some Topics Include:

Licensing Transfer – What steps and what regulations must be observed to transfer a license for an operating nuclear power plant

Workforce Continuity – If an operating plant’s ownership is transferred, how will the public be assured that a trained workforce will be in place to assure continuity of operations

Radiation and Relative Risk – how a transatlantic flight or eating a banana is a radiation event

These uniquely experienced and knowledgeable individuals can help navigate complex questions of science and public policy on issues of importance to citizens of Vermont.

They will provide solid science, unemotionally and understandably, so that decisions about Vermont’s energy future can be made on facts, not myth.

For more information about the conference please visit www.ans.org.

Established in 1954, ANS is a professional organization of engineers and scientists devoted to the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology.  Its 11,000 members come from diverse technical backgrounds covering the full range of engineering disciplines as well as the physical and biological sciences.

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An Uncertain Nuclear Countdown By MATTHEW L. WALD

An Uncertain Nuclear Countdown

By MATTHEW L. WALD

Associated Press The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, Vt., on the banks of the Connecticut River.

If the clock is ticking on the lifetime of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, when will it actually close?
As I write in Friday’s Times, Entergy, which bought the plant in 2002, is looking for a buyer because the state Legislature has refused to give the company permission to run it after Vermont Yankee’s initial 40-year license expires in March 2012. (What is more, one of its top opponents in the Legislature was elected governor on Tuesday.)
But if the Legislature does not relent, it may not last even that long.

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Exelon may bid on Vermont nuclear plant

Constellation, Exelon among potential bidders for Vt. plant
Constellation Energy Group, Exelon and NextEra Energy may bid for Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, analyst Brian Chin said. Entergy said it was considering selling the plant, months after state lawmakers agreed to its 2012 shutdown. "We will aggressively negotiate with buyers for extension of employment to all current employees as a condition of any sale," Entergy said. Crain's Chicago Business/Reutershttp://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20101104/NEWS11/101109909/exelon-may-bid-on-vermont-nuclear-plant

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Vt. DPS chief: VY is safe

Vt. official says Vermont Yankee plant continues to operate safely
Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant can continue to operate safely, said David O'Brien, commissioner of the state Department of Public Service. "The plant scores highly in industry peer review, and its problems, although well-publicized, do not pose health concerns," he said during the 90th annual meeting of Associated Industries of Vermont. The facility and renewable sources should each be included in the state's future, O'Brien said. Brattleboro Reformer (Vt.)

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State: VY leaks had little effect on public

Report: Communities near Vt. plant are healthy
There is no evidence of "significant adverse health effects" from the communities near Entergy's Vermont Yankee plant in 2009, according to the Vermont Department of Health. The facility's operations complied with the state's radiological health standard, even after tritium was found in water supplies near the plant. Brattleboro Reformer (Vt.)http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_16149302

Vermont Yankee cleanup fund has returned to pre-2008 levels

The decommissioning fund for Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear plant had $440 million at the end of August, which is about the same amount it had before the financial crisis began in 2007. The trust fund may fall short of the amount needed to pay for the plant's shutdown, which is slated for 2012 or 2032, warned Arnie Gundersen, a consultant to Vermont's Joint Fiscal Office. Brattleboro Reformer (Vt.) (9/16

NRC wants Entergy to re-evaluate aging underground pipes

Entergy is urged to reassess Vt. plant's pipeline system
Federal regulators have urged Entergy to review its plan for handling pipelines carrying radioactivity as a condition of its license-extension bid for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. Though the company "accurately and completely" detailed different safety systems in its application, it left out the advanced off-gas system, which was the source of the tritium leak last year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report. "We wanted to ensure the Vermont Yankee license-renewal application accurately captured details of the plant's program for managing the effects of aging on key safety systems," said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. The Times Argus (Barre-Montpelier, Vt.)

Entergy is adding monitoring wells around Vt. plant

Entergy is adding monitoring wells around Vt. plant
Entergy is drilling more wells outside its Vermont Yankee plant to improve monitoring of tritium levels in the water near the facility. The company has extracted 245,000 gallons of radioactive water from the ground using three different wells, and is seeking to reach 300,000 gallons, according to the Vermont Department of Health. The Times Argus (Barre-Montpelier, Vt.) (9/3)

Yankee is more than a good deal

• Opinion: Vermont Yankee has proven itself to be trustworthy
   
  
  Vermont Yankee represents to Vermonters "a good financial deal" in the form of affordable power, more than 1,000 employees and more than $15 million annually into government coffers, according to Guy Page, the communications director at the Vermont Energy Partnership. State and federal experts have consistently cited Vermont Yankee for safety, reliability and trustworthiness, he argues. Based on its environmental, economic and civic record, the nuclear plant deserves to operate for another two decades, Page writes. Rutland Herald (Vt.)

Entergy is looking to sell Vt. nuclear plant, source says

Is Entergy trying to sell Yankee?

By BOB AUDETTE / Reformer Staff

Entergy is seeking to sell its Vermont Yankee nuclear plant and has piqued the interest of Exelon and NRG Energy, said Jeff Beattie of Energy Daily. Entergy refused to respond to the report but said that as part of its "point-of-view" planning, it would "consider buying or selling any asset or business depending on what option creates the most value," said spokesman Mike Burns. Brattleboro Reformer (Vt.)