Yankee boosts power output despite opposition

Vermont Business Magazine, Aug 01, 2006 by Kelley, Kevin

The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon has boosted its power output by 20 percent following a long, contentious review process that resulted in the facility's owner, Mississippi-based Entergy Nuclear, making financial concessions to state regulators. Earlier this year, it asked for a license extension, which is currently under review by regulators. And a new on-site storage facility was recently approved.

The power increase from 540 to 650 megawatts, also known as an uprate, was phased in over two months this spring. Approval of the additional generating capacity represented a defeat for the New England Coalition, a citizens' group that sought to prevent the uprate and has opposed operation of Vermont Yankee since the plant went on line 34 years ago.

"The battle isn't over. The issue isn't dead," insists Ray Shadis, technical advisor to the coalition.

Activists may be demoralized by Entergy's victory, as suggested by the sparse turnout at recent public meetings concerning the plant. But the New England Coalition is continuing to challenge aspects of the uprate, even as it shifts focus to fighting Entergy's request for a 20year extension of Vermont Yankee's operating license, which is set to expire in 2012.

Safety concerns underlie the coalition's objections to the Yankee uprate and to nuclear power generally. Shadis says government regulators have acknowledged that the increase in generating capacity "diminishes the safety margins for the plant." And in the coalition's view, any erosion of confidence in Yankee's ability to prevent an accidental release of radioactivity is "unacceptable," Shadis says.

Entergy Vermont spokesman Laurence Smith rejects claims that local residents face greater potential dangers as a result of the uprate.

"Our number-one job is safety," Smith says. The plant has met all requirements for safe operation at the higher level of energy production, he notes, adding that the coalition members would never be satisfied with precautions taken by Entergy because "their ultimate goal is to shut the plant down."

The Atomic Licensing and Safety Board, an arm of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has nevertheless agreed to investigate issues pertaining to the uprate that have been raised by the coalition and by state regulators.

The antinuclear group argues that the plant should have been required to conduct a full test of its emergency shutdown procedures at its enhanced level of output. The coalition also contends that Entergy has not shown that the plant's cooling towers would function property under uprate conditions in the event of a catastrophic event such as an earthquake or a terrorist attack. The licensing and safety board held hearings on these issues in Brattleboro in June.

In addition, the Vermont Public Service Department has asked state utility regulators to examine the consequences of potential problems involving Yankee's steam dryer, a key component that wrings water droplets out of steam before it enters the plant's turbines. William Sherman, the department's nuclear engineer, told the Public Service Board in June that Entergy "does not fully understand the uncertainties regarding steam dryer performance at uprate conditions."

Vermont Yankee's steam dryer is similar in design to the mechanism installed at four other nuclear plants around the country, and each of those dryers developed cracks after a power uprate was implemented. The four plants, all located in Illinois, had to be temporarily shut down or were forced to undergo a power reduction as a result of steam dryer problems.

"While I agree that catastrophic failure of the steam dryer is unlikely," Sherman testified, "Entergy has not conclusively demonstrated that steam dryer cracks resulting in power (outages) will not occur." If Yankee had to suspend operations for several months due to trouble with the steam dryer, Vermont utilities would have to pass on extra costs to ratepayers amounting to as much as $19 million, Sherman indicated.

The nuclear plant currently meets about one-third of the state's total electric power needs. When it is taken off line, Green Mountain Power and Central Vermont Public Service must buy replacement power on the wholesale market, where prices are much higher than those set under the utilities' contracts with Vermont Yankee.

As one of the conditions for approval of the uprate, Entergy agreed to establish a $4 million "ratepayer protection plan" to cover extra costs of power purchases when Yankee outages force the utilities to turn to the spot market.

Plant officials maintain that this fund provides an adequate buffer, but Sherman says the sum currently available under the protection plan would cover less than six weeks' worth of market purchases by Yankee's utility customers. Entergy was also required to establish a Clean Energy Fund as a condition for state approval of the uprate. This pot of money, expected to total $15 million by 2012, is intended to help pay for renewable energy projects in Vermont.