Entergy Watch: Bill in Vermont State House seeks more stringent Vermont Yankee decommissioning

The Vermont State HouseEntergy Nuclear's Vermont Yankee atomic reactor is a GE BWR Mark I, identical to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4, as described in Beyond Nuclear's "Freeze Our Fukushimas" pamphlet.

As reported by AP, a bill has been introduced in the State of Vermont legislature, opening yet another battlefront against Entergy's Vermont Yankee atomic reactor. The legislation seeks to establish more exacting decommissioning clean-up standards than are required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), with an added price tag of $40 million.

‘‘They've had a history of backing away from agreements and promises, and we want to make sure we protect the residents of Vernon and, by extension, Vermont taxpayers from liability related to decommissioning the plant,’’ said Rep. Margaret Cheney, vice chair of the House committee and a lead sponsor of the bill.

Chief among the "rogue corporation" Entergy's "broken promises" to the Green Mountain State was a signed agreement to shutdown Vermont Yankee by March 22, 2012 if it failed to obtain a renewed Certificate of Public Good (CPG) from the Vermont Public Service Board. The Vermont State Senate voted 26 to 4 in Feb. 2010 to block the issuance of the CPG, due to reasons other than radiological safety (NRC's jurisdiction) recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as falling under state authority. Nearly a year later, Entergy still operates VY without the required CPG.

Markey letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on hydrogen explosions/vents

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources CommitteeThe Office of U.S. Representative Ed Markey (D-MA, pictured left), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, has circulated the following statement:

"Today, Rep. Markey sent a letter to NRC Chairman Allison Macfarlane urging NRC to follow the recommendations of its technical staff and require filtered vents on some nuclear reactors in order to facilitate the prevention of the sort of hydrogen explosions that occurred during the Fukushima meltdowns. The letter also conveyed Rep. Markey’s concerns about ongoing potentially misleading statements made by some NRC personnel concerning the ability of U.S. nuclear reactors to prevent a dangerous buildup of hydrogen gas in nuclear containment structures in the event of a nuclear accident."

Markey's congressional district is just 8 miles downstream from the Vermont Yankee GE BWR Mark I located on the Connecticut River in Vernon, VT. Massachusetts also "hosts" the Pilgrim Mark I near Boston. Both Mark Is are owned and operated by Entergy Nuclear. Beyond Nuclear's "Freeze Our Fukushimas" pamphlet lists all 31 GE BWR Mark Is and IIs in the U.S.

VDPS finds that Entergy has broken its promises to the State of Vermont, urges rejection of CPG

Entergy Nuclear's Vermont Yankee atomic reactor is a GE BWR Mark I, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4.

Echoing State of Vermont political leaders' accusation that New Orleans-based Entergy Nuclear is "a rogue corporation," on Jan. 25, 2013, Geoffrey Commons, Director of Public Advocacy at the Vermont Department of Public Service (VDPS), speaking on behalf of Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin's administration, filed a strongly worded brief in the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) proceeding re: whether or not Entergy should be granted a renewed Certificate of Public Good (CPG), required to continue operating the Vermont Yankee atomic reactor during its Nuclear Regulatory Commission rubber-stamped 20-year license extension.

Commons highlighted that "Entergy Has Breached lts Promise Not to Operate the VY Station After March 12, 2012 Without a Renewed CPG," stating:

"Reduced to its core, this issue demonstrates that Entergy, as a business, is prepared to promise whatever it takes to achieve its immediate business objectives, and, is prepared to violate such promises if honoring them would be inconsistent with subsequent business objectives."

You can contact the PSB, urging it to deny a Certificate of Public Good to Entergy, which would force the shutdown of Vermont Yankee under state law, which Entergy had previously agreed to obey. More.

Update on February 7, 2013 by admin

The Brattleboro Reformer has reported on this story.

Entergy Watch: Unprecedented "Lights Out" on Superbowl!

Entergy owns and operates GE BWR Mark Is at Pilgrim, MA; FitzPatrick, NY; and Vermont Yankee. It also operates the Cooper Mark I in Nebraska on behalf of the NE Public Power District. These Mark Is are identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4. The Station Black Outs there lead to a triple meltdown in March 2011...

There were a number of "firsts" at Superbowl LXVII (that's 47, for those of you who don't speak Roman numerals): the first (albeit unsuccessful) fake field goal attemp; a 108-yard kick off return for a touchdown; and a more than 30-minute long power outage, that left the New Orleans Superdome mostly dark, except for emergency back up lighting. One fact that cannot be denied: although the cause of the unprecedented "lights out" is still under investigation, it took place in the service area of Entergy New Orleans. However, Entergy, at least initially, has denied any responsibility.

As reported by ESPN:

'...Philip Allison, a spokesman for Entergy New Orleans, said power had been flowing into the stadium before the lights failed.

"All of our distribution and transmission feeds going into the Superdome were operating as expected," Allison said...'

Ironically, the New Orleans Silverdome also figured centrally in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August-September 2005, as a shelter of last resort for thousands of survivors.

Entergy, the national headquarters of which is in New Orleans, operates a "dirty dozen" atomic reactors across the U.S., including Waterford and Riverbend in Louisiana, Grand Gulf in Mississippi, and Arkansas Nuclear One, Units 1 & 2.

Update on February 6, 2013 by admin

We are still in the dark, so to speak, as to why the lights went out on 76,000 fans in the Superdome, and 108,400,000 Americans watching the Super Bowl on television.

As reported at CBS Sports:

'...On Tuesday, Superdome officials and the power provider Entergy New Orleans said they had failed to find a cause for the outage. They added they would hire a consultant to analyze their data. It wasn't clear how long an investigation would take.

"We thought it was important to get another party looking at this to make sure we were looking at everything that we need to," Entergy spokesman Chanel Lagarde said...

Both Entergy and SMG [the company that manages the Superdome] said Sunday that an "abnormality" occurred where stadium equipment intersects with an Entergy electric feed, causing a breaker to create the outage. It remained unclear what the abnormality was or why it occurred.'

ESPN also supplied an update:

'...The exact cause of Sunday night's blackout -- and who's to blame -- remained unclear late Monday, though a couple of potential culprits had been ruled out.

It wasn't Beyonce's electrifying halftime performance, according to Doug Thornton, manager of the state-owned Superdome, since the singer had her own generator. And it apparently wasn't a case of too much demand for power. Meters showed the 76,000-seat stadium was drawing no more electricity than it does during a typical New Orleans Saints game, Thornton said...

...The problem that caused the outage was believed to have happened around the spot where a line that feeds current from Entergy New Orleans connects with the Superdome's electrical system, officials said. But whether the fault lay with the utility or with the Superdome was not clear.

Determining the cause will probably take days, according to Dennis Dawsey, a vice president for distribution and transmission for Entergy. He said the makers of some of the switching gear have been brought in to help figure out what happened.'

Update on February 8, 2013 by admin

First Entergy denied any responsibility. Then Entergy agreed to an investigation. And now, five days later, Entergy admits that its faulty equipment was the culprit that plunged the Superdome and the Super Bowl into darkness.

It's not unlike that time in Vermont, when Entergy officials testified, under oath, to state officials, that no underground piping existed at Vermont Yankee which could possibly be conducting radioactive materials. Only to have to admit a short time later, that those very pipes which it had denied even existed, were leaking tritium and other radioactive contaminants into soil, groundwater, and the Connecticut River.

Or that time, when it took over at the Palisades atomic reactor in Michigan, when it promised it would replace the corroded reactor lid and degraded steam generators, as well as deal with the worst embrittled reactor pressure vessel in the U.S. -- but never did.

The Chicago Tribune has reported on Entergy's mea culpa for causing the Super Bowl lights out. CBS Sports has reported that documents revealed concerns about electrical failures in the months leading up to the game.

Update on February 4, 2014 by admin

The New York Times has reported on this story, including:

'Entergy and SMG, the company that manages the Superdome, issued a joint statement explaining the power loss:

“A piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system. Once the issue was detected, the sensing equipment operated as designed and opened a breaker, causing power to be partially cut to the Superdome in order to isolate the issue. Backup generators kicked in immediately as designed.

“Entergy and SMG subsequently coordinated start-up procedures, ensuring that full power was safely restored to the Superdome. The fault-sensing equipment activated where the Superdome equipment intersects with Entergy’s feed into the facility. There were no additional issues detected. Entergy and SMG will continue to investigate the root cause of the abnormality.”'

The New York Post also reported on this story, including finger pointing between Entergy, the Superdome, and the NFL. The New Orleans Police Department is reported to have said a power surge entering the Superdome caused the outage -- which would have been Entergy's fault.

Entergy Watch: UBS predicts "real retirement risk for units such as Vermont Yankee and FitzPatrick in '13"

In a report for shareholders, dated Feb. 4th by UBS Securities LLC, UBS "reiterate[s] expectations for nuclear retirements" in the Entergy Nuclear merchant fleet, due to low to negative free cash flow. UBS highlights that "We see Vermont Yankee as the most tenuously positioned," but adds "Fitzpatrick (sic) in upstate NY increasingly appears at risk as well," and "Pilgrim could be at risk too, depending on market development in New England." The report is based on a Feb. 2nd meeting between UBS analysts and Entergy Nuclear's new CEO, Leo Denault, and the rest of the Entergy management team.

Both FitzPatrick and Vermont Yankee are GE BWR Mark Is, identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1-4.

More.