Southern Steward of Vermont Yankee Plant Responds to Criticism

Author: [no author name found]

I am a spokesman for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant and I would like to respond to Edith Honan's recent opinion piece ("Vermont Nuclear Power Plant," The Middlebury Campus, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2002) in which she expressed concern about the safety of our plant.
She sought to disparage the commercial nuclear industry by trying to differentiate its safety philosophy from that of the U.S. Navy.
Her accusation was groundless. Whether in the civilian industry or in the military, there is no other way to be successful in nuclear operations than to put safety first.
We perform our work within essentially the same federal limits and in areas such as training, we are probably better at it than Uncle Sam. Whether in the military or commercial service, it is always the best policy to take the time to do a job carefully and right the first time.
I write that as a representative of the company that proudly employs the highest concentration of ex-nuclear submariners in this corner of New England.
As every thinking Vermonter knows by now, there are many organizations across New England that exist solely to shut down Vermont Yankee and all nuclear power plants. These groups will often resort to a sensationalism that incites fear to advance their cause. A fitting example is Honan's claim about some of our computers that we donated to a local school's computer technician class that were subsequently found discarded.
She claimed a public relations conspiracy expressed early doubts that there was any security-related information on the hard drives. (Unbeknownst to Honan, our security information is not kept on computers at all and is physically stored in a manner consistent with federal regulations.)
Upon learning of the discarded computers, Vermont Yankee sought assurance that the computers were in the possession of law enforcement authorities and subsequently reviewed the hard drives so that we could formally respond to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as to the content of the hard drives.
I sensed a great letdown among plant opponents when it was determined that there was no sensitive or safeguarded information on them and that most of the digital photos on the hard drives turned out to be ones shot for our company newsletter that we distributed via our network to our employees.
I also sensed a letdown among plant opponents when we determined that the computers turned out to be among the more than 150 computers we donated to local community organizations in the last two years.
The computers in question were ones we donated to Brattleboro Union High School to be used in their electronics/computer repair program. We now ensure that all computers donated are cleared of data regardless of their intended use.
Anti-nuclear activists will always express doubts about any assertions by the nuclear industry or the NRC. This is what they do. While their role as "watchdogs" and letters-to-the-editor writers undoubtedly has some value, they tend to routinely resort to unnecessary sensationalism which -- every time -- defeats their purpose and reduces their credibility in the long run.

Rob Williams is spokesman for the Vermont Yankee power plant. He can be reached at RWill23@entergy.com.