Yankee power boost hits the skids

Author: Katherine N. Doorley

Despite continued criticism from opponents arguing that the plan is unsafe, officials at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant have once again increased the plant's power output, this time to 110 percent of the plants capacity, which represents half of a planned production increase. This increase is part of a plan to raise the plant's power production by 20 percent, a plan that was approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Vermont state officials in early February.

One of the terms of the uprate agreement was that plant officials would only increase power production by 5 percent of capacity at a time and that they would agree to wait at least four days between each increase in order to allow for testing and maintenance work, which will ensure the safety of the rate increase. This increase will bring the power production at the plant from 540 megawatts to 650 megawatts, and each 5 percent increase represents an additional 53 megawatts of power in the New England power grid enough electricity for 53,000 homes.

Entergy Nuclear, the company that owns Vermont Yankee, has spent a good deal of time in the past months convincing Vermonters that the proposed increase in production is safe, despite the fact that the power plant is over 30 years old. "NRC approval comes after 29 months of technical staff review. Their finding in favor of the increase was recently backed by a recommendation in January of this year from the independent Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, which was established by Congress to advise the NRC on matter of nuclear safety."

Despite their caution, so far the increase has not gone entirely smoothly so far. The first 5 percent increase was reached in early March; however plant officials halted further increases after machines picked up unusual vibrations coming from a key cooling component. After four weeks of repair work and tests, plant officials concluded that they steam dryer would not be damaged by the vibrations and allowed the next 5 percent increase to take place, bringing the plant to its current 110 percent level.

Critics of the plan point to this incident as further proof that a production increase is far too dangerous an undertaking for a plant as old as Vermont Yankee. "Vermont Yankee was designed and licensed to operate for 40 years," said Hattie Nestel, a member of the Citizen's Awareness Network, which fights nuclear power plants. "Hairline cracks have already appeared in the steam dryer. Entergy says that the cracks have been repaired but concedes that the uprate would result in more rapid equipment corrosion, produce spent fuel at a faster rate and introduce more radiation into the atmosphere."

Vermont Yankee employees and Entergy Nuclear officials dismiss these claims, arguing that the uprate is perfectly safe and that the delayed procedure ensures that if ever the increase in power production becomes unsafe it will be stopped. Furthermore, they argue that the benefits of the uprate far outweigh any potential dangers. "This is important to Vermonters because the state will need more electricity in coming years. The uprate will supply a portion of that need with additional clear, low-cost electricity that will not require building additional power plants or the associated transmission lines."

Thus, for now, the power production increase continues despite the protests from many residents of Vermont and the New England area. However, if the plant's age continues to show during the uprate process, it remains likely that Vermont Yankee will fail to meet Entergy officials' goal of a 20 percent power increase by the beginning of the summer season.