Vermont Yankee leaks twice
Published on Friday, January 9, 2009 by The Rutland Herald (Vt.)
Vt. Yankee Springs Leak 2 Days in Row
by Susan Smallheer
Opponents of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant hold signs Monday, Dec.
3, 2001, Brattleboro, Vt., during a public hearing about security at
the plant. (AP Photo/Jon-Pierre Lasseigne) BORO — The Vermont Yankee
nuclear plant sprung another radioactive leak Thursday, this time in a
more safety-sensitive area of the plant.
Power production at the reactor was reduced to about 40 percent by 4
p.m. in order to allow the immediate repairs to the seemingly small
leak in a feedwater line.
Robert Williams, spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, said the leak amounted
to “60 drops a minute,” but warranted immediate attention.
Meanwhile, officials from both the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and
the state of Vermont said that Entergy Nuclear could learn exactly how
serious the leak is later Thursday evening, when workers are scheduled
to remove the insulation on the 24-inch pipe which is leaking
radioactive water.
“Entergy will have a sense of the significance of the leakage after it
gets a closer look at the line tonight,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan
said Thursday.
“It is important to learn the cause of the leaking to assure it isn’t
caused by something like flow-accelerated corrosion,” said Sarah
Hofmann, director of public advocacy for the Department of Public
Service.
Corrosion of piping is an industrywide problem at nuclear reactors,
particularly older plants.
It is the second leak in as many days disclosed by the owners of
Vermont’s only nuclear plant, and officials appeared to be taking the
feedwater line leak much more seriously than the earlier, but larger,
leak in a clean-out line. Both leaks involved radioactive water coming
from different systems in the plant.
“We’re coming down to 40 percent,” Williams said midafternoon, while
declining to say exactly how radioactive the water was that was
leaking.
The feedwater line provides water to the reactor, which turns it into
steam, which is piped to the turbines, which generate the electricity.
Williams said the water was “mildly” radioactive. Entergy had called
the level of radioactivity in the earlier leak as “slight.” He said
there was no release of radioactivity outside the plant.
Williams said the company reduced power to about 40 percent by 4 p.m.
to reduce the need for feedwater by at least half so the pipe could be
isolated and drained.
“I say ‘mildly’ radioactive because most of the radioactive impurities
generally stay in the reactor or its separate cleanup system. You
could sort of think of the plant like a distiller with the reactor
producing very clean steam,” he said in an e-mail late Thursday
afternoon.
He said the water in the feedwater system produces “very clean steam,”
which is condensed and repressurized for reuse in the reactor.
Williams said the leak was discovered Thursday morning during a
routine inspection by plant workers. He said he didn’t know where the
leak was — either it was coming from a faulty valve, like the other
leak, or from a faulty weld or joint, or was a weakening in the wall
of the piping.
Hofmann said Entergy held a briefing on the leak Thursday afternoon
which was attended by Uldis Vanags, the state nuclear engineer.
“Some leaks can wait to be fixed while others such as this require
immediate attention. Entergy is taking the proper action to address
this leak. We will, however, be very interested in what Entergy finds
is the cause,” said Hofmann.
Robert Stannard, a Statehouse lobbyist for Citizens Awareness Network,
an antinuclear group, said the two leaks in two days raised plenty of
eyebrows at the Statehouse.
“This is the opening week of the Legislature and there’s not one, but
two leaks at this aged plant. Vermonters can expect to see more leaks
and more problems,” said Stannard. “Sometime there will be a leak that
breaks the camel’s back.”
He said the continuing problems at the plant was undermining public
and legislative confidence in the plant, which supplies one-third of
all the electricity used in Vermont.
Vermont Yankee’s original federal license expires in 2012, and Entergy
Nuclear is seeking federal and state approval to operate for another
20 years. Entergy has preliminary approval from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, and still needs the approval of the Legislature and the
Public Service Board.
