Atomic Safety and Licensing Board knocks down one of the last hurdles to final federal approval
- Edited by April Murelio -
According to a report by the Rutland Herald, The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board has knocked down one of the last hurdles to final federal approval for another 20 years of operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
The board rsponsible for the plant held hearings last summer in Newfane on environmental and safety concerns raised by environmental groups. It has ruled that it has dismissed the final challenge by the New England Coalition, an anti-nuclear group.
In its recent challenge to the proposed license, the group said Entergy Nuclear's recent re-calculations on the effects of metal fatigue in core spray and reactor recirculation nozzles were flawed. The licensing board rejected that challenge and the NRC has recommended that Entergy Nuclear get permission to operate for another 20 years.
The NRC staff reviewed the Vermont Yankee license renewal application for compliance with the requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 54, "Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants," and prepared this report to document its findings. The document was issued in March 30, 2007, as "Safety Evaluation Report With confirmatory Items Related to the License Renewal of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station". The report is available in ADAMS under accession number ML070890638.
In May 2008, the staff issued the final "Safety Evaluation Report Related to the License Renewal of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station" as NUREG-1907. The report is available in ADAMS under accession numbers ML081430057 (Volume 1) and ML081430109 (Volume 2).