VERNON, Vt. (AP) - A judge has ordered Entergy Nuclear to document its claim that it has resolved a safety issue discovered during a recent special engineering inspection at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power plant.
Attorneys for the Department of Public Service had asked for the documentation, but were told by Entergy that they could come to the Vernon reactor and search for what they wanted.
After a three hour telephone conference on Friday, a judge with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board told Entergy to send the documents to the state, said Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Entergy spokesman Robert Williams said Entergy would comply within the 30-day timeframe.
Entergy had proposed that the state come to the Vernon reactor to go through the technical documents because, in the long run, it would have been more efficient, Williams said.
"It's simpler, they can get what they want immediately in person, at the plant," he said.
The documents deal with whether Vermont Yankee control room operators can get to a remote control room panel and shut down the plant within 20 minutes in the event of a fire in the main control room.
The problem was discovered during the special engineering inspection, conducted last summer by the NRC as part of a detailed review of the plant undertaken because of a proposed 20 percent power boost.
Sarah Hofmann, an attorney with the Department of Public Service, said the state wanted to know how Entergy would now meet the time requirement under the fire scenario.
"We want to see the underlying documentation," she said. "We'll definitely be looking at them very carefully."
Hofmann said Entergy Attorney Jay Silberg "just kept on putting up a wall" as to why the documents couldn't be sent.
The state had filed another complaint with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board over the issue of the emergency response to a fire in the control room.
The board, a quasi-judicial board made up of nuclear experts from industry and academia, is reviewing criticisms of Entergy's plan for the 20 percent power increase. The complaints have been lodged both by the state and the anti-nuclear group, New England Coalition.
Vermont Yankee has been cooperating with all inquires concerning the safe operation of the energy center. We had hoped to simplify this process by sharing documents on site. Vermont Yankee will follow the court order and move forward with the proposal for a 20% increase in power production.
