A Note from Larry Smith at Vermont Yankee

March 6, 2010

Vermont Yankee engineers and technicians continue their investigation into the source of tritium in the plant's groundwater. The Vermont Department of Health and Nuclear Regulatory Commission personnel are monitoring the investigation.

Today, technicians are continuing the Advanced Off Gas (AOG) pipe tunnel inspection using a camera attached to a remotely operated vehicle. During that inspection yesterday, the technicians noted steam and water coming from a dime/quarter-size hole at an elbow in a 1 to 1.5 inch diameter AOG drain pipe. Engineers are determining which of several drain pipes that runs through that section is at fault. Water coming from the pipe is not reaching the environment. As I noted yesterday, it is being collected in a sump drain for processing through plant systems as designed.

Also this weekend, workers are preparing to install a new groundwater monitoring well early next week that will help to further characterize the ground water at the site.

While this investigation continues, it is important to note that there has been no detectable tritium levels found in any samples taken from drinking water wells or the river.

For more details on the tritium investigation, the Vermont Department of Health has a thorough status report on the investigation at this web link: http://healthvermont.gov/enviro/rad/yankee/tritium.aspx