Yankee Faces Parking Plan Fight
Rutland Herald Staff October 8, 2004
By Susan Smallheer
VERNON – New security measures, including a 5-foot high concrete vehicle barrier surrounding the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, has prompted the relocation of the plant's main parking lot.
The Public Service Board has already approved the first half of the project — the plant's new paved parking lot, which is under construction. But it held off approval on the larger, temporary, gravel-surfaced lot.
On Thursday, the board started the hearing process into a second, temporary lot to house the hundreds of vehicles from temporary workers that converge every 18 months on Vermont Yankee for its maintenance and refueling outage.
The New England Coalition has filed objections to the second parking lot, which would be built on a hayfield north of the nuclear reactor, on land owned by Entergy Nuclear.
The anti-nuclear group said it would have detrimental aesthetic effect on people using the Connecticut River, a state park across the river in New Hampshire, as well as the residents of Hinsdale, N.H., which is directly across the river from the plant.
The new security measures must be completed by Oct. 29, according to Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Sheehan said the requirements were issued last year to the nation's 103 commercial nuclear reactors.
Sheehan said he wouldn't comment on specific measures at specific plants because of security concerns. But he said the type of improvements include new guard towers, guard booths and motion detectors, as well as barrier fences.
"Many nuclear power plants used Jersey barriers," he said, referring to protective concrete barriers used as a divider and a means of preventing access to a prohibited area.
Entergy Nuclear has installed a 5-foot-high concrete barrier, made up of blocks 10 feet long, 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall, according to David McElwee, an Entergy Nuclear engineer.
McElwee said the new barrier was designed to keep vehicles out, not people. People can walk between the blocks, he said.
In the case of Vermont Yankee, the main access road to the plant is being partially relocated because of the new barrier, as was the 400-car main parking lot.
During the hearing held at the Vernon Town Hall, Rep. Patricia O'Donnell, R-Vernon, called the hearing "a colossal waste of time and taxpayers' money."
"It's only a parking lot," O'Donnell said, pointing out that the project had won approval by the town of Vernon and the plant's neighbors.
She pointed out that Entergy Nuclear had been responsive to complaints about the first choice for the parking lot — a cornfield immediately adjacent to the plant and several homes, as well as the Vernon Elementary School.
Entergy agreed to move the parking lot location further north, she said.
Raymond Shadis, senior staff technical adviser for the New England Coalition, said that the affects from the construction went beyond Vernon.
"We are concerned with the totality of the impact, not just on the town of Vernon," Shadis said.
"The very existence of this plant is an affront to a substantial portion of the population," Shadis said. "People do have an interest in not looking at it."
Geoffrey Commons, a lawyer with the Department of Public Service, said the state had no concerns about the parking lot project and he said the filing by the coalition had "nothing substantive" in it, a view shared by James Matteau of the Windham Regional Commission.
Despite the criticism that the coalition wasn't raising key issues, close to two dozen officials turned out for the hearing on a brilliant early fall day and got a tour of the site as well.
At Vermont Yankee, we take security very seriously. The NRC has required all U.S. nuclear plants to upgrade security perimeter at the plant site.
As we enlarge and upgrade our security perimeter, more than 75% of our current parking lot will become unavailable. Building a new parking lot is necessary to accommodate our employees.
In addition, the additional parking spaces will help accommodate the hundreds of contractors we employ during refueling periods.
