 Is Vermont Yankee a 'safe' plant?
Is Vermont Yankee secure against a terrorist attack?
What does Vermont Yankee do for Vermont?
What is the emergency plan for Vermont Yankee?
Why can't a Chernobyl-like event occur at Vermont Yankee?
What is the 'uprate' and why is it important?
How is spent fuel stored at Vermont Yankee?
How does the federal government plan on storing used fuel in the future?
Is Vermont Yankee a 'safe' plant?
Safety is Vermont Yankee's top priority at all times. The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is equipped with redundant safety systems that make it extremely unlikely that a nuclear accident would occur that would cause radioactivity to be released into the atmosphere. A "nuclear explosion" is impossible because of the type of uranium that is used in production of nuclear power. Such an "explosion" would counter the laws of physics.
In addition, the walls of the containment structure and spent fuel pool are steel-reinforced concrete several feet thick. Independent engineering studies have shown that even a large airliner could not penetrate the containment structure walls.
Entergy-owned nuclear plants are rated among the best performing facilities in the United States.
Is Vermont Yankee secure against a terrorist attack?
Vermont Yankee's well armed and well-trained security force is larger than most police agencies in the state of Vermont. Since Entergy purchased Vermont Yankee in 2002, many security improvements have been made, including: additional concrete barriers, barbed wire fencing, surveillance monitors and motion detectors, new fortified entrance gates, and stringent identification systems for all persons entering the site. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also has a wide range of measures to protect Vermont Yankee from air attack.
What does Vermont Yankee do for Vermont?
Vermont Yankee is the largest producer of electricity in Vermont, providing reliable base load generation. In fact, it represents 80% of Vermont's in-state generation and supplies approximately one-third of the state's electricity demand. Vermont Yankee is also one of the largest employers in Windham County with about 500 full-time employees and up to 200 contractors on the payroll at any given time. This provides about $100M every year in economic benefit to the state and region through payroll, taxes and local purchases of goods and services.
What is the emergency plan for Vermont Yankee?
In the very unlikely event of an incident at Vermont Yankee, the plant staff will implement a federally mandated emergency response plan. That includes immediate notification of the public within a 10-mile radius of the plant through designated local radio stations that are part of the emergency alert system. State and local emergency management agencies would advise residents on what actions, if any, they should take in terms of sheltering or evacuation.
Why can't a Chernobyl-like event occur at Vermont Yankee?
First, Chernobyl was a very different type of facility. It was an experimental reactor that produced power, as well as plutonium for military use, creating safety problems that do not exist at Vermont Yankee. Second, Chernobyl was built without containment structures to prevent radioactive material from spreading in the event of an accident. Vermont Yankee, on the contrary, was designed only for the safe production of clean power and protects its materials inside of a containment structure built to withstand the most extreme scenarios.
All U.S. nuclear plants, like Vermont Yankee, are required to have containment structures to protect the health and safety of its workers and citizens. A plant of Chernobyl's design could not have been built in the U.S.
What is the 'uprate' and why is it important?
The "uprate" refers to the increase in electricity Vermont Yankee can produce. In June 2006, the facility increased its output by 20%, allowing it to produce a total of 650 megawatts (MW) of power. This was done without increasing the size of the plant.
This is important to the region because more electricity will be needed in the coming years. The uprate will supply a portion of that need with additional clean, low-cost electricity that will not require building additional power plants or the associated transmission lines.
How is spent fuel stored at Vermont Yankee?
Like all U.S. nuclear power plants, Vermont Yankee is required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to safely store spent fuel onsite until it is removed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Spent fuel is removed from the reactor once every 18 months when the plant undergoes refueling.
Spent fuel is currently stored in an on-site fuel pool - a heavily reinforced concrete structure filled with water that acts as a natural barrier to radiation and cools the spent fuel.
U.S. nuclear plants were designed under the assumption that the federal government would remove the spent fuel in a timely manner throughout operation. Because the government has not begun moving the fuel to the anticipated permanent storage facility in Yucca Mountain (Nevada), a growing number of plants - including Vermont Yankee - have fuel pools that are nearing their storage capacity. In order to continue operating, these plants need to supplement their fuel pools and have done so with dry fuel storage facilities, which consist of several temporary on-site and above ground steel and concrete units. Once a federal repository becomes available, these storage units can be shipped to the government's permanent storage facility. This has become the principal option for nuclear power plants needing additional fuel storage capacity. To date, approximately 30 U.S. nuclear power plants have constructed or are planning to construct such storage units.
As one of the first nuclear plants to be constructed, Vermont Yankee will be one of the first plants that will be permitted to remove spent nuclear fuel and store it permanently at the repository in Yucca Mountain. The NRC conducts stringent inspections to assure that dry fuel storage facilities are safe, that no radioactivity will escape, and that the design makes them secure from a terrorist attack.
How does the federal government plan on storing spent fuel in the future?
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 required the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to begin safely and permanently disposing of spent fuel from all commercial nuclear power plants no later than January 31, 1998. For the past twenty years, the U.S. Department of Energy has been working on a permanent storage repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The DOE asserts that a final repository at Yucca Mountain will be available to begin storing spent fuel from plants like Vermont Yankee within the next decade.
The Act further established the Nuclear Waste Fund - the mechanism by which all classes of ratepayers would fund the safe transportation and disposal of spent fuel through a small fee in their electricity bills for nuclear-generated power.
When Yucca Mountain begins to operate, Vermont Yankee will be among the first plants in the country eligible to ship spent fuel there.
For this reason, Entergy has already begun preparing for the safe transport of spent fuel by constructing a dry cask storage facility.
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