We write today to urge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to ensure a safe and expeditious decommissioning process at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant at the time the plant ceases operations. Immediate decommissioning will assure Vermonters that the plant is being disassembled safely, and will provide an opportunity for current plant employees who are most knowledgeable about the facility to work to safely decommission it. The idea that Entergy, the owner of Vermont Yankee, will seek decades of delay before fulfilling their commitment to cleaning up Vermont Yankee is unacceptable.
Entergy has several times publicly indicated its preference for the use of the so-called “SAFSTOR” method of decommissioning. SAFSTOR would let Entergy off the hook for cleanup, waste disposal, and remediation of the plant site in Vernon, Vt., for years or even decades. Entergy Vice President Jay Thayer testified to the Vermont Senate Finance Committee that if the plant closes in 2012, [Yankee] would remain in SAFSTOR for a period of time most likely, most likely in a 15- to 20- year time frame."
While Entergy may prefer leaving the plant to sit like an abandoned factory because it has not saved the necessary funds to fully decommission the plant, this is not the safest option for Vermonters.
Unfortunately despite its name, the SAFSTOR option does not guarantee safe maintenance. The Dresden One facility in Illinois, while it was in SAFSTOR, had a frozen pipe burst when the heat in the building was shut off. This leaked 55,000 gallons of radioactive water in the containment building. According to reports, had the leak not been discovered by a night watchman after several days, additional frozen pipes could have burst and caused a serious radiation release.