Key panel gives Vermont Yankee green light to boost power

By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian

posted January 9, 2006

ROCKVILLE, MD — A key advisory panel has enthusiastically endorsed the largest allowable power increase under federal law for Vermont Yankee, one of the nation’s oldest nuclear reactors.

In a Jan. 4 letter to the five commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the prestigious Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) dismissed eight state and local concerns about decreased safety systems, operator error margins and an NRC inspection of the 510-megawatt Vernon reactor, as well as uprate-related problems at four plants that have undergone smaller power increases. The letter was released to the public today.

The ACRS appeared to base its decision heavily on information provided by the industry and Vermont Yankee’s owner Entergy Corp.

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