Vermont Yankee:It Still Leaks 24-7

Yesterday the Vermont Senate voted 26-4 to close entergy’s Vermont Yankee power plant by 2012.
But hey, it still leaks 24-7.
“brings new insight on plant operation”*
Yesterday Entergy reported that after investigating itself for misrepresenting the existence of underground piping they had suspended four more top level engineers. Included, somewhat incredibly, is the head of the team currently investigating the underground radioactive tritium leak.
These four additional suspensions bring the total to 11 high level people suspended ,disciplined and officially reprimanded for involvement in the underground pipe issue.

Entergy Nuclear announced Wednesday that it had suspended four additional senior Vermont Yankee employees - including the man who had been leading the investigation into the tritium leak - after it concluded its investigation into whether its employees lied to state regulators about the existence of buried pipes carrying radioactivity.

Larry Smith, spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, said that no successor had been named to replace Dreyfuss on the tritium task force, but he stressed that finding the leak was a "team effort." He declined to say when Dreyfuss and the others were placed on leave and he said he couldn't say what administrative leave entailed.

Also placed on leave was Dave McElwee, Entergy's senior liaison engineer who was the main technical point man on regulatory issues for the company in Montpelier.

Prior to the tritium leaks and revelations of lying ,er, misleading statements Dreyfuss and McElwee were both featured prominently in Entergy’s public relations campaign. This was the rapidly terminated iamvy.com PR blitz. Before this current unpleasantness began Vermont Yankee Site VP Mike Colomb (also among those admonished for the underground pipe deception) described the ad campaigns goals like this

“brings new insight on plant operation, as the featured employees -- all Vermont residents -- express in their own words the pride and dedication they bring to their jobs, and why it is in the best interest of all Vermonters to keep the plant in service.”

Vermont Catamount Health for $1 million less ?

Chairman of the National Governors Association (NGA), Vermont Governor Jim Douglas will lead the nation’s governors at their annual winter meeting in Washington this weekend. Healthcare availability and affordability one of Douglas’ focus points will be a subject of discussion at the gathering in Washington.

Vermont’s Catamount Health the public/private healthcare plan is one innovation Douglas often notes:

“I am proud of the steps we have taken in Vermont. My chairman’s initiative focuses on helping governors lead the way in improving the quality of our system, providing more insurance coverage and addressing key cost drivers to ensure we have a system that is affordable, accessible and accountable.” said Douglas in a press release prior to his trip to Washington.

The supposedly tightfisted governor's pride may be tempered somewhat from the findings of some research into Vermont’s Catamount Health plan. The plan established in 2007 included requirements for an outside efficiency study. Some results are quoted in the Burlington Free Press unfortunately no link to the study was provided.

The research results put forward that the Catamount Health could save $1 million a year if the state had been running it exclusively rather than the private/public arrangement that exists.

Researchers suggested if the same state office that administers Medicaid and the Vermont Health Access Program also ran Catamount, administrative costs would decrease by about $1 million a year.

Peter Sterling, executive director of the Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security Education Fund, called the researchers’ finding significant: “We have overpaid at least $2 million to let private insurance do what the state could have done.”

Utilities of Skeptics

Changes are coming fast and furious to parts of the utility industry in the US.The stirrings of a nuclear power renaissance (fueled by federal loan guarantees), carbon trading credits, wind power and smart grid initiatives are regularly in the news. However, attitudes in the industry may not be open to change. A new survey of the utility industry offers some interesting insights into their collective mind. This science and technology driven business apparently contains many who seriously doubt the science of climate change.

The survey found that 44% don’t believe global warming is caused by human activity . They note that in a 2009 Gallup poll, 57% of Americans believed global warming exists and is man made.

Earth2tech points out this utility respondent comment from the survey: “The energy industry needs to unite and fight the ridiculous ‘consensus’ science of AGW [Anthropogenic Global Warming]. This is not science as anyone with scientific and engineering training understands, but it is power politics.”

The industry may see climate change as bringing new waves of what are seen as troublesome rules and regulations. Strange though, that the very science based industry which might be a source for innovation and creativity in solving global warming challenges may be home for climate change deniers.

In a survey of over 300 utility industry participants, in response to the question: “Do you personally believe that fundamental, long-term global warming is taking place, or are we simply in a cyclical period of warming that is the result of the earth’s natural cycles?” — 39 percent of utility respondents said that they believe the earth is on a fundamental long-term warming trend, while 54 percent believe that we are in a cyclical warming period, and 7 percent responded that they don’t believe in global warming.

The Eye of the Dubie Campaign

Vermont Lt.Gov.Brian Dubie has been out touring Vermont. As his campaign takes shape he is more often seen standing alongside the Governor at photo ops and his press releases seem to be a regular feature on the Vermont.gov webpage. All this perhaps is trying to alleviate the image from past campaigns where he has campaigned lightly, and ducked debates.
He is also just wrapping up a lengthy statewide“jobs” tour in Chittenden County but from the Burlington Free Press reports it might more accurately be named the look-‘em-in-the-eye tour.

Dubie listened respectfully, accepted the position and added: "I vowed to look you in the eye."
It was like this between the lieutenant governor and the chorus of outspoken doubters. Dubie did look everyone in the eye.

It is unclear what magic this vow to look-‘em-in-the-eye may accomplish but it appears the Lt. Gov. is convinced it may work some magic on the self described “grumpy” titans of Vermont business he encountered. The “grumpy” yet “sage” manager of political relations for IBM gave Brian an earful.

“The business community has been talking about the same issues for two decades." To come to business at this time to ask about our perspective, O'Kane said "seems ingenuous ... it is too costly to do business in Vermont ... it is too hard to do business,"

Sounds like more whine than grump but you’d have to look ‘em in eye to know.
Perhaps taken aback by what were described as the business people’s “edgy” comments and questions, the Lt. Governor did raise the specter of revolt in classic Tea Party rhetoric

In response to increasing taxes and controlling expenses, Dubie offered this prediction, "We're looking at a taxpayer revolt."

Despertando O Gato Novo

Again with the Friday cat blogging

Never Cry Tritium in a Crowded Theatre

From the Vermont Health Department online

On January 7, the Vermont Department of Health was notified by Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station that samples taken from a ground water monitoring well on site (identified as GZ-3) contained tritium.

Tritium is a radioactive form of hydrogen. It is a by-product of the nuclear fission process in a nuclear reactor, and also occurs naturally in the environment in very low concentrations.
Most tritium in the environment is in the form of tritiated water, which easily moves about in the atmosphere, bodies of water, soil and rock.

The finding of tritium in ground water signals that there has been an unintended underground release of radioactive material, and that other radioisotopes may have contaminated the environment.

Perhaps a Vermont Health Department notification of a house fire might read as follows:
Vermont Health Department Notice of Rapid Oxidation and Chemical Process of Combustion

On February 11, The Vermont Health Department was notified by local private authorities that a previously unknown section of a house was found to be on fire. Samples were taken from a monitoring portion of the site (identified as 1-SOH ,1-Side of House).

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Most rapid oxidation in the environment is in the form of fire and may easily move about. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not considered to be part of this definition.

The discovery of fire in monitoring area 1-SOH (1-side of house) signals there has been and unintended combustion process occurrence that may need further voluntary monitoring.

Vermont Officials are conducting a thorough investigation to identify the magnitude of the occurrence and the source of the combustion process .Assistance will be provided by a number of private and state agencies, a team of Rapid Oxidation Experts (ROE’S) will be on site to analyze data.
This process if unchecked has the potential to cause physical damage through burning and can occasionally result in a phase transition in the affected mass if the temperature of the flame is hot enough.

Weakly, updates will be scheduled, soon

"...vigilant in prosecuting crimes against Vermont's environment."

"Had these actions not been reported to the state so quickly, there was the potential for significant environmental contamination at the site and surrounding community,” said Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell. "We will continue to be vigilant in prosecuting crimes against Vermont's environment."

No it’s not the leaking tritium at Entergy’s aging Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant but 23 buried waste oil drums the Attorney General is talking about.

A Danby Vermont man got a one to two year suspended sentence, probation and a $10,000 fine .The maximum sentence was a possible fives years in jail and $250,000 in fines .

After this success there is no word on what Vermont’s vigilant regulators may have in store for Entergy and their tritium leak.
Currently the leak has spiked to well above the federal standard for drinking water (20,000 picocuries per liter) to 2.7 million picocuries per liter. Tritium levels in reactor water usually measure 2.9million picocuries

Recently the Vermont AG submitted a request to Entergy for information about whether plant officials lied to state officials about the existence of underground piping that is the source of the leak. Entergy has proven reluctant in the past to release documents without a court fight.

Found: Broad Support for Climate Energy Policies

A national survey released by researchers at Yale and George Mason universities shows substantial levels of public support for the passage of federal climate and energy policies. Although there has been a drop in the public sense of urgency surrounding global warming, support remains. According to this poll majorities spanning party affiliation support many of these policies.
The survey found support for:
• Funding more research on renewable energy, such as solar and wind power (85 percent)
• Tax rebates for people buying fuel-efficient vehicles or solar panels (82 percent)
• Establishing programs to teach Americans how to save energy (72 percent)
• Regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant (71 percent)
• School curricula to teach children about the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to global warming (70 percent)*
• Signing an international treaty that requires the United States to cut emissions of carbon dioxide 90 percent by the year 2050 (61 percent)
• Establishing programs to teach Americans about global warming (60 percent).

These findings are reminiscent of polls early in the healthcare reform debate that showed broad cross party support. Healthcare support was never capitalized on effectively as the healthcare legislation lurched and stumbled its way through the legislative process. A similar lurch and stumble scenario may be playing out again with these issues.
This poll reports that majorities of Republican and Democrats support renewable energy research, tax rebates, regulating carbon dioxide, and expanding offshore drilling for oil and natural gas.
However it also shows that

Sixty percent of Americans, however, said they have heard “nothing at all” about the cap-and-trade legislation currently being considered by Congress. Only 12 percent had heard “a lot.”

Report PDF here Yale/George Mason Poll