Good News ! Vermont Fishing is Hot !

The person who wrote the following Vermont State webpage’s wintertime recreation press release
“Fishing is Hot on Lake Champlain… and some memorable fish have been caught in recent weeks” probably didn’t have strontium or cesium in mind .But it certainly blends well with the Vermont chief radiologist’s news that a fish from Northern Vermont’s Lake Carmi tested positive for low levels of strontium-90 and cesium-137. The preliminary results are in the same range as found last August in a Connecticut River fish near Vermont Yankee. Bill Irwin, chief of radiological health for the Vermont Department of Health says this provides proof of what he had already decided …err hypothesized:

"We take this as some evidence that all fish in Vermont are likely to have radioactive cesium and strontium at these levels and that, as we’ve hypothesized, it is from nuclear weapons fallout and the releases of Chernobyl. All of us are glad to have proof and not just conjecture."

Good news! Call the tourist board because all the in Vermont fish contain radioactive strontium 90 and cesium. However if this shows the Lake Carmi fish was contaminated by nuclear weapons fallout and the Chernobyl disaster I shouldn’t think it takes our leaking Vermont Yankee out of contention as an additional source for contamination of Connecticut River fish.
Although the Lake Carmi fish had cesium in edible and inedible parts and strontium was found only in the samples bones, head, fins and scales. The Vermont Yankee fish had high levels of strontium 90 in the bones and small but measurable levels in the meat unlike the Lake Carmi fish.

A fish taken from the Connecticut River in 2010 had the highest levels of strontium-90 in bone that his department has seen in any samples.
"In that same sample we did find very low but measurable amounts of strontium-90 in the meat of the fish," said Irwin, which could have been a sampling or contamination error. "But we don’t know that."

The Lake Carmi fish as proof (not all "evidence" is "proof") reminds me of the line from the Nick Danger comedy skit where a supposed time traveler says “I have proof I’ve been to Ancient Greece! See look at this grape!” The Vermont chief radiologist found a grape.
Just remember, Bill Irwin is a culturally-sensitive guy looking out for you and your radiological health:

"There’s no danger in eating the fish," said Irwin. "Should we ever find that there are reasons to restrict diet from any sampling for any kind of radioactive or toxicological events, we would keep in mind different cultures have different diets."

Ever wonder how much local fish Bill Irwin eats?

Vermont Yankee: ‘yup tires still bald’

Entergy according to the Times Argus is seeking NRC permission for Vermont Yankee to stop a current required inspection routine.

Instead of inspecting the steam dryer every time it shuts down for refueling, on average every 18 months, as currently required, Entergy wants to inspect it every seven refueling outages, or once every 10 years or so.

This is as if Vermont Yankee having been granted permission to drive a 40 year old nuclear vehicle with bald tires well above the legal speed limit has grown bored; bored with examining their old worn tires and repeatedly finding them still worn and tread-less ‘yup still bald’. So they want to stop the bother and expense of looking altogether. Simply put, if they ain’t looking they ain’t finding.
According to reports as of July 2010 required VY inspections discovered a total of 65 cracks. Entergy maintains that despite these "non relevant" cracks the steam dryer is in “good shape”.

The routine inspections are part of requirements the NRC placed on Entergy VY when it permitted the 40 year old plant to operate at 20 percent greater power production than the original design. A steam dryer is used to remove water from steam before it enters the power plant turbine. While not considered officially safety equipment by the NRC dryer failure can impact components that are. A test power up-rate of less than VY’s 20 percent at a similar US Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) plant resulted in major steam dryer failure.

Not that long ago in 2009 VY was happily bragging about their Nuclear Energy Institute(NEI)industry trade group award winning (cost saving) remotely operated steam dryer inspection mechanism. Certainly a clever thing but it wasn’t as if Entergy had an award winning repair to any “non-relevant” cracks in the worrisome steam dryer. They just found a slick way to monitor the steam dryer’s aging –and naturally cut costs.

An annual reduction of 3.6 person-rem of radiation exposure is expected along with a minimum $500,000 cost reduction per outage.

Also not that long ago Entergy hired a Vermont PR firm to splash on a quick fresh coat of PR paint? The IAMVY.com campaign and tagline safe, clean, reliable that resulted ring just as hollow now as in 2009 just before tritium leaks were disclosed. Now Entergy requests permission to practically stop required steam dryer inspections. I propose a new tagline for Vermont Yankee in the form of a question: VY:What could possibly go wrong?

Entergy CEO’s report “By the way, we’re all gonna die,”

An Entergy spokesman explains CEO Wayne Leonard is a movie “buff”

Leonard “is a movie buff and often uses movies in his presentations to help deliver the message” during shareholder and earnings meetings

reports Politico.com.

Entergy’s 111 page Analyst Conference presentation is aided by images and quotes from The Hangover a recent drunken buddy comedy set in Las Vegas. CEO Leonard, the owner of Vermont Yankee thinks relevant quotes from The Hangover such as “By the way, we’re all gonna die,” found on the second page will help wow analysts. Other slides feature a discussion of how to pronounce “retard” and the question, “Would you please put some pants on? I feel weird having to ask you twice.”

In this same prepared Entergy presentation Republican Sen. Randy Brock who normally isn’t considered a Vermont Yankee foe has fell in with a crowd of incorrigible Vermont Yankee critics including Rep. Tony Klein, Peter Shumlin, Vermont Law School Prof Patrick Parenteau. All of them including Brock are quoted under the caption Why the hostility? Senator Brock’s offending utterance from November 2011 “Moe, Curly and Larry are more creditable then Entergy Louisiana in the [Vermont] Senate”

This past week even though he voted for a lengthy state senate bill which included giving Vermont the power to charge Entergy for the legal fees incurred as it fights Entergy’s VY lawsuit Sen. Randy Brock made some apologetic noises for the ears of Vermont Yankee crowd to hear. Brock said he doesn’t feel right about it.The provision makes the causer the entity that caused the suit liable for the costs. “It just appears to me to be somewhat vindictive,” Guess in spite of his vote he doesn’t want to appear hostile.