(Host) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Friday that the design of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant can safely support a 20 percent increase in power. The power increase had been requested by the plant’s owners.
The preliminary report found what inspectors described as eight issues of “very low safety significance.” The findings will be discussed with Vermont Yankee officials at a public meeting.
Ray Shadis works for the New England Coalition, which has raised safety concerns about the power increase. Shadis says the inspection of the plant falls far short of what the group had wanted. He says the NRC has released only a summary of its findings. Shadis says until the full report is released, the public won’t have the information it needs.
(Shadis) “We had long discussions with the NRC this afternoon and they told us in no uncertain terms that the full report would not be released prior to the public meetings. What we begged them to do in that case was ASAP release the full report and then let’s have a participatory public meeting in which the public can critique the report.”
(Host) Officials had planned a public meeting for next week, but it has been postponed until a large enough location can be found.