Staying Neutral on Entergy as Spinoff Is Delayed

http://seekingalpha.com/article/163802-staying-neutral-on-entergy-as-spinoff-is-delayed

Entergy Corp.’s (ETR – Analyst Report) proposed spin-off of its Non-utility Nuclear power business has been relegated to fiscal 2010.

Recently, the New York Public Service Commission’s two administrative law judges in a ruling stated their apprehension regarding the new company having the financial viability to operate three units located in the state of New York. Of this, two units are located in the Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County and a reactor at the James A. Fitzpatrick station in Oswego County.

The New York Public Service Commission expressed its apprehension that the $3.5 billion worth of long-term unsecured bonds that Entergy plans to issue for the spin-off will drag down the bond rating of the new company, affecting its financial capacity. The Commission has also relegated its next hearing to December 2009 followed by a final decision on the spin-off in January 2010.

Read the entire article >

“A small leak can sink a great ship.”

- Benjamin Franklin

The good Bob Audette of the Brattleboro Reformer reports that the NRC has asked its technical staff to take a good look at how it oversees the maintenance and management of underground pipes.

From http://www.reformer.com/localnews/ci_13304214

“Although they have not jeopardized public health and safety, leaks from buried pipes continue to occur and we need to assess the NRC’s and licensee’s efforts to prevent them,” said Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko. “The agency’s handling of these events has focused on each incident as it occurs, but we need to look at what we’re doing on a generic level to determine what additional actions may be necessary.”

Thanks again, Bob Audette, for keeping the good folks of the evacuation zone apprised of what’s happening with the nuke plant down the lane.

And to those of you in the evacuation zone… wake up and stay awake. Make sure you raise your voice and your awareness to be sure that if Entergy is gonna run that ol’ nuke plant for twenty years beyond what it was built to sustain, you have every protection in place that you deserve. Those tax breaks won’t mean shit if that land is contaminated for 20,000 years. Nor will you ever forgive yourself if your kids and their kids and your great-grandkids are genetically doomed from exposure. You won’t have anyone listening if they get their approval. Stand up and be heard NOW, while you can.

Vermont Yankee Finds Another Leak

August 25, 2009

Vernon, VT – Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee was at 15% reduced power last Monday after discovering a leak in the feed-water system. Apparently the leak — of a mere 3,000 gallons a day — was discovered several weeks ago.

Perhaps not surprisingly, no one at the plant — even after these several weeks have passed — seemed to know how long the repair might take.

I apologize for not having a photo of the current leak. However, this one from August 2007 should serve as a reminder of why it is STUPID, short-sighted, and a HUGE RISK to allow Entergy to operate Vermont Yankee for another 20 years beyond the lifespan it was built for.

August 21, 2007

Vermont Yankee supervisor fails alcohol test

By Sam Hemingway, Free Press Staff Report • September 2, 2009

A supervisor on duty at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon tested positive for alcohol Monday and has had his access to the facility revoked, according to a spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, the plant’s operator.
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The incident was made public in a posting on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Web site Tuesday morning.

Larry Smith, the Entergy spokesman, said the employee was a supervisor in the maintenance department for the facility. The 100-person department handles maintenance of the plant’s electrical and instrument-control equipment and other duties.

“He was not a licensed operator,” Smith said. A licensed operator is someone who works in the plant’s control room.

Read the entire article:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090902/NEWS02/909020308

Big thanks go out to Gary Sachs for stating what so many of us believe… with clarity, logic and passion.

“Yes officer I was speeding, but it was an oversight.” This tactic generally doesn’t work.

“We measured the temperature but forgot to check the radioactivity,” says the largest radioactive emitter in the state.

“We agreed to a memorandum of understanding and then forgot to implement what we understood,” says the same company.

Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee forgot to measure the radioactivity coming off the dry cask storage installation. It is now August. The 2008 fence line dose monitoring data is still not available.

Entergy wants permission to operate another 20 years.

Entergy wants permission to expand their fence line boundary.

Entergy wants permission to spin off Vermont Yankee and a few other reactors into Enexus.

What is wrong with this picture?

In 1967 the Vermont state Legislature agreed to host an in-state nuclear reactor for 40 years, not 60. In 2006, Entergy won permission to store waste in dry casks as long as the radiation off the casks was measured. They forgot.

Where is the common courtesy, aka, compliance with the state that Entergy promised Chairman Dworkin of the Public Service Board in 2002 during the sale case?

Entergy does not show that they can keep their word to the chair of the regulatory board, and Entergy does not hold up its end of the agreements it signs with the Department of Public Service. Clearly one should not reward these poor behaviors with extended operation. Please encourage your state representative and senator to vote against continued operation beyond 2012.

GARY SACHS
Brattleboro

NEI SmartBrief | 08/05/2009

The Vermont Public Service Board says Entergy Nuclear forgot until six weeks ago that it was supposed to monitor radiation from dry-storage containers at Vermont Yankee. Entergy Nuclear reported Friday that it had not complied with the monitoring requirement in its 2006 state permit “due to an oversight.” “We are a self-critical organization, and we found this could have been prevented with better checking within several departments,” said Entergy spokesman Robert Williams. Rutland Herald (Vt.) (08/04)