tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post3730978744577790184..comments2023-04-07T05:19:44.951-04:00Comments on Yes Vermont Yankee: Decommissioning: Facts versus FantasyMeredith Angwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02737538041807740424noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post-91270585986792812492011-11-26T05:29:20.418-05:002011-11-26T05:29:20.418-05:00Meredith - terrific, thought provoking post.
As ...Meredith - terrific, thought provoking post.<br /><br />As you and your readers have pointed out, D&D work is depressing for anyone who has a building, operating and maintaining mentality. One of the primary reasons that I went back onto active duty in the Navy in 1999 was that I attended an American Nuclear Society meeting in the late 1990s at which 50% of the exhibitors at the Expo and 60% of the talks at the meeting were focused on D&D. It was a really depressing event for me.<br /><br />At least two of the strong opponents working against VY,Arnie Gundersen and the CLF, have a documented history of financial profiteering from the destruction of other New England based nuclear power plants. Gundersen even brags about having edited a manual for nuclear plant destruction. <br /><br />I would bet a fair chunk of change that they are positioning themselves even now to reap rewards from the short, but lucrative contracts associated with the process.<br /><br />Some people in this world care more about their individual bank account balance than about building communities, assets and futures for those they leave behind.Rod Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03652375336090790205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post-22348598669954701332011-11-25T08:31:21.497-05:002011-11-25T08:31:21.497-05:00Tom. You wrote a very nice comment about this pos...Tom. You wrote a very nice comment about this post. Can you rewrite it in more generic terms? I am uncomfortable posting the name of your manager. He never asked to have his name in a public blog. The blog software does not allow me to edit other people's comments. Imagine if I could...I could change everything they say! So I can't. But that also means I can't just delete your manager's name and publish your great comment.Meredith Angwinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02737538041807740424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post-85579577991097199672011-11-23T19:55:12.139-05:002011-11-23T19:55:12.139-05:00Look, this is just good politics for Shumlin - he ...Look, this is just good politics for Shumlin - he really does not care about plant, the people or the state. If Vermont loses in court, Shumlin claims the moral high ground, that he fought the good fight and gets sent to DC in a year when Leahy steps down. It's unlikely the state wins - that is the irony here. Shumlin needs Vermont to lose, because a win will hurt his position. Believe me, he really is pulling for Entergy - he just won't say it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post-33064717455363673632011-11-23T16:23:12.949-05:002011-11-23T16:23:12.949-05:00It is worse than what you say. When the other nucl...It is worse than what you say. When the other nuclear plants were closed it was in a regulated industry. Where if you lost your job in the nuclear plant there were other jobs in generation or transmission that you could work. Right in your area. Now in a deregulated industry if you are lucky enough to get an offer it will be in another state. That means the worker has to move his family try to sell his house. He could have been a valuable member of the community a baseball coach,on the school board, a volunteer fireman, an EMT on the ambulance corps.. If he has to walk away from his house who is making this up or paying for his share of the taxes. What anti-nuke have you heard from that is willing to make up for this? In this economy your governor is being irresponsible in his decision making. How people can look up to a democrat like him in times like this FDR is rolling over in his grave!Tom Cleggnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post-45564354964178089912011-11-19T11:06:46.923-05:002011-11-19T11:06:46.923-05:00Great post.
A detail that escaped the Governor i...Great post. <br /><br />A detail that escaped the Governor is that the fuel that is in the reactor when it stops operation has to stay in water cooling for five years. Then it can go to Dry Casks. <br /><br />The rest of the plant can be taken down around it.<br /><br />Also missed by the Gov., Safestor is written into the Memorandum of Understanding.Howard Shaffernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post-23636200588761456752011-11-18T20:55:04.196-05:002011-11-18T20:55:04.196-05:00Most D&D work is done by outside contractors, ...Most D&D work is done by outside contractors, who know they are temporary workers doing temporary work. While not bad people themselves, the reality is that they will not become members of the community, they will not be the community leaders, those who own homes and pay taxes and put down roots and raise families in the area. The plant workers who are there now, working every day at a job they enjoy, doing useful, productive work, these are the real leaders of their communities, those who provide stability and create wealth in their towns and villages. Thow them away and the whole community suffers from their loss. This is the real human cost of the short-term, politically-motivated decisions made by souless, heartless lotus-eaters like Shumlin and his ilk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post-92010976559803901012011-11-18T12:45:56.836-05:002011-11-18T12:45:56.836-05:00One of my former students was hired at Shoreham to...One of my former students was hired at Shoreham to be in charge of the C&HP department. When the anti-nuke kooks trashed the plant, the company said they would "take care" of him. So, they offered him a wonderful, career-enhancing, great career path job: driving a forklift on the loading dock. Great job placement, eh? So much for all that education in college and grad school. The lesson is, beware of what "taking care of you" means, it could be a two-edged sword. Are these the kinds of jobs Governor Crumbum wants the plant staff to take after he trashes their livelihoods?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post-51869093919021794352011-11-18T11:37:58.440-05:002011-11-18T11:37:58.440-05:00You are absolutely right about the impact of decom...You are absolutely right about the impact of decommissioning. Before coming to the best operating plant in the US (VY of course)I worked at Maine Yankee. A major portion of the staff was gone within 60 days and I left in 1998. I had my chance to work further in decommissioning but the work is not challenging or as rewarding as actually producing something. Thankyou for all the support you show VY.nor850https://www.blogger.com/profile/18365471164063520704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3033288879708780106.post-61916862437706313452011-11-18T09:27:47.406-05:002011-11-18T09:27:47.406-05:00Another thing to keep in mind is that the work rea...Another thing to keep in mind is that the work really stinks. You're basically a janitor with a meter. Moral is incredibly low, and worker attitudes reflect the dead-end nature of the work. You are literally working yourself out of a job. Engineers are, for the most part, creators, not destroyers. We build things. We generally are not in the business to tear down the life's work of others. D&D work is tearing things down, not building them up. That is the kind of work most professional engineers avoid. If it were me, I'd be out of there as soon as I got the word they were trashing my job. Who wants to push a broom for a few years and take readings from a survey meter?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com