Inspiring Testimony Sent to the PSB

As I wrote in yesterday's post, there's a meeting tomorrow (Thursday) night at 7 at Brattleboro High School The PSB will meet about Docket 7600, the docket for shutting down Vermont Yankee early. I encourage people to attend this meeting. (There's more information about this docket in my post yesterday's).

However, not everyone can attend such meetings. However, you can submit comments to the PSB by email. File a comment using the PSB general Comment Form. I wrote my comment under "other" ( I could not choose "Docket 7600" from the drop-down list). I put the words "Docket 7600" near the beginning of my comment. It only took a few minutes, and I urge you to do the same.

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Since yesterday, I have received copies of some excellent, inspiring comments which were sent to the PSB by plant supporters. I thank them, and I want to share their comments, in the hopes of inspiring your comments!

• Theresa Derting posted her message on the Facebook Save Vermont Yankee page, and I have copied it here.
• John Ewell sent me a post by Facebook Message, and gave me permission to post it here.

These two comments are great: well-written and full of ideas. One is short and one is long. Both are effective. My own comment emphasized that shutting down Vermont Yankee would be hard on older or low-income people in Vermont.

Be inspired by these comments, steal ideas from them if you want, and file a comment using the PSB general Comment Form. Start your comment with the words Docket 7600.

(John Ewell sent his same post to Docket 7440 when he was finished. That was a very good idea, and takes almost no time. I urge you to do the same. But posting to Docket 7600 is the first order of business today.)

Late News: Nuclear Townhall, a new and influential blog, chose this post as one of their two "best of the blogs" today.

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From Theresa Derting

RE: Docket 7600

I work at Vermont Yankee and I know that it is safe because I do. Entergy has invested enormous amounts of money in updating the facility since it was purchased, and continues to do so now. The tritium leak, even though relatively small by comparable standards, was stopped shortly after it was found, using a careful and methodical process. The company is in the process of implementing further protections to prevent incidents like these. The people who work at VY are committed to the protection of the public AND themselves. I would not work there if there if I was afraid. I would not have my daughter in elementary school directly across the river if I was afraid. Shutting VY down early because of a leak that has already been stopped is a silly notion. Shutting it down early when the effects of the leak are minimal at best is even sillier. Shutting it down early to the detriment of the ratepayers of the state of Vermont would be like the proverbial cutting one's nose off to spite one's face. Please discard this docket as the waste paper it should be.

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From John Ewell

My name is John Ewell. I am a Radiation Protection Technician. I have worked in the nuclear industry for about 30 years, almost 9 years at Vermont Yankee. I am a native New Englander, raised about 15 miles from the Pilgrim Nuclear plant. I now live in Western Mass, having lived in about 20 states. I have worked at 24 different nuclear units, operating and decommissioned. I have also been part of the decommissioning of the Rocky Flats weapons facility in Colorado.

So, I have a lot of experience in varied parts of nuclear power. I have worked as the guy mopping the floors, and supervised 25 people in a hazardous waste environment. Vermont Yankee is the place I chose to be my last nuclear plant. I had opportunities within the region at the time I hired on at VY, but I chose VY. I still believe I made the right choice.

Vermont is in a unique position of being able to predict their energy production for the future. As renewable energy production begins to take off, Vermont has a predictable, reliable energy source for up to 20 years, while green renewable energy production gets established. Rather than shutting down Vermont Yankee, use this time to setup clean, reliable green energy production. Setup the zoning regulations. Determine exactly what infrastructure and tax incentives are needed to support renewable, non-carbon energy production. Don’t go with the “quick fix”, but really set it up right. Vermont has the chance to show the rest of the country how to do it right. From the start, without time pressure or political pressure to “hurry up”.

An early shutdown of VY would be the same as scrapping the family minivan, because it is getting old, and we will have electric cars in the future. But those electric cars aren’t here now. And we still need the minivan to get the kids to baseball practice. If we had a true renewable energy infrastructure in place, shutting down VY may be justified. But we don’t. We still need the power. We can use this time to put it in place. VY will still get us to baseball practice. And to work. And won’t put smog into our air.

Recently in CT, a power plant, using natural gas, blew up. Killed 7 workers that spent years building that plant. Natural gas is highly combustible, and that industry is not as highly regulated as nuclear power. Nuclear power in the United States is not prone to these type accidents. The only accident at a nuclear plant (Three Mile Island) didn’t kill or injure anyone. Large scale energy production has it’s risks. But large scale energy production is needed to help our economy recover and grow. A growing economy will be able to pay for renewable energy. But if the energy isn’t there, the economy will not be able to build it.

The recent tritium leak at VY is one of the issues that has happened at several other nuclear plants in the country. VY identified it, notified the public immediately, and met the challenge head on. The leak was found, the piping replaced, the leak stopped, and we are in the process of removing the tritium water from the ground onsite. It did not spread to the public. It did not get into the groundwater, because of VYs quick action The remediation will be done quicker than about any other site. Just about everyone onsite worked on this project. We took it personal. People worked long hours, different groups worked together, and I am proud to have been part of the team. What we accomplished will be an example to the industry. It should be an example to the public. Find the problem - fix the problem. That is what VY does. That is what my coworkers believe in. That is “how we roll”.

Obviously, I would like for VY to continue to operate. I work there. But also, believe that I work there because I know it is safe. I have worked at other plants. I want to work at VY. I want you to believe in VY the way I do. Look at this as an opportunity to plan for Vermont’s future, instead of a chance to make a “statement” that will be more costly in the long run, both to the industry and workers in the state, and it’s environment.

Thank you,

John I Ewell

Radiation Protection / Industrial Safety

Vermont Yankee

PSB Meeting Thursday Night. Get Your Comments In!

There's A Meeting Here (Thursday Night)

The Public Service Board is holding a hearing, Thursday July 8, at Brattleboro High School. The hearing is about Docket 7600. This is the docket to shut down Vermont Yankee immediately. (The relicensing docket is Docket 7440.) The hearing starts at 7 p.m and should be over at 9:30, because the high school does not stay open after 9:30 at night.

What's It All About, Anyhow? Why Should I Do Anything?

Starting in January, and going through sometime in March, there was a leak of tritiated water at Vermont Yankee. On Thursday February 25, the day after the Senate vote against Vermont Yankee renewal, the PSB opened a new docket, docket 7600, on closing Vermont Yankee early, due to the tritium leaks. As I noted in a blog post at the time, the PSB said they would hold the first hearing on the new docket in March, and I predicted the leak would be over by then. (It was).

But of course, it's not over till it's over. Once you open a docket, it stays open. It's like some modern version of Dickens Bleak House--a never-ending court case. The fact that the leak is fixed and being remediated seems irrelevant to the law.

Since the docket is still open, everybody and their brother is weighing in with claims for the docket. The original docket was started by the Conservation Law Foundation, and concentrated on the leaks and leak remediation. Recently, the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) has taken a slightly different spin on the matter, saying that Entergy is violating the public trust about groundwater. A quote from Groveman of the VNRC:

"Groundwater is to be managed for the benefit of all Vermonters and the public trust doctrine does not allow for contamination of groundwater, even beneath your own property," he said. "Groundwater flows across property boundaries so these boundaries are meaningless when it comes to public trust resources."

I am particularly fond of this quote because it implies that septic tanks are illegal in Vermont, since they do "contaminate" their "leachfields" on your "own property" to some extent.

Is It Just Silly?

In my opinion, the people attacking Vermont Yankee on the basis of tritium leaks and groundwater contamination have VERY weak arguments. Pretty close to just-silly, as a matter of fact.

BUT, when Yankee opponents are the only ones to show up at a meeting, this has an effect. When the PSB sits at the front of the room, looking at the audience, it looks as if everyone is against Vermont Yankee. If there are no supporters at the meeting, the arguments of the opponents seem to carry more weight, no matter how trivial the content of these arguments might be.

So, try to attend the meeting and support the plant.

What If I Can't Come to the Meeting?

You can still help. Many people in the opponent organizations will testify at the meeting. They will make charges against the plant. As my friend Howard Shaffer points out:

"A charge unanswered is a charge believed." A quote from former US Senator Alan Simpson, in Newsweek recently.

Therefore, we must answer these charges. We know what the opponents are going to say: tritium, groundwater, leaky badly-run plant. We must write own comments and submit them to the board, noting that

• leaks were found and fixed within weeks
• there is no groundwater contamination outside the plant boundaries, and there will be none (contaminated groundwater is being removed).
• the plant is a valuable asset to people of Vermont, keeping electricity rates and emissions low.

You can write about your own experience with the plant and its safety culture. You can write about septic tanks and groundwater. You can say anything you want, really, as long as it is true and hopefully relevant.

You can submit comments by email. File a comment using the PSB general Comment Form. I wrote my comment under "other" ( I could not choose "Docket 7600" from the drop-down list). I wrote the words "Docket 7600" near the beginning of my comment. It only took a few minutes, and I urge you to do the same.

Aside: On the Docket 7440 page, at the bottom you can see a link to file a public comment. (This is the relicensing docket.) No such link is at the bottom of the Docket 7600 page, or on meeting announcement for July 8. I am not sure what to make of this. If the meeting tomorrow night is a hearing only, without public participation, there should still be an area in the general docket where the people can file a public comment. I'm not sure why they haven't made it easier to comment on the 7600 docket. End Aside.

Come to the meeting or submit your comments by email! Or both!

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About the cartoon. G. Murphy, the same artist who drew the parody cartoons in a previous post, allowed me to use this original cartoon. The copyright remains with him, of course.

This cartoon is about Indian Point. A series of polls taken by the Manhattanville College showed strong local support for Indian Point. 70% pro-plant, 30% anti. However, one of the local papers headlined the survey results: "Residents Worried About Indian Point." This totally misleading headline prompted Mr. Murphy to pen this cartoon, which shows the gap between perceived opinions (of people making a lot of noise) and actual local opinions.

Three Views of the Outage

The First View: Business is Booming in Brattleboro

Vermont Yankee is on a refueling outage, and business is booming in Brattleboro. This video shows people in Brattleboro who own small businesses, and are happy with the lively days and free-flowing money of the nuclear workers coming into town for the outage. They are happy with the plant, too.

This is a group that doesn't go to Vermont Yankee hearings in the evenings. This is a group you seldom see on TV.




(If you can't access the embedded video, you should be able to link to it here.)

The Second View: Hatred of the Plant and Its People

Not everyone in Brattleboro likes the plant or its people.

On the "Save Vermont Yankee" group page in Facebook, Entergy employee Theresa Derting had this post:

Went to a local hardware store today and bought some last-minute supplies for the outage, used my company credit card, and got sneered at by the guy taking my money. Guess who won't go back there?

(I have Ms. Dertling's permission to use this post in my blog.)

I would like to think that being sneered at because you work for Entergy is an unusual occurrence in Brattleboro, but it isn't. Brattleboro votes against Vermont Yankee. Brattleboro sent two of the most fervent anti-VY people (Rep. Sarah Edwards and Pro Temp Peter Shumlin) to the Statehouse. A constant stream of anti-VY letters-to-the-editor in the Brattleboro paper serve to infuriate or depress plant employees in Vernon. The people at the plant call the Brattleboro paper the Mis-Informer and many of them refuse to read it.

Emails

Plant employees are often treated like pariahs. My evidence comes from emails that I have received, and postings on the Save Vermont Yankee page of Facebook.

• One Entergy employee said that when the employees went to Montpelier last May, senators and representatives "seemed to be avoiding us."
• Another employee emailed me that she frequently feels like crying, because her family is from the area and she feels so many of the locals hate the employees.
• An employee of nuclear plant in the South visited VY to do some benchmarking. She emailed me that felt she didn't want to admit that she worked at the plant while she was in downtown Brattleboro. She felt very uncomfortable.

I have more examples, but in the interest of length, I will stop here.

In an earlier post, I talked about the two cultures, and people at the plant and anti-nuclear people were unlikely to see eye to eye. In the VPR article about the two cultures, people at the plant talked of their jobs, church and families. Some spoke of feeling unwelcome. In contrast, anti-nuclear people spoke of their fears that something would go wrong at the plant and hurt them. Different issues for the different groups. The article on two cultures is well worth reading.

Brattleboro is Southern Vermont

This is hard to write, because most people (at the plant, in Brattleboro) are good people and treat each other well. Yet there is a significant minority in Brattleboro who are happy to marginalize plant employees and temporary workers. Some of these people treat VY employees as non-people who have no feelings, and generally act as if the people of Brattleboro are the ruling class and the people of Vernon are.....

Hey, I'll go further. I'll say what I mean. Some anti-nuclear people in Brattleboro act as if they are the whites in the pre-integration South.

The whites in the pre-integration South were top dogs. They were defending their way of life from interlopers and frightening possibilities. The whites of the Old South were sure they were right, and they were highly self-righteous. They weren't shy about keeping the "others" in their place with interruptions and other methods of showing that the words and actions of the marginalized people didn't count for much. They were proud of these actions.

It sounds familiar.

This attitude is not universal among the anti-nuclear people in Brattleboro, and most people on both sides of the fence are basically good-hearted. But I would be lying if I said that scorn of plant workers is uncommon in Brattleboro.

The Third View: The View from Montpelier

Outages are scheduled, plant project charts are prepared, but Montpelier goes right ahead with its agenda.

If you remember, in a post about Old Tritium and New Problems, I described how the Conservation Law Foundation had persuaded (or maybe forced) the Public Service Board to open up a whole new docket about Vermont Yankee, docket 7600. This docket is not about license renewal; it's about shutting the plant down early due to the leak of tritiated water. In my February 27 post, I suggested that the leak would be found and fixed before the new docket could get underway.

I was right, but mere facts can't stop a docket. There's been all sorts of flapping around because the various intervenor consultants on that docket want to visit VY and see the holes and the remediation. They want to come, outage or no outage. The consultants can't re-arrange their schedules. Also, it is possible that the remediation work could finish during the outage and the consultants wouldn't get to see it. The consultants will visit Thursday, April 29, during the outage. The Burlington Free Press blogged about this. The Public Service Board interviewed all stakeholders and issued a Board Order. The visit will happen despite the outage.

Parking on site will be a problem, due to hundreds of extra workers. Security may also be a problem. The visitors will have to carpool from an off-site parking lot. I am sure this will work out fine, with only minimum inconvenience to the intervenors.

End Note:

Tamar Cerafici has an excellent post today about the communications issues at Vermont Yankee. My friend Tamar is a lawyer who lives in New Hampshire.