Vermont Yankee was an electricity generating nuclear power plant, located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, in the northeastern United States. It generated 620 megawatts (MWe) of electricity at full power. The plant was a boiling water reactor (BWR), designed by General Electric. It operated from 1972 until December 29, 2014, when its owner Entergy shut down the plant. In 2008, the plant provided 71.8% of all electricity generated within Vermont, amounting to 35% of Vermont's electricity consumption. The plant is on the Connecticut River, upstream of the Vernon, Vermont Hydroelectric Dam and used the reservoir pool for its cooling water.
In March 2012, the plant's initial 40-year operating license was scheduled to expire; in March 2011, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) extended its license for another 20 years. Vermont Yankee's continued operations were complicated by the Vermont state legislature's enactment of a law providing the state legislature authority to determine the continued operation of the plant, in addition to the federal government. Entergy requested a new state certificate of public good (CPG), but the Vermont legislature voted in February 2010 against renewed permission to operate. In January 2012, Entergy won a court case, invalidating the state's veto power on continued operations. In August 2013, Entergy announced that due to economic factors Vermont Yankee would cease operations in the fourth quarter of 2014. The plant was shut down at 12:12 pm EST on December 29, 2014.
Since the 1970s, there have been many anti-nuclear protests about Vermont Yankee, including large protests after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, and on the date of the original operating license expiry in March 2012. The plant's initial operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was the subject of a lawsuit that produced the U.S. Supreme Court's 1978 decision Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., in which the Supreme Court set forth a significant doctrine in American administrative law.
Design and function
Vermont Yankee was a BWR-4 Boiling water reactor that used a Mark I containment structure. It provided 71.8% of all electricity generated in Vermont in 2008Vermont Nuclear Profile Energy Information Administration, September 2010. and met 35% of the overall electricity requirements of the state.
It was originally designed and constructed for 500 MW electrical output. In 2006, it was upgraded to 620 MW electrical output. The reactor produces 1912 MW of heat which is converted to electricity at 32% efficiency.Richard Watts, Paul Hines, Jonathan Dowds, "The Debate over Re-Licensing the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant", The Electricity Journal, Volume 23, Issue 4, May 2010, Pages 59–67, , . In comparison, the average residential power demand for all of Vermont in 2012 was 239 MW. From EIA: 309019 customers * 565 kWh / month*customer. To find average: * 12 months/1 year * 1 year/366 days (2012 was leap year) * 1 day / 24 hours =~ 238518 kW The nearby Northfield Mountain hydroelectricity facility was built to balance the supply from Yankee.
The reactor core held up to 368 fuel assemblies and 89 control rods.Facility Operating License – Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC and Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station), Docket No. 50-271, License No. DPR-28 Amendment No. 5, 208, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, July 31, 2002 The spent fuel pool is licensed to contain up to 3353 spent fuel assemblies.
Ownership and operational license In 1978, the Vermont Yankee reactor was the subject of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., an important United States Supreme Court administrative law case which ruled that courts cannot impose procedures upon the NRC as this exceeds their power of judicial review.
On July 31, 2002, Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC (EVY) purchased the plant from Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation (VYNPC) for $180 million. Entergy received the reactor complex, nuclear fuel, inventories, and related real estate, as well as the liability to decommission the plant and related decommissioning trust funds of approximately $310 million. The acquisition included a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) under which three of the former owners committed to purchase a portion of the electricity produced by the reactor at a cost of approximately 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour.
On May 6, 2006, Vermont Yankee achieved its power of 1,912 MWth (120% of its original licensed thermal power of 1,593 MW-thermal) because of an NRC approved Extended Power Uprate. The power increase was carried out in steps to allow collection of data on the reactor's steam dryer at various power levels, in accordance with the NRC imposed power ascension test plan.
As of 2008, Vermont Yankee employed about 600 people including those in the corporate office on Old Ferry Road in Brattleboro, Vermont.
Cooling water Vermont Yankee used the Connecticut River as its source of cooling water for its two major water systems: the circulating water system and the service water system. The circulating water system removed heat from the power generation process of the plant by cooling the plant's main condenser. The service water system cooled both safety and non-safety related auxiliary components in the nuclear facility and the turbine facility of the plant, and absorbed decay heat from the reactor's cooling systems in emergencies or in times when the reactor was shut down.
Electricity production +Generation (MWh) of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power PlantYearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual (Total)2001391,996355,360357,555328,187129,478372,189379,097371,824365,191384,957378,276357,0104,171,1202002392,352343,305349,713338,459209,953372,559372,809365,720349,96193,192380,204394,3893,962,6162003394,170343,479393,094380,067387,278368,768370,028377,983308,413353,639378,082389,1514,444,1522004392,688366,832391,12636,007319,916209,343287,777367,658360,891376,536368,682380,5643,858,0202005365,760344,961380,316327,910378,106358,865326,287360,452352,417265,384227,835383,2544,071,5472006383,337343,081400,542420,472440,374445,119455,681441,760432,747462,863415,434465,1135,106,5232007463,654414,710458,386412,847171,302337,130449,454346,130302,751432,845450,832463,6874,703,7282008466,966435,128457,370421,705454,881426,840353,682450,462416,093254,854296,627460,4454,895,0532009449,448419,364466,954452,122456,763414,275453,608444,490439,241463,967433,515466,8615,360,6082010456,042420,181462,455340,78534,419435,183444,665444,971429,442464,870382,329467,1314,782,4732011466,848417,284465,773449,890450,521441,959438,847438,452381,45394,610396,824464,8944,907,3552012443,053411,053395,624378,059436,234325,610424,496427,807424,508438,158427,969456,7674,989,3382013448,263386,804110,854355,626457,416438,579445,367441,562394,036455,128448,496464,1964,846,3272014455,960402,047462,717436,190460,551425,399445,611445,824420,652412,030372,080321,5215,060,5822015 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --0
Closure/extension planning Entergy Vermont Yankee applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license extension of 20 years on January 27, 2006. In early 2010, the Vermont State Senate voted 26–4 to block the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) from considering continued operation of Vermont Yankee.
On March 10, 2011, the NRC voted to conclude proceedings regarding renewal of the operating license for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station near Brattleboro, Vermont, for an additional 20 years. On March 21, 2011, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued their renewal of the operating license for the Vermont Yankee plant for an additional 20 years.;NRC license renewal letter March 22, 2011 the renewed license will expire March 21, 2032.
On April 14, 2011, Entergy, the owner of Vermont Yankee, sued the state of Vermont to stay open despite the Senate's blocking vote. Democracy Now news April 19, 2011
On August 14, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled, upholding a lower court's decision that allowed the Vermont Yankee plant to keep running despite a seven-year effort by the Vermont Legislature to close it, finding that states are "pre-empted" from regulating safety by the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, which made safety a federal responsibility.
On August 28, 2013, Entergy announced that due to economic factors, notably the lower cost of electricity provided by competing natural gas-fired power plants, it would cease operations and schedule the plant's decommissioning in the fourth quarter of 2014. Vermont Yankee was shut down at 12:12 pm EST on December 29, 2014.StarTribune.com, Wilson Ring Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant ends operations after 42 years of producing electricity , December 29, 2014 All fuel in the reactor was transferred to the spent fuel pool by January 12, 2015. By August 2018, all VY's remaining spent nuclear fuel was relocated from the spent fuel pool into dry fuel storage casks.Power Magazine, Aaron Larson Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant Shuts Down for the Last Time, December 29, 2014
In December 2014, Entergy submitted the Post Shutdown Decommissioning Report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This report estimated that the total cost for decommissioning the reactor would be $1.24 billion. The same document reported that only $665 million had been collected in the 42 years of operations of this plant for this purpose. Entergy hopes to raise some of the shortfall funds through "external financing".Brattleboro Reformer Newspaper, Robert Audette , December 19, 2014
On September 28, 2016, Entergy began auctioning off more than 1,000 lots of goods in Brattleboro, Vt.
Two cooling towers were demolished in July 2019.
Controversy and operations 2007 Cooling for the plant's steam condenser was provided by circulating water through it, drawn from the adjacent Connecticut river. This water did not come in contact with the nuclear reactor and was not radioactive. The cooling towers were used to cool water returning from the condenser before it was discharged back into the river at times when it was too warm to comply with the environmental discharge permit. In 2007 the fourth cell of the west cooling tower collapsed, spilling some of the non-radioactive, cooling water. The collapse was an "industrial safety event," which did not threaten the integrity of the reactor or release any radiation into the environment. The NRC stated that the remaining cooling tower had enough capacity to allow the plant to operate at full output, however, until September 16, 2007, the reactor was kept at 50% power.
The cause of the collapse was found to be corrosion in steel bolts and rotting of lumber. Entergy asserted that future inspections would be much more stringent in order to prevent further problems.
2008 The cooling tower collapse caused Vermont's then governor, Jim Douglas, to question the reliability of the power station: In March 2008, a State Senate committee recommended that the Legislature appoint a panel to oversee an independent review of the plant's reliability. The panel gave Vermont Yankee a generally positive review. "What this report suggests to me is there is not a cause or reason to seek the closure of the plant because of operational or safety concerns," said Public Service Commissioner, David O'Brien.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission performed a tri-annual inspection July–August 2008. It found three "minor faults." An Associated Press report said that it had won "high marks."
2009 In May 2009, the vice-president of operations at Vermont Yankee told the PSB during the reliability review that he did not believe there was any radioactively contaminated underground piping at the plant, but that he would check and respond to the panel.