(Host) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has concluded its investigation into two problems this summer at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
The NRC says both episodes warrant close scrutiny of Vermont Yankee’s operations.
But spokesman Neil Sheehan says neither compromised the nuclear operations of the plant and the public’s safety was never in danger.
(Sheehan) “We’ve put together `green’ inspection findings for both issues. And `green’ indicates they are very low safety significance. The reason we say that is neither of the issues was nuclear-safety related.”
(Host) On August 21st, a cooling tower at the Vernon plant collapsed. Wooden timbers in the tower had rotted and failed.
The NRC says Yankee’s owner, Entergy Nuclear, needs to do a better job of inspecting the timbers and other components in the towers.
Regulators say the other incident also didn’t compromise safety.
The plant shut down on August 30th after a key turbine valve failed. Investigation found that the valve hadn’t been properly greased.
The NRC says it will pay close attention to both issues in an upcoming inspection.