NRC ANNOUNCES ENHANCED OVERSIGHT OF VERMONT YANKEE 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will conduct additional inspections at the Vermont 

Yankee nuclear power plant, operated by Entergy Nuclear and located in Vernon, Vt. Through 

enhanced specialized inspections, the NRC will oversee Entergy's efforts to address groundwater 

contamination at the site and to review and assess the company’s response to an NRC Demand 

for Information (DFI) issued in early March. 

In January, Entergy notified the NRC that it had received positive sample results for 

tritium from a groundwater well at Vermont Yankee. The NRC has been closely monitoring 

Entergy’s actions to identify, mitigate, characterize and remediate the source of the 

contamination. The NRC’s Resident Inspectors and regional specialists continue to provide 

oversight of the company’s actions through direct observations and independent assessments. 

The current tritium contamination does not pose any health or safety concern for members of the 

public or plant workers. 

On March 1, the NRC issued a DFI requiring Entergy to confirm that information 

provided to the NRC that is material to NRC decisions is accurate and that the impact of recent 

personnel changes is assessed with regards to regulatory program performance and safety 

culture. This action stemmed from an Entergy decision to take action against certain employees 

at Vermont Yankee as a result of Entergy’s independent internal investigation into alleged 

contradictory or misleading information provided to the State of Vermont and then not corrected. 

Entergy responded to that DFI on March 31 and agreed to conduct additional communications 

and outreach activities with stakeholders. 

Under the NRC's Reactor Oversight Process, a plant's performance determines the level 

of inspection conducted at the site. To provide additional oversight, the agency can decide to 

deviate from the process and conduct further inspections, etc., when warranted by the given 

situation. Any such plans are proposed in a memo from the Regional Administrator for approval 

by the Executive Director for Operations. The memo, called a "Deviation Memo,” provides a 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region I 

475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 

E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. I-10-014 

Contact: Diane Screnci, 610/337-5330 

 Neil Sheehan, 610/337-5331

April 6, 2010

Email: OPA1.RESOURCE@nrc.gov
formal vehicle to document the NRC’s additional inspection plans to assess Entergy's 

groundwater efforts. It also provides resources for the staff to thoroughly evaluate Entergy’s 

response to the DFI. 

NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins said, "In the case of Vermont Yankee, the 

staff considers it prudent to apply additional inspection focus to specific areas, even though 

licensee performance in these areas has not crossed any specific thresholds mandating additional 

regulatory oversight. 

Regarding the groundwater contamination, Collins said, “Although there is not currently 

a public health and safety issue, additional NRC inspections and assessments as well as increased 

external stakeholder communications and outreach would help address stakeholder concerns. 

And, while the agency is not aware of any information that Entergy has provided to the NRC that 

was incomplete or inaccurate, recent events which led to the NRC decision to issue the DFI 

warrant additional sampling and independent verification. We will not hesitate to take prompt 

action if necessary to ensure that public health and safety and protection of the environment is 

maintained.” 

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