Boston.com: 2 of 4 VY safey valves were leaking, useless
VERNON, Vt.—Two of four safety valves designed to pump water into the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant's reactor core to cool it during an accident were found inoperable during a refueling outage in April.
The Brattleboro Reformer reports the plant told the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Dec. 22 it found the condition during a refueling outage in April.
Arnold Gundersen, a nuclear engineer who advises the Legislature on Vermont Yankee, says the valves normally help relieve pressure in the reactor when the plant shuts down suddenly. He says their backup is a high pressure coolant injection system that was found leaking in September.
Vermont Yankee is scheduled to close in March of 2012 when its current license expires, though it is seeking a 20-year extension
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