Fuel Rods Missing at Vt. Nuclear Plant

abc ^ | 4/21/04

[knak]

MONTPELIER, Vt. April 21 — Two highly radioactive fuel rods from a Vermont nuclear plant are missing, plant officials said Wednesday. Engineers were searching the spent fuel pool at the Vermont Yankee plant for the small rods, which were removed from the reactor in 1979.

"We do not think there is a threat to the public at this point. The great probability is this material is still somewhere in the pool," said Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan.

One of the missing rods is about the size of a pencil. The other is about the thickness of a pencil and 17 inches long.

Gov. James Douglas, after speaking Wednesday afternoon with the head of the NRC, said he was "very concerned" about the missing fuel at the plant, run by Entergy Nuclear.

"This situation is intolerable," he said in a statement.

In 2002 a Connecticut nuclear plant was fined $288,000 after a similar loss. That fuel was never accounted for.

Vermont Yankee is located in the southeastern town of Vernon, on the border with Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

[boomop1]

Calling Homer Simpson.

[Poohbah]

OK, check between the couch cushions...

[FierceDraka]

[Dog Gone]

I bought this cool pencil in New England last week that glows green. I doubt it's related.

[Vermonter]

Vermont Yankee was not anywhere near the top of Howard Dean's 'todo' list.

There have been any number of problems there dating well back into his multiple terms as governor

[TomGuy]

"We do not think there is a threat to the public at this point...."

Whew! I sure do feel more comforted. Can we go back to sleep now?

[end sarcasm]

[Spunky]

"Engineers were searching the spent fuel pool at the Vermont Yankee plant for the small rods, which were removed from the reactor in 1979."

Removed from the reactor in 1979. When is the last time they knew where these rods were? 1979.

[sirchtruth]

Crap, this will be all over that Fish Wrap Brattleboro Reformer tomorrow with all the crunchies screaming bloody murder on the editorial page.

There are more whacked out hippies around here than any place I've ever seen...except maybe Putney.

Take a ride thru town and all of them, I mean ALL of them are wearing curtains!

[johnfrink]

Perhaps it was one of these inanimate carbonnuclear rods that saved the space capsule Homer was in?

[ken5050]

Watch..it'll turn out that the "pool" boys were illegal immigrants..

[VRWC For Truth]

Heeyawoow Uranium

[monkeywrench]

"Vermont Yankee was not anywhere near the top of Howard Dean's 'todo' list.

There have been any number of problems there dating well back into his multiple terms as governor"

I remember hearing he didn't care or do anything about security. So, what did he know and when did he know it?

[Doogle]

LOL.....knew it was going to appear
???...wait is that really a microphone, or a ..a...a

Doogle

[ChocChipCookie]

My mom was right, idiots DO run the world.

[punster]

One thing to consider:

It would be very difficult for someone to steal a spent fuel rod. Why? The radiation level is very high, even as much as 100,000 REM per hour next to the rod.

Remember the LD-50/30 for humans is about 500 REM. The LD-50/7 (days) is about 1000 REM. For effective doses over 5000 REM, the mean survival time is in the matter of hours, and the survival time decreases with increasing dose. In fact, for doses over 5000 REM, the individual is almost instantly incapacitated.

Without shielded remote handling equipment and a heavily shielded cask, the thief would not survive the attempt to steal the fuel rod.

[Preech1]

Hmm...we were in Brattleboro last month, at the Motel 6 just across the road from Vermont Yankee, and the hotel was FULL of out of staters there to do maintenance work on the plant during it's shutdown phase...

[VRWC_minion]

Crap, this will be all over that Fish Wrap Brattleboro Reformer tomorrow

My inlaws live in Brattleboro and Hinsdale and when I visit I get to read that paper. The editorials are very informative---its like reading DU only worse. For a town that had independent roots they certainly have been invaded by socialists over the past dozen so years. It seems almost orchestrated.

[ScottinSacto]

Vermont Yankee is located in the southeastern town of Vernon, on the border with Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Senator Kerry, what did you know and when did you know about this quagmire?

[Vinnie]

Yeah, I was about to post that anyone that stole the rods in 1979 has long been dead.