NRC allows Entergy fuel secrecy
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By Susan Smallheer STAFF WRITER - Published: November 25, 2009
BRATTLEBORO — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given Entergy Nuclear permission to keep a change in its technical specifications secret that deals with the nuclear fuel that will be loaded next spring into Vermont Yankee's core.
A subcontractor for Entergy, Global Nuclear Fuels, had requested the secrecy, saying it involved proprietary information.
Entergy Nuclear spokesman Larry Smith said Monday that the proprietary information belonged to Global Nuclear Fuels, and he said the request had met the criteria set out by the NRC. Entergy was notified Monday that the exemption was granted.
At issue are the thermal stresses that occur in the reactor core, which if above a certain standard, can damage fuel cladding. Damaged fuel leaks radiation.
Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said it wasn't unusual for such proprietary requests to be made.
But Sheehan said the company "must provide justification for the document being kept under wraps."
He gave an example of a new computer model devised by a contractor, who wants to keep it from competitors because it is unique and costly to develop.
"We would have to review that and determine if the justification was sufficient," he said in an e-mail.
The NRC allowed information to be withheld from public disclosure "if that discloses a process, method or apparatus, including supporting data and analyses, where prevention of its use by Global Nuclear Fuels competitors without license from Global Nuclear Fuels constitutes a competitive economic advantage over other companies."
Sheehan said Tuesday Vermont Yankee is planning to use a new fuel from GNF during the next refueling outage, which will result in a slight change in the safety limit minimum critical power ratio values.
He said the new fuel was used at Pilgrim and FitzPatrick nuclear reactors, also owned by Entergy Nuclear, during their last refueling outages.
Sheehan said the ratio standard will "ensure that specified acceptable fuel design limits are not exceeded during steady state operation and analyzed transients."
He noted that the integrity of the fuel cladding can be damaged from thermal stresses, which can occur when the reactor operates "significantly above" design standards.
susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
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