March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Maine Yankee issues

A recent editorial in the Bangor Daily News (“Nuclear trust,” Dec. 22) articulated several important issues pertaining to the operation of the Maine Yankee plant in Wiscasset. While our company continues its dialogue with state and federal regulators on conditions for returning Maine Yankee to service, some of the issues raised in the editorial should be addressed.

Since beginning to generate electricity in 1972, Maine Yankee has clearly understood its responsibility to operate the plant to ensure the public’s health and safety and to communicate in a candid, forthright manner with the public on any and all plant issues. Even with the challenges faced by Maine Yankee in recent months, we have not lost sight of these goals. If anything, repairs to the plant’s steam generators and anonymous allegations regarding back-up safety systems have highliaghted the effort Maine Yankee will make to ensure that state and federal regulators, elected officials and the public have access to information on an ongoing basis.

During Maine Yankee’s unprecedented repairs to its steam generators, our company voluntarily undertook the most advanced steam generator inspection in the world. With methods for detecting cracking in steam generator tubes improving all the time, Maine Yaankee is viewed as a world leader in its approach to this problem. As repairs continued there was constant dialogue (as there should be) between Maine Yankee, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the State Nuclear Safety Inspector, the State Nuclear Safety Advisor, Gov. King’s Technical Oversight Team, and the public on all technical aspects of the repair project. In fact, the governor’s oversight team commended Maine Yankee on the pragmatic approach it took to repairing the steam generators and the responsiveness of Maine Yankee in providing information for their review. These findings are consistent with the approach that Maine Ynakee takes in communciating proactively.

Now with the steam generators repaired, the plant is days away from returning to service as Maine’s single largest producer of electricity. However, before the palnt can begin the process of production again, we must resolve safety concerns recently raised about the plant. Maine Yankee is reviewing the technical and safety justifications for returning the plant to service and will provide that justification to state and federal regulators for their review. While the anonymous allegations concerning Maine Yankee plant operations are investigated, Maine Yankee has stated it will cooperate fully with all aspects of the investigations and will only return the plant to servce after we can assure ourselves, the regulators and the public the plant is operated safely with multiple back-up safety systems. The seriousness of these allegations has not and will not be underestimated by Maine Yankee.

As Maine Yankee moves through the second half of its licensed operating life, we expect other operations and communications challenges to present themselves. But rather than review them as challenges in the negative sense, it may be more useful to view them as opportunities to continue what we feel has been an honest, candid and forthright dialogue with the people of Maine. Given who we are and what we do for a living, we value the opinions and concerns Maine people have of Maine Yankee and are committed, now more than ever, to operating our plant and our company in a manner that deserves their trust and support.

Charles D. Frizzle is president and CEO of Maine Yankee.


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