NRC cites visibility for probe failure

A special inspection team from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission failed to find five degraded support columns in the only safety-related cell in Vermont Yankee's cooling towers because inspectors didn't have a clear view of the interior of the cell, according to an NRC spokesman. The columns, estimated to be 40 feet tall, were either bowed or cracked and were in the interior of the cooling towers, where inspectors' views were obscured by louvers that cover the structural timbers but accommodate the trickling and cooling of the water. "There was no way the special inspection team could see these with fill and louvers in place," according to NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.

Rutland Herald