07/09/2004
Issue brief on power uprate related and repeated problems
In Snap, Crackle, & Pop: The BWR Power Uprate Experiment, UCS chronicles an experiment under way at boiling water reactors (BWRs) such as the Quad Cities nuclear plant in Illinois. Since Extended Power Uprate was approved in late 2001, the two Quad Cities reactors have experienced numerous unplanned shutdowns to repair equipment that was literally shaking itself apart.

05/03/2004
Backgrounder on BWR containment overpressure issue 
The NRC is abandoning a long-standing safety measure (in fact, it is the NRC’s Safety Guide #1) that protects the public in event of an accident. That safety measure required that emergency pumps be designed to perform their safety function without any reliance on tricks or gimmicks. But to allow aging nuclear reactors to increase their maximum output by 20 percent, the NRC first ignored this safety measure and, when caught, planned to delete it. This backgrounder explains what this safety measure is and why keeping it is a really good idea.

03/12/2004
Letter to NRC explaining our basis for seeking a special inspection at Vermont Yankee (PDF)
The owners of Vermont Yankee applied to the NRC for permission to increase the maximum output of the reactor by 20 percent. UCS testified before the State of Vermont’s Public Service Board that a special inspection should be conducted at the plant before uprate. By this letter, UCS explained our reasoning to the NRC. In the summer of 2004, the NRC conducted such a special inspection at Vermont Yankee.

12/18/2003
Testimony before the Vermont Public Service Board on power uprate at Vermont Yankee (PDF)
UCS testified as an expert witness for the New England Coalition before the State of Vermont’s Public Service Board on the proposed power uprate at Vermont Yankee. UCS recommended that an independent safety assessment be conducted prior to the uprate. The PSB later conditioned its approval of the power uprate on the completion of an independent assessment.