Yankee says it failed to conduct additional radiation monitoring

(Host) Vermont Yankee says it failed to conduct additional radiation monitoring of its spent fuel storage as required by the state.

The additional monitoring was supposed to begin in the spring of 2008, and was required as part of a state license that allows Yankee to store spent fuel in steel and concrete casks.

But Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said officials discovered recently that they had failed to set up the monitoring protocol.

(Smith) "And we just did not catch until recently when we self-identified that this section of the memorandum of understanding - specifically monitoring of radiation limits and temperature - we had not implemented."

(Host) Smith said that radiation measurements taken at the plant's boundary show that public health and safety are protected.

But he said Yankee officials need to go through all the state permits and make sure they are following all the requirements.

(Smith) "We have them logged but obviously we need them in a better matrix, to make sure we're capturing when a report is due, when are things due, have we done them, do we need to do them again. We have to formalize our process to make sure we're following these board orders to make sure we're in compliance and not missing anything.

(Host) Smith said the company has now started the new radiation monitoring protocol.