NRC Will Step Up Oversight Of Vermont Yankee

AP Photo/Toby Talbot

(Host) The Nuclear Regulatory Commission disclosed in the past hour that it is increasing its oversight of Vermont Yankee.

Also, the NRC says the inspections are part of its ongoing investigation into what Yankee officials told the state about the existence of underground pipes that carry radioactive material.

The NRC describes that information as "contradictory or misleading" because the state says it was told there were no such underground pipes. But now Entergy Corporation says the tritium leaked from pipes in an underground trench.

The NRC says Yankee is in compliance with all safety regulations. But it says the stepped-up inspections are warranted because state and federal officials from the region have complained.