Gov. James Douglas today called for lawmakers and regulators to delay taking action on the future of the troubled Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in the hope that the owners of the Vernon facility can regain public trust and perhaps later win a new operating license.
State and federal regulators, lawmakers, Vermont’s Attorney General and a panel of independent experts all have inquiries into the plant’s operation and the veracity of statements its managers have made in the past. In order for the public and his administration to regain faith in the plant – and for it to stand a chance of gaining a new operating license – decisions by lawmakers and the Public Service Board should be delayed until that work is completed, Douglas said.
“We have got to restore that confidence so we can make sure the plant” will continue to provide power, jobs and other benefits to the state, Douglas said.
He added that it seems to him “less and less likely” that a vote by lawmakers will take place this year and that the company had to change its slate of top managers.
That is a change from Douglas’ previous position, that legislators should go ahead and vote and allow the board to decide the plant’s future in Vermont.
Speaker of the House Shap Smith and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin said they welcomed Douglas’ decision to push for more information and transparency from the company that owns the plant. But, they said, they have not decided whether the vote on the plant should happen this year or not.
The important thing is to figure out where radioactive nucleotides leaking from Vermont Yankee are coming from to ease public concerns.
And Douglas should change his administration’s support for a proposed spin-off of the Vernon plant to a new company, Shumlin said.
The governor should be pushing “not to delay, but to reject, the Enexus spin-off,” Shumlin said.
In a statement the company said it would resolve “inconsistencies” in its statements to regulators.
“As the reviews proceed, it is important for the public to understand that elevated tritium levels found in a monitoring well at Vermont Yankee present no risk to public health or safety. No elevated tritium levels have been found in any drinking-water well samples.
This article appeared in the Rutland Herald
Mr. Shumlin: Please continue to fight the re-licensing of VT Yankee, which now includes resisting Douglas’ call for delay on the vote. He only wants heads to roll to create the illusion of change. New management won’t address the inevitable snowballing of safety problems as the plant ages – which means that corporate motives to hide these problems will inevitably snowball, as well. Please help to shut it down & make sure the clean-up financing is locked in.
Mr. Shumlin,
I agree, the fight to stop re-licensing needs to continue, although closure of the plant is a very different issue. It seems so plain to me that Entergy wants to spin off it’s liability. If they are now realizing just how poor their decision was to purchase the plant, then too bad for them. They need to assume the liability for the plant along with their willingness to assume profits.
Having said that, I also think the current approach regarding energy is equally misguided. Wind and solar may be great, but not here. Neither of those sources is quite abundant enough in our State. We have no sea coast or wide open prairies, nor equatorial sun. What may truly be need is governing, done by people who have the spine to stand up and do the tough things despite the possibility that those whom they govern may take offense and relieve them of that job. In my opinion you are not that person. I’ll also say that very few of the folks in the Legislature today are of that caliber, on either side of the ‘Aisle’.
Thank you.
Mr. Shumlin,
I have worked at Vermont Yankee for 25 years. It is one of the best running plants in the country and I truly enjoy working there. The most dangerous part of my job is the ride to and from work.
The Federal government issued my license to operate that facility, not Entergy. My licensed responsibility is to operate with the safety of the public as my highest priority. Three generations of my family live with me in Westminster and my daughter lives less than a mile from the plant. I would never work there if I felt it was unsafe.
Throughout the years I’ve heard so many arguments as to why the plant should be shutdown. Every one of them has been dismissed. The plant is safe, clean and extremely reliable. While I have no objections to promoting wind, solar, hydro or biomass power I believe we still need the clean base load power we produce to keep electricity prices down and to keep businesses here in our state.
The tritium leak we are dealing with is unfortunate and unacceptable but it’s certainly not as hazardous as the media portrays it. We will find the source and fix it and we will learn by this experience.
If the Senate votes against VY it will be a blow to Vermonters who have enjoyed the economic benefit we have provided in power prices, taxes , support for the environment and charities.
As much as I’ve loved my time here in Vermont I would have no choice but to relocate to another plant in another state. There simply are not jobs available that pay the wages that VY pays and the cost to live here is just too high.
Please consider the real impact of your decision to close this facility.