Okay…I’m going to play a hunch here and suggest that an effort may be afoot to convince our beleaguered legislators that it will be unnecessary to stick their necks out and participate in a vote on relicensing Vermont Yankee. The gist of this fanciful scenario is that, if our lawmakers can resist the impulse to bring the measure to a vote in the 2010 session, Vermont Yankee will make the first move to discontinue its relationship with Vermont, sparing everyone from the discomfort of having to “come out” against relicensing. Yeah, sure; and if you go for that one, I’ve got waterfront property in Death Valley that might interest you.
From the position of a simple bystander, here’s my take on the situation:
1) The Vernon reactor was built in 1972, which means it was probably designed in the late 60’s. Even if you didn’t know that it’s life-expectancy was only 40 years, and that its output has already been ramped-up to well-beyond the capacity it was designed for; shouldn’t the mere fact that it is a product of the same technical era as the Ford Pinto, 8-track tapes, stretch pants and Tang give us all pause for thought? It’s one of the oldest nuclear reactors in the world that’s still operating; and it’s doing so at 20% above its designed capacity!
2) The cat is out of the bag; claims by Entergy regarding Vermont Yankee cannot be trusted. Despite furious efforts at damage control, the past couple of years have seen a laundry list of Yankee collapses, leaks, lapses (and even a brand new security breach) find their way into the press. Recent revelations that Yankee officials have been somewhat less than forthright inevitably lead one to wonder what else they may not be telling us.
3) Vermont is no longer any where near as dependent on Yankee to serve our power needs as it once was; and we are about to see a significant increase in the cost of the power that is supplied to us by Yankee. It would seem to be in the best long-term interests of the state to factor Yankee out of our energy plans sooner rather than later. There are credible alternatives that will have the added benefit of creating new economic opportunities for Vermonters. If the plant continues to operate beyond it’s scheduled sunset, there is an ever increasing possibility that some harm far greater than the current tritium leaks will arise from the aged facility. Apart from the devastating risk to local communities from a large scale safety failure, the potential for damage to Vermont’s “brand” that would accompany a major contamination scandal could bring far greater job loss than will accompany the closing of Yankee, even if none of the Yankee jobs were replaced in alternative energy industries.
Some of our representatives may have been led to believe that a lawsuit by Entergy is avoidable if the legislature never exercises its prerogative to say “no” to relicensing. Think again. The decommissioning fund has been gutted. Entergy is trying to spin-off Yankee and it’s ugly stepsisters. Do you honestly think we’re going to see that corporation fulfill its commitments with regard to decommissioning without an epic legal battle?
Delaying a vote will only advantage Entergy, allowing them more opportunity to cover their tracks and manipulate public sentiment. Right now, the majority of Vermonters are squarely against relicensing and will applaud their reps for taking action.
… you’d assume all potential VT rep candidates would realize that anything short of vociferously supporting Yankee’s retirement would be political suicide. Other than some fat checks from Entergy surrogates, what could they possible hope to achieve by propping out an outfit that seems to be shifting to the business of providing us with glow-in-the-dark rivers & children.
But they CAN vote based on what’s best for VT rate-payers. Since VY has said they’re losing money at the current electrical rates, that means rates must go up to fund continued operation.
Since the only rate-payer-oriented reason for continuing VY’s operation is the currently low rates, there is no longer a rate-payer-oriented reason to keep Yankee open.
In addition, if the plant is kept online long enough for Entergy to shunt responsibility off to the proposed Enexus shell corporation, there’s a very good chance that a seriously under-funded Enexus will pull a “Fairpoint” on us, leaving the taxpayers to foot the full clean-up bill.
That’s two very strong rate-payer-oriented reasons to pull the license ASAP.
We hear a lot about personal responsibility these days, but never corporate responsibility. Entergy needs to be held responsible for its contractual obligations to Vermonters, including paying full-freight for the cleanup – which will be lower if they shut down earlier.
No, it’s not the leaking tritium hot zone at Vermont Yankee the Attorney General was quoted talking about yesterday but the sentencing in a case involving 23 buried waste oil drums.
Its time the state leaders apply some of that same tough talk to Entergy, a big fish and not to 23 barrels of buried oil, a small fish. Time to vote on Yankee.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/a…
If simple common sense weren’t enough, the Tang reference pushes me over the edge!
http://abcnews.go.com/Business…
Excerpt: “Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Wendy Davis told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the volume and direction of flow of tritium-tainted groundwater leads to the conclusion that it’s reaching the river.
A Vermont Yankee spokesman says the plant agrees.”
Yikes.
My rep, who is in a position to know, says that there is no way they will end this session without a vote on VY.
What I do not understand is why the Public Service Board does not have blueprints to the finest detail of VY. This is a nuclear power plant and we are told consistently that they are closely regulated. Why were these pipes a surprise? When and by whom were these pipes installed? The big noise is that VY lied and they surely did: but why hasn’t the question been asked: Why didn’t the PSB know that something was missing from the “blueprints”. What about the NRA?
I think the legislature sure hopes that Entergy bails before they have to throw them out: what legislator (esp. one running for Gov) wants to be responsible for losing 650 jobs? I am urging my state Rep. and Senators to close it now down now before the other shoe drops…..
that would be the NRC: NRA wouldn’t be of much help…..
which someone more knowledgeable that I might be able to answer. I will say, however that the Nuclear Regulatory Agency is known to be less than diligent; and that is one reason why our legislature has the unique power to stop relicensing, regardless of the opinion of the Public Service Board. Without that additional restraint, Vermont Yankee would most likely have already been authorized to keep wheezing away for another twenty years!