Vermont Yankee
Status
Jan 2012: The U.S. District Court Reached a Decision. See Newsroom & CLF Scoop for Commentary
Vermont Yankee, a leaky, aging nuclear power plant on the banks of the Connecticut River, is raising economic, environmental and public safety concerns by continuing to operate well past its useful life. Conservation Law Foundation is on the front lines of regulatory and legal advocacy to put Vermont Yankee out of its misery and make way for cleaner, more modern, and more reliable forms of energy generation in the region.
We have ample power available in New England today to keep the lights on at reasonable cost without old coal and old nukes. With appropriate investment in transmission infrastructure, a mix of energy efficiency, on and offshore wind, solar, local generation and imported hydropower, we can replace the dirty, unsustainable and risky energy sources we rely upon today over a five to 10 year time horizon. Energy choices that protect our health, our climate and the environment, and create jobs in our region, are fundamental to New England’s and this country’s long-term prosperity.
Vermont Yankee’s long history of mishaps and leaks reached a fever pitch in 2010, when high levels of tritium, a radioactive isotope, were found in a monitoring well near the plant. It was revealed that plant owner Entergy had lied under oath denying the existence of underground pipes at the plant that later turned out to responsible for the leaks. Since then, tritium has been found in local groundwater, and fish contaminated with Strontium-90 were found in the Connecticut River. Sadly, rather than acknowledge and clean up the pollution, Entergy denied a connection between the contamination and the nuclear reactor, hid crucial information from the public, and delayed action.
In 2010 the Vermont Senate took historic action and voted not to allow Vermont Yankee to continue to operate past March 2012. The decision marked the first time in more than 20 years that a legislative body was responsible for shutting down a nuclear power plant. In an effort to continue operation of the plant, Entergy sued the State of Vermont to challenge Vermont’s regulation of the plant.
CLF joined the case as a “friend of the court” and filed legal pleadings supporting the state. The trial took place in Brattleboro, Vermont over a three day period in September 2011. Despite an Entergy victory in January of 2012, proceedings continued at the Vermont Public Service Board to review whether the plant should keep operating. CLF has played a leading role in these proceedings and presented a clear case that continued operation of Vermont Yankee is not in the public good of the citizens of Vermont. Vermont regulators also continued to pressure the Nuclear Regulatory Commission throughout 2012 to review mishaps at the facility. In November 2012, regulators issued another strong rebuke to the owners of Vermont Yankee.
In January 2013, Vermont went to court in Manhattan at the United States Court of Appeals to appeal the ruling made in early 2012. The stakes are high and there have been many challenges, but Vermont’s lawyer, Attorney David Frederick, explained to the Court that Vermont has every right to determine Vermont Yankee’s fate without infringing on the federal government’s control over radiological issues.
For a timeline of CLF’s enagement on Vermont Yankee, click here.