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It's on to the Vermont Senate for a bill that would require the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant's owners to strengthen the fund set aside for dismantling the reactor when it stops operating. The House on Friday gave the decommissioning bill final passage on a 93-46 roll call vote. Gov. Jim Douglas opposes the bill, and 93 votes would leave backers of the two-thirds majority they would need to override a gubernatorial veto. Advertisement The bill would require Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Nuclear to pay more than $350 million into the decommissioning fund during the next decade.

"President Obama's decision to cut federal funds for the Yucca Nuclear Waste Repository leaves operators of the nation's reactors holding more than 120 million pounds of high level waste. Federal officials say that the waste is safe, but critics say spent fuel pools are vulnerable targets for terrorists. Several State Attorneys General are suing to change that. Senior Correspondent Bruce Gellerman investigates the Pilgrim reactor in Plymouth, Massachusetts. YOUNG: Vermont just said no to nukes. Vermont's State Senate blocked a license extension for the aging - and leaking - Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. That comes just days after President Obama announced billions of federal dollars to build reactors. The president wants a new generation of nuclear plants, but as the Vermont vote shows, old problems still plague the industry. One of the biggest problems is what to do with nuclear waste."

"The Vermont Attorney General's investigation into whether Entergy representatives lied under oath or had "a reckless disregard for the truth" during public hearings before the Vermont Public Service Board last year is getting ready to kick into high gear, said Attorney General William Sorrell, in a telephone interview with the Reformer, Thursday. Saturday or at the beginning of next week, Sorrell expects to receive "thousands of pages of documents" from Entergy related to the extent of underground and buried piping at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, which is owned and operated by Entergy. While the PSB has requested that Entergy review each and every page of testimony submitted to it during hearings to determine whether Yankee should receive a certificate of public good -- which would allow the power plant to operate for another 20 years starting in 2012 -- Sorrell will be reviewing documents not provided during the hearings. "My belief is there will be a lot of documents that neither the PSB nor the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have seen," said Sorrell. "

"Trace amounts of cobalt-60 were found in standing water in the advanced off-gas piping tunnel Thursday at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, said John Dreyfuss, Yankee's director of nuclear safety assurance, during a conference call with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Vermont Department of Health and the Vermont Department of Public Service. But Dreyfuss told the agencies that finding trace amounts of cobalt-60 in such a location is not surprising, just as was finding it in standing water in a pipe trench in the plant's radioactive waste building on Jan. 22. In that instance, cobalt-60, at 13,000 picocuries per liter, and zinc-65, at 2,460, were found, along with tritium, in the pipe trench. Drinking water limits for Cobalt-60 are 100 picocuries. For Zinc-65, the drinking water limit is 300. At the time, tritium levels were at 1.6 million picocuries, with a drinking water limit of 20,000. "

"As President Obama advocates expansion of America's nuclear power industry, pushing for billions of dollars in federal incentives and announcing plans to build the first nuclear plant in decades, a long-running facility in Vermont is leaking a cancer causing carcinogen. The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is leaking possibly dangerous levels of tritium, a radioactive byproduct of the nuclear process. Thus far, tritium has only be found on the plant grounds, which are nestled amidst farms in rural Vernon, Vermont. Around the clock efforts are underway to find and stop the leak. The timing is bad for the plant's owner, Entergy corporation, which is seeking to renew the facility's operating license, set to expire in 2012. The facility, which began operating in 1972, is just one of dozens across the country that have seen similar leaks in recent years. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees inspection and licensing of nuclear facilities, says roughly 30 of the nation's 104 reactor units have experienced tritium leaks."

"The Conservation Law Foundation lobbed a big curve ball into the controversy over the tritium leak at the Vernon Yankee nuclear reactor Tuesday, saying the land that is contaminated appears to be "filled" land, and thus belongs to the state. The environmental group alerted Gov. James Douglas to the problem Tuesday, saying it had done a records search at the Vernon Town Hall and discovered the potential problem. According to Chris Kilian, state director for the Conservation Law Foundation, maps showing the Vermont Yankee plant, as well as maps submitted to the Public Service Board and the Vermont Legislature, show Entergy's ownership boundary "well inland" from the banks of the Connecticut River. Kilian said the land in question, which he said was about two acres and had multiple buildings on it, was labeled "Vermont Yankee Easement Area." He said that phrase on the Entergy maps had piqued his interest, resulting in the land research down in Vernon."

"The Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth could be leaking radioactive substances and should be required to perform more extensive testing to monitor the situation, Gov. Deval Patrick said. In a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Patrick also calls for a stay on further consideration of relicensing the plant or approving a proposed spin-off of the plant by its owner, Entergy Corp. Patrick is the most recent New England governor to ask the federal commission to take action against a local plant. Buried piping at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant - also owned by Entergy Corp. - has been leaking radioactive tritium that state health officials said Wednesday has reached the Connecticut River. Governors in Vermont and New Hampshire have called for an investigation by the NRC. But the difference between the Yankee and Pilgrim plants is that officials at the Vermont facility agree there's a leak. Their monitoring wells detected tritium levels that exceed federal standards for drinking water."

The discussion about Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon wasn't confined to whether or not it should continue to operate past 2012, its original license expiration date. Also of concern to both sides of the debate, and those in the middle, was whether Entergy, which owns and operates Yankee, should be allowed to spin off Yankee into a wholly independent company with financial liabilities of more than $4 billion. Vermont's Public Service Board is still reviewing whether it should issue a certificate of public good to allow the spin off. Earlier in 2009, the Department of Public Service opposed the formation of Enexus, the spin off company, unless certain conditions were met. After most of the conditions are met by Entergy, DPS recommends the PSB approve the transaction. Greenpeace warned Vermont that the formation of Enexus would not be in the best interests of the state.

The discussion about Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon wasn't confined to whether or not it should continue to operate past 2012, its original license expiration date. Also of concern to both sides of the debate, and those in the middle, was whether Entergy, which owns and operates Yankee, should be allowed to spin off Yankee into a wholly independent company with financial liabilities of more than $4 billion. Vermont's Public Service Board is still reviewing whether it should issue a certificate of public good to allow the spin off. Earlier in 2009, the Department of Public Service opposed the formation of Enexus, the spin off company, unless certain conditions were met. After most of the conditions are met by Entergy, DPS recommends the PSB approve the transaction. Greenpeace warned Vermont that the formation of Enexus would not be in the best interests of the state.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted Entergy Nuclear's plan to make up the $87.4 million shortfall in Vermont Yankee's decommissioning trust fund. Entergy, the parent company of Entergy Nuclear, has agreed to provide a "guarantee" worth $40 million, and the company says the trust fund has recovered more than $80 million in value since February, but is still $80 million behind original projections. The most recent figures released by the Department of Public Service put the fund at $428 million as of the end of November. The fund had hit a high of $440 million in September 2007, and projections then said it would hit $500 million by November 2009. "The NRC staff determined that the trust fund balance, projected to the time of permanent cessation of operations in 2012, plus the parent company guarantee will cover the projected shortfall," wrote James Kim, project manager for Vermont Yankee for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted Entergy Nuclear's plan to make up the $87.4 million shortfall in Vermont Yankee's decommissioning trust fund. Entergy, the parent company of Entergy Nuclear, has agreed to provide a "guarantee" worth $40 million, and the company says the trust fund has recovered more than $80 million in value since February, but is still $80 million behind original projections. The most recent figures released by the Department of Public Service put the fund at $428 million as of the end of November. The fund had hit a high of $440 million in September 2007, and projections then said it would hit $500 million by November 2009. "The NRC staff determined that the trust fund balance, projected to the time of permanent cessation of operations in 2012, plus the parent company guarantee will cover the projected shortfall," wrote James Kim, project manager for Vermont Yankee for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Lawmakers and state utility regulators are asking tough questions about a plan to spin off Vermont Yankee into a new company. They want to know if the new corporation is taking on too much debt. And they're asking whether the company will have enough money to make major repairs and dismantle the nuclear plant after it's shut down. VPR's John Dillon reports: (Dillon) First the background: Entergy, the Louisiana company that owns Vermont Yankee, wants to create a new company that would own the reactor in Vernon and five other nuclear plants. This new spin-off corporation is called Enexus. And it would control the part of Entergy's nuclear fleet that sells power to the wholesale market.

Lawmakers and state utility regulators are asking tough questions about a plan to spin off Vermont Yankee into a new company. They want to know if the new corporation is taking on too much debt. And they're asking whether the company will have enough money to make major repairs and dismantle the nuclear plant after it's shut down. VPR's John Dillon reports: (Dillon) First the background: Entergy, the Louisiana company that owns Vermont Yankee, wants to create a new company that would own the reactor in Vernon and five other nuclear plants. This new spin-off corporation is called Enexus. And it would control the part of Entergy's nuclear fleet that sells power to the wholesale market.

"On Sunday, Entergy Vermont Yankee electronically filed a document with the Vermont Public Service Board detailing the extent of buried piping at the nuclear power plant in Vernon. The list was in response to a recent controversy over whether Yankee executives supplied adequate information about buried piping to the PSB and Nuclear Safety Associates, which was tasked with conducting a reliability assessment of the power plant. Entergy has applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend the operating license of Yankee for another 20 years, from 2012 to 2032. In addition to NRC approval, Entergy must also receive a certificate of public good from the Public Service Board and the OK from the Vermont Legislature. The list encompasses more than 40 buried or subsurface pipes and systems, which Entergy executives and plant staff had previously said did not exist. "

"Operators of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant knew as recently as November of 2007 that there were underground pipes at the plant that top plant officials later said didn't exist, documents filed with state officials indicate. A sworn statement from Vermont Yankee chief engineer Norm Rademacher could help determine whether the plant officials intentionally misled state officials about the underground pipes in sworn Public Service Board testimony, unsworn testimony to lawmakers and at least one e-mail to a legislative consultant. Questions about the pipes came up repeatedly in a special investigation ordered by the Legislature in 2008, as it prepared to decide a question it still hasn't: whether Vermont Yankee should be allowed to operate for 20 years past its current license expiration date of March 2012. "

"The search for the source of the radioactive isotope tritium that seeped into groundwater at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant has led to the discovery of the isotope in a second monitoring well. An e-mail from Rob Williams, spokesman for Entergy Vermont Yankee, said the search team "received sampling results that showed an elevated level of 9,540 picocuries per liter in a second tritium monitoring well adjacent to the first well. A second confirmatory sample has been drawn from that well and is being analyzed." "

"State utility regulators chastised the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant on Thursday for providing inaccurate information about the extent of underground piping at the reactor, saying they may seek financial penalties against the plant's owner. The Department of Public Service, which had supported Vermont Yankee's bid for a 20-year extension on a license set to expire in 2012, is putting that support on hold until it can get satisfactory answers, department deputy commissioner Stephen Wark said in an interview Thursday evening. "For us, this is a very disturbing development," Wark said. "It requires us to re-evaluate our case that we brought before the (Public Service) Board." The department represents ratepayers in utility cases before the quasi-judicial board. Also Thursday, the department's commissioner, David O'Brien, wrote to Entergy Nuclear, the parent company of the reactor's owner, to ask for a new sworn affidavit about the extent of underground piping at the plant. O'Brien also wrote that the department was likely to ask the board to financially penalize Vermont Yankee for its earlier misstatements. "

"Two weeks after lawmakers voted to close Vermont Yankee in 2012, Vermont regulators are being pressed to act sooner - shutting it down immediately - because of leaking tritium that environmental groups say is polluting the environment. The state Public Service Board is set to open an investigation today sought by the Conservation Law Foundation and the New England Coalition, which say the nuclear power plant in southeastern Vermont should stop operating until the source of the leak - first reported two months ago - is found and fixed."

"Vermont's congressional delegation asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Tuesday to reconsider its decision to hold a closed-door session about the Vermont Yankee reactor for elected officials in New Hampshire, saying it further undermines Vermonters' confidence in the commission's oversight. Independent Sen. Bernard Sanders and Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Peter F. Welch, both Democrats, issued the joint statement late Tuesday afternoon, saying they were "committed to open and transparent government and to honoring both the letter and spirit of Vermont's open meeting laws." They urged the commission chairman, Gregory Jaczko, to move the meeting back to Vermont and comply fully with Vermont's open government law. Jaczko has said recently that he wanted to champion openness and "transparency" in the NRC's dealings."

"Even though the Nuclear Regulatory Commission knew about the extent of underground and buried pipes at Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, it didn't attempt to correct statements made by Yankee representatives during hearings before Vermont state agencies in 2009. Entergy, which owns and operates Yankee, had told the NRC that the plant has 40 below-grade pipes that carry radionuclides, said Jim Noggle, NRC Region 1's senior health physicist, during a tritium workshop at Brattleboro Union High School on April 19. "We always knew about them," he said. "They were not unknown at all to us." After a leak of tritiated water was discovered at Yankee in January, state agencies learned statements made by Yankee representatives at hearings before the Vermont Public Service Board, to Nuclear Safety Associates, which conducted a comprehensive reliability assessment of the plant, and the Public Oversight Panel, which reviewed the CRA, weren't consistent with the actual extent of underground pipes at the plant. "

"Vermont is showing the nation that it doesn't need nuclear power, said Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., on Wednesday during an Environment and Public Works Committee oversight hearing on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Green Mountain State has proven people can rely on energy efficiencies to reduce their electric consumption and on renewables to provide the supply that they need, he said. "Vermont is a leader in energy efficiency," he said. "We have reduced our electric consumption thanks to ... energy efficiency (and) our people do not live in caves." Over the past 10 years, said Sanders, the state has cut its electric consumption by 1.5 percent each year. By 2020, if the nation were to be "slightly more aggressive" than Vermont in its energy efficiency implementation, it could reduce its peak electric demands by 117,000 megawatts. "That would save more power than the entire capacity of the existing United States nuclear power plant fleet," said Sanders. "

"A former nuclear insider now working for a nuclear watchdog group said Thursday he wasn't sure Entergy Nuclear had found all the sources of the radioactive tritium leak at the Vermont Yankee plant. Paul Blanch of West Hartford, Conn., who recently joined the litigation team at the New England Coalition, said a review of recent filings by Entergy Nuclear about the radioactive tritium leak at Vermont Yankee showed obvious mistakes and miscalculations. Blanch said Entergy had not done a thorough enough job in its investigation into the radioactive leaks to rule out the condensate storage tank, which holds about 500,000 gallons of radioactive reactor water, at levels close to those found in nearby wells. He said Entergy Nuclear continues to submit inaccurate and incomplete documents to the Vermont Public Service Board. Entergy Nuclear is already under investigation for making inaccurate statements under oath before the board about the existence of potentially leaky underground pipes containing radioactivity."

"A Connecticut River fish caught four miles upstream from the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor this winter tested positive for low levels of strontium-90, a highly dangerous radioactive isotope recently confirmed in soil outside the plant. But the Department of Health said Monday that the fish's strontium-90 was not related to this winter's radioactive leak at Vermont Yankee, and state officials attributed the strontium to atmospheric testing in the 1960s and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 20 years ago, which spread radioactive fallout even as far away as Vermont."