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If a picture's worth a thousand words, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group's photo mosaic of about 5,000 mini-portraits is something like 5 million words. And those words all say Vermont Yankee should be decommissioned. Advertisement VPIRG unveiled the mosaic Thursday on Elizabeth Hunt's freshly cut lawn in South Burlington. The mosaic's miniature portraits, taken of people at their homes throughout Vermont, put together and tinted slightly, become a pixilated picture roughly the size of a Publishers Clearing House check, of Hunt; her husband, Jesse Moore; and their 1-year-old son, Sam Moore. Members of the research group said they assembled the photo petition to personalize the state's general opinion of the 650-megawatt nuclear power plant. "You can tell a lot more by a person's face than their signature," said Anika James, 21, of Shelburne, who knocked on doors for VPIRG.

If a picture's worth a thousand words, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group's photo mosaic of about 5,000 mini-portraits is something like 5 million words. And those words all say Vermont Yankee should be decommissioned. Advertisement VPIRG unveiled the mosaic Thursday on Elizabeth Hunt's freshly cut lawn in South Burlington. The mosaic's miniature portraits, taken of people at their homes throughout Vermont, put together and tinted slightly, become a pixilated picture roughly the size of a Publishers Clearing House check, of Hunt; her husband, Jesse Moore; and their 1-year-old son, Sam Moore. Members of the research group said they assembled the photo petition to personalize the state's general opinion of the 650-megawatt nuclear power plant. "You can tell a lot more by a person's face than their signature," said Anika James, 21, of Shelburne, who knocked on doors for VPIRG.

If a picture's worth a thousand words, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group's photo mosaic of about 5,000 mini-portraits is something like 5 million words. And those words all say Vermont Yankee should be decommissioned. Advertisement VPIRG unveiled the mosaic Thursday on Elizabeth Hunt's freshly cut lawn in South Burlington. The mosaic's miniature portraits, taken of people at their homes throughout Vermont, put together and tinted slightly, become a pixilated picture roughly the size of a Publishers Clearing House check, of Hunt; her husband, Jesse Moore; and their 1-year-old son, Sam Moore. Members of the research group said they assembled the photo petition to personalize the state's general opinion of the 650-megawatt nuclear power plant. "You can tell a lot more by a person's face than their signature," said Anika James, 21, of Shelburne, who knocked on doors for VPIRG.

This is the final of two stories detailing a new report on the economics of closing Vermont Yankee in 2012. BRATTLEBORO -- A revenue-sharing agreement between Vermont Yankee and the state's utilities that goes into effect if the nuclear power plant continues to operate past 2012 is not all it's cracked up to be, said a pair of men who reviewed reams of documents filed with the Vermont Public Service Board. BRATTLEBORO -- A revenue-sharing agreement between Vermont Yankee and the state's utilities that goes into effect if the nuclear power plant continues to operate past 2012 is not all it's cracked up to be, said a pair of men who reviewed reams of documents filed with the Vermont Public Service Board. "While there is a small chance that it will have small value, conceivably as high as around $150 million, this could come only against the backdrop of Vermonters' buying over $3 billion of electricity from VY at market rates," said John Greenberg, who with Michael Daley, authored the study, which was released in August.

This is the final of two stories detailing a new report on the economics of closing Vermont Yankee in 2012. BRATTLEBORO -- A revenue-sharing agreement between Vermont Yankee and the state's utilities that goes into effect if the nuclear power plant continues to operate past 2012 is not all it's cracked up to be, said a pair of men who reviewed reams of documents filed with the Vermont Public Service Board. BRATTLEBORO -- A revenue-sharing agreement between Vermont Yankee and the state's utilities that goes into effect if the nuclear power plant continues to operate past 2012 is not all it's cracked up to be, said a pair of men who reviewed reams of documents filed with the Vermont Public Service Board. "While there is a small chance that it will have small value, conceivably as high as around $150 million, this could come only against the backdrop of Vermonters' buying over $3 billion of electricity from VY at market rates," said John Greenberg, who with Michael Daley, authored the study, which was released in August.

January is not the ideal time to embark on a 12-day, 126-mile march through Vermont. That's not stopping local residents, as well as people from New Hampshire and Vermont, from planning a trek from Brattleboro, Vt., to the Statehouse in Montpelier during one of coldest, darkest months of the year. Although it likely will prove to be a "hardship," said Carl Doerner, of Conway, marchers want to make a statement about their opposition to the relicensing of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon. "We feel we need to cast as much influence on the (Vermont) Legislature, which is going to vote soon on the question of relicensing Vermont Yankee," Doerner said.

January is not the ideal time to embark on a 12-day, 126-mile march through Vermont. That's not stopping local residents, as well as people from New Hampshire and Vermont, from planning a trek from Brattleboro, Vt., to the Statehouse in Montpelier during one of coldest, darkest months of the year. Although it likely will prove to be a "hardship," said Carl Doerner, of Conway, marchers want to make a statement about their opposition to the relicensing of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon. "We feel we need to cast as much influence on the (Vermont) Legislature, which is going to vote soon on the question of relicensing Vermont Yankee," Doerner said.

If the owner of Vermont Yankee, Entergy Corp, issued a warning about Vermont Yankee, would that warning have credibility? Of course it would. With the company long touting its safety, a shift to issuing a warning about Vermont Yankee would get attention. Well, Entergy has been issuing a warning -- but we've just not noticed it as a warning. At the legislative hearing on Dec. 2, Sen. Bill Carris, D-Rutland, questioned Entergy's Vice President, Jay Thayer, asking, "I don't think we understand the 'Why?'" But Mr. Thayer provided legislators with no satisfactory answer as to why Entergy was making such efforts to spinoff Vermont Yankee and five others of its aging nuclear power plants. There is a good reason, one found in Entergy's own recent history with another of its spinoffs. That history may be even closer to the mark than the analogy frequently made with Verizon's sale to Fairpoint and its subsequent bankruptcy. In light of Entergy's actual experience with this other spinoff, its efforts to spin off Vermont Yankee can best be understood as a serious warning. Entergy is the company that saved hundreds of millions of dollars by letting its New Orleans subsidiary go bankrupt after Katrina.

If the owner of Vermont Yankee, Entergy Corp, issued a warning about Vermont Yankee, would that warning have credibility? Of course it would. With the company long touting its safety, a shift to issuing a warning about Vermont Yankee would get attention. Well, Entergy has been issuing a warning -- but we've just not noticed it as a warning. At the legislative hearing on Dec. 2, Sen. Bill Carris, D-Rutland, questioned Entergy's Vice President, Jay Thayer, asking, "I don't think we understand the 'Why?'" But Mr. Thayer provided legislators with no satisfactory answer as to why Entergy was making such efforts to spinoff Vermont Yankee and five others of its aging nuclear power plants. There is a good reason, one found in Entergy's own recent history with another of its spinoffs. That history may be even closer to the mark than the analogy frequently made with Verizon's sale to Fairpoint and its subsequent bankruptcy. In light of Entergy's actual experience with this other spinoff, its efforts to spin off Vermont Yankee can best be understood as a serious warning. Entergy is the company that saved hundreds of millions of dollars by letting its New Orleans subsidiary go bankrupt after Katrina.

"When tritium was found leaking from Vermont Yankee in January, the nuclear power plant violated state law that makes groundwater a public trust, an environmental group has charged in a filing with the state Public Service Board. The Vermont Natural Resources Council hopes to augment pending arguments from others that the Vernon nuclear power plant should be shut down as a result of the leak, said Jon Groveman, VNRC's general counsel. The Public Service Board agreed in February to consider the arguments of the Conservation Law Foundation and New England Coalition that Vermont Yankee should be shut down either temporarily or permanently because of the tritium leak. The case is pending before the board. Vermont Yankee has argued that only the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission can regulate the plant's release of radioactive material. Groveman said he hopes VNRC's argument will show that the state does have jurisdiction in protecting its groundwater. The Legislature passed a law in 2008 declaring groundwater as a public-trust resource. By allowing tritium to leak into the groundwater, Vermont Yankee violated that law, he said."

The Vermont Supreme Court has upheld a 2008 Environmental Court decision to allow Entergy Vermont Yankee to release thermal discharge water into the Connecticut River that is expected to raise the temperature of the river by one degree. And while environmental groups that argued against the release say the decision will adversely affect aquatic life, Entergy officials celebrated the decision by the state's high court. "We are very pleased with this decision," Yankee spokesman Rob Williams said after the Supreme Court issued its ruling Friday. "Vermont Yankee is a responsible steward of the river and this small leeway granted on temperature limit will help ensure the plant's reliability output during the warmer summer months for the region's electric consumers." Yankee plans on releasing the warmer water into the river this summer, Williams said. The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources first granted Yankee a permit to increase the temperature of the Connecticut River near the plant by one degree in 2004.

The Vermont Supreme Court has upheld a 2008 Environmental Court decision to allow Entergy Vermont Yankee to release thermal discharge water into the Connecticut River that is expected to raise the temperature of the river by one degree. And while environmental groups that argued against the release say the decision will adversely affect aquatic life, Entergy officials celebrated the decision by the state's high court. "We are very pleased with this decision," Yankee spokesman Rob Williams said after the Supreme Court issued its ruling Friday. "Vermont Yankee is a responsible steward of the river and this small leeway granted on temperature limit will help ensure the plant's reliability output during the warmer summer months for the region's electric consumers." Yankee plans on releasing the warmer water into the river this summer, Williams said. The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources first granted Yankee a permit to increase the temperature of the Connecticut River near the plant by one degree in 2004.

We all know that Entergy Vermont Yankee prides itself on its safe, clean, reliable, and 24/7 production of power. But there's no fine print on those full-page color newspaper ads advising us that some 200 toxic radionuclides are also produced, not all of them safely, cleanly or reliably prevented from contaminating the Vermont, New Hampshire or Massachusetts countryside. Vermont Yankee also produces Plutonium 239, a carcinogen, teratogen, and mutagen; more than enough every month (2.13 pounds) to provide a lethal dose for every human being on the planet. In 37 years of operation, Vermont Yankee has produced enough Plutonium 239 to kill everyone on Earth hundreds of times. Also, as competent proliferators certainly know, civilian reactor-grade plutonium can be used to make nuclear weapons.

We all know that Entergy Vermont Yankee prides itself on its safe, clean, reliable, and 24/7 production of power. But there's no fine print on those full-page color newspaper ads advising us that some 200 toxic radionuclides are also produced, not all of them safely, cleanly or reliably prevented from contaminating the Vermont, New Hampshire or Massachusetts countryside. Vermont Yankee also produces Plutonium 239, a carcinogen, teratogen, and mutagen; more than enough every month (2.13 pounds) to provide a lethal dose for every human being on the planet. In 37 years of operation, Vermont Yankee has produced enough Plutonium 239 to kill everyone on Earth hundreds of times. Also, as competent proliferators certainly know, civilian reactor-grade plutonium can be used to make nuclear weapons.

"Two environmental groups on Friday asked the U.S. Justice Department to launch a criminal probe of Vermont Yankee nuclear plant officials, saying they had provided false information under oath and operated the plant with "careless disregard" of the potential for leaking radioactive substances. Conservation Law Foundation, a New England-wide environmental group, and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group took aim at Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee and Entergy Nuclear Operations, two subsidiaries of New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. that operate the Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon. In a letter sent to the Justice Department, the groups accused the company of "providing false information under oath, and operating the Vermont Yankee facility with careless disregard that has led to contamination of ground and surface waters with radiologic substances." The letter was signed by CLF Vermont Director Christopher Kilian and VPIRG Executive Director Paul Burns."

The owners of Vermont Yankee say they might shut the plant down in 2012, if Vermont doesn't approve of a new spin-off corporation that would own the reactor. Legislative leaders say they remain strongly opposed to the spin-off. VPR's Bob Kinzel reports. (Kinzel) In the next few months, the PSB is expected to rule on the spin-off plan. Under the proposal, the current owners of Vermont Yankee, Entergy, would reorganize six of its unregulated nuclear power plants into a new corporation known as Enexus. Jay Thayer is a vice president for Entergy. He says it's a good plan because Enexus will have greater financial resources available to help support Vermont Yankee for the next 20 years:

The owners of Vermont Yankee say they might shut the plant down in 2012, if Vermont doesn't approve of a new spin-off corporation that would own the reactor. Legislative leaders say they remain strongly opposed to the spin-off. VPR's Bob Kinzel reports. (Kinzel) In the next few months, the PSB is expected to rule on the spin-off plan. Under the proposal, the current owners of Vermont Yankee, Entergy, would reorganize six of its unregulated nuclear power plants into a new corporation known as Enexus. Jay Thayer is a vice president for Entergy. He says it's a good plan because Enexus will have greater financial resources available to help support Vermont Yankee for the next 20 years:

"On Feb. 16, while President Obama was in Maryland announcing an $8.3 billion taxpayer-backed loan guarantee for Southern Company to build two new nuclear reactors in Georgia, inspectors at the Vermont Yankee reactor were finding dangerously high levels of tritium, a radioactive cancer-causing chemical, in the groundwater near the plant. The next week, the Vermont state Senate voted overwhelmingly to shut down Vermont Yankee when its current license expires in 2012. Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R) called the timing of the nuclear loan guarantee announcement and the Vermont Senate's decision "ironic." More than just some coincidence, though, the Vermont Yankee situation demonstrates that from the mining of uranium ore to the storage of radioactive waste, nuclear reactors remain as dirty, risky, and as costly as they ever were. If President Obama's recent enthusiasm for nuclear reactors has led you to believe otherwise, you've bought in to the administration's greenwashing of nuclear."

Vermont Yankee critics are gearing up for another campaign aimed at persuading state lawmakers to turn thumbs-down on the plant's request for a 20-year license extension. A coalition of groups including Vermont Public Interest Research Group and former Gov. Phil Hoff are announcing the campaign Thursday. It's aimed at getting more Vermont towns to pass resolutions on Town Meeting Day opposing Vermont Yankee's bid to remain operating past its scheduled 2012 closing. Last year, 36 towns passed such a measure.

Vermont Yankee critics are gearing up for another campaign aimed at persuading state lawmakers to turn thumbs-down on the plant's request for a 20-year license extension. A coalition of groups including Vermont Public Interest Research Group and former Gov. Phil Hoff are announcing the campaign Thursday. It's aimed at getting more Vermont towns to pass resolutions on Town Meeting Day opposing Vermont Yankee's bid to remain operating past its scheduled 2012 closing. Last year, 36 towns passed such a measure.

Magic is captivating. Illusionists will use misdirection and smoke and mirrors to influence their audience. A good illusion requires that the audience "suspend their disbelief" due to the authority and confidence in which the illusion is presented, leading them to accept its premise. Advertisement Vermonters have been witnessing their own magic show on the energy stage in Vermont, with the Legislature and ratepayers as its audience. Throughout the past year, Gov. Douglas, utilities, Entergy and corporate special interest groups have presented a steady supply of smoke and mirrors to create an illusion -- the illusion that Vermont Yankee is cheap, clean, green and reliable, and still critical to Vermont's energy portfolio for the next two decades. Cue the smoke: Vermont utilities continually publicize their efforts to increase renewable energy and conservation as part of their future energy plans. Yet, their plans show a small increased investment in renewable energy over a 25-year time span and continued reliance on Vermont Yankee during this same 25-year period.

The Vermont Yankee Oversight Panel's (VYOP) report was 50 pages long, which makes it difficult to summarize in an opinion piece limited to 600 words, but as the VYOP's first chairman, I believe it is important for all Vermonters to understand the panel's assessment of Yankee's reliability. Our report was a consensus report created by four individuals with many years of broad nuclear power experience. The rumor around the state, that the VYOP gave Entergy's Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant a clean bill of health, is simply not true. With significant reservations, we concluded that Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear plant might operate "reliably" for 20 more years if Entergy made all the required repairs and updates, but thus far there is no methodology in place to assure Vermonters that those costly repairs are made. The VYOP uncovered serious and systemwide problems. We concluded that VY has both mechanical and cultural problems that Entergy must address before any license extension to 2032. Entergy's deferred maintenance of VY's mechanical components is troubling and expensive to fix. The VYOP uncovered more than $100 million in deferred maintenance on components that must be replaced to assure VY reliability beyond 2012. VY's condenser is a good example of failing components. Nationally, most nuclear plants replace their condensers between 20 and 30 years of operation. VY's condenser has been operating for 37 years and Entergy has known the condenser had issues prior to its purchase of VY in 2002, yet chose to delay the repairs until at least 2014. The VYOP also found that VY's design could not be licensed today because it does not meet today's modern NRC design criteria.

"In an unusual state foray into nuclear regulation, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 Wednesday to block operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant after 2012, citing radioactive leaks, misstatements in testimony by plant officials and other problems. The Vermont Senate has voted to block a license extension for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, Vt. Nuclear opponents celebrated a State Senate vote Wednesday that could help close the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in 2012. Unless the chamber reverses itself, it will be the first time in more than 20 years that the public or its representatives has decided to close a reactor. The vote came just more than a week after President Obama declared a new era of rebirth for the nation's nuclear industry, announcing federal loan guarantees of $8.3 billion to assure the construction of a twin-reactor plant near Augusta, Ga."

"Several environmental groups got a chance to weigh in on the future of Vermont Yankee Wednesday morning at a hearing convened by the Vermont Public Service Board. The hearing follows news that Vermont Yankee officials mislead regulators under oath about the existence of underground pipes at the nuclear plant. The groups at Wednesday's hearing argued Vermont Yankee has lost all credibility and they are calling for a new cost analysis for the decommissioning of the plant. A lawyer for Vermont Yankee told the board the company understands concerns the environmental groups have and agrees all misinformation should be stricken from the record."

"Environmental groups that accused Vermont Yankee of lying about the presence of underwater pipes carrying radioactive material are now calling on Attorney General Bill Sorrell, D-Vermont, to compel the company to pull its latest TV ads off the air. James Moore of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group told reporters, "You can't be willing to continually have a pattern in history of misleading regulators, legislators and the Vermont public, and then tell people we are your, you know, truth police, and it's our website you're got to come to, to get the facts." VPIRG and the League of Conservation voters repeated accusations that plant owner Entergy Vermont lied about the existence of underground pipes which critics say may have leaked radioactive tritium. The company says it was an unintentional omission. The groups are asking the attorney general to do what he did two years ago with another ad for the nuclear plant-- get it off the air."

"A driving snowstorm could not keep Vermonters away from the statehouse in Montpelier last week as the Vermont Senate convened a historic debate and then voted on the future of the state's aging nuclear power plant. Some 1300 people -- most of them standing before live video coverage outside the small, overcrowded Senate chamber -- listened to several hours of respectful debate that even included the proposition of building a new nuclear power plant in Vermont as per President Obama's pro-nuclear agenda. But when it was all over, senators from both parties resoundingly voted against a last-minute amendment for a new plant to replace the old one, and similarly defeated re-licensure of Vermont Yankee in 2012 by a vote of 26 to 4. "

"A new poll shows Entergy Vermont Yankee has lost the trust of a majority of Vermonters. The poll says a radiation leak at the plant has severely eroded public support for the plant to operate after 2012. VPR's John Dillon reports: (Dillon) The poll of 802 Vermont residents was commissioned by the Civil Society Institute, a Massachusetts-based non profit that says it opposes nuclear power. The survey was taken just days before the Senate voted overwhelmingly to block Entergy Vermont Yankee's request for a 20-year license extension. "

"On Friday two more groups, the Department of Public Service and the Conservation Law Foundation each filed testimonials regarding the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The two testimonies filed with the Vermont Public Service Board come a day after the Vermont Natural Resources Council filed its own testimony with the board claiming the nuclear plant violated the state's groundwater public trust law and should be shut down immediately. While Conservation Law Foundation echoed the suggestions made by VNRC, the Department of Public Service, by contrast, stated VY had taken an appropriate course of action in response to the discovery of a tritium leak in January. Since the leak was discovered, "Vermont Yankee assembled an effective team to locate and stop the source of the leak to the environment," according to testimony by Uldis Vanags, the state nuclear engineer with the DPS. Vanags continued, "I witnessed Vermont Yankee following all its procedures to assure there was a thorough engineering review prior to the drilling of sample wells and any excavation work." "

"Conservation Law Foundation officials called for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to shut down, citing the recent leaks in the site's underground piping and within its main reactor building. Calling nuclear power "last century's technology," a panel of CLF delegates criticized the Vernon plant for its recent safety record and advocated for a more sustainable energy future in New England during a Thursday evening public forum in downtown Brattleboro. Nearly 50 people from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts attended the event. CLF Senior Attorney Sandy Levine said Vermont Yankee should shut down the plant because of the continuing contamination at the site and into the Connecticut River. "The plant should not be operating while this is ongoing," she said. "And we wanted to put this in a more regional context, it's not just Vermont. What happens to Vermont Yankee matters throughout the region." "