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The owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant says it will have to wait almost 60 years before it has enough money to decommission the plant. Faced with that lengthy timeline, lawmakers are likely to try again to force Yankee to set aside funds for decommissioning. VPR's John Dillon reports: (Dillon) As the stock market has plummeted in recent months, so has the value of the Vermont Yankee decommissioning fund. It's worth around $397 million these days. But the expected cost of decommissioning is around $875 million.

"Maine Yankee has been shut since 1996 WISCASSET, Maine - All that remains of Maine Yankee now is a series of large concrete structures in the middle of a grassy field - 64 giant dry cask storage units holding the radioactive waste from the plant's 24 years of operation. Signs along the rural road in Wiscasset notify travelers of serious security ahead and issue stern warnings: Guards can use force to stop you if you go any further down the road. Other than those details, the road looks like any other in small towns across New England. "That's it," said Eric Howes, the public relations official for Maine Yankee, pointing at the dry cask storage units more than 100 yards away. "There's not really much to see." Thirteen years ago there was a whole lot more to see than a grassy field. Maine Yankee was a pressurized water reactor built along the shore of the Bailey Point peninsula in 1972 and for two and a half decades produced electricity for the state, totaling nearly 120,000 gigawatt-hours of power."

"The Vermont Public Service Board wants to know why Vermont Yankee management has refused to allow a documentary film maker to bring his camera on a site visit on Thursday. Yankee has until noon today to respond to Robbie Leppzer's request to allow him to film the PSB's visit, it wrote in a letter to the power plant's managers. Leppzer, who has been following the debate over Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant's future, said he only wants the chance to tell the story from both sides Last week, he learned his attempt to present an impartial account of the issue was thwarted when his request to allow him to bring his video equipment to the site was refused. "I've been seeking the viewpoints and perspectives of all sides of the nuclear power debate including Entergy representatives and Vermont Yankee staff," said Leppzer. "I was looking forward to filming at the PSB site visit as a way of showing the work they are doing and their transparency with government." Leppzer said he's been filming public hearings, meetings of the Legislature and legislative committees, a town meeting and public workshops such as those recently held by Entergy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "

A Nov. 1 deadline set by legislative leaders came and went, and still no deal between Vermont Yankee and the state's largest utilities on a post-2012 power contract. House Speaker Shap Smith said that means it will be "very difficult" for the Legislature to vote next year on whether Vermont Yankee should be allowed to continue operating after its license expires in 2012. The Vernon nuclear power plant needs the Legislature's approval before the state Public Service Board can decide on a new 20-year operating agreement.

A Nov. 1 deadline set by legislative leaders came and went, and still no deal between Vermont Yankee and the state's largest utilities on a post-2012 power contract. House Speaker Shap Smith said that means it will be "very difficult" for the Legislature to vote next year on whether Vermont Yankee should be allowed to continue operating after its license expires in 2012. The Vernon nuclear power plant needs the Legislature's approval before the state Public Service Board can decide on a new 20-year operating agreement.

"Revelations about underground pipes carrying radioactive fluids at Vermont Yankee raise serious concerns about how much stock Vermonters can place in Entergy's repeated reassurances about the safety of the plant or anything else. The sequence of events is especially bad for plant owner Entergy, which is trying to convince state lawmakers and regulators that allowing the plant to operate beyond 2012 is in Vermont's best interest. Entergy revealed last week that underground pipes could be the source of elevated levels of radioactive tritium detected in a groundwater monitoring well. Yankee officials said the tritium level detected posed no health threat, but they would continue to monitor the leak to see if it was spreading."

"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. "

"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." "

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is giving the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant permission to use money set aside to dismantle the plant to pay for the storage of high-level radioactive waste. Yankee officials say the storage is needed because the Department of Energy has not found a permanent disposal site for the waste. Advertisement And in a report issued Tuesday, federal regulators said a preliminary investigation by Yankee owner Entergy Nuclear found radioactive contamination at the plant.

The owners of Vermont Yankee have decided not to offer Vermont utilities a new deal on power. Yankee faced a year-end deadline to come up with a new power contract. But the owners of the nuclear plant said the deal that's already in place is good enough for now. VPR's John Dillon reports: (Dillon) Entergy Vermont Yankee wants permission to run the plant for another 20 years, after its current license expires in 2012.

(Host) State regulators may levy fines against Vermont Yankee for its failure to monitor radiation that comes from its high-level nuclear waste. The company was required to report the temperature and radiation from storage containers that hold spent nuclear fuel. State officials say they're concerned about the apparent violation. VPR's John Dillon reports: (Dillon) The monitoring was required as part of a state license that allows Yankee to store spent fuel in five steel and concrete casks near the reactor. It was supposed to begin last year, but Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said the company didn't discover until late June that it had never established the monitoring protocol. (Smith) "And it's an oversight by us. We did not catch that until an engineer who was assigned to the dry fuel storage project was going through a checklist."

The Vermont Supreme Court will hear arguments today on how much money the state owes the former owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in interest on a tax refund stemming from contributions the former owner made to the plant's decommissioning fund in 1992. The issue involves the 1992 tax return filed by Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp., according to Danforth Cardozo, an attorney with the Vermont Department of Taxes. Cardozo said that the state has already given Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. $800,000 in a tax refund in 2005, and the company is seeking interest dating back to 1992.

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.

"Leaders in the Vermont Senate hope to derail the relicensing of Vermont Yankee next week. Senate President Peter Shumlin says that through a legislative procedure, the chamber could prevent the Public Service Board from deciding a 20-year extension on the license. VPR's John Dillon reports. (Dillon) Shumlin said Yankee officials misled the state about leaking underground pipes, and have failed to come up with a competitive power contract for the state's utilities. Shumlin said he's also worried about Entergy's plan to sell Yankee and five other plants to a new, debt-heavy corporation. He said lawmakers have enough information to vote on the plant's future. (Shumlin) "We have tritium that's leaking into the Connecticut River at a rate that should be of concern. We have a proposed spin-off that makes the recent shenanigans on Wall Street look like kindergarten action, and we have very clearly a decommission clean up fund that is short. So I would ask you to ask this question: 'Why wouldn't we make a judgment in light of all the information we have?'""

"The plume of tritium leaking from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is suspected of being 35 feet deep, 200 feet wide and 400 feet long, according to the Legislature's nuclear expert. Arnie Gundersen, a member of the Vermont Legislature's Public Oversight Panel for Vermont Yankee, told lawmakers Wednesday morning the quickest way to stop the tritium leak before finding its origin would be for the reactor to shut down. Gundersen said that move would likely cost Entergy, the company that owns Vermont Yankee, about $1 million a day in electricity sales. "If the plant shuts down, the tritium leak stops," Gunderson told members of the Senate Natural Resources Committee at the Statehouse Wednesday. "It would take years for the tritium to move off-site, but you would not be adding anything to it if the plant shut down.""

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deb Markowitz says she supports a new state energy plan that would close down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in 2012. Markowitz says the plant isn't safe to operate for another 20 years. VPR's Bob Kinzel reports. (Kinzel) All five of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates say they oppose the relicensing of Vermont Yankee for another 20 years. Some of the candidates stress the lack of money for the plant's decommissioning fund, and some argue that the cost of future power from the plant won't be competitive with prices on the short term spot market.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deb Markowitz says she supports a new state energy plan that would close down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in 2012. Markowitz says the plant isn't safe to operate for another 20 years. VPR's Bob Kinzel reports. (Kinzel) All five of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates say they oppose the relicensing of Vermont Yankee for another 20 years. Some of the candidates stress the lack of money for the plant's decommissioning fund, and some argue that the cost of future power from the plant won't be competitive with prices on the short term spot 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.

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 January 2, members of the Safe and Green citizens group are planning to begin a 122-mile, 10-day march from Brattleboro to Montpelier, hoping to convince Vermont state legislators to vote against extending the life of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The group has arranged for lodgings along its route in churches, community rooms and a union hall. A vehicle traveling with the marchers will be available for bathroom breaks. The group anticipates that 50 people from Brattleboro and neighboring towns in New Hampshire and Massachusetts will join in the "Step Up to Shut It Down" march (though probably not all at the same time). They hope to persuade others to join them. Speaking to the Nashua Telegraph, organizer Chad Simmons said, "The people living closest to the Vermont Yankee have a unique voice. It's crucial... that [legislators] see there is significant opposition coming from the communities that are around the reactor."

On January 2, members of the Safe and Green citizens group are planning to begin a 122-mile, 10-day march from Brattleboro to Montpelier, hoping to convince Vermont state legislators to vote against extending the life of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The group has arranged for lodgings along its route in churches, community rooms and a union hall. A vehicle traveling with the marchers will be available for bathroom breaks. The group anticipates that 50 people from Brattleboro and neighboring towns in New Hampshire and Massachusetts will join in the "Step Up to Shut It Down" march (though probably not all at the same time). They hope to persuade others to join them. Speaking to the Nashua Telegraph, organizer Chad Simmons said, "The people living closest to the Vermont Yankee have a unique voice. It's crucial... that [legislators] see there is significant opposition coming from the communities that are around the reactor."

"Voters in at least 15 Vermont town will be asked whether they support calling on the Legislature to block the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant from operating past 2012. A resolution circulated by critics of the Vernon reactor and its owner, Louisiana-based Entergy Corp., also asks the Legislature to hold Vermont Yankee to its pledge to clean up nuclear waste on its site. Activists had to gather signatures within towns to include the Vermont Yankee resolution on warnings for Town Meeting, which is held the first Tuesday in March."

"Entergy Nuclear officials failed to investigate five sinkholes that developed outside the reactor building for the past two years that were near the site of what turned out to be the radioactive leak at Vermont Yankee, according to a state report. And a state official said he believes the radioactive leak at Yankee had been going on for two years before it was discovered by Entergy Nuclear in early January, based on hydrology studies of the site. William Irwin, radiological health chief for the Department of Health, said Wednesday that during the first meeting he attended at Vermont Yankee after the tritium leak was discovered, he heard a top-level engineer say he had seen a sinkhole near the advanced off-gas building, which is where Entergy finally found the leak. "

Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials in King of Prussia, Pa., have selected Heather Jones as the new resident inspector at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt. She joins NRC Acting Senior Resident Inspector Dave Spindler at the plant, which is operated by Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Jones joined the agency's Region I office in 2005 after earning a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona and a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a graduate of the NRC's Nuclear Safety Professional Development Program, a two-year training program that provides specialized training in nuclear safety and a broad perspective of NRC regulatory activities. Jones also completed a rigorous NRC inspector qualification program. Most recently, she was assigned as a reactor inspector in the Region I Division of Reactor Safety, performing engineering inspections.