The owners of the troubled Vermont Yankee nuclear plant are trying to pull another fast one – this time to avoid paying the cost of closing down the plant – much to the embarrassment of their good friends at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Brattleboro Reformer today reported that Entergy Corp., owners of the 40-year-old plant in Vernon, Vt., have sent a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission saying that now that the commission has extended the plant’s license for another 20 years, there’s no need to keep the millions of dollars in a decommissioning account as required by the NRC.
The company has notified that it’ll take the money out, and begin re-building the fund over the next 20 years.
The company is acting as though it’s a done deal.
But wait. The state of Vermont has not approved the license, and it is increasingly unlikely that it will. The whole matter comes before a federal judge beginning next month.
The NRC’s response is that it is by no means certain that the plant will be able to operate after it’s current expiration date of March 2012. In addition to the lawsuit, the NRC cites several other reviews that are being conducted, any of which could have an impact on the plant’s future.
Whether or not the company has the funds to cover the cost of closing the plant has been the source of some controversy. Over the past year, the plant has been put up for sale, attempted to enter into a merger, and tried to form new company bringing together three nucear plants that it operates in the northeast,
None of these succeeded, and in particular the plan to form a new subsidiary to operate the northeast nuclear plants was shot down by a New York regulatory agency because they were not convinced the new subsidiary would be able to cover the cost of decommissioning the plants. They saw it as a ploy for Entergy to get out from under the obligation.
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