Mass. Joins the fight against Entergy & Vt. Yankee

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has filed a brief defending Vermont’s right to determine the future of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

The plant is located within walking distance of the Massachusetts border and has a history of mishaps, most recently a steady stream of leaking radiated water which the plant’s owners seem unable to locate and stop. An investigation into the source of the leaks determined the problems date back to shoddy workmanship when the plant was first built 40 years ago.

Nevertheless, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a 20-year extension to the plant’s operating license. The current license expires next March, and the plant’ owner’s Entergy Corp., headquartered in Louisiana, has put it up for sale, has tried to negotiate a merger with an Ohio power company, so ar to no avail.

NRC approval notwithstanding, Vermont has the last say in whether or not the plant can continue to operate. The legislature has already voted to not approve an extension. The matter can still come up in the legislature’s next session.

Entergy agreed to abide by the state’s decision when it bought the plant several years ago. Now, faced with the prospect of a shutdown and an expensive de-commissioning process, the company has changed its tune. It has filed a challenge in federal district court, claiming the state has no such jurisdiction. Entergy is claiming federal law gives the NRC the sole power of approval.

Atty. General Coakley disagrees, saying there is nothing in the Atomic Energy Act that takes away a state’s right to regulate nuclear power within its borders.

Entergy also owns the Pilgrim Nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass.,and it too is in the process of seeking a license renewal. It, too, has had its share of troubles, including a recent emergency shutdown that was only explained away as “employee error.”

The license enewal process has been put on hold until these and other issues have been addressed.

NRC stands by bogus Vermont Yankee license renewal

While the operators of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant were struggling to contain the seemingly endless leaks of radiated water at the 40-year-old plant, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission obediently approved a 20-year extension to its operating license. After all, they have a reputation to uphold. They have yet to turn down a single license renewal application.

“We believe that Entergy, through the exhaustive review we have done, meets all of the requirements and standards to be able to operate for another 20 years,” said NRC commissioner Gregory Jaczko at the time. Of course it was merely coincidence that the approval came just a few days after Jaczko received a letter from two influential Republican senators – neither one from Vermont, but one was from Louisiana, where Entergy Corp., is headquartered.

But despite Jaczko’s claim of an “exhaustive” review, they seemed to have “overlooked” two key points: Vermont Yankee has neither a water discharge permit nor a clean water certificate, both of which are required under the Clean Water Act. And given the contaminated groundwater surrounding the plant, and the threat to the Connecticut River, this is unlikely.

Does this bother them? Of course not!

A spokesman for the NRC told the Brattleboro Reformer today that it’s “doubtful” that the NRC would put a hold on its approval of the plant’s license.