Statewide, towns oppose Yankee license extension
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By SUSAN SMALLHEER Rutland Herald Staff - Published: March 4, 2009
DUMMERSTON — Voters in Dummerston live in the emergency evacuation zone surrounding the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, and on Tuesday they sent a message to the Vermont Legislature: 40 years has been long enough.
On a near-unanimous voice vote at town meeting, Dummerston voters said no to relicensing the aging reactor, which is owned by Entergy Nuclear of Jackson, Miss., when its license expires in 2012. Entergy should also fully fund the plant's decommissioning fund, which currently holds less than half the money needed to dismantle the reactor and clean up the Vernon site, they said.
"It's just a matter of common sense," said Benjamin Price, who recently moved to Dummerston and said he was "just a lay person" when it came to the nuclear power debate. "How much faith do you put in an out-of-state corporation?"
Judy Davidson, a former Selectboard member, said she was worried that Vermonters would be "stuck" with the costs of dismantling the plant and storing the high-level radioactive waste for hundreds of years. That cost is estimated at between $800 million and $1 billion, while only $360 million is in the plant's fund.
Dummerston was one of 45 towns in the state to take up the advisory vote, which was the work of an antinuclear coalition, the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance.
Towns all over the state rejected a nuclear energy future. In Brattleboro, the largest town voting on the measure, the tally was 2-1 against the reactor, 1,097 to 438.
Brookline, Calais, Charlotte, Corinth, Charleston, Dummerston, East Montpelier, Greensboro, Guilford, Hinesburg, Holland, Marshfield, Middlesex, Montpelier, Newfane, Plainfield, Putney, Richmond, Townshend, Warren, Westfield, Westminster, Windham, Woodbury and Worcester all passed versions of the measure
"This particular plant is old, it's decrepit, it's falling apart and it should be closed when it was scheduled to be closed," said resident Craig Line during a spirited discussion of the issue at the Calais town meeting.
"I've been inside this plant," said Calais resident Conrad Smith, speaking against 2012 closure of the plant. "It has a culture of safety more than I've seen anyplace in my life. I was impressed."
According to Dan DeWalt of Newfane, an organizer of the issue, the vast majority of the 45 towns voted "no confidence" in the plant.
He said only one town, Topsham, rejected it, while two towns, Bolton and Wardsboro, split the multi-issue resolution into parts, adopting the portion that Entergy fully fund the decommissioning costs.
Entergy Nuclear spokesman Robert Williams discounted the town meeting votes as not representative of Vermont.
"I think most Vermonters think that nuclear power has to be part of the mix for reducing our fossil fuel use and supporting the economy," Williams said, while declining to say whether the company had done surveys to support his claims.
"The general consensus is this type of vote doesn't really reflect the general opinion of people and that's why our focus has been the Legislature, ensuring that they have the information they need," he said.
But he said he didn't know when the company would have a proposed new power contract, which legislative leaders say they must have to adequately evaluate the pros and cons of Yankee's future.
Reporters Thatcher Moats and Susan Allen from the Times Argus contributed to this report.
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