PSB meeting hears call for Yankee closing
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By Susan Smallheer Rutland Herald Staff - Published: July 9, 2010
BRATTLEBORO — People from all over Vermont told the Public Service Board Thursday evening that it was time to pull the plug on the aging Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor.
People from Williston, Ryegate and Sharon joined residents of towns surrounding Vermont Yankee in telling the PSB Entergy Nuclear was not the kind of corporate citizen Vermont wanted and its recent history of radioactive leaks was an indication of things to come.
The board had opened an investigation into this winter's leaks of radioactive material, predominantly tritium, into the ground and groundwater at the Vernon reactor, as well as allegations that top-level Entergy Nuclear executives deliberately misled the board and other state regulators to avoid scrutiny of aging underground pipe systems. Thursday's public hearing was the public portion of that investigation, which will include technical hearings before the board, as several environmental groups will try and make the case Entergy Nuclear should lose its certificate of public good for the reactor.
While the overwhelming majority of people at the hearing at Brattleboro Union High School were against the plant's continued operation, a handful of Entergy Nuclear employees, and a few nuclear energy supporters, warned that Vermont Yankee's relatively inexpensive power would be hard to replace in the state's overall economy.
But their economic warnings were overshadowed by dozens of people who said they were willing to pay higher prices for electricity, if it meant Vermont Yankee and its recent history of problems and radioactive leaks became a thing of the past.
"Vermont Yankee is a ticking time bomb," said Nate Housman of South Ryegate, who said by using Vermont Yankee's electricity "it implicates me in Vermont Yankee's negligence."
"Revoke Vermont Yankee's license to operate," Housman urged the board.
Vermont Yankee's license to operate expires in March 2012, and thus far the Vermont Legislature has refused to give its approval to another 20 years of operation, which Entergy is seeking.
Holly Peterson of Williston, a college student, said she had studied Yankee's recent problems
xtensively and was convinced it shouldn't be allowed to keep operating. All the safety lapses, Peterson said, were shocking.
If a lawyer committed as many mistakes as Yankee does, the lawyer would be charged with malpractice, she said. If a mechanic made as many mistakes as Yankee, you wouldn't take your car there; if a student made similar mistakes, he or she would fail the class, she said.
"Hold Vermont Yankee to the same standard," she said.
Many people drew parallels to the radioactive leaks at Vermont Yankee and the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In both cases, people said, corporations have their way with the general public good, with little or no effective oversight from the federal government.
Ned Childs of Dummerston, a trustee of the anti-nuclear New England Coalition, said the oil spill and problems at Yankee had disturbing similarities, particularly an inadequate "line of defense against disaster."
One big difference, he said, was that the oil can be seen and smelled and eventually cleaned up. Not so with a radioactive release or disaster, he said.
Despite the overwhelming message delivered to the board, the 50 people in the audience remained skeptical the board would do anything about Entergy's "leaks and lies," as they called it.
Michael Granger of Newfane called for a show of hands of people who believed the board would act decisively against Entergy Nuclear, and not a hand was raised.
Granger and others said it was time for the state to send a clear message to Entergy that its behavior and practices won't be tolerated.
"Since 2002, the state has looked the other way," Granger said, listing off the now-infamous series of problems, radioactive leaks, equipment breakdowns, the cooling tower collapse and transformer fire that have occurred at Vermont Yankee since Entergy bought the reactor from a group of New England utilities.
susan.smallheer@rutland herald.com
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