@Normal:Judge Murtha’s decision in Federal Court to override the ability of the Vermont legislature to exercise authority over continuing operations at Entergy Nuclear’s Vernon plant was predictable. Although Vermont would like to think of itself as in control of its own destiny in matters of law, the reality is otherwise.

A federal judge will nearly always defer to federal authority through jurisdiction whenever possible. Judge Murtha is no exception. In rendering his decision on grounds of jurisdiction he is confident that his decision will be upheld in the Federal court of appeals, effectively cutting Vermont off from prevailing in federal court at any level. At this rate Vermont Yankee will continue operating well after March 2012, when the Vermont issued operating permit expires.

Notwithstanding the well-documented corruption and conflict within the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which claims jurisdiction over the nuclear industry and which issued a 20-year extension of Vermont Yankee’s operating license just days after the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, any pre-emptive action by the State of Vermont to shut the plant down will be crushed outright, through the courts or though federal police power. The primary beneficiary of such jurisprudence and regulatory authority happens to be an untrustworthy mega-corporation based in Texas. So much for home rule.

There is no question that the NRC is a hopelessly biased and dysfunctional agency. There IS a question about the reliability, safety and public benefit of continued operations at the Vermont facility. The VT permit, which expires in March 2012, coincides with the duration of the original federal operating license, which assumed a safe and reliable working life of 40 years.

This begs the question about reliability, safety and public benefit going forward. Can we assume that a person who lives to the ripe old age of 80 will continue to live for another 40? Not!

At the end of the day, VT Yankee will only be shut down by the disposition of people outside the federal authority to occupy grounds for action in defense of state sovereignty, a decentralized and demilitarized energy policy, sound economics and environmental stewardship.

Thomas Vanacore

Bridport