Posted on 04/17/2009 7:58:34 AM PDT by kidd
April 16, 2009 – A decmmissioning bill under consideration by the Vermont Senate may force the state’s nuclear power plant to close, an Entergy official warned state lawmakers.
The bill, H.436, which has cleared the state House of Representatives, would require Entergy to contribute more than $229 million into the plant’s decommissioning fund by 2012 when the current license expires. The bill also would require Entergy to pay an additional $229 million from 2018 to 2020.
“I don’t want it to sound like a threat because it’s not a threat, but Vermont Yankee does not make the kind of revenue that would allow this kind of payment,” Entergy Vice President Jay Thayer said. He said that if the bill becomes law, the company will file suit to block it.
Supporters of the bill say it is needed because the decommissioning fund has decreased because of the stock market decline. However, Entergy reports that the fund’s value is sufficient to permit cleanup within a time frame supported by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations.
The Vermont Yankee plant provides more than 70 percent of the state’s power. Although the current license expires in 2012, Entergy is seeking a 20-year license renewal from the NRC (see Nuclear Energy Overview, Feb. 13, 2006).
According to Thayer, if Vermont Yankee closed when the current license expires, the plant would remain in SAFSTOR for approximately 15 to 20 years. Under SAFSTOR, a nuclear facility is maintained and monitored in a condition that allows the radioactivity to decay prior to dismantling, reducing the amount of low-level radioactive waste requiring disposal and reducing worker exposure.
The NRC regulates plant operations as well as decommissioning activities. The NRC requires decommissioning to be completed within 60 years of a plant ceasing operations, and SAFSTOR is one of three options a facility can exercise. SAFSTOR allows time when decommissioning funds can grow to meet costs—similar to a 401(k)—potentially reducing the overall costs of decommissioning. During SAFSTOR the necessary work force would be maintained to provide the required safety and security of the facility. Currently 10 nuclear power plants have completed the decommissioning process, and 13 are in some phase of the process. However, the Vermont bill aims to force an expedited decommissioning for the Vermont Yankee plant. The bill would require decommissioning within a maximum of 10 years after a plant “ceases to be used for generation of electricity” or a date set by the board. The bill would allow for an extension of this 10-year period by the NRC for “nonfinancial reasons.” The bill claims that permitting SAFSTOR would deprive the state of other potential economic benefits of the plant site.
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Vermont legislature is trying to cut off its right hand.
I posted this so that you could be aware of this technique by the greenies. Vermont residents need to call their representatives to stop this. New England does not have sufficient electrical capacity to make up for the loss of Vermont Yankee.
There is no problem at all with the reactor. This entire “crisis” is a construct created by Federal over-regulation. the legislature should ignore the NRC and let the fund dwindle further as needed until the economy recovers.
The Vermont Yankee plant provides more than 70 percent of the state’s power.
Do the Vermont clowns not have an admitted socialist for a rep? Close the plants down, and let all those dedicated socialists out there man a pedal powered electric plant.
Or, let the b*stards freeze to death in the dark. (preferred option)
This was kind of the way that San Onofre Unit 1 was decommissioned, SAFSTOR’d, and turned into a hole in the ground.
The California PUC made Southern California Edison a great deal to take Unit 1 off line. Albeit, it was old with steam generators that were 10% plugged and only produced 400 MW’s compared to the 2200 MW from the other two reactors at the site.
Unit 1 was shut down in 89 and I believe that they have pretty well got it dismantled and out of there now. It’s not a quick process.
Who needs the base load when you can put up all the Ocean Wind Turbines you need in Nantucket sound?
Is my sarcasm showing?
Crazy anti-energy leftists are destroying Vermont’s economy.
Dont blame the NRC, its the crazy leftwing Vermont lege that is forcing this.
Far better solution would be to EXTEND the operating life of the reactor.
“I posted this so that you could be aware of this technique by the greenies.”
Greenies want to destroy any and all effective and economical sources of energy. Only with high energy costs can their crazy schemes become reality.
Everyone riding bicycles and using zero electricity, like Mao’s China.
Clever, those Vermonters. Close the nuke plant, light your house with kerosene (or whale oil?). Maybe heat your house with Vermont’s forests? That’ll work.
Maple syrup too is a good source of power.
No problem! Sales of wool underwear and candles will more than make up for the lack of power.
I say shut it down, conservatives should buy generators and get off the grid. If liberals want to live in a pre electric age let them.
Besides an EMP attack by nukes from some rogue state will send us into that age and we might as well prepare for that as well. Conservatives will live, liberals will die out in such a state of affairs.
With the coming Obama inflation, that should not be a problem.
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