Yes, the leak was small, but it comes on top of another leak discovered
in early January. Raymond Shadis, senior technical advisor for the New
England Coalition, a nuclear watchdog group, attributed the recent
leaks to aging of the plant.
If you've been following this, you may recall earlier failures: the
critical valve malfunctions that resulted in an emergency shutdown in
2007; the problems with the "automatic" backup system during that
shutdown; and the 2007 alarming photograph of the cooling tower
collapse with coolant pouring forth. There have been other failures and
defects too numerous to mention and security violations cited by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission in February 2008.
Vermont Yankee was designed for use through 2012. The plant's corporate
owner Entergy is lobbying hard to relicense the plant for an additional
20 years. Entergy is a limited liability corporation (LLC) and could
potentially walk away from Vermont in the event of an accident.
If Entergy were to file for bankruptcy, taxpayers would be forced to
foot the bill for cleanup of nuclear waste. If this seems far-fetched,
keep in mind that a related company, Entergy New Orleans, did this
after Hurricane Katrina. Entergy New Orleans filed for bankruptcy
resulting in taxpayers picking up a $200 million tab.
Next year the Legislature will vote yea or nay on extending the life of
our aging Vermont Yankee plant. The good news is that this year the
House and Senate are moving forward with legislation that will promote
the development of clean, renewable energy sources in the state. It is
possible to replace Vermont Yankee with non-polluting local energy
along with expanded efficiency and conservation programs. What we need
now is strong leadership to make it happen.
You don't need to be against nuclear power to recognize that this aging
plant with its outdated design currently running at 120 percent of its
designed capacity is not in the best interests of Vermonters. Let's
work together with our legislators to retire Vermont Yankee.
Colman lives in Warren.
