The Fate of Vermont Yankee

The Trojan Nuclear Plant on the Banks of the Columbia River Portland General Electric, the Builder of the Plant, Has Encountered Great Opposition From Environmentalists 05/1973 by The U.S. National Archives

The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, located in the town of Vernon on the boarder of Massachusetts and Vermont, has been a topic of environmental concern and debate for many years.  On Sunday, November 7th, the plant shut down due to a cooling water leak, but was back online to the New England grid early next Thursday morning.

Local residents and politicians, fearing the dated, aging plant could lead to potential nuclear disaster, have been pushing to permanently close the plant for years.  In fact, the consensus in the Vermont Legislature is that Vermont Yankee should be closed when its 40-year license expires in March, 2012.  Entergy, the Louisiana-based power company that owns the plant, has since put the reactor on the market as of last week given the continued resistance by the state of Vermont.  Nonetheless, the fate of Vermont Yankee remains somewhat unclear.

The Brattleboro Reformer reported Thursday that in nearby Keene, NH, city officials are debating whether to sign a letter asking to be involved in decisions on how the reactor would be torn down.  Clearly the push to close Vermont Yankee is significant, particularly when neighboring states express concern and take action. The question however remains: if Vermont Yankee shuts down, what alternative energy source will take its place?  For now, the focus is the closure of an archaic power plant.  What would ensue remains open for discussion and debate.

This entry was posted in Business, Electricity, New England, Politics & Policy, Technology by Tara Holmes. Bookmark the permalink.

About Tara Holmes

Tara lives in San Francisco (but hails from Massachusetts). She is passionate about environmental conservation and increasing public awareness of environmental issues. Tara received a BA from Connecticut College and an MPA with a concentration in environmental policy from The Maxwell School of Syracuse University. She tends to focus on politics and business, but also touches on behavior. Tara has worked at the World Resources Institute, the MA Department of Energy Resources and spent summer 2010 working on UN-REDD research and policy in Paris, France for ONF International. She is currently involved with SF Environment, Friends of the Urban Forest and sits on the Board of Directors for Randall Museum Friends in San Francisco. She enjoys being outdoors as much as possible! Twitter: @tmhol. Personal Blog: http://taraholmes.wordpress.com/ In addition to the posts listed by clicking her username above, she also contributed to the post Whitehouse goes solar!

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