vermont yankee

High Level Waste is a (legal) Question At Vermont Yankee Low level waste is a success story, but high level waste is a legal question at Vermont Yankee.  High level waste storage has become a central issue as the federal court case begins the appeals process. Spent Fuel as PretextIn the past, the Vermont legislature attempted...[read more]

"Cult Versus Cult" on Global WarmingThe Whole Earth CatalogWilliam Tucker, author of Terrestrial Energy,  has a provocative posting in Nuclear Townhall: When it Comes to Nuclear and Global Warming, It's Cult vs Cult.  Basically, many nuclear supporters believe that global warming is not happening. Meanwhile, people who are...[read more]

The Vermont Department of Public Service sued the NRC, claiming that the NRC should not have issued a license extension to Vermont Yankee because the plant's water quality permits were not in order.  Today, a federal court in Washington ruled for the NRC and for Vermont Yankee...the license extension was upheld.I am still at the ANS...[read more]

Vermont Yankee is not Fukushima On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. Schools collapsed, villages were swept out to sea, and an estimated 20,000 people died. Five nuclear stations containing fifteen reactors were affected by the tsunami. All the reactors survived the earthquake, but transmission...[read more]

 Cheryl Hanna of Vermont Law School spoke on WCAX about the court case about Vermont Yankee. The state of Vermont never had much of a case to start with. I have tried to embed the clip of her interview. If I have not succeeded, here's the link to the three minute video on WCAX. Meanwhile, Tony Klein, head of the Vermont...[read more]

Everyone Appeals the RulingAfter Judge Murtha's ruling on Vermont Yankee, the State decided to appeal to the Circuit Court. Entergy did not appeal the ruling, but instead prepared to go before the Public Service Board (PSB) for a Certificate of Public Good. Originally, Entergy had wanted the judge to rule that the PSB docket was tainted...[read more]

Entergy’s Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant’s operating license would have expired on March 21, 2012, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission extended the license to 2032. Vermont’s legislature and a vocal part of the state’s population don’t like the idea of Vermont Yankee’s continued operation. So, when confronted with an...[read more]

The court ruled in favor of Entergy in the recent court case. In consequence, Entergy applied to the Public Service Board for a Certificate of Public Good for Vermont Yankee.Judge Murtha's ruling in the case is over 100 pages long. At one level, however, it can be summarized as follows:The State of Vermont tried to alter a contract...[read more]

The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, supplier of 73% of Vermont's emission-free electricity (and approximately one-third of the state's total electricity), won its day in federal court today, thus granting it the right to keep the doors open and the lights on (for the rest of the state). Vermont resident Meredith Angwin has been...[read more]

Several months ago I blogged about an engineering presentation at Dartmouth. Dr. Swartz presented a talk with the provocative title: If Vermont Yankee Had an Accident Like Fukushima.Swartz concluded that the "worried well" would be the major problem after any type of nuclear accident. Civilians would not receive radiation at a dose...[read more]

Recently, there's been a push among supporters of nuclear energy to try and promote nuclear energy-related petitions in the White House's recent propaganda stunt online citizen petition initiative, "We the People". Some of these petition topics included advocacy of specific nuclear prototype projects (such as the integral fast reactor [...[read more]

On Friday, October 7, I attended a Jones Seminar at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. The Jones Seminars are open to the public, but mostly attended by engineering students.This seminar, but Harold Swartz of Dartmouth Medical School, had the provocative title: If Vermont Yankee had an incident like Fukushima, What...[read more]

The governor of Vermont is wrong: Decommissioning nuclear plants does not create jobs.[read more]

   Yesterday, Vermont Governor Peter Shumulin appeared on Democracy Now to talk about the effect of Hurricane Irene on his Green Mountain State. Twice in the interview, he used the words irrational, but throughout the interview he and his interviewer were remarkably illogical.Though many parts of his state were being...[read more]

I recently recorded a 45 minute slide show about Vermont's Energy Future. I had been meaning to do this for a long time. I want to thank the people at CATV studio of White River Junction for their work and patience in recording this, and Cavan Stone for his thoughtful editing. I hope you enjoy it!The show covers Vermont Yankee issues...[read more]