Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance

From The Rutland Herald

MONTPELIER - The Vermont Attorney General’s office has added its voice to six other states asking federal regulators to take into account the safety of on-site storage for high-level radioactive waste when they consider a license extension at Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, among other reactors.

Monday was the deadline for public comment on the petition originally filed by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, according to Neil Sheehan, an NRC spokesman.

Rep. Richard Marek, D-Newfane, said he had been told by Attorney General William Sorrell that the state had joined Massachusetts, asking that the NRC change its own rules on the issue. Marek had written a letter on behalf of fellow House members seeking the state’s involvement.

The Massachusetts petition seeks an assessment of the vulnerability of the spent fuel pool, and whether it is a natural target of terrorists, and it also wants the NRC to change its rules about whether the regulators can consider this issue in relicensing dockets.

Sorrell, and a deputy attorney general also working on the case, didn’t return telephone calls Monday.

Marek said that he had received the letter from Sorrell last week, alerting him and other Windham County legislators that the state had already joined the debate. Windham County legislators and anti-nuclear activists had asked for the state to join Massachusetts on the issue.

The Pilgrim nuclear plant in Massachusetts, which is also owned by Entergy Nuclear, is also seeking a 20-year extension of its original 40-year license. In the case of Vermont Yankee, that license to operate expires in 2012.

Sheehan said that his office hadn’t tallied all the public comments that had been submitted on the issue, but he said the state of California had submitted a very similar petition to the Massachusetts argument. The other states already on record with Massachusetts are New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, Kentucky and Louisiana.

At issue is the safety of the highly-radioactive spent fuel, which in Vermont’s case is still kept in a deep water pool on the fifth floor of the reactor building. Entergy Nuclear is in the process of building an on-site storage facility next to the Vernon reactor, where the oldest and coolest of the old fuel will be transferred into steel and concrete casks.

Sen. Peter Shumlin, D-Windham, president pro tempore of the state Senate, said the news that Sorrell’s office had joined the debate was welcome.

Shumlin said when NRC officials met with legislators in Montpelier a couple of weeks ago, legislators were “astounded” to learn that the NRC was not considering the issue of storage of high-level radioactive waste when making a decision about extending Vermont Yankee’s license.

Shumlin said he would consider approving a 20-year extension, but only if there was an independent safety assessment of the aging reactor, as well as the issue of disposal of high-level radioactive fuel.

“Vermont would never have taken that plant if they knew that high-level waste would be stored on the banks of the Connecticut River,” Shumlin said.

If Vermont Yankee does get a license extension, he said, it should be conditioned on different areas of the state hosting some of the high-level waste since it will be mobile in the concrete and steel casks.

“We’ve had it all in Windham County now for almost 40 years,” Shumlin said, noting the entire state benefited from Yankee and should share in its liabilities.

“If we’re going to create the waste, we should share in its storage and Windham County has done its share,” he said, adding that storage should start in the state’s most populous areas.

“It is appropriate that the issue be addressed at the commission level. We believe that the plant is protected by its very strong design and also by a comprehensive security program on site, but also by the resources of the federal government,” said Robert Williams, Entergy spokesman.

Sheehan said the Massachusetts attorney general’s office has been rebuffed by the NRC and the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board on several related issues regarding the relicensing of Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee, which is only a few miles from the Massachusetts border.

Marek said federal regulators told the Vermont legislators a federal waste site would be available to nuclear plant operators by 2025, but Marek said that was unlikely, given the problems encountered at the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada.

From Vermont Daily Briefing

Shumlin: Well, here’s my position on Vermont Yankee, it’s so simple. I was raised in the county where they built the only nuclear power plant in Vermont. When we accepted that plant, against our better judgment, it was on one simple premise: that it would be closed down in 2012, and that the Federal Government was going to take away the waste.

Today the deal is that we send more juice through an aging plant, number one. Number two, that we run it for 20 or 30 years longer than it was designed to be run. And number three, that the high-level nuclear waste is stored on the banks of the Connecticut River, for which there could not be a worse location, geologically speaking, because of lots of issues.

And with climate change, and rising water levels, it’s going to be even less appropriate.
So my position is simple: if you can get every single ounce of waste off the banks of the Connecticut River, and take it somewhere else, and get a truly independent assessment of that plant to see whether it’s viable to run for another five years, I would favor it. Short of that, you must close it down. And there is no middle ground for me.

Now, people say, “Well, taking the waste away isn’t possible, because Harry Reid won’t take it in Nevada.” I don’t blame Harry Reid. But what they don’t understand is that sitting in this office right now [Waves hand to indicate Pro Tem Office] is someone who feels as strongly about not having the waste on the banks of the Connecticut River as Harry Reid feels about not having it sited out at Yucca Mountain. Period.

Just one more thing about Yankee: there’s one other compromise that I would go for, in terms of the waste. And it’s very simple, and I told IBM this yesterday.

The Speaker and I went up to talk to them, because it’s the state’s largest employer, and we want to keep it strong and healthy. And they said basically, “You know, we’ve gotta have that juice [from VY],” and I said, “You know, we’ve got to get the waste off the banks of the Connecticut River,” and they said, “Well, that might be impossible.”

And so I said, “Well, I’ll give you a second position. If we can’t hook the trucks up and haul it down to some other state, I would be willing to go along with a proposal where we would move that high-level nuclear waste for storage in different regions of Vermont, starting with the most populous county and moving to the least populous. That’s the other position I would accept.”
VDB: [Laughing] You mean, as a way of increasing the pressure -

Shumlin: No. I mean, if we’re going to have it, if the Federal Government’s not going to take it, it’s now Vermont’s waste, then Vermont should share it. It shouldn’t be the burden of just one county, anymore than siting wind turbines should be the burden of just the Northeast Kingdom.
VDB: I’m just talking about politically. Do you think that sort of proposal would bring to critical mass -

Shumlin: [Face still straight] Well, I’d sure like to see Chittenden County site a high-level nuclear waste storage facility. They’re having trouble right now siting a land-fill, for their own garbage, and it has no nuclear waste in it whatsoever.

The current schedule of the walk is as follows:

Get out and hear the stories and concerns of the walkers! Strategize with others from your community!

* March 24, Greenfield, MA - 9 am walk, GCC parking lot, through Greenfield, 12:30 pm lunch at East Building Rm 111, 1:30 pm Raging Grannies, 2-4 pm panel discussion. Hattie Nestel 978-790-3074

* March 25, Brattleboro, VT - 9 am walk, Rt 5/10, Guilford Country Store, Guilford, VT. 12 pm lunch at SIT, 1 pm walk to Entergy HQ, then downtown Brattleboro. 5:30 pm potluck dinner at Quaker Meeting House, Putney, VT, on Rt 5. 6:30 pm presentation and discussion. Hattie Nestel 978-790-3074

* March 26, Bennington - 9 am walk, Rt 7/2, Williamstown, MA, 12 pm potluck lunch at UU meeting house,108 School St, Bennington. 1-4 pm walk, 6 pm potluck dinner at UU meeting house and 7 pm presentation and discussion

* March 27, Rutland - 9 am walk, UU Church, 12 pm potluck lunch, 1-4 pm walk, 5:30 pm potluck dinner at UU Church and 6:30pm presentation and discussion. Julia Bonafine 802-492-3455

* March 28, Middlebury, VT - 28th Anniv of Three Mile Island - 10-4 pm public fast, village green. 5pm potluck dinner, 6:30 pm presentation and discussion, location tba.

* March 29, Montpelier - 10-4 pm public fast, Statehouse lawn. 6 pm potluck dinner at Christ Church, 7 pm presentation and discussion. Mary Belenky 802-426-3810

* March 30, Johnson State college - 9 am walk, JSC library, through campus and town, 12 pm lunch, 1 pm presentation and discussion. Russ Weiss 802-635-1338

* March 31, Burlington - 9 am walk, Peace and Justice Center, potluck lunch, 1-4 pm walk, 6 pm Potluck Supper, 7 pm Harvey Wasserman and Deb Katz presentation and discussion, Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts, 2nd Floor, Church Street, Burlington, VT

* April 1, Burlington - 9 am walk, Peace and Justice Center with waterfront ceremony. 12:30pm Harvey Wasserman at Unitarian Church of Burlington.

Article From The Vermont Guardian

On Saturday the Citizens Awareness Network (CAN) of Shelburne Falls, MA, and the Buddhist order of Nipponzan Myohoji began their trek in Greenfield, MA and walked to the Vermont towns of Guilford, Brattleboro, and Putney where they held potlucks and informational discussions with Vermonters about the state’s lone nuclear power plant.

“This is the second time we’ve held the “Walk for a Nuclear Free Future,” said Hattie Nestel of Athol, MA. Nestel worries about Vermont Yankee’s bid to extend its operating license beyond 2012, and wants Vermonters to understand why Vermont shouldn’t extend it.

“Nuclear power plants have been given uprates all over the country to put out more electricity which creates more fuel for bombs, plutonium, and tritium,” said Nestel, noting that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has yet to say no to an uprate or relicensure request.

“I think the reason that they are [being approved] is because the public is not really aware of how dangerous they are,” said Nestel.

The NRC is now reviewing Vermont Yankee’s application of re-licensure and their request to operate an additional 20 years. Currently the NRC is evaluating whether or not Vermont Yankee components can withstand operation until 2032, and if the plant has any adverse effects on the surrounding environment. However, the NRC is not taking into consideration whether or not the plant is vulnerable to terrorist attacks and nuclear waste storage that some CAN members take issue with that omission.

The Massachusetts Attorney General is taking the NRC to federal court over the issue of waste storage and vulnerability. An attempt by the attorney general to have these issues reviewed during the relicensure process was denied by the NRC and its advisory panel, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.

The attorney general is also, along with nine other attorneys general, asking the NRC to reconsider how it examines the safety of spent fuel pools and long-term onsite waste storage at all nuclear power plants.

The issue of long-term, on site storage of nuclear waste is one that concerns many people who live near the Vernon reactor, whether they are in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or Vermont.

And, activists believe people outside the immediate emergency planning area should also be concerned.

“I think that central and northern Vermonters really need to take into account the high-level radioactive waste and right at this point, Yucca Mountain is not open and it’s never going to open and it’s very unlikely we’re going to have a federal repository for the high-level nuclear waste and even if we did, it would take us 20 years to move it all,” said Claire Chang of Gill, MA. “So it’s not a situation where Vermont can just close it’s eyes and hope and wish and pray that’s it’s just not there and we’re not going to pay any attention to the pink elephant in the middle of the living room.”

Senate Pres. Pro Tempore Peter Shumlin, D-Windam, told the Montpelier-Barre Times Argus earlier this month that legislators were “astounded” to learn in February that the NRC is not considering storage of high-level radioactive waste with respect to Vermont Yankee’s re-licensure efforts.

He has since urged for an independent safety assessment and removal of the high-level radioactive waste from Vermont Yankee’s Vernon site.

“Why should Windham County be the designated dump for the entire state of Vermont? Morally, how can the rest of Vermont say, ‘Oh well, we’re just going to write off Windham County,’” said Chang.

She noted the irony that Chittenden County, the most populous of all Vermont counties and a major user of electricity, has been unable to site a garbage dump, yet seems to be OK with allowing a nuclear waste site to be OK’d along the Connecticut River.

On Sunday, more than a dozen participants walked from Guilford to Brattleboro with stops along away at the School for International Training where they met with students during lunch and proceeded to Vermont Yankee headquarters where they conducted Buddhist prayers.

Today they travel by foot to Bennington where they have an afternoon potluck with concerned citizens planned and will distribute literature in town to raise awareness.

“We want to alert the citizenry and they have the power, the right, and the responsibility to talk to their legislators about Vermont Yankee, the high-level radioactive waste and what they want done with it and also about their feelings about renewables. We really need to put in wind, and solar and it’s not negotiable. It’s not something we can wait to do in 10 years; we need to do it now,” said Chang. “So, part of it is that every person that sees us will hopefully have more motivation to go and talk to their legislator and to impress upon the Legislature that we’re serious, and they must stand up to the utilities and the monied interests and say that Vermont is going to lead the nation in renewable energy production,” said Chang.

Lawmakers have also been lobbied by pro-nuclear groups, including Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, who now tours the country talking about how nuclear power should be considered a fuel source that does not emit greenhouse gas emissions and better for the planet than many current fuel sources.

By law, the Legislature must vote on whether Vermont Yankee should have its license extended, but there is disagreement about whether its vote would have any impact on the NRC licensing process.