nuclear-news

Public Service Board may find Vermont nuclear plant “not in the public good”

the ruling affirmed that the Public Service Board has a say in the future of the plant, based on whether the plant’s operation is in the public’s interest.

 the court’s decision clearly leaves the Public Service Board with authority over the plant.

“There’s a valid basis for the Public Service Board to find it’s not in the public good to operate the plant,” 

Vermont Yankee focus shifts to Public Service Board after appeal court ruling, Burlington Free Press, 14 Aug 13  Appeals court: Legislature overstepped authority regarding Vermont Yankee All eyes are on a state Public Service Board decision expected later this year after a federal appeals court rejected the Legislature’s efforts to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

Although the state tried to argue otherwise, the court ruled Wednesday that legislators were overwhelmingly concerned with nuclear safety as they sought to close the Vernon plant when its license expired in 2012. States have no authority over nuclear safety, which is regulated by the federal government.

“We conclude that Vermont lawmakers have undertaken a sustained effort to shut down Vermont Yankee based on this impermissible reason,” a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stated in its decision. “We have considered the legislative history … and found that it contains innumerable expressions of concern for radiological safety from Vermont legislators and regulators.”

The 53-page ruling, which affirmed a 2012 decision from Judge J. Garvan Murtha at U.S. District Court in Brattleboro, dealt another blow to the state’s effort to have a say in the fate of Vermont Yankee…….

Attorney General Bill Sorrell, whose office argued the case with the help of Washington attorney David Frederick, said the state offered significant evidence that legislators were worried about the economic and environmental impact of the plant, not just radiological safety.

“They declined or just did not look at all the legislative history we cited,” Sorrell said. He called the decision “quite insulting” to the Vermont Legislature.

Gov. Peter Shumlin, a leading critic of the plant who headed the Senate when it voted in 2010 not to allow the plant to keep operating, said in a statement Wednesday he still believes Vermont Yankee should be closed. “I remain steadfast in my belief that Entergy’s continued operation of this facility is not in the best interest of Vermont,” Shumlin said.

Saving millions

The court did agree with the state that its actions did not violate Entergy’s constitutional rights by running afoul of the interstate commerce clause. That means the state will not have to pay Entergy’s legal fees, which it would have had to do if it had not appealed Murtha’s decision……..

The focus shifts

While Vermont Yankee and its supporters cheered Wednesday’s court ruling, critics of the plant said they are focused on the Public Service Board, which has been hearing evidence about whether the plant should be granted a new certificate of public good. The board is expected to issue a decision by year’s end.

“There’s nothing here to say the Public Service Board can’t make a decision,” Hanna said, as long as the decision is based on something other than nuclear safety.

Hanna said despite the court’s decision that the Legislature was overstepping its authority, the ruling affirmed that the Public Service Board has a say in the future of the plant, based on whether the plant’s operation is in the public’s interest.

Shumlin indicated his hopes lay with the Public Service Board.

“While I disagree with the result the Second Circuit reached in pre-empting Vermont’s Legislature, the process does not end today,” Shumlin said. “Importantly, the Vermont Public Service Board’s role in reviewing Entergy’s request for a state certificate of public good is preserved and will continue.”

Rep. Tony Klein, D-East Montpelier, who led the Legislature’s effort to have a say in Vermont Yankee’s future, said that though lawmakers had concerns about nuclear safety, they wrote the legislation based on other issues, including the economic impact of dismantling the plant. He said, however, that the court’s decision clearly leaves the Public Service Board with authority over the plant.

“That’s not a terribly bad thing,” he said, noting that the plant’s value to the state is decreasing, given expensive upgrades Vermont Yankee will need, a recent announcement that the plant is cutting 30 jobs, and that it no longer sells power to Vermont utilities……..

Jared Margolis, an attorney for the anti-nuclear group New England Coalition, said he is focused on the board, whose role is to weigh the benefits of the plant’s operations against the detriments. Arguments against the plant focus not on nuclear safety but on such issues as the effect on Connecticut River, the long-term economic impact of decommissioning the plant and whether Entergy can be trusted, he said.

“There’s a valid basis for the Public Service Board to find it’s not in the public good to operate the plant,” Margolis said……. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130814/NEWS03/308140006/Vermont-Yankee-focus-shifts-to-Public-Service-Board-after-appeal-court-ruling

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August 15, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA