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USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves extending life of old nuclear reactor

The state argues that the plant is too old to be reliable, an area over which it has jurisdiction….The governor who took office in January, Peter Shumlin, has said repeatedly that the plant was designed to close at the end of 40 years and that it should be closed then.

Showdown on Vermont Nuclear Plant’s Fate, NYTimes.com, By MATTHEW L. WALD : March 10, 2011 WASHINGTON — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday rejected all challenges to extending the operating license of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, setting up a confrontation between the reactor’s owner and the Vermont Legislature, which has blocked a state certificate needed to keep the plant running. The commission voted 4 to 0, with one recusal, to allow its staff to issue the renewal.

The state argues that the plant is too old to be reliable, an area over which it has jurisdiction.

In Vermont, environmentalism runs strong, and the plant has long been viewed with suspicion. A series of problems, including the collapse of a wooden cooling tower in 2007, leaks of tritium from underground pipes and denials by utility executives that there were such pipes, made the plant widely unpopular outside its immediate neighborhood.

Safety regulation rests with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but Entergy had signed a deal with Vermont in 2002 requiring the plant to get a “certificate of public good” from the state if the plant was going to operate beyond its initial 40-year license. All power plants in Vermont must have such a certificate.

State lawmakers then passed a measure forbidding the state’s Public Service Board from issuing such a certificate without the approval of the House and Senate. Last year, the Senate voted 26 to 4 against issuing such a certificate. The House did not vote.

The governor who took office in January, Peter Shumlin, has said repeatedly that the plant was designed to close at the end of 40 years and that it should be closed then. In January, the company put the reactor up for sale, thinking that a new owner might win the state’s trust and the needed certificate. It has made no public comment about progress in finding a buyer.

Vermont Nuclear Plant Gets Federal Approval to Keep Running – NYTimes.com

March 18, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA