Continuation of Vermont Yankee Nuclear facility is far from certain

In fact, Vermont has the authority to make the standards even stricter if it so desires, which could prove to be a serious monkey wrench in Entergy’s plan to continue operation of Yankee.

The fat lady, Brattleboro Reformer, January 21, 2012 http://www.reformer.com/ci_19788006?source=most_viewed Though Federal District Court Judge J. Garvan Murtha came down emphatically on the side of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, we don’t expect to be hearing the song of the fat lady any time too soon.

Murtha threw out Act 160, in which the Vermont Legislature gave itself the authority to forbid the Public Service Board from issuing a certificate of public good, which Yankee needs to continue operation past March 21.

By removing the Legislature from the equation, he remanded the case back to the PSB, which now will have the opportunity to reinitiate its deliberations over whether the CPG should be issued.
In another setback to the state, Judge Murtha also ruled that the reliability audit required by the Legislature to inform its decision on whether to allow the PSB to issue a CPG, was actually a radiological safety report. Therefore, the PSB can’t consider the audit in its review.

So while the PSB can’t base its decision on radiological health and safety, it has the authority to deny the CPG based on economics, land use and trustworthiness of the plant’s owner.
“This Court’s decision … does (not) purport to define or restrict
the State’s ability to decline to renew a certificate of public good
on any ground not preempted or not violative of federal law, to
dictate how a state should choose to allocate its power among the
branches of its government, or pass judgment on its choices,” wrote
Murtha. “The Court has avoided addressing questions of state law and
the scope of a state’s regulatory authority that are unnecessary to
the resolution of the federal claims presented here.”
While the PSB now has the go-ahead to consider all the evidence before
it, there are a couple of other issues that could stand in the way of
Yankee’s continued operation.
The state is still evaluating whether the plant should receive a new
permit that would allow it to discharge heated water into the
Connecticut River.
The Agency of Natural Resources was awaiting guidance from the
Environmental Protection Agency to inform states such as Vermont,
which have been delegated the authority to enforce federal water
protection rules, in their decision-making process.
In fact, Vermont has the authority to make the standards even stricter
if it so desires, which could prove to be a serious monkey wrench in
Entergy’s plan to continue operation of Yankee.
ANR has also been watching developments at another Entergy-owned plant
in New York — Indian Point — where the permit issued by the New York
Department of Environmental Conservation requires the installation of
cooling towers, which Indian Point doesn’t have. It operates under
what is called an open-cycle cooling system, drawing water from and
discharging it at up to 100 degrees back into the Hudson River.
Entergy has argued the New York DEC’s decision would force it to close
the plant, because the expense involved in building the cooling towers
outweighs the profits that would accrue over the next 20 years.
Yankee has cooling towers and, depending on the time of the year and
the ambient temperature of the river, can operate in closed- or
open-cycle cooling or a combination of the two.
Deb Markowitz, the secretary of ANR, said her agency is in the process
of evaluating whether Yankee should go to closed-cycle cooling, which
would forbid the plant from discharging heated water into the river.
Doing so might make Yankee too expensive to operate.
How much it costs every day to run the cooling towers is proprietary
information, but industry analysts have stated it costs up to $1
million a day to run them.
And then there is the case the state has filed against the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission in Washington, D.C……
And finally, we must await the state’s decision on whether it will
appeal Murtha’s ruling to the federal appeals court.
Pro-Yankee forces have the well-earned right to celebrate Murtha’s
decision, but like the running back who holds the ball in the air
before crossing the goal line, they should beware of someone running
along and knocking it out of their hands.
We would suggest they not gloat over Murtha’s decision right yet. Not
only is the fat lady not singing, it would be bad form.
After all, no one likes a sore winner.
http://www.reformer.com/ci_19788006?source=most_viewed