nuclear-news

No more leaks, lies, lawyers – Vermont anti nuclear protest

Hundreds march against Yankee nuclear plant
Rutland Herald, By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | March 31,2013 Brattleboro More than 500 people marched along Main Street in Brattleboro on Saturday, carrying banners and pledging to end what they claimed was a year of illegal operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant by Entergy Nuclear.
The exuberant gathering, bolstered by Vermont’s famous Bread and Puppet Theater, chanted “shut it down, Vermont Yankee, shut it down, now” along the length of Main Street.
Several people from the street joined the parade, which occurred in the late afternoon on a sunny early-spring day.
“We’re here to mark one year of Entergy operating illegally,” said organizer Chad Simmons of the SAGE Alliance. “We’re not going to let them operate any longer.”…. Anti-nuclear groups have been stymied in the past year, as Entergy continued to operate, even without the state’s required certificate of public good. Hearings before the Public Service Board are currently pending.

“No more leaks, lies and lawyers,” more than one poster stated.

PSB has taken pains legally to point out Entergy is operating without the state permit, but it has allowed the company to keep operating the 640-megawatt reactor, which currently sells its output on the open market rather than directly to Vermont utilities….. Sen. Jeannette White, D-Windham, who introduced Act 160, the Vermont law that gave the Legislature power over the future operation of Yankee and which was set aside by a federal judge last year as unconstitutional, addressed the gathering.

White said former Gov. James Douglas supported Act 160 and so did Entergy at the time it was passed and signed into law by Douglas.

No one thought at that time that Vermont legislators would vote against Yankee’s continued operation, White said, “except for you.”

Opponents of Yankee argue that the 41-year-old plant, one of the smallest reactors in the country, is old and full of problems. Yankee is currently shut down for refueling, and in the past two weeks several problems had occurred during maintenance work at the Vernon reactor.

The rally and parade, titled “Leaks, Lies and Lawyers,” was sponsored by the SAGE Alliance, a group of anti-nuclear groups from Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts….. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20130331/NEWS02/703319885/1003

April 3, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general