nuclear-news

Vermont Yankee nuclear plant joins the trend for nuclear plants closing

In Victory for Activists, Entergy to Close Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant; Will More Follow? Democracy Now, 28 Aug 13 One of the country’s oldest and most controversial nuclear plants has announced it will close late next year. Citing financial reasons, the nuclear plant operator Entergy said Tuesday it will decommission the Vermont Yankee nuclear power station in Vernon, Vermont.

The site has been the target of protests for decades and has had a series of radioactive tritium leaks. In 2010, the Vermont State Senate voted against a measure that would have authorized a state board to grant Vermont Yankee a permit to operate for an additional 20 years. Its closure leaves the United States with 99 operating nuclear reactors, and our guest, former nuclear executive Arnie Gundersen, says he expects more to follow in the aftermath of Japan’s ongoing nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

 Entergy to Close Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant; Will More Follow?

“These small single-unit nuclear plants — especially the ones that are like Fukushima Daiichi — are prone to more closures in the future because it just makes no economic sense to run an aging nuclear plant that’s almost 43 years old, and to invest hundreds of millions of dollars more to meet the modifications related to Fukushima,” Gundersen says.     TRANSCRIPT…… HTTP://WWW.DEMOCRACYNOW.ORG/2013/8/28/IN_VICTORY_FOR_ACTIVISTS_ENTERGY_TO

August 29, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Resources -audiovicual