A follow up to my recent post about the Yankee nuclear power plant in Vermont.
Despite all the company's claims to safety, the plant has been having a series of serious problems (most of which the company lied about) and the State Senate is looking to close it down. Of course, the cost of closing down these aging plants are never calculated at the start of a project and the costs of safely dealing with the leftover radioactive site and materials is never funded at the beginning of such a project. Cases such as the Yankee plant need to be brought up every time nuclear power plants are proposed.
Here is some of the article:
Obama's Nuclear Vision Suffers Setback as Vermont Plant Faces Shutdown
Vermont would be the first state to close a nuclear reactor after 38-year-old Yankee's history of leaking cancer-causing tritium
by Suzanne Goldenberg
Barack Obama's new dream of a nuclear renaissance faces a major reality check today as the state of Vermont is expected to shut down an ageing nuclear reactor with a history of leaks.
The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on the Connecticut river, Vermont. (Photograph: Michael Springer/Getty Images)It would be the first time a state has moved to shut down such a reactor, and follows Obama's announcement last week of $8.3bn (£5.4bn) in loan guarantees for the construction of two new reactors in Georgia. White House officials said the money would help spur a burst of new construction - the first since the Three Mile Island meltdown.
The Vermont Yankee, one of America's oldest reactors, has had several leaks of radioactive tritium dating back to 2005, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday.
The state senate is set to deny a request to extend its 40-year life span by an additional 20 years condemning the plant to close in 2012, said Peter Shumlin, the highest ranking member of the Vermont senate.
"It is not in Vermont's best interest to run this plant beyond its scheduled closing date in 2012. It is falling apart," said Shumlin. The 30-member senate, which is controlled by Democrats, is due to vote Wednesday morning.
The battle over the so-called Vermont Yankee reactor has attracted an increasingly national audience amid growing disaffection among liberals and environmentalists with Obama's support for the nuclear industry.
Shumlin and other opponents of the plant argue that America has yet to plan for the safe retirement of its existing 104 reactors, which are beginning to approach the end of their original life spans. Some 27 of those reactors have had leaks of tritium, according to the nuclear regulatory commission.
"The debate here isn't whether or not we build new nuclear power plants. The question for America is how can we be so irresponsible and so negligent in expecting our old tired plants to run past their scheduled closing dates," Shumlin said.
The 38-year-old Vermont Yankee plant, which is owned by the New Orleans based Entergy Corp, is among the first of that older generation of reactors, and over the last few years has sustained a series of accidents and leaks.
A cooling tower collapsed in 2007 and again in 2008. In 2009, the plant had three separate leaks of radioactive tritium, which has been linked to cancer. An investigation later established that the plant's owners had lied about the extent of contamination to the local water supply, claiming the facility did not have underground pipes that could carry tritium when it did.
Vermont would be the first state to close a nuclear reactor after 38-year-old Yankee's history of leaking cancer-causing tritium
by Suzanne Goldenberg
Barack Obama's new dream of a nuclear renaissance faces a major reality check today as the state of Vermont is expected to shut down an ageing nuclear reactor with a history of leaks.
The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on the Connecticut river, Vermont. (Photograph: Michael Springer/Getty Images)It would be the first time a state has moved to shut down such a reactor, and follows Obama's announcement last week of $8.3bn (£5.4bn) in loan guarantees for the construction of two new reactors in Georgia. White House officials said the money would help spur a burst of new construction - the first since the Three Mile Island meltdown.
The Vermont Yankee, one of America's oldest reactors, has had several leaks of radioactive tritium dating back to 2005, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday.
The state senate is set to deny a request to extend its 40-year life span by an additional 20 years condemning the plant to close in 2012, said Peter Shumlin, the highest ranking member of the Vermont senate.
"It is not in Vermont's best interest to run this plant beyond its scheduled closing date in 2012. It is falling apart," said Shumlin. The 30-member senate, which is controlled by Democrats, is due to vote Wednesday morning.
The battle over the so-called Vermont Yankee reactor has attracted an increasingly national audience amid growing disaffection among liberals and environmentalists with Obama's support for the nuclear industry.
Shumlin and other opponents of the plant argue that America has yet to plan for the safe retirement of its existing 104 reactors, which are beginning to approach the end of their original life spans. Some 27 of those reactors have had leaks of tritium, according to the nuclear regulatory commission.
"The debate here isn't whether or not we build new nuclear power plants. The question for America is how can we be so irresponsible and so negligent in expecting our old tired plants to run past their scheduled closing dates," Shumlin said.
The 38-year-old Vermont Yankee plant, which is owned by the New Orleans based Entergy Corp, is among the first of that older generation of reactors, and over the last few years has sustained a series of accidents and leaks.
A cooling tower collapsed in 2007 and again in 2008. In 2009, the plant had three separate leaks of radioactive tritium, which has been linked to cancer. An investigation later established that the plant's owners had lied about the extent of contamination to the local water supply, claiming the facility did not have underground pipes that could carry tritium when it did.
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