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Today will mark the third and final day of testimony in a U.S. District Court case that may determine, not only whether the Vermont Yankee can continue to operate for another 20 years, but also whether state governments have the power to prevent a nuclear plant's relicensing.

Plant owner Entergy brought the suit against Vermont following state legislation that would prevent the reactor from operating after next March. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, though, granted the Vermont Yankee a 20-year license extension this spring, and Entergy executives have made the case that the state overstepped its authority.

So far, Entergy has used much of its testimony to argue that Vermont's Legislature and Public Service Board justified their decisions based on concerns about nuclear safety, which only the NRC has the power to regulate. Entergy CEO John Herron was the first witness, and he outlined safety systems at the plant and how the NRC oversees them. On Tuesday, Entergy Nuclear Operations vice president Jay Thayer also made the case that safety motivated the Legislature, rather than issues like economics that might give Vermont legal grounds for its decision.

Thayer also acknowledged statements he made in 2008 conceding that Vermont would have a say over whether the plant continued to operate. But Entergy lawyers argued any such agreements no longer applied because of laws enacted more recently that attempt to expand the state's power to regulate the plant.

Closing arguments are scheduled for today. The outcome of the case may lead to the decommissioning of the single, 510-megawatt boiling water reactor near Vernon, Vt., or allow the plant to make use of its extended license, which expires in 2032.