Entergy is appealing a federal court ruling preventing state shutdown of its Vernon-based Vermont Yankee after the Vermont Public Service Board said in a memo that the state can still deny a license based on the amount of spent nuclear fuel stored. The Vernon-based nuclear plant has been fighting to stay open after state lawmakers opted to let their license expire. Last month, they appeared to have succeeded in securing that extension last month when U.S. District Judge J. Garvin Murtha ruled that federal law in this case pre-empts state law when it comes to matters of nuclear power regulations and safety concerns. Then, last week, Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell appealed the decision, putting the future of the plant back into question.
Entergy is now looking to get the original decision amended, which did not previously include the stored nuclear fuel factor, to again prevent possible state shutdown. Currently, Vermont Yankee supplies about a third of the state’s power. State officials have been working to find new energy contracts to replace this potential loss through HydroQuebec, imported energy, and development of renewables.One of the concerns lawmakers and citizens have with VY is its lack of funding necessary for potential decommission. Rep. Betty Nuovo, D-Middlebury, a member of the House Natural Resources and Energy Commission, placed the decommissioning fund’s balance somewhere between $435 million and $485 million – approximately half of the $900 millions believed necessary to close the plant. The case is Entergy v. Shumlin, 11-00099, U.S. District Court, District of Vermont (Brattleboro).
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