Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on the Connecticut river, Vermont. Photograph: Michael Springer/Getty Images
The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant on the Connecticut river, Vermont. Photograph: Michael Springer/Getty Images

Obama's nuclear vision suffers setback as Vermont plant faces shutdown

This article is more than 14 years old
Vermont would be the first state to close a nuclear reactor after 38-year-old Yankee's history of leaking cancer-causing tritium

Barack Obama's new dream of a nuclear renaissance faces a major reality check tomorrow when the state of Vermont is expected to shut down an ageing nuclear reactor with a history of leaks.

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 yesterday.

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 tomorrow 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.

In a statement to the Associated Press, the company said it was committed to safe operations. "Our focus has always been safely, securely and reliably operating our power plants. We take any concerns about the safe operation of our facilities very seriously and therefore finding the source of tritium in Vermont and correcting it is a top priority for our company," Entergy spokesman Mike Burns said in an email.

Arnie Gundersen, a former industry engineer turned nuclear watchdog, said such leaks were indicators that the Vermont Yankee was nearing the end of its life span. "It seems like the plants that came on line before the Three Mile Island accident in the 1970s are predominantly the ones that are spring the leaks," he said. "In the case of the Vermont Yankee the problems of an ageing reactor were compounded by the pressures of trying to generate a 20% increase in power. Nobody else has ever tried for a power increase of 20%."

Vermont has a reputation for environmental awareness – and for independence. The state has sent a socialist to the US Senate. However, the plant is a major source of employment, with jobs for about 600.

But recent revelations about the leaks have consolidated public opinion in the state against the reactor. Last week, two conservation groups called for a criminal investigation into nuclear plant officials for misleading state officials when they testified under oath that the plant did not have the kind of underground pipes that carry tritium.

On Sunday, the Burlington Free Press, the largest paper in the state, said it was time for the plant to go.

"Events such as a radioactive leak unresolved more than six weeks after it was first revealed to the public and misinformation provided by Entergy officials under oath raise serious questions about whether Vermont Yankee serves Vermont's long-term interests," the editorial said.

Elsewhere, activists are hoping that the showdown over the Vermont Yankee will help mobilise protests against other reactors when their licences come up for review. Unlike in Vermont, however, most states require only that the federal government's nuclear regulatory commission sign off on extending the life of reactors.

But James Moore of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group said he detected signs of a backlash against both the ageing reactors and Obama's plans for the birth of a third generation of nuclear plants. "A lot of folks on the left and right are waking up to the reality that it is a bad idea to give hard earned tax dollars to a new generation of reactors when we can't manage the old reactors," he said.

Comments (…)

Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion

Most viewed

Most viewed