Dec252008
Report: Vermont Yankee nuke plant is OK
Filed under Energy by david brooks at 5:12 am
Consultants hired by Vermont have concluded that “Vermont Yankee is reliable enough to keep running after its license expires in 2012, provided its owners make some changes, including to the plant’s condensers and the cooling towers that collapsed in 2007,” reports the Burlington Free-Press in this story.
The 35-year-old nuclear plant on the Connecticut River, not far from Keene, has had problems in recent years and a number of folks (not just anti-nuke activists) want to close it. However, Vermont Yankee provides more than half about a third of that state’s electricity, so there is considerable support to the idea of keeping it going. This report is part of the process about deciding its future but it’s far from the end of the tussle, as the story makes clear.
(I know I’m repeating myself, but I can never resist a chuckle at the URL of the plant’s Website: “www.safecleanreliable.com”. Somebody was on the ball when they bought that one!)
December 25th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Entergy Nuclear's Vernon reactor provides about 30% of the electricity used in VT, not “more than half”. That's less than 2% of New England's electricity.
The two VT utilities have been selling some of the power they're contracted to take into the NE electric grid, rather than using it intsate.
The study shows that both physical and human components are nearing retirement age.
All the $$ Entergy spends on safecleanreliable advertising has failed to convince Vermonters that another 20 years of nuclear power is needed. Both WCAX and state surveys show we want to replace Entergy Nuclear with efficiency, conservation and renewables …And the energy price for these alternatives is only a few % higher than Entergy, with more jobs produced, and no more nuclear waste on the banks of the Connecticut River.
February 5th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Hitchiker says :
Vermont Yankee closes down for close to 35 days every 18 months for nuclear
re-fueling. During that time we get our electricity from other sources basically
Hydro-quebec. So we don't need the plant. That's Number one.
In 1976 3 nuclear engineers quit their jobs at General Electric Nuclear to voice
their concerns about design problems inherent in the Mark I BWR. That's the
kind of reactor we have down in Vernon! 2 of their predictions have already come
true : Problems with the Torus and problems with the Steam Dryer. Do we have
to wait for a meltdown when their predictions for Containment problems come
true? It's not safe. That's number two.
We are in the 21rst century right ? We have Star Wars defense capabilities and
we can send men to the moon. You mean to tell me we can't invent a power source THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE AN EVACUATION PLAN ?
How about something simple like Wind , Solar , Hydro and Geothermal ?
Or is that just too cheap to build for our spend-crazy society ?
And number three : CLOSE VERMONT YANKEE !