Massachusetts To Join VT In Yankee Lawsuit

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(Host) The state of Massachusetts will join Vermont in defending the state's right to stop the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant from operating after next year.

WFCR's Fred Bever reports.

(Bever) Uniquely in the nation, the Vermont Legislature has claimed authority over whether a nuclear power plant can operate within its borders. And so far, the state has not given Vermont Yankee permission to continue operations past next March.

The parent company of Vermont Yankee, the Entergy Corporation, is suing Vermont in federal court, claiming that the state has overstepped its bounds. Entergy says federal law pre-empts the state law. And the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has already granted the plant a license to continue operations until 2032.

The Yankee plant sits close to the Massachusetts border, in Vernon, on the Connecticut River. This week Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a petition in U.S. District Court in Brattleboro, seeking permission to file an Amicus Curiae, or "Friend of the Court" brief, in Vermont's defense. Today, the court accepted that petition, and Coakley plans to file a full brief by June 13th.

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