Vermont plant OK belies Obama nuclear review

[cali]

Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt. is pictured. | AP Photo
The Vt. plant, which has the same design as the stricken Japanese plant, has been relicensed. | AP Photo Close
By DARIUS DIXON | 3/25/11 10:06 AM EDT

Anti-nuclear activists around the country have seized on the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan to argue that the death knell of the nuclear industry is finally at hand. But economics may be the more dangerous foe, if the case in Vermont is a guide.

Monday, the same day the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it would conduct a 90-day "snapshot" regulatory review of the U.S. nuclear reactor fleet, the agency finalized the relicensing of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant — which has the same design as the stricken Japanese plant — for another 20 years.

Vermont Yankee is actually scheduled to close next year anyway, but the NRC's action leads to questions about the comprehensive nuclear review President Barack Obama called for.

"It is stunning that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would rubber stamp the use of this aging reactor for another two decades, and it's outrageous that it would do so just days after announcing a 90-day review in response to the crisis in Japan," said Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51935.html#ixzz1HeVzC3S7

[jberryhill]

1. Yes, it will be included in the 90 day review

I don't understand the criticism here.

The re-licensing application was supposed to be suspended, regardless of how long it has been in the pipeline? Is that it?

The review which has been ordered, at least as I understand it, doesn't require anything to be unplugged or taken offline. Was there some sort of moratorium order that I missed?

[druidity33]

3. Re-licensing is a sham...

the NRC has NEVER said no! The people of Vermont voted to close the plant when it's license expired. If you don't know the history of Vermont Yankee and its problems, please read up on it!

:)

[jberryhill]

5. I'm quite familiar with Vermont Yankee

...and once met the fellow who took down the meteorological tower during pre-construction studies of the Seabrook site in New Hampshire.

And, yes, relicensing is a sham.

Those facts have nothing to do with the charge leveled in the OP that somehow everything in motion was supposed to come to a standstill because an overall review was ordered.

How about you google my last name and nuclear power, and learn a bit of my personal history before you accuse me of ignorance. K?

Because... Later this weekend, I will be posting some interesting information for you.

[druidity33]

6. How about...

you read something carefully before you go off half-cocked. I don't think i accused you of ignorance at all! Here's what I said:

"If you don't know the history of Vermont Yankee and its problems, please read up on it!"


Note the 'If you don't know' part... i bolded it for you, just in case you didn't get it. I even said please and added a smilie!

Oh and BTW, i don't personally believe it's a stretch to think decisions made on re-licensing should wait until after the review is finished. I actually would have assumed that to be the case. 90 days isn't really that long to wait and Vermont Yankee has been trying to get its extension for over 2 years now... oh and one of my neighbors down the road worked at the plant as it was built. He spent 3 years there as a maintenance engineer and plumber... he's a farmer now, but he's got tons of stories about the substandard building practices employed at the plant.

:shrug:

[jberryhill]

7. Here, you want something interesting

I shot the pictures in this post myself:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x743123

That doesn't change the fact that the OP conflates two things which do not have any connection with each other - the re-licensing, and the newly ordered review - in order to make a political point.

Hang on for the comment period when that review report is completed. But if the re-licensing was halted when no such moratorium was in effect, would simply be asking for a lawsuit.

[Prohaira]

2. Fascists/Dominionists seem to believe anything is safe if it only kills someone else.

[Shagbark Hickory]

4. Wait. That's not supposed to happen in vermont.