Owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant filed a federal lawsuit yesterday to avoid state lawmakers from shutting the plant down when its 40-year license expires next year. The Entergy Corp. lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Burlington, Vt., is estimated to force a legal showdown over whether state governments can claim a position in the oversight of nuclear power plants, which are regulated by the federal government. What the courts ultimately make a decision is likely to have significance for some of the nation’s 103 other operating reactors, particularly those in states that have similar concerns about their safety.
If the Supreme Court were to discard Entergy’s suit, other states could be empowered to pass legislation, as Vermont did in 2006, granting lawmakers the authority to agree or deny a plant’s license extension, according to legal scholars. “Despite the fact that Vermont Yankee is significant to the reliability of the New England electric transmission grid, emits virtually no greenhouse gases, and offers more than $100 million in annual economic benefits to the state of Vermont it has been completed clear that state officials are singularly focused on shutting down the plant,’’ said Richard Smith, president of Entergy Wholesale Commodities. “That has left us with no other choice but to seek release in the court system.’’
The move comes just weeks after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted Vermont Yankee approval to function through March 2032 and in the midst of controversy about its age and design. The plant has the same basic design as the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear capability in Japan that has had widespread radiation releases following a massive earthquake and tsunami there last month. The Entergy lawsuits argue in great part that federal, not state, law governs licensing and process of nuclear power plants, as well as radiological safety.
If the Supreme Court were to discard Entergy’s suit, other states could be empowered to pass legislation, as Vermont did in 2006, granting lawmakers the authority to agree or deny a plant’s license extension, according to legal scholars. “Despite the fact that Vermont Yankee is significant to the reliability of the New England electric transmission grid, emits virtually no greenhouse gases, and offers more than $100 million in annual economic benefits to the state of Vermont it has been completed clear that state officials are singularly focused on shutting down the plant,’’ said Richard Smith, president of Entergy Wholesale Commodities. “That has left us with no other choice but to seek release in the court system.’’
The move comes just weeks after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted Vermont Yankee approval to function through March 2032 and in the midst of controversy about its age and design. The plant has the same basic design as the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear capability in Japan that has had widespread radiation releases following a massive earthquake and tsunami there last month. The Entergy lawsuits argue in great part that federal, not state, law governs licensing and process of nuclear power plants, as well as radiological safety.
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