woot! Vt. judge denies bid to keep nuke plant open ( I love Judge Murtha)

[cali]

Vermont rocks!

(AP) – 37 minutes ago

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A federal judge in Vermont has ruled that Vermont's only nuclear plant should not stay open while a lawsuit about its long-term future plays out.

Vermont is moving to shut down Vermont Yankee. Both the governor and the state Senate are on record as wanting it to close when its initial 40-year license expires in March.

The plant's owner, New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., got a 20-year license extension from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It argues in a lawsuit that the federal action pre-empts the state's.

Last month, Entergy went to court asking for a preliminary order allowing it to stay open while the underlying lawsuit works its way through the courts — possibly all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday, Judge J. Garvan Murtha denied that request.

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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iNmfy0Xc640R6VFn4Nuby7_bDCrQ?docId=4e046522126749ec987e614db98d1c26

[metalbot]

1. Score a point for coal, I guess

Not sure that's a good thing though...

[cali]

2. uh no score a point for shutting down a plant that has outlived its safe operating span

VT Yankee has been plagued by any number of accidents and the lying by Entergy officials hasn't exactly burnished the plant's reputation.

Oh, and there aren't any coal burning plants in Vermont and there won't be.

[Vinca]

3. Trust me. It's a good thing. I live 10 miles from the place and it's scary.

A few years ago a cooling tower fell down out of the blue . . . right after an NRC inspection. The place has been leaking tritium into the soil and they haven't found the source. Heaven only knows what it's doing to the Connecticut River. It's an old plant and it needs to shut down on schedule.

[Warpy]

5. I hadn't heard about the cooling tower, score one for corporate media

I do know that fatigue affects everything in nuke plants including reinforced concrete. Inspections won't do it after 40 years. Much of that plant needs to be rebuilt and who knows what they can do with the old, contaminated material.

Instead of trying to push its useful life beyond all reason and risking contaminating that whole area (think Fukushima only worse), they only have two realistic options: shut it down and secure it against vandals, thieves and the curious or rebuild it completely.

[al bupp]

4. The plant's a GE Mark I, the same as what's melting down in Fukashima

These things were obsolete when VY was being built (the Mark II having already been designed). This dinosaur has to go. In the short term, the replacement electricity will largely be replaced by Quebec Hydro. Despite the downsides of that energy source, I'd say this will be a good thing.