WHEN: Tuesday, January 17th at 6:00 pm
WHAT: Forum with Panel discussion and Q&A to address what will happen when Vermont Yankee (VY) shutters in 2012. A three-person panel will talk about the federal court case of Entergy vs State of Vermont, VY transition, clean-up, long-term waste storage and the role citizens can play in the process.
WHERE: Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, VT
WHO: Deb Katz, Executive Director of the Citizens Awareness Network; Chris Williams, Organizer for Vermont Citizens Action Network Robert Stannard, Citizen Lobbyist for the Vermont Citizens Action Network Denis Rydjeski, Sierra Club
The overwhelming vote in the Senate to reject VY as part of Vermont's energy future and the legislature's refusal to return to the issue in 2011 was a great victory, but the debate continues with Entergy suing the state and continuing it campaign to wear the legislature down to get a deal to continue operation. So citizens must remain engaged and demand continued legislative action to support a successful transition to sustainable energy and stricter decommissioning and operational standards going forward. How Entergy will address the issues of transition, closure, decommissioning is more significant than ever. Recently questions have been raised about how the local community will be affected as well as the state and even the region.
Vermont Yankee's power has already been replaced. But questions remain. Can we survive without Vermont Yankee? Can citizens play a role as Vermont Yankee is properly dismantled, cleaned-up and radioactive waste safely stored? With the slow motion Fukushima disaster highlighting the vulnerabilities of Mark 1 reactors, how will the state deal with the increased vulnerability of this aged reactor?
The Citizens Awareness Network and the Sierra Club are sponsoring a forum to discuss the issues surrounding the decommissioning clean up and accountability of Vermont Yankee. CAN has been intimately involved with closure and decommissioning of reactors in New England. “Nowhere is the colossal failure of nuclear power more evident than in decommissioning with its extensive contamination, ballooning costs, limited oversight, and lack of solutions for its contaminated wastes,” said Deb Katz executive director of the CAN “Added to this is the inability to trust a systemically mismanaged corporation.”
The choice to hold the forums was based on a lack of relevant information on what decommissioning entails, what choices Entergy is making and what has been the industry standard on decommissioning until now. “The decommissioning of the Entergy Vermont Nuclear Power Plant will be one of the most significant undertakings in Vermont’s history,” said Bob Stannard lobbyist for Vermont Citizens Action Network. “ We will have one, and only one, opportunity to get it right. Through this forum we hope to be able to chart the course of providing citizen participation designed to protect Vermonter’s interest as opposed to the interests of Entergy’s stockholders.”
Denis Rydjeski and Betsy Eldredge
Sierra Club of the Upper Valley
520 Parker Hill Road Springfield, VT 05156
e-mail: DRR@Dartmouth.edu
Phone (802) 885-4826