The NRC & You How Can Citizens Hold Entergy Accountable for Cleaning Up VT Yankee? (Montpelier, VT, Feb. 11)
This just in from our friends and colleagues in Vermont:
WHEN: Wednesday, February 11th 6:00-8 PM
WHAT: Forum with Panel discussion and Q&A to address Entergy’s cleanup of Vermont Yankee. A two-person panel will talk about fuel transfer, clean-up, long-term waste storage and what role citizens can play in the process.
WHERE: Bethany Church, 115 Main Street, Montpelier, VT
WHO: Arnie Gunderson, Fairewinds Energy Education
Chris Williams, Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance and Citizens Awareness Network
For more information contact:
Debra Stoleroff, Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance, 802-476-3154
Chris Williams, Citizens Awareness Network, 802-767-9131
BACKGROUND:
With the closure of Vermont Yankee, questions remain concerning safety and the responsible cleanup of the highly contaminated site. How Entergy will address VY’s closure, emergency planning, loss of institutional memory with the firing of 1/3 of the skilled workforce as well as dry cask storage and fuel transfer? How will cleanup affect the local community as well as the state and even the region? Decommissioning issues are more significant than ever. With NRC holding a public meeting to discuss the Post Shut Down Report that Entergy submitted to the agency on February 19 in Brattleboro, the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance and Citizens Awareness Network are sponsoring a forum to provide citizens with relevant information concerning cleanup.
Vermont Yankee's power has already been replaced. But questions remain. 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 forum will discuss the issues surrounding the decommissioning, clean up and accountability of Vermont Yankee. Citizens Awareness Network 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 Debra Stoleroff. “The NRC public hearing on Entergy’s decommissioning plan on February 19 is a rare opportunity for citizens to make their voices heard.”
A panel discussion will be followed by an open Q&A discussion. Refreshments will be served.
February 11, 2015