Vermont Yankee in the Spotlight

It is cast as central figure on CNN horror flick

Steel engraving for the frontispiece
to  Frankenstein. by Mary Shelley,
The novel first appeared in print in 1818.

The administration of Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin has several times declared the Vermont Yankee dead, but like the comical characters in the plot of the 1974 movie Young Frankenstein, the reactor keeps coming back to life. At least that’s how it must look to the governor and his "green energy" supporters.

This week Shumlin said the Vermont Attorney General will spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer money to appeal a U.S. District Court decision that threw out efforts by the Vermont Legislature to usurp the regulatory and safety oversight roles of the NRC. This development falls under the heading of “what is you don’t understand about ‘no’?”

And just when you thought it was safe to turn on the TV because the NFL season is finally over, CNN showed up this week with a documentary that made the reactor look like a hockey masked killer from a teen slasher movie.

Think that’s an exaggeration?  Then how else would you explain the fact that CNN Presents  went out of its way to compare the land-locked Vermont Yankee plant to the tsunami ravaged reactors in Japan?

“It's the same design that was used at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where three reactors melted down after the station was struck by the tsunami that followed Japan's historic earthquake in March 2011. The disaster resulted in the widespread release of radioactive contamination that forced more than 100,000 people from their homes.”

With the CNN program having our rapt attention, the question arises whether the nuclear industry can expect fair treatment from the mainstream news media? Usually the answer is a qualified yes. However, keeping in mind the horror flick analogies used here, there’s a serious bet on the table that the only thing that will affect CNN's fixation on monsters is to ship a few loaves of garlic bread to their producer in hopes of better results next time.

Here’s what some of the nation’s nuclear bloggers has to say about Vermont Yankee news generally and CNN in particular. 

Yes Vermont Yankee

• Vermont AG to appeal Federal court ruling – Blogger Meredith Angwin writes that yes, we all knew it would happen. The State is appealing the judgment. The State is throwing good money after bad, but Shumlin has to show his hard-core supporters that he really tried.
• Citizens Rights, State Rights, and Vermont - Everyone knows that the Vermont Attorney General stressed "state's rights" as he fought Vermont Yankee and two clauses of the Constitution (Commerce Clause and Supremacy Clause).  However, once a state begins defying the Constitution, the rights of the citizens are also compromised.

NEI Nuclear Notes

• Preview of CNN report – the nation’s nuclear trade group calls the TV program “alarmist reporting,” provides some examples, and points out the news network never call NEI for information or comment.
• Some facts that didn’t make it into CNN’s report – If the Vermont Yankee reactor was closed, the resulting fossil fueled replacement power would add 2.7 million metric tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere. 
• How safe is Vermont Yankee? Asks the NRC not CNN – green bars across the board

ANS Nuclear Cafe

On January 19, the Federal District Court in Brattleboro, Vt., issued a court decision in favor of Entergy Corporation, regarding the continued operation of its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.  Howard Shaffer examines the political milieu of the Vermont Yankee court decision in light of states rights issues, shared authority among Federal and State regulators, and the political history of some other rather extreme positions taken by state governors.

Tamar Cerafici has a plain English review of the legal ins-and-outs of the Federal court ruling. It is worth your time to step through the issues because so much is at stake.

And now back to our movie

The movie Young Frankenstein was nominated for two academy awards. Here's the original trailer for the movie. Maybe it will have a comeback in the governor's mansion in Montpelier?



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