Send Vermont Yankee to Peddle Its Energy Elsewhere

Author: Edith Honan

It is high time that Middlebury College join Vermonters in saying no to Vermont Yankee (VY). Currently, Entergy Nuclear is requesting that VY's original licensing agreement of 40 years, which is set to expire in 2012, be extended for 20 or 30 years. Furthermore, Entergy is seeking to increase the allowable energy-producing capacity at the 31-year-old reactor by 20 percent, or 105 megawatts.
According to The Rutland Herald, just two years ago the previous owners of Vermont Yankee, a consortium of New England utilities, had rejected increasing power by a mere five percent. It is unclear why Entergy should be so much more confident. One thing that is clear is that Vermonters are standing up to the utility.
The Connecticut River Watershed Council, which was recently granted permission to intervene in hearings on this issue, maintains that an uprate will increase the temperature of the Connecticut River and damage aquatic life.
"[Entergy] wants to bring the equivalent of a new nuclear reactor built with old parts into Vermont. You cannot generate extra electricity there without splitting extra atoms, generating extra waste, and creating extra risk of an accident," Raymond Shadis, a Coalition staff person was quoted as telling The Brattleboro Reformer.
Average citizens are saying "no" to Vermont Yankee and speaking truth to power.
In March, Windham County organized a symbolic referendum on VY. Of the 16 towns participating, 11 opposed Entergy's request to relicense VY, five supported it and one town reported a tie.
If the heroes of Vermont's struggle against the mammoth that is Entergy Nuclear were to be assembled today, Brattleboro Reformer journalist Eesha Williams would certainly be among those honored, at least according to The Columbia Journalism Review.
This year, Williams was awarded a Laurel for his coverage of the nuclear industry: "Thankfully, not every conscientious journalist is abandoned by management for perceived offenses against powerful newsmakers."
Apparently, on July 31, 2002, shortly before acquiring VY, Entergy Nuclear called a meeting and presented editors of The Brattleboro Reformer with a list of selections from Williams' recent book, "Grassroots Journalism: A Practical Manual for Doing the Kind of Newswriting That Doesn't Just Get People Angry, but Active - That Doesn't Just Inform, but Inspires."
They argued that Williams should be taken off the beat.
The managing editor asked whether Entergy could point to any examples of factual inaccuracy.
No, they couldn't.
And so it was settled. The Reformer's publisher had this to say: "While I hold conservative views, this isn't my paper. It's the people's paper.
We're not here to make Vermont Yankee happy. We're not here to make anyone happy but our readers."
So you see, Vermonters have shown that they are capable of speaking truth to power, even when that power is a multi-billion, energy-producing company. And it is high time that Middlebury students join them. VY should not be allowed to operate beyond its present licensing agreement, nor should we tolerate an increase in energy production.
Vermonters should not be put at risk in the name of lining the deep pockets of Entergy Nuclear.
Entergy Nuclear would like for Americans to become even more dependent on nuclear energy. It is time for Middlebury College to say no.

Edith Honan is a
literary studies major from Redding Ridge, Conn.