Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant Shuts Down Operations

The Vermont Yankee Nuclear power plant shut down its operations at 1:04 p.m. on the 29th of December, and is no longer sending power to the New England electric grid. The 604-megawatt plant was responsible for producing 71 percent of all electricity produced and 35 percent of all electricity consumed within the state in its 42 years of operation, according to the Energy Information Agency.

The plant is not expected to be dismantled until the 2040s. According to the final Site Assessment Study, it will be decommissioned even later if dismantling and decontamination with fuel is going to occur on the site.

“I know this is hard news for the many Vermonters who have relied on the Vermont Yankee plant for employment and economic opportunity in Windham County and beyond,” Governor Peter Shumlin said in a statement. The plant employs about 550 people currently, and that number is expected to drop to 316 immediately. By 2016 the workforce will be further reduced to 127 people.

“My administration will continue working with local communities to ensure that the Windham County region grows jobs and economic opportunity as operations wind down at Vermont Yankee. We will also continue to work with Entergy [the parent company] and community partners to ensure that decommissioning happens as promptly and smoothly as possible,” he said.

Shumlin hailed the closure as “a positive step for our state and our energy future” and is optimistic that “Vermont’s energy future is on a different, more sustainable path that is creating jobs, reducing energy costs for Vermonters and slowing climate change.”

The closure marks the end of the protracted legal battle between Vermont and Entergy Corporation. The collapse of a cooling tower, radioactive tritium leaks and misstatements from plant executives in the years 2007 to 2010 drew heavy criticism from environmental groups across the country. Vermont had tried to close the plant in the wake of the events but Entergy Corporation - a Louisiana-based energy company - successfully sued the state claiming that it did not have the authority to force a shutdown in 2011.

Entergy officials maintain that the reason for the closure is that the plant is no longer economically feasible due to availability of cheap natural gas from US shale fields. Entergy will give Windham County $10 million over five years beginning this year for economic development, reported the Sentinel Source. No such agreements exist with New Hampshire or Massachusetts, homes to the second- and third-largest employee bases for Vermont Yankee.

The regions of Cheshire County and Franklin County in Massachusetts and Windham County in Vermont will lose more than 1100 jobs and $480 million as a consequence of the shutdown, says a study released from the UMass Donahue Institute of Hadley, Mass. The jobs span diverse fields such as leisure and hospitality, education and health services, professional and business services and construction.

Vermont Yankee is the fourth nuclear power plant to retire in the US. The total number of functioning nuclear power plants is now less than 100. Five new nuclear reactors are currently under construction in the country, with an expected combined capacity of more than 5,000 MW.
“We are moving full speed ahead with local, sustainable no-carbon renewable in Vermont,” said Vermont Public Service Commissioner Chris Recchia on the day the plant closed.

The Independent System Operator of New England, which oversees Vermont’s electric power system and transmission lines, is less optimistic about the closure. The organization released a statement saying that while it “does not favor any fuel or technology, the retirement of this large nuclear station will result in less fuel diversity and greater dependence on natural gas as a fuel for power generation.”