Rep. Welch sees switch in Douglas' position on Vermont Yankee
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By SUSAN SMALLHEER Rutland Herald Staff - Published: January 25, 2010
PUTNEY — Gov. James Douglas and his administration never raised objections to the Vermont Legislature's having the final say over the relicensing of the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor when that law was passed in 2005, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said Saturday.
Welch, who was president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate when the law was passed, said that no objections came from Entergy Nuclear, the owner of Vermont Yankee, either.
The governor is now arguing the Legislature should not have a say and should approve an extension for Vermont Yankee and let regulatory authorities make a decision.
Welch, who was touring the Putney School's new state-of-the-art "net-zero" fieldhouse, said the state's congressional delegation is determined to put pressure on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to get to the bottom of the recent radioactive leaks at the Vernon reactor, as well as the company's misstatements to state regulators and legislative staff.
Welch said the relicensing provision, which was included in the bill allowing Entergy to create a dry-cask storage facility at the Vernon reactor for its high-level radioactive waste, never generated much discussion.
Douglas, who has alternately praised and criticized Entergy in the past week over the company's misstatements, said last week that he believes the issue of Yankee's future should be left to "professionals," and not the Legislature.
Entergy did not oppose the Legislature's involvement then, nor does it now, said spokesman Robert Williams on Saturday.
"We did not oppose the Legislature's involvement because we felt then, as we do now, that open discussion on the state's long-term energy supply is in everyone's best interest," he said in an e-mail.
He noted that the Legislature supported the dry fuel storage system for radioactive waste by wide margins, 113-5 in the House and 18-6 in the Senate.
"As a utility doing business in Vermont, we have found that open discussion on our operations and the state's long-term energy supply continues to be beneficial to all," he added.
Late Friday, Welch and the state's two senators reiterated their call for the NRC to launch a special inspection of whether Entergy Nuclear officials lied to Vermont regulators under oath about the existence of buried pipes carrying radionuclides. The company's top-ranking official, Jay Thayer, who was one of the Entergy officials speaking to regulators, has apologized for his remarks.
Welch said the issue of truthfulness by Entergy officials needs to be fully investigated, as well as the source of the leak, which has resulted in tritium showing up in one monitoring well on the banks of the Connecticut River. Other, more hazardous radioactive isotopes, cobalt-60, and zinc-65, along with tritium, have been found in an underground trench, where they are not supposed to be.
"The plant's safety simply can't be compromised," Welch told a group of reporters. "We've got to get accurate information."
Welch said that Thayer and other Entergy officials' statements call into question the credibility of the company.
"The NRC has to play a role," he said.
The spokesman for Gov. Douglas couldn't be reached for comment Saturday.
susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
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