Entergy, the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant (VY), has sued the state of Vermont in federal court. At the same time, VY is the subject of a suit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in which intervenors claim that VY does not have a discharge permit required by the Clean Water Act.
It's the Dog Days of Summer (at least by some definitions).
Vermont Yankee's opponents continue their campaign
Vermont Yankee stays online
So many people oppose nuclear power that it becomes easy to lump them all together as "the opponents." Like any other group, however, the opponents actually have various depths of commitment. The extremes are the Professional Opponent and the Concerned But Reachable Volunteer.
Vermont's Department of Public Service (DPS) is holding local meetings about a proposed Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan, which is supposed to be on the governor's desk in October.
Perhaps one of the more enduring cartoons that relates to the quality of information on the Internet is the one that states, "On the Internet no one knows you are a dog." It shows a drawing of two dogs sitting in front of a computer terminal. Unfortunately, the cartoon is copyrighted material so it can't be reposted here, but you can see it here along with many variations. The point of the cartoon is that words and images on the screen can come from anywhere and anyone.
Clearing up misconceptions and outright falsehoods about nuclear energy since the March 11 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami is getting more attention these days. Problems range from not mainstream journalists not understanding the technical issues to people who are publicity crazed fear mongers out to get their face on a video.
It's not as much fun as you might think to stand in front of an auditorium of young people, speaking about energy, and knowing that they simply do not believe you. No, it wasn't that they didn't believe me about nuclear safety-although that may also have been the case-it's that they didn't believe me about the role of renewables. Specifically, they didn't understand the difference between a net-zero energy facility and a zero-use energy facility.
A recent event in Vermont was a Chernobyl 25th anniversary gathering at Dartmouth College's Dickey Center. The event featured a photo exhibit and a panel presentation. Former ambassador to Belarus in the 1990s, Kenneth Yalowitz, heads the center and he chaired and sat on the panel. Yalowitz was on a larger panel on Chernobyl on its 20th anniversary five years ago. This year's event was sponsored by the Sierra Club and was widely advertised in the local press.
In March, Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant received a 20-year license extension from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; the NRC extension ends in 2032. Vermont's legislature, however, voted last year to shut down the plant in 2012, when its state certificate runs out.
The View from Vermont
In my previous post for the ANS Nuclear Cafe, I described what I had learned from debating nuclear opponents.
I was not born a geek, but by the time I was a 10-year-old buying books at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, my path was set. Some considered this as an unfortunate background, so I had to learn the hard way how to handle myself in debates and how to answer aggressive questions. Below, I share what I have learned in defending my position, in the hope that it will help others.
The View from Vermont
View from Vermont
Vermont's new governor, Peter Shumlin, was inaugurated on January 6, 2011. He ran as the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant's number one enemy, as he stated.
The View from Vermont
With Vermont's governor-elect, Peter Shumlin (D.)-the self-described number one opponent of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant-picking his cabinet and maintaining a high profile, the struggle continues unabated by the plant's proponents who want to keep it from being shut down.