Category Archives: Nuclear Energy

For the Record

Late in the day last Thursday, federal Judge J. Garvan Murtha ruled the Vermont legislature cannot intervene in the continued operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
In his 102-page ruling, Judge Murtha closely tracks the arguments made by attorneys for Entergy, the owner of Vermont Yankee.  Entergy argued and the judge agreed that while the [...]

Race to the Bottom: Homestretch

In this space the first week of January 2004, I predicted it would be the year that would determine whether or not American democracy would survive.  In the last month of that same year, I was forced to conclude, with sorrow, that American democracy is doomed.  Although I’ve been allowed brief moments of hope since [...]

Let’s Have At It

Entergy, the Louisiana-based company that owns Vermont Yankee, announced Monday it will sue the state of Vermont in federal court, asking for a judgement to allow the nuclear plant to continue operating past March 21, 2012, the day its certificate of public good (CPG – a.k.a. state operating permit) expires.
The company held a “conference call” [...]

Tomorrow’s News Today

Since the beginning of the Fukushima Daiichi crisis, the one source that has had the news before any major outlet reported it has been Fairewinds Associates of Burlington, Vermont.
Fairewind’s principal – nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen – has posted a series of video updates, explaining what is happening inside the crippled reactors and what we can [...]

Burned by Water

The northeast coast of Japan was shaken by another earthquake today – 7.4 on the Richter scale this time. In Washington, Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) is arguing with bureaucrats at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) about whether fuel in one of Fukushima’s reactors has breached the containment vessel. Just another day in the [...]

Faster Than Ever

It’s supposed to snow tonight. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow, tomorrow night and into the middle of Saturday morning. Except during the warmer, mid-day hours tomorrow, when it’s supposed to turn to rain and then back into snow.
Spring snow is not unusual around here, but tonight’s will probably carry radiation. It’s been [...]

Some More Than Others

We’re all Japanese now. Some of us more than others.
I’m in the latter group. In Vermont, we’ve been trying for years – and we’re close to success – to shut the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor in Vernon, in the southeast corner of the state, where Vermont joins New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
It’s a General [...]