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Keeping your community covered. We're committed to producing high-quality, fact-based news and information that gives you the facts in this community we call home. If our work has helped you stay informed, take action, or feel more connected to Windham County – please give now to help us reach our goal of raising $150,000 by December 31st.
Vermont and three other states have petitioned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to re-evaluate the environmental impacts of long-term storage of spent radioactive fuel on nuclear plant sites.
Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell and the Department of Public Service joined attorneys general from New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut in a petition requesting that the NRC reconsider its decision to continue to allow storage of spent fuel rods in on-site pools instead of dry cask storage.
The petition also asks the commission to re-evaluate the ongoing production of spent fuel rods when the federal government has no permanent repository for the waste.
The attorneys general accuse the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of illegally limiting the options for long-term storage of radioactive waste, and in so doing, failing to evaluate the environmental impacts of allowing nuclear companies to continue to use spent fuel pools.
New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. will refuel its Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon this spring. The news that the national nuclear power company will continue to invest in Vermont Yankee, first reported by Vermont Business Magazine, runs counter to speculation that the plant could be closed shortly over...
Union Institute and University, a four-year liberal arts program, will close its Montpelier campus in mid-June when its long-term lease with the Vermont College of Fine Arts expires. The University is consolidating its facilities in Vermont and will continue to offer a weekend residency program in Brattleboro. More students...
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week suspended all nuclear power licensing decisions until it can address environmental concerns regarding long-term storage of nuclear waste. The ruling puts a halt to license renewal applications for nine plants, including Indian Point in New York and Seabrook in New Hampshire. Under the order, the commission, for the first time, will require environmental assessments of nuclear waste now held at the nation's 104 reactor sites. The decision comes in the wake of a June...
Shumlin administration officials have recommended BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) of Vermont as the “benchmark” plan for benefits to be offered under the federally required insurance “exchange.” The state's two other health care insurance companies - Cigna and MVP Health Care - must match the BCBS benchmark for coverage offered in the exchange. The recommendation is another step in the Shumlin administration's long climb toward health care insurance reform under the Affordable Care Act. In a little more than a year, the...
About 2,700 gallons of water from the spent fuel pool at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant drained into a wastewater system on July 22. The 300,000 gallon pool contains 2,500 spent fuel assemblies removed from the reactor core. The spent fuel assemblies are submerged below more than 20 feet of water. The water drained about six inches over the course of about 30 minutes when employees who were working on the fuel pool cleanup system left drain valves open. Operators...
A federal agency has found more deficiencies at the Brattleboro Retreat and has given the hospital 45 days to make more improvements. If the psychiatric hospital is not in compliance by the next visit from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), it could lose its Medicare provider agreement and federal funding, according to a statement from the Vermont Department of Mental Health. However, the Retreat is not in immediate jeopardy of losing funding. The last CMS survey was conducted on...
Entergy Corp. has filed a motion with the U.S. District Court to recover $4.6 million in legal fees for its lawsuit against the state. The Louisiana company prevailed in federal court on Jan. 20 when Judge J. Garvan Murtha struck down two state laws that required Entergy to seek approval from the Legislature to continue operating Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant past its 40-year anniversary and to store high-level nuclear waste at the plant site. The state has 30 days...
