"Groups warned of deterioration at Palisades nuke plant"

Michael Keegan, Alice Hirt, and Kevin Kamps call for Palisades' shut down at the Nuclear-Free Great Lakes Action Camp in August 2000; Palisades' cooling tower rises in the background.Eartha Jane Melzer at the Michigan Messenger has reported that Michigan's anti-nuclear watchdogs warned about embrittlement of the Palisades atomic reactor pressure vessel as early as 1993, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission merely weakened its safety regulations to accomodate the age-degraded facility. The Associated Press ran a four-part exposé on this scandalous pattern of behavior last week. At Palisades, NRC's complicity has included steamrolling of the public by the Atomic Safety (sic) and Licensing Board, and rubberstamping of a 20 year license extension for perhaps the most embrittled reactor pressure vessel in the U.S., located on the Lake Michigan shoreline. In addition, NRC has ignored earthquake safety regulations at Palisades vis a vis its dry cask storage of high-level radioactive waste just 100 yards from the drinking water supply for 40 million people downstream, despite two decades of repeated warnings by its own Midwest region dry cask storage inspector. Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) has posted an online chronology of resistance to Palisades' 20 year license extension, as well as the 1990s documents warning about earthquake and other risks at Palisades' dry cask storage facility.

Vermont and Entergy battle for second day in federal court

As reported by the Brattleboro Reformer, Entergy Nuclear of New Orleans argued for a second full day before a federal judge in Brattelboro in favor of a preliminary injunction against the State of Vermont's denial of a Certificate of Public Good for the Vermont Yankee atomic reactor to continue operating past March 21, 2012. Entergy executives testified from the witness stand that without assurance of ongoing permission to operate by July 23rd, less than a month from now, the company might be forced to shutdown Vermont Yankee for good even before next spring. This is because Vermont Yankee is due for a refueling outage this fall, in which a third of the irradiated nuclear fuel in its reactor core would need to be replaced with "fresh" fuel in order to continue operating. As the legal battle unfolded inside, anti-nuclear protestors lined Brattleboro's Main Street, cheering on the State and calling for the reactor's permanent closure.

Entergy lawyers argue for injunction against State of Vermont's forced closure of Yankee reactor

As reported by the Brattleboro Reformer, in a federal district court room in Brattleboro, Vermont on June 23rd, attorneys representing New Orleans based Entergy Nuclear Corporation sought an injunction against the State of Vermont's application of Public Law 160, which blocks the 20 year license extension sought at Vermont Yankee to continue operating after its original 40 year license expires on March 21, 2012. In a bizarre twist -- because the federal government has jurisdiction over nuclear safety matters -- Entergy's attorney accused Vermont state legislators of illegally focusing on safety concerns: "The Purpose of the acts was safety, safety, safety, radiological safety...We were stunned to see how safety-focused the legislative discussions were," Entergy attorney Kathleen Sullivan said. In court, Entergy is now trying to wiggle out of a 2002 Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the State of Vermont. The MOU clearly stated that Entergy would not try to preempt the State's decision on whether or not to grant Vermont Yankee a renewed Certificate of Public Good for extended operations past 2012. In Feb., 2010, the Vermont State Senate voted 26 to 4 to block the Vermont Public Service Board from issuing Vermont Yankee a renewed Certificate of Public Good. Entergy now argues the MOU was and is unconstitutional, and thus non-binding. Sullivan stated that Entergy can't be held to its word because it was just a business "trying to survive." Entergy's CEO, J. Wayne Leonard, is reported to make around $26.5 million per year, as certain of the reactors he owns and operates -- such as Palisades in Michigan -- have deferred numerous major safety repairs. Entergy has not paid a single penny into the Vermont Yankee decommissioning fund, despite owning the reactor for nearly a decade.

Ben & Jerry of ice cream fame urge Vermont Yankee be shut down

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (pictured at left), co-founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, based in Vermont, have recorded a YouTube video urging that the antiquated Vermont Yankee atomic reactor -- an identical twin to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4 -- be retired on schedule. They warn about Entergy of Louisiana's blatant disregard for the well being of the Green Mountain State.

Crosby and Nash urge Vermonters to stand up to Federal Government and Entergy Nuclear over Vermont Yankee license extension

As shown in a YouTube video, musicians David Crosby and Graham Nash, long time anti-nuclear activists, urged an enthusiastic crowd in Burlington, VT on May 11th to not let the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy Nuclear Corporation of New Orleans tell the Green Mountain State what to do -- that Vermont should stand strong on its commitment to shut down Vermont Yankee at the end of its 40 year operating license on March 22, 2012. Nash is also active with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and other musicians at Nukefree.org, coordinated by Harvey Wasserman, focused on blocking federal subsidies such as loan guarantees for the building of new atomic reactors and uranium enrichment facilitiles.