New report documents reactors most at risk of "early retirement"

Mark Cooper, Vermont Law SchoolIn a new report, Renaissance in Reverse: Competition Pushes Aging U.S. Nuclear Reactors to the Brink of Economic Abandonment, Vermont Law School energy economist Mark Cooper (photo, left) of Vermont Law School has identified 11 economic, operational, and safety factors contributing to the likelihood that reactors at 38 nuclear power plants in the U.S. could join Crystal River, FL, Kewaunee, WI, and San Onofre, CA in permanently shutting down sooner rather than later. As listed in a press release, Cooper identifies a dozen reactors most at risk of permanent shutdown in the near-term, including half of Entergy's own fleet of a dirty dozen atomic reactors nationwide. Several of the reactors identified as most at risk of sudden closure are identical or similar in design to Fukushima Daiichi (General Electric Mark I and II boiling water reactors): FitzPatrick, NY; Nine Mile Point Unit 2, NY; Oyster Creek, NJ; Pilgrim, MA; Vermont Yankee, VT. The audio recording of yesterday's press conference, which also featured former NRC Commissioner Peter Bradford, has been posted online.