Entergy Nuclear, the New Orleans-based owner and operator of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power station, announced that it is ordering more nuclear fuel for its Vermont Yankee nuclear power station. Entergy plans to refuel the GE Mark I Boiling Water Reactor in October 2011. The announcement is in defiance of the State of Vermont February 24, 2010 decision not to allow the Fukushima-style reactor to operate beyond March 21, 2012 at the end of its original 40-year license.
After a 5 year licensing challenge before a federal relicensing board, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted to extend the reactor's operating license by another 20 years just days after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan on March 11, 2012.
The Entergy announcement was not a surprise to many engaged in the legal challenge that goes to trial on September 12, 2011 as well as a citizen mobilization gearing up for mass nonviolent direct action to oppose the continued operations.