by Colin Ellis Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and Senator Bernie Sanders will speak at a rally to support closing the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor. The â Rally to Support Vermont and Defend Democracy’will be held on the Brattleboro Town Common at noon on Saturday.
Vermont Yankee was commissioned in 1972 with a 40-year license. In February 2010, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 not allow the plant to operate past 2012, citing numerous problems with the facility including tritium leaks, misstatements in testimony by plant officials and others. However in 2011, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a 20-year license renewal, meaning the plant would remain in operation until at least 2032. However, it has not yet received a new Certificate of Public Good permit to operate by the Vermont Public Service Board.
Both Shumlin and Sanders are outspoken opponents of the Vermont Yankee company itself (owned and operated by Entergy Corporation) and of nuclear energy in general.
â If Vermont wants to move to energy efficiency and sustainable energy,’Senator Sanders has stated, â no corporation should have the right to force our state to stay tethered to an aging, problem-ridden nuclear plant.â
A protester is arrested at the Vermont Yankee offices in Brattleboro March 22. (STORY) Photo: Alan Panebaker, vtdigger.org.
This rally will be a follow-up to a March 22 protest in which over 1,000 citizens marched from downtown Brattleboro to the local Entergy offices in Brattleboro. The plant is located in the neighboring town of Vernon. This was the first day of operation under the expiration of the plantâ s 40-year license. Similar marches were held in White Plains, NY, (near Indian Point reactors) and the Entergy corporate headquarters in New Orleans. Around 130 protestors were arrested in Brattleboro for their participation in the march there.
â People coming to the rally will learn how important it is to support the right of Vermont ‘and of all states ‘to uphold existing laws and the democratic will of their people against big nuclearâ s abuse of corporate power,’event cosponsor Ned Childs, president of the New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution (NEC) said.
An â unprecedented’number of groups and citizens from Vermont and neighboring states are expected to turnout for the rally, according to supporters. Also speaking will be Attorney General William Sorrell, who has led Vermontâ s so-far unsuccessful court efforts against Entergy. A federal court has ruled in favor of Vermont Yankeeâ s continued operation (STORY), but both sides have appealed the decision.