• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Vermont Yankee Nuke Plant to Close by End of 2014

steamboat1

New member
Joined
Aug 15, 2011
Messages
6,613
Points
0
Location
Brooklyn,NY/Pittsford,VT.
From your link:

"Vermont Yankee opened in 1972 in Vernon. In the past, the plant has provided as much as a third of the state's electrical supply. Currently, nearly all of its power is shipped to electric companies in neighboring states."

Don't think it will have any affect on power & power rates in VT. The state gets most of it's power from Hydro Quebec.

On the other hand losing 630 good paying jobs will have more of an affect on the states tax revenue. Not to mention the effect it will have on the workers.
 

thetrailboss

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
32,340
Points
113
Location
NEK by Birth
Yeah, with the uncertainty of its closing date, Vermont's utilities all stopped contracts with VY. So the electricity is sold into the grid. But the way it all works out the power certainly is consumed in Vermont.
 

thetrailboss

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
32,340
Points
113
Location
NEK by Birth
Speaking as a Vermonter here--originally from the 'Kingdom.

It's going to be hard to talk about this issue without it getting political. Unfortunately, it got WAY too politicized.

VY has had a long and tortured history. It was no stranger to litigation in Vermont and in the federal courts. It became the target of folks who were rabidly anti-nuclear. These are the same folks that make a stink over any kind of development in Vermont. The furor has transferred over to wind energy which apparently is not green enough for them :blink:

They used the State to fight VY to death. It is too bad because this could have been a constructive dialogue with regards to how Vermont generates sustainable jobs and electricity but instead it turned into a yelling match. It really displays the worst of Vermont really in my mind. In the end, we lost 630 high paying jobs, electric generation, and the opportunity to try to figure out some way to keep the jobs and generation. The plant is quite old. I would have liked to have seen a deal where a new one was built and the old one retired, but that is out of the question with a vocal group in Vermont.

So now Vermont lost the jobs, lost the electricity and revenue, and is stuck with a decommissioned moth-balled plant. #winning?

But then again I'm a refugee living in the promised ski land and left in large part because Vermont is just not a friendly place for jobs or business as this debacle demonstrates.
 
Last edited:

Geoff

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
5,100
Points
48
Location
South Dartmouth, Ma
Vermont Yankee was an operational mess. The plant deserved to be shut down. The operators should never be allowed back in the state.

I believe you can engineer a cookie-cutter nuke plant that is safe and cost-effective. The problem is that every plant is a 1-off so you can't nail safety and operational procedures once and simply insist that all plants be operated to the same high standard. I live within the mushroom cloud of the Pilgrim plant in Plymouth, Ma and I used to live even closer to to the nuke plant in Seabrook, NH and the nuke sub refueling base across the river used to be 1/2 mile away at the Portsmouth Navy Yard. I don't have NIMBY about nuke plants. I have a problem with the whole disastrous process of building and regulating them.
 

hiroto

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2005
Messages
514
Points
16
Location
Newton, MA
So now Vermont lost the jobs, lost the electricity and revenue, and is stuck with a decommissioned moth-balled plant. #winning?

I got curious of decommissioning of nuclear power plant and there are already a few examples in New England, and they do "decommission" the site and not "moth-ball" them.

Yankee Rowe (MA) Nuclear Power Station
Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant

All of those site are back to "green field" with pretty much everything gone, with small facilities of what looks like rows of caskets with spent fuel.

loc: 43.951758,-69.696228 - Google Maps

Interesting video of decommissioning of Maine Yankee.

 

ctenidae

Active member
Joined
Nov 11, 2004
Messages
8,959
Points
38
Location
SW Connecticut
FTFA: "Before I heard about the closing I wished they would close. Now I have mixed feelings about it,"

I think this sums up the problem with most protest groups- rather than being a reasoned, thought out position, it's an emotional response to a poorly understood reality. It's easy to be up in arms and angry about something that will never change, but what do you do once you've had your, however thinly, desired effect?

Dog catches car. Well, that sucks.
 

thetrailboss

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
32,340
Points
113
Location
NEK by Birth
FTFA: "Before I heard about the closing I wished they would close. Now I have mixed feelings about it,"

I think this sums up the problem with most protest groups- rather than being a reasoned, thought out position, it's an emotional response to a poorly understood reality. It's easy to be up in arms and angry about something that will never change, but what do you do once you've had your, however thinly, desired effect?

Dog catches car. Well, that sucks.

:lol: Exactly!
 

thetrailboss

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
32,340
Points
113
Location
NEK by Birth
...and in other news, excavators were seen last night digging around the Vermont Yankee plant to re-route the Connecticut River around it so that it is in New Hampshire instead of Vermont. ;)
 

hiroto

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2005
Messages
514
Points
16
Location
Newton, MA
Some more readings along this line.

I learned that those storages for spent fuel of decommissioned plants were supposed to be temporary and eventually moved to long term storage provided by DOE. That never happened and those facility continue to spend money guarding the place 24/7 and they are suing DOE for the damage.

Maine Yankee Fuel Storage
Connecticut Yankee Fuel Storage
Yankee Row Fuel Storage

An interesting DOE report:
‎Report to Congress on the Demonstration of the Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel from Decommissioned Nuclear Power Reactor SitesDemonstration of theInterim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel fromDecommissioned Nuclear Power Reactor Sites on of theInterim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel fromDecommissioned Nuclear Power Reactor Sites
 

drjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
19,183
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn, CT
Some more readings along this line.

I learned that those storages for spent fuel of decommissioned plants were supposed to be temporary and eventually moved to long term storage provided by DOE. That never happened and those facility continue to spend money guarding the place 24/7 and they are suing DOE for the damage.

Maine Yankee Fuel Storage
Connecticut Yankee Fuel Storage
Yankee Row Fuel Storage

An interesting DOE report:
‎Report to Congress on the Demonstration of the Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel from Decommissioned Nuclear Power Reactor SitesDemonstration of theInterim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel fromDecommissioned Nuclear Power Reactor Sites on of theInterim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel fromDecommissioned Nuclear Power Reactor Sites

Now if someday they'd ever get the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada completed and operational, you'd have a single place to store the spent fuel rods. But much of the same people who oppose Nuke plants also oppose the creation of a single, secure storage facility for the spent fuel rods, fuel rods that created probably billions of megawatts of clean, cost effective electricity during their functional lifespan
 

drjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
19,183
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn, CT
...and in other news, excavators were seen last night digging around the Vermont Yankee plant to re-route the Connecticut River around it so that it is in New Hampshire instead of Vermont. ;)

I just figure that if the VT Yankee plant survived what mother nature threw at it 2 years ago today when Irene rolled across the area (probably as close to a "Fukashima like natural disaster" as the VT Yankee plant would ever see) that it's probably in a good, safe location for either continued operation or building of a new reactor for continued future operations. Once again, as is often the case with many "controversial" subjects, its the age old "facts" vs. "emotions" debate, and in the end, facts will win over emotions regardless of how much one wants something to happen.

I just hope for the 600+ loosing their VT Yankee jobs, that say the Super Walmart or the Phantom Fireworks or Atlas Fireworks super stores across the River on rte 119 in Hinsdale, NH pay as well as the VT Yankee jobs did, since i'm sure the environmental lobbies that battled against VT Yankee had the best interests on not just themselves, but also those who are and soon to be WERE gamefully employed, and probably at a level were a good deal of them weren't requiring any government assistance to live and support their families with their actions :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:

thetrailboss

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
Messages
32,340
Points
113
Location
NEK by Birth
I just hope for the 600+ loosing their VT Yankee jobs, that say the Super Walmart or the Phantom Fireworks or Atlas Fireworks super stores across the River on rte 119 in Hinsdale, NH pay as well as the VT Yankee jobs did, since i'm sure the environmental lobbies that battled against VT Yankee had the best interests on not just themselves, but also those who are and soon to be WERE gamefully employed, and probably at a level were a good deal of them weren't requiring any government assistance to live and support their families with their actions :rolleyes:

Whenever I try to discuss this point with the anti-nuke folks they just don't get it....probably because they either don't have to work or don't want to work.
 

from_the_NEK

Active member
Joined
Jun 5, 2006
Messages
4,575
Points
36
Location
Lyndonville, VT
Website
fineartamerica.com
Good in depth story from WCAX. http://www.wcax.com/story/23264274/...art=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9244328 At the 2:26 mark in the video they interview one of the opponents of the plant; "Leo Shiff" of the "Safe and Green Campaign". I can only shake my head at the guy. He says he is happy that the plant is closing "but the 14-16 months isn't soon enough". Does he have any idea that you can't just unplug a Nuclear Reactor?
 

wa-loaf

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
15,109
Points
48
Location
Mordor
Now if someday they'd ever get the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada completed and operational, you'd have a single place to store the spent fuel rods. But much of the same people who oppose Nuke plants also oppose the creation of a single, secure storage facility for the spent fuel rods, fuel rods that created probably billions of megawatts of clean, cost effective electricity during their functional lifespan

I'm not opposed to nuclear power but if it was clean we wouldn't need to find a big mountain in Nevada to try and bury all the spent fuel. Also, its only cost effective because of govt subsidies, not to mention the cost of storing all the waste.
 

wa-loaf

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 7, 2007
Messages
15,109
Points
48
Location
Mordor
Just like wind and solar!!!!!!

Exactly, but it seems that the people who love Nuke power are opposed to wind and solar subsidies. And vice versa, you should be pro subsidy and lets foster development of as many types of clean(-ish) energy we can. Or opposed altogether, anything else makes you a hypocrite.
 

Puck it

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
9,681
Points
48
Location
Franconia, NH
Exactly, but it seems that the people who love Nuke power are opposed to wind and solar subsidies. And vice versa, you should be pro subsidy and lets foster development of as many types of clean(-ish) energy we can. Or opposed altogether, anything else makes you a hypocrite.

Very true, just subsidies for oil and NG also. Too lower level though.
 
Top